FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT. Advanced Workshop on Ecology (Fundamental and Molecular) of Plant- Microbe Interactions

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1 FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT Advanced Workshop on Ecology (Fundamental and Molecular) of Plant- Microbe Interactions Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal. July 05-09, 2010 This one-week post-graduate workshop will cover a number of fundamental topics on the (fundamental and molecular) ecology of plant-microbe interactions. To begin with, we will discuss some important aspects of plant-microbe interactions, e.g., how microbes influence the provision of a number of essential ecosystem services. In addition to this, we will also perform molecular analyses of complex microbial communities using classic and state of the art technologies. This will include sampling design and processing, DNA/RNA extraction, Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH), bacterial activity estimates, bar-code pyrosequencing and various analytical techniques. The course is intended for scientists and PhD and M.Sc. students with a background in Biology, Natural and Environmental Sciences, or related fields. CESAM Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies

2 Course Coordinator: Dr. Newton C. M. Gomes CESAM- Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal. Main Themes - Plant-microbe interactions: consequences for ecosystem health and functioning. - Impact of microbes on plant productivity (photosynthetic and oxidative parameters). - Physical and chemical parameters of bulk sediment and rhizospheres in estuarine environments. - Community level physiological profiles (CLPP). - Biomass productivity of rhizosphere bacteria. - Correlation of specific microbial guilds (FISH) with environmental variables: substrate utilization by ammonia-oxidizing, inorganic phosphate- accumulating bacteria, sulphate reduction by sulfatereducing bacteria and other member of the Proteobacteria present in the rhizosphere. - Approaches for rhizosphere microbe bioengineering to promote plant growth and environment recovery. - Experimental design and data processing. - Techniques for molecular microbial community analyses. - Applying massively parallel pyrosequencing approaches for studying plant microbe interactions. - Bar-coded pyrosequencing data analysis. This course will include a combination of lectures, practical work and computer workshops enabling the attendees to obtain hands-on experience in the use of various analytical tools.

3 Lecturers: Dr Newton C. M. Gomes Dr. Newton C. M. Gomes received his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in Since then he has been working as a researcher in a number of countries in the field of molecular microbial ecology. Most recently Dr. Gomes has been working as assistant researcher at the Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) of the Aveiro University (Potugal). Dr. Gomes is author or co-author of about 40 international publications (papers and book chapters). He has also been involved in several projects on molecular microbial ecology and is the coordinator of the project: Global climate change and pollution: a synergy designed for disaster? (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal). Dr. Rodrigo Costa His field of expertise is genomics of bacterial communities in soil and plant roots. Rodrigo has also taught Evolutionary Biology for one year at the University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). Then he obtained the doctoral degree in Carol-Wilhelmina Technische Universität zu Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany. During his stay in this German institution, he has deepened his knowledge about Ecology and Evolution of the bacterial genus Pseudomonas. During his post-doc at the Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies (CEes Department of Microbial Ecology) at the Universitäit of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands, Rodrigo Costa has taught graduate and postgraduate subjects such as Diversity and Evolution, Genome Evolution and Research in Microbial Ecology. At the moment, Rodrigo is interested in the role of the antibiotics production as adaptive attribute of microorganisms in 'microbial hot spots'. Dr. Helena Silva Helena Silva, PhD in Biology, is Assistant Professor at Biology Department of Aveiro University and a full member of CESAM (Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies). She has worked since 1987 with vascular plants, within the main subjects of biodiversity and ecophysiology. Estuarine flora and vegetation, plant responses to various stress factors, are currently among her major research interests related with the supervision of pos-graduated thesis and the publication of international scientific papers. She has been involved in research projects not only as investigator as well as principal investigator. Recently she is the coordinator, at Aveiro University, of the project ECOSAM: Effects of carbon dioxide increase on salt marshes (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal).

4 Dr, Angela Cunha Angela Cunha holds a PhD in Biology and is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biology at the University of Aveiro and a full member of CESAM (Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies). Her research addresses various topics within the field of microbial ecology. She has supervised several MSc dissertations and PhD theses in the field, and is author or co-author of more than 30 scientific papers. She has been involved in several national and European research projects and was awarded the 2002 IMAR Luiz Saldanha prize for marine science and technology. Bacterial dynamics in estuarine sediments and plant-microbe interactions in salt marshes are currently among her major research interests. Dr. Adelaide Almeida Adelaide Almeida is an Auxiliary Professor at the Department of Biology of the University of Aveiro and a researcher of the Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM). She received her Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Aveiro in She has mainly worked in the area of Environmental Microbiology. Her current research focuses on alternative low environmental impact approaches to control environmental pathogenic microorganisms and on structural diversity and seasonality of marine bacterial and viral communities. She has been involved in teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate level. To date she has supervised to completion 21 MSc students and is currently supervising 9 MSc students, 7 PhD students and a Post-Doc student. Dr. Daniel Cleary Daniel Cleary studied biology at the University of Amsterdam. During his study he spent half a year in the Caribbean where he studied aggressive interactions between coral species. After this he spent a year in France at the Université de Provence. For his PhD (also in Amsterdam), he spent two and a half years in the jungles of Borneo, mainly studying butterflies but he was also interested in lots of other organisms in the rainforest and how they were affected by disturbances such as logging and forest fires. After his PhD, Dr. Cleary worked as a postdoc in Amsterdam and Leiden. His major interests include studies on invertebrates and relating community structure to spatial, environmental and temporal processes. At present he is an assistant researcher at the University of Aveiro and the Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM).

5 Course Fees Normal course fee Euros Discount fee Euros (members of Ordem dos Biólogos, SICTA, SETAC) Travel to Aveiro For those arriving at Porto Airport: Aveiro has an excellent railway service to Porto, situated 60 km to the North of Aveiro. Porto airport is directly connected to the major European and some North and South American cities. Travel by underground between Porto airport and the railway station of Porto-Campanhã is around 40 minutes. Depending on the type of train service used, travel between Porto-Campanhã and Aveiro railway takes from 30 to 50 minutes and costs between 2 and 13. On average, there are trains every 25 minutes between Porto and Aveiro. Aveiro University is 5 minutes taxi distance from the railway station, and the taxi fare is around 5 to 7. For those arriving at Lisbon airport: Aveiro is also connected by train to Lisbon, situated 250 km to the South of Aveiro. From Lisbon airport you should go to the Oriente railway station, by taxi (fare between 10 to 15). On average, there are trains from Lisbon- Oriente to Aveiro every 90 minutes. Train will cost between 15 to 30, and the journey between Lisbon-Oriente and Aveiro railway station will be around 2,5 hours. Accommodation As soon as we have more information on the prices and availability of rooms we will inform you. We can easily pre-book a number of rooms, in a hotel within walking distance from the University with a convenient price. For updated information on this course, please go to:

6 REGISTRATION FORM (send by fax (351) ) or to Newton Gomes till the 15 th of June) Name: Institution: Address: Country: Course Fee: Normal Fee: 350 Discount Fee: 300 (please provide confirmation of eligibility for the discount fee) Accommodation: I am interested in the pre-booked rooms I will book my own room CESAM Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies