Spring School: 'Chemical communication: from gene to ecosystem'

This 3-day Spring School addresses the different levels of chemical communication and their interactions emphasising the approaches that combine the different levels. Focus will be on three different groups of interacting organisms: interactions among animals, interactions among plants and interactions between plants and animals.

Organisers

FRONTIS, Graduate Schools EPS and PE&RC, Wageningen University.

Scope

All organisms are components of food webs and ecosystems in which they are under natural selection to maximize reproductive success. Reproductive success is related to minimising the interactions with predators/consumers and competitors and maximising interactions with prey/consumables and symbionts.
Information allows organisms to make the right decisions in this arena of eating and being eaten. Communication via chemical substances is one of the dominant forms through which organisms communicate. Examples are, for instance, territory demarcation by mammals ranging in size from a mouse to an elephant, the attraction of a male to mate with a virgin female moth, the attraction of pollinators by flowers, the activation of nitrogen-fixing bacteria by the roots of legumes or the activation of nematodes by root exudates of their host plants.
Chemical communication can be studied at various levels of integration, ranging from the expression of genes involved in biosynthesis of the infochemicals, to the emission mechanisms, to the perception by the receiving organism, to the consequent physiological and behavioral response of the receiver, to the resulting interactions between individuals and the eventual consequences for the community.


This 3-day Spring School addresses the different levels of chemical communication and their interactions emphasising the approaches that combine the different levels. Focus will be on three different groups of interacting organisms: interactions among animals, interactions among plants and interactions between plants and animals.

Format

Each morning (inter)national specialists in the field on chemical communication, at the various levels mentioned, will lecture on their work which is followed by discussions. These discussions are led by PhD-students who have prepared themselves in advance.
In the afternoons, master-classes will be held on various topics in which participating PhD-students present their work on chemical communication. Based on the presented work and propositions the topic is accordingly discussed in a plenary session in the presence of the international specialist on that specific topic.
With 12 speakers, 40 participants and the organising committee we aim at 60 participants in total. The workshop will cover 3 full days. Arrival: 19 March 2005 afternoon; departure: 23 March 2005 morning.

Speakers

• Andre Kessler, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, New York, USA
  


• Marien de Bruyne, Institut für Biologie - Neurobiologie - Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
  


• Ann Burnell, Institute of Bioengineering and Agroecology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth,, Ireland.
  


• Dustin Penn, Konrad Lorenz Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria
  


• Hans Smid, Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
  


• Christer Löfstedt, Section of Chemical Ecology / Dept. of Ecology, Lund Univ., Lund, Sweden
  


• John Yoder, Department of Vegetable Crops / College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Davis, USA
  


• John Pickett, Biological Chemistry Division, Rothamsted Research, United Kingdom
  


• Miquel Lürling, Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
  


• Ton Bisseling, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
  


• Harro Bouwmeester, Plant Research International, Wageningen-UR, the Netherlands
  

Organising committee

Prof.dr. Marcel Dicke (chairman - Laboratory of Entomology)
Dr. Teris van Beek (Laboratory of Organic Chemistry)
Dr. Rob Bogers (Frontis)
Dr. Harro Bouwmeester (Plant Research International)
Dr. Frans Griepink (Plant Research International)
Dr. Willem Jan de Kogel (Plant Research International)
Dr. Joop van Loon (Laboratory of Entomology)
Dr. Willem Takken (Laboratory of Entomology)
Dr. Claudius van de Vijver (Graduate School PE&RC)

Costs

Registration fee is € 250,- and includes a reader, coffee, tea, lunches a welcome dinner on the 19’th of March and a course dinner on the 22’nd.

Note:
• Participating PhD students of the Graduate Schools PE&RC and EPS who have an approved TSP pay €150,-
• Cost for Accommodation is not included in the fee. Upon registration, reservation of accommodation can be requested.
• Costs for accommodation, including breakfast, are € 55,- per person per night.

Registration

Register via the PE&RC website page http://www.dpw.wageningen-ur.nl/PEenRC/education/courses/pgc-chemical_communication2005.html.