65October 2013 © Biochemical Society

NewsMeeting Reports

Bioenergetics in Mitochondria, Bacteria and Chloroplasts

Thomas Meier (Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt) and Fraser MacMillan (University of East Anglia, UK)

scientific work directly to key leaders in the bioenergetics research field. Finally, all conference participants were invited to the conference dinner taking place on Thursday evening, to be followed by the mercurial invited speaker Bill Rutherford, who, together with his band, Baskerville Willy, rocked the Rauischholzhausen castle into the late evening.

We express our gratitude to all contributors of this meeting, particularly the speakers and the authors of the mini-reviews in Biochemical Society Transactions. We also thank our sponsors: the three main sponsors (Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt, the Biochemical Society and the Freunde und Förderern der Goethe Universität Frankfurt) and our other sponsors of the meeting (Collaborative Research Consortium (SFB) 807 (Frankfurt, Germany), the German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Oswalt Stiftung of the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt, the Cluster of Excellence – Macromolecular Complexes, Frankfurt, and the Center for Membrane Proteomics (CMP), Frankfurt.

It was certainly an exciting meeting, fruitful and enjoyable throughout, as well as a scientifically very stimulating time. Papers from this meeting will be published in the October 2013 issue of Biochemical Society Transactions. ■

The 3rd German/UK Bioenergetics Conference (DUKBEC 2013) was held in the castle of Rauischholzhausen near Marburg 10–13 April. This Focused Meeting was co-organized by the Biochemical Society UK, the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics and the German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. It has brought together leading researchers from Germany and the UK to present and discuss their latest results within the broad remit of bioenergetics. The meeting continued the successful process of enhancing British–German collaborative research initiated by the first meeting held in 2005 in Naurod, Germany, and the subsequent meeting held at the University of Edinburgh in 2008.

The conference commenced with a plenary keynote lecture given by Professor Wolfgang Junge (University of Osnabrück, Germany) on Wednesday evening and then continued until midday on Saturday. It comprised a total of 18 invited speakers from across the various fields of bioenergetics in mitochondria, bacteria and chloroplasts. The meeting focused on respiratory chain complexes, ATP synthase, mitochondrial morphology, membrane protein complexes in chloroplasts and key biophysical methods such as mass spectrometry, single-crystal and magnetic resonance spectroscopies. Dr Alison Parkin presented her Early Career Research Award lecture. Professor Sir John E. Walker FRS opened the first session of the meeting on Thursday morning. Many of the speakers contributed key review articles to Biochemical Society Transactions, providing topical international visibility of the meeting’s main content.

A further 15 oral slots were selected from the wide range of contemporary and scientifically excellent poster/abstract contributions submitted from the individual participants. The meeting also included a total of three poster sessions as well as plenty of time for scientific dialogue, networking and discussion. The programme was also designed to enable PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and young research group leaders to promote their

3rd Joint German/UK Bioenergetics Conference co-organized by the Biochemical Society and Max Planck Institute of Biophysics; 10–13 April 2013; Schloss Rauischholzhausen, Ebsdorfergrund, Germany

66 October 2013 © Biochemical Society

News

Advances in Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Neurological Disorders A joint Biochemical Society/European Society for Neurochemistry Meeting; 23–26 June 2013, University of Bath, UK

Tori Hammond (University of Bath, UK) and Carla Cox (University of Bath, UK)

The joint Biochemical Society/European Society for Neurochemistry Meeting descended on the Roman city of Bath in June. With 285 scientists hailing from over 30 countries across five continents, the cultural riches of Bath were pushed to beat those provided by the visitors.

Neurological disorders affect approximately 50 million people in the EU, 11% of the population. Despite this, the research profile and funding secured for this area are well behind other leading causes of death, such as cancer and heart disease. Largely due to technical advances in genetic and molecular biology, the field of neuroscience has made a bountiful start to the 21st Century. As a result of the sequencing of the human and model organism genomes, the development of molecular markers enabling visualization of in vitro and in vivo neurological changes, and utilization of new model systems for the study of complex neurological diseases, subsequent advances in global research were areas of focus during the conference.

A particular scientific highlight was Karen Bell’s (Hardingham laboratory, Edinburgh) talk on neuronal antioxidant defence. Karen showed expression of the antioxidant gene Nrf2 is regulated by epigenetic silencing of its promoter in mature neurons, but not in astrocytes. Hence, Karen’s data hinted at why cortical neurons are more susceptible to oxidative stress. However, increased expression of Nrf2 in neurons, to boost antioxidant defence, was detrimental to cortical development and reduced neuronal arborization and dendritic outgrowth.

