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26th June – 1st July 2022
The Cellular and Molecular Fungal Biology conferences, run under the aegis of the Gordon Research Conferences (GRC) organisation, are one of the three main international meetings for those interested in exploring the fundamental workings of fungi and their interactions with other organisms. Normally, they alternate with the other key meeting on this theme held in north America (the Fungal Genetics Conference in Asilomar, CA) and are in the same year as the European Fungal Genetics Conference. The COVID pandemic disrupted calendars and routine: originally scheduled for 2020, this GRC meeting was postponed by two years. For many of us, it was the first in-person get-together since the start of the pandemic: and how we enjoyed it! The mere fact that we were able to share spaces, discuss face to face, listen in person, and enjoy some real science ‘fellowship’ was a huge bonus and it drove home, again, what a privilege it is to be able to do so.
I was originally invited to present my work in 2020 and I am hugely grateful to the BSPP for helping fund the travel costs associated with the conference. For those who have never participated at GRC meetings, these are relatively small (~120 attendees) and prioritise time for discussion. There is time to talk and reflect; plenty of time, way beyond the usual Question and Answer sessions after the presentations. The meetings in Holderness have the added advantage of taking place in the unique relaxing environment of the New England forests and mountains, their lakes and rivers. Attendees are warmly encouraged to take advantage of this through planned breaks in the day, organised and impromptu excursions out of the campus, and evening spent chatting, drinks at hand, next to the posters.
One of the traditional features of the GRCs is that to encourage the sharing of the most recent, unpublished data, attendees are bound by confidentiality. There is a strict ban on live-Tweeting of talk contents. To keep to the spirit of this, I will limit my report to the bare outlines of the presentations. I hope readers here will not be upset about this! If you really want to know more details, I would strongly encourage you to contact the speakers directly (the programme is still viewable on https://www.grc.org/cellular-and-molecular-fungal-biology-conference/2022/#:~:text=The%202022%20Gordon%20Research%20Conference,the%20complex%20environments%20they%20occupy)
Another feature that I appreciate in the GRCs is the fundamentally egalitarian approach to science: all presenters have the same length of slot allocated to them. There are no ‘keynote’ speakers. There is also a long-standing care and attention to diversity of speakers (gender, age, provenance, etc.): this has been a tradition here, and long may it continue. The organisers of this meeting (Alex Brand and Jason Stajic) assembled a great set of contributors, and I am sure that the next ones (Anna Selmecki and Nick Talbot) will do likewise for the 2024 one.
Getting to Holderness is quite a trip: once you have made it to Boston (USA) – for me a transatlantic flight – you assemble at a hub close to the Airport where buses are arranged to deliver you to all sorts of different GRCs: make sure you get on the right one! After a few hours, we were delivered to the Holderness School – across the river from Plymouth (NH). Attendees are hosted in not-so-spartan student halls.
The Science started on the Sunday evening with an opening session on ‘Fungal Hijacking and Host Manipulation’. Each session is introduced by a Discussion Leader, who sets the scene with a short introduction. This first one was chaired by João Araújo (NY Botanic Gardens) and included talks by Matt Kasson and Sam Edwards on psychotropic metabolites in entomopathogenic fungi, and Liz Ballow on fungal – bacteria interaction. I also had the pleasure of presenting my most recent research on the biology of small RNAs in powdery mildews (now in press at MPP, if you wish to read the details).
Monday morning started with a group photo in the ice rink. It felt a bit like being at school, but I am sure there is value in having a photographic record of all of us there. The sessions started with a topic that is close to my interests: the role of extracellular vesicles in cell and organismal biology (Joshua Nosanchuk); small RNAs associated with these may play roles in signalling. This was the followed by presentations on the role of zinc in regulating virulence in Candida albicans (Duncan Wells), actin polymers in chytrids (Lillian Fritz-Laylin) and fungal invasion forces, again in C. albicans (Robert Arkowitz). The morning concluded with talks on tRNA modifications in the rice blast fungus (Richard Wilson), intracellular transport (Jenna Christensen) and exo- and endocytosis in Neurospora crassa (Marisela Garduño Rosales). The afternoon saw a ‘different’ type of session: we discussed in groups difficult aspects of equality, diversity and inclusion in our science work – lead masterfully by Christina Cuomo and Elaine Bignell. After the early dinner, the science sessions continued late into the evening with contributions on symbiosis and interactions with other organisms lead by Christine Voisey and included talks on plant Mortierella endophytes (Gregory Bonito), arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Anna Rosling) and Rhizopus -bacteria relations (Gabriel Giger), concluding with a remote presentation (due to COVID) by Neftaly Cruz Mireles on phosphoproteomic analysis of rice blast.
Tuesday’s morning session centred around genome perspectives on fungal evolution (led by Christina Cuomo). For me the highlights of this session were presentations by Daniel Croll on the genomics, and effector biology of Zymoseptoria and the charcterisation of massive (up to 600 kb long) transposable elements called “Starship” in Verticillium dahliae by Emile Gluck Thaler. The most remarkable talk of the evening centred on the biology of extremophile fungi, in particularly those making a living on the surfaces of Greenland’s ice sheets (Nina Gunde-Cimerman).
Wednesday’s offerings included talks on the biology of Fusarium oxysporum – an intriguing pathogen of both plants and animals (Antonio di Pietro) as well as other specialised animal pathogens. In the post-prandial break, some of us followed Matt Kasson on a short fungal ‘foray’ – just to see what was growing in the woods surrounding the campus. We did not have to wander far: soon the group got on our knees and elbows looking close-up at all sorts of fruiting bodies lurking behind those logs, and in the foliage. Those of us from other climes had to look out for ‘poison ivy’ to avoid its urticant – some of us (me) were not successful in our avoidance strategy and we had to bear the stinging sensations to part of exposed skin for some days to come.
In the evening an important bit of administration takes place: nomination and election of the next ‘vice-chairs’. We duly elected Elain Bignell and Bridget Barker – on whose shoulders the organisation of the 2026 meeting will rest.
Thursday, the last full day of the conference included science on signalling in fungi led by Alex Idnurm. The most memorable presentations were on codon usage in Neurospora crassa (Yi Lu) and host nutrient sensing in Fusarium Head Blight (Neil Brown), concluding with another talk about extraordinary extremophiles inhabiting, among other places, statues and solar panel surfaces (Julia Schumacher). Traditionally, the scientific part of the meeting concludes with ‘Late Breaking’ talks: these are themes selected by the Chairs from the most recent advances selected from the offered posters. This year, the topics included monitoring transposon dynamics in Fusarium (Ana Rodriguez-Lopez), the biology of Chytrids (Kristyn Robinson) and experimental evolution in fungal pathogens (Zöe Hilbert).
Two rituals complete every Cellular and Molecular Fungal Biology GRC: prizegiving and a lobster dinner. The prizegiving is entertaining: the Vice Chairs raid the local store (Plymouth – across the river) to find funny little presents for the speakers inspired by all the talks; this is no mean feat, and Nick and Anna did a great job at keeping all of us amused (and some of us mildly embarrassed). The lobster was good, as they always are in New England.
The GRCs pride themselves for being rather different from many other conferences. Interactions between researchers are their main aim. And this one certainly hit the bull’s eye on this. I thoroughly recommend attending these meetings – particularly for Early Career Researchers: they are a unique opportunity to get up-and-close to all sorts of science in your field, and give exposure to your work. You will get a captive and enthusiastic audience. Few opportunities like this exist: grab them, when possible.
Pietro D SPANU
Imperial College London
These conference reports are written by the beneficiaries of our travel fund.
Click here to read more about the fund and apply yourself
