Insect symbionts: plasticity in confronting environmental challenges
10-11 May 2017
Workshop rational
Insect health is strongly influenced by the composition and activities of resident microorganisms, and since the microbiota of insects is generally less diverse than that of higher organisms, the microbial function in insects can be coupled to individual, identified microbial species. This trait of insect symbioses facilitates our understanding of the mechanisms that promote insect-microbial coexistence and the processes by which the microbiota affect insect wellbeing. As a result, insects serve as good models to study various aspects of interactions between the host and its resident microorganisms that are impractical or unfeasible in other systems and to generate hypotheses for subsequent testing in various models.
Insect symbioses is the main research focus of the Segoli and Hawlena laboratories at Sde Boker, as well as a number of laboratories at The Hebrew, Haifa and Tel Aviv Universities and the ARO. Recent developments in the fast expanding field of insect symbiosis are revealing a vast array of phenotypes, which the proposed symposium aims at covering. We want to take advantage of the planned (and funded) visit of Dr. Fabrice Vavre (University of Lyon) and his colleagues in Israel, and gather Israeli and foreign researchers. The symposium will in offer researchers and student an opportunity to: 1) get informed on the most updated findings; 2) discuss specific research interests with knowledgeable colleagues; and 3) establish collaborations.
Committee members from SIDEER
Michal Segoli, Hadas Hawlena Mitrani Dept.
