These conference reports are written by the beneficiaries of our travel fund.
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California, USA
25th – 30th September 2022
The Gordon Research Conference on the ‘Molecular Basis and Applications of Microbial Signal Detection, Transduction and Response’, which is biannually celebrated in Ventura (California), was finally held last September 2022 – eight months after its temporary suspension last January 2022 due to the increase in the incidence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This conference is an unmissable event for all researchers interested in aspects such as the regulation of gene expression and the molecular mechanisms that mediate microbial responses (e.g. chemotaxis, biofilm formation, antimicrobial resistance, antibiotic production, etc.) to environmental stimuli.
The congress was attended by over 150 researchers from both academia and industry, and featured more than 60 talks, distributed in 9 different sections, as well as over 100 posters – which is indicative of the extraordinary diversity and scientific content of this international conference. Because both the scientific activities and the accommodation of the attendees were within the same venue, a resort hotel located in Ventura Harbour, the event represented a perfect opportunity to create new links, meet colleagues and establish new collaborations. At the conference, I had the great opportunity to give a talk on the molecular mechanisms by which two beneficial plant-associated bacteria, a plant growth-promoting bacterium and a rhizosphere biocontrol agent, recognise the auxin phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid to modulate chemotaxis and the production of antibiotics that are active against a variety of plant pathogens.
The conference opened with the section ‘Applying the Power of Bacterial Signalling’ where Anand Muthusamy showed a series of experimental approaches for the generation of biosensors based on the sensing capabilities of periplasmic binding proteins – a strategy that could be of interest to plant pathologists for the early detection and quantification of phytopathogens. During the second day, a series of lectures on the mechanisms of bacterial detection of environmental signals started with an excellent introduction by Tino Krell, the discussion leader of the section, in which the recent progress in the field of the identification of signals that are recognised by bacterial sensor proteins was highlighted. The characterisation of these signal molecules represents the basis for the targeted design of antagonist molecules to fight plant pathogenic microorganisms. In this section, Victoria Korolik presented her latest research on the mechanisms of recognition of chemoattractant and chemorepellent molecules by chemoreceptor proteins and the implication of this sensing in host colonisation. The third day of the conference was mainly dedicated to the mechanisms of bacterial transcriptional responses and to signalling processes in microbial communities. During the course of the sections held on this day, aspects such as the regulation of bacterial sporulation by two-component systems and the fundamental role of the second messenger c-di-GMP in bacterial motility, biofilm formation and the production of bioactive molecules were brilliantly covered by international keynote speakers like Ann West, Victoria Stone, Karen Visick and Firnat Yildiz. The fourth day of the meeting was focused on signalling processes during the interaction with hosts and novel signal transduction mechanisms, in which topics such as interspecies communication in bacteria and the utilisation of sensor regulators from bacterial polysaccharide utilisation loci (PULs) for the construction of biosensors for the detection of complex glycan mixtures were addressed. On the last day of the congress, Marc Erhardt taught us about the metabolic cost of synthesizing flagella and the benefits they present for colonising complex environments. The conference was closed with a final session on bacterial mechanosensing where leading scientists in the field such as Matthew Parsek and Pushkar Lele presented their research on the essential role of the type IV pili and different regulatory pathways for the detection of surfaces and host colonisation by bacteria. Some posters to highlight for members of BSPP included those focused on: (i) the identification of amino acids sensor proteins in beneficial and pathogenic plant-associated bacteria; (ii) the mechanisms of chemotaxis in plant growth-promoting bacteria such as Sinorhizobium (Ensifer) meliloti and Azospirillum brasilense; and (iii) the c-di-GMP-regulated processes under aerobic and anaerobic conditions in the bacterial phytopathogen Pectobacterium caratovorum.
Overall, a magnificent conference for which I would like to thank the BSPP for providing me with a travel grant to help my attendance. I can´t wait for the next Gordon Research Conference on Sensory Transduction in Microorganisms, which it will be also held in Ventura (United States) in January 2023.
Miguel A. Matilla
Estación Experimental del Zaidín – Spanish Research Council (EEZ-CSIC; Granada, Spain)
View of the recreational marina at Portside Ventura Harbour located in the vicinity of where the conference was held.
These conference reports are written by the beneficiaries of our travel fund.
Click here to read more about the fund and apply yourself
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