The meeting also acted as a platform for young researchers to network and communicate their research to a range of academics across the field of neuroscience. As PhD students, we were looking for examples of successful scientific careers to inspire us, and the exposure to award-winning scientists such as Josef Kittler (ESN Young Scientist Lecture Award) and Michael Ehlers (the Thudichum Medal Lecture) was invaluable.

One aspect of the conference that set it apart was the exciting concept of the ‘poster blitz’ – 60 second advertising slots to present your poster. This allowed willing young researchers to gain increased publicity of their research, over the huge programme book in which there were another 128 poster abstracts.

The social highlight was the conference dinner, which took place in the historic Georgian Assembly Rooms, where the 12th Bard of Bath told tales of the history of Bath, and ‘When the Neurochemist Met the Poet’, she encouraged the delegates to engage their creative sides and constructed a poem from lines supplied by the room.

As Biochemical Society student helpers, we were exposed to all sides of the conference, from logistics to AV support and excellent scientific presentations, resulting in a significant proportion of the delegates getting to know us personally, making the occasion feel informal, friendly and thoroughly enjoyable.Papers from this meeting will be published in the December 2013 issue of Biochemical Society Transactions. ■

67October 2013 © Biochemical Society

News

Helicases and Nucleic Acid TranslocasesThe 74th Harden Conference; 4–8 August 2013, Robinson College, University of Cambridge, UK

of the breast cancer-related protein, BRAC2, in complex with the recombinase Rad51 was provided by Xiadong Zhang. Electron microscopy revealed how BRAC2 assists Rad51 to initiate strand invasion during recombination. An intriguing result was described by Smita Patel who used kinetic and structural studies to determine that a replicative DNA polymerase actually leads the replication complex during DNA synthesis, thereby melting the DNA before the helicase at the replication fork. The formation of quadruplex DNA sequences throughout the genome and their resolution by helicases was discussed by several laboratories including those of Balasubramanian, Zakian and Cabezon.

The programme included three outstanding award lectures by specially recognized attendees. Sir Alec Jeffreys received the AstraZeneca Award and provided a highly entertaining account of his team’s discovery and application of DNA fingerprinting. The RSC Nucleic Acids Group Michael J. Gait lectureship was presented by Anna Marie Pyle, who explained how foreign RNA is recognized by the critical RNA-processing protein RIG-I. The Biochemical Society Early Career Research Award was given to Joe Yeeles, who discussed his pioneering research on DNA replication restart which he performed in the laboratory of Ken Marians. The Helicase and Nucleic Acid Translocases meeting will next be held in 2015 in the USA and then back to Europe in 2017. Organizers for the 2015 meeting will be Maria Spies and Karsten Weis, whereas the 2017 meeting will be organized by Dagmar Klostermeier, Ralf Seidel and Piero Bianco. ■

The EMBO Conference Helicases and Nucleic Acid Translocases, co-sponsored by the Harden Conferences, was attended by 130 scientists from around the world. The site and the outstanding organizational support provided by the Biochemical Society received high praise throughout the meeting. The goal of the meeting was to bring together investigators from diverse research areas based on the central theme that nucleic acid metabolism revolves around helicases and translocases. The Cambridge meeting extended a highly successful series which has been held biennially since 1999. In all, about 40 speakers presented their findings followed by engaged and collegial discussions. Attendees typically continued the conversation after the formal programme at one of Cambridge’s many fine establishments.

Over 80 poster presentations were made during lively sessions that facilitated interaction between junior and senior investigators. Several short talks were chosen from the poster abstracts which added to the innovative spirit of the meeting. Prizes were awarded for two of the best posters, with this year’s winners being Melania Strycharska from the Berger laboratory and Neville Gilhooly from the Dillingham laboratory. The organizers were especially pleased with the outstanding poster presentations illustrating a talented new group of researchers entering the field.

The meeting has been known for innovative new science and the Cambridge meeting was no exception. Patrick Linder provided the opening lecture describing major milestones in the discovery and understanding of RNA helicases, particularly the DEAD-box proteins. Rick Russell proposed a stepwise mechanism by which a DEAD-box helicase remodels RNA, providing a possible paradigm for function of these ubiquitous enzymes. The biochemical mechanism of the DNA-targeting CRISPR proteins was described by Virginijus Siksnys and Ralf Seidel, who showed how this protein–RNA complex invades and cleaves double-stranded DNA. Dale Wigley’s group solved the structure of the long-sought after Chi sequence bound to RecBCD. The sequence interacts with the DNA exit channel in a unique manner, thereby switching the enzyme into a mode that facilitates DNA recombination. Patrick Sung presented surprising new findings on how the Pif1 helicase can serve part-time as a replicative helicase by binding to polymerase delta during break-induced repair of DNA. Exciting new structural insight into the mechanism

Frances Fuller-Pace (University of Dundee, UK), Mark Szczelkun (University of Bristol, UK) and Kevin Raney (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, USA)