Plant-Associated Microbe Gene Ontology (PAMGO) Training Workshop
July 14-16, 2008

Plant-associated microbes have evolved similar mechanisms to evade, neutralize or suppress defense systems of their plant hosts and obtain nutrients. Such similarities can only be discovered if a controlled vocabulary is set in place to describe these processes amongst diverse microbe-host interactions. The PAMGO interest group was formed to develop new gene ontology (GO) terms describing the various processes, functions and cellular components related to microbe-host interactions.

The PAMGO Training Workshop will provide two days of lectures on genome annotation, including how to evaluate the reliability of gene models produced by gene prediction software, how to evaluate functional predictions produced by annotation software, what are the Gene Ontology and PAMGO,how to use the Gene Ontology to accurately describe the functions of gene products. A third day will be devoted to hands-on experience in annotation of genes involved in host-associated microbes. Examples for annotation will be chosen based on the interests of the participants. The workshop will be valuable to researchers working in animal-microbe interactions as well as plant-microbe interactions.

PAMGO is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Research Initiative of the USDA-CSREES.

Oomycete Bioinformatics Workshop
July 16-18, 2008

The goals of the Oomycete Genomics Research Collaboration Network are (i) to provide training to oömycete molecular genetics researchers, especially those from smaller institutions, in the use of bioinformatics and genomics resources; (ii) to promote the entry, participation and training of new investigators into the field of oömycete genomics, particularly junior faculty and faculty from institutions under-represented in the U.S. research infrastructure; and (iii) to promote communication and collaboration, and minimize duplication of effort, within the worldwide ošmycete genomics community.

The Oomycete Bioinformatics Workshop will provide a day of lectures introducing the wide variety of oomycete genomics and bioinformatics resources currently available, followed by a two-day "mini-jamboree" in which participants will carry our in depth comparisons of genes from the four oomycete genome sequences currently available: Phytophthora sojae, Phytophthora ramorum, Phytophthora infestans and Hyaloperonospora parasitica.

The Oomycete Genomics Research Collaboration Network is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Travel fellowships of up to $800 will be available to participants. Faculty from predominantly undergraduate institutions, and graduate students from all institutions, are especially encouraged to apply.

Fellowships of up to $1000 are available to those attending both workshops.

For More Information Contact:

Trudy Torto-Alalibo
PAMGO Coordinator
Virginia Bioinformatics Institute
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Washington Street
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0477
Email: trudy@vbi.vt.edu
Tel: 540-231-3572
Fax: 540-231-2606