Conference: Travel Support for Junior and Underrepresented US Scientists to Present Research at the July 1-4, 2011 SEB Meetings in Glasgow, Scotland.

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

Without insects pollinating plants and trees, which we use for food and construction, most of the terrestrial life forms would disappear. Insects are also the most successful animals on planet Earth, not only in biomass but also in the number of species with estimates as high as 30 Million (compared to about 42,000 species of vertebrates). On the other hand, some insects can cause devastating destruction of forests and crops, and insects feeding on the blood of birds and mammals are known to transmit dreadful diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, encephalitis, West Nile disease, filariasis, lyme disease, leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, typhus fever, and the plague. The evolutionary success of insects stems in part from their functional diversity. For example, insects have developed extraordinary mechanisms for handling water problems with great alacrity. Insects inhabiting arid environments have developed rather water-impermeable armor, insects inhabiting saline waters raise the salt content of their blood to prevent water loss, insects inhabiting fresh water produce large quantities of dilute urine, and mosquitoes gorging on blood have powerful mechanisms for getting rid of unwanted salt and water. At the 2011 meeting of the Society of Experimental Biology in Glasgow, Scotland, the evolutionary success of insects will be examined from the perspective of water balance. Of particular interest will be mechanisms in 1) the intestine, where water is taken up, and 2) the kidneys and salivary glands, where water is eliminated. Central to water transport is the transport of diverse solutes by so-called ion pumps and ion-dependent carriers. Since differences between animals disappear as one proceeds to study progressively smaller parts, the fourth and final oral session will introduce new transport systems discovered in vertebrate tissues with the aim of stimulating the discovery of counterparts in insects. Thus, the primary purpose of the SEB meeting is to enhance our research and teaching. The second aim of the scientific sessions is to give junior scientists from undergraduate to assistant professor the floor in four oral sessions and to allow senior scientists to present new work in two poster sessions. Speakers will reflect the increasing presence of women scientists and underrepresented scientists. One scientific session will be dedicated to William Harvey, now 83, who can look back on a productive career in his study of transport phenomena in insects. Other role models to speak in oral sessions are Sylvie Breton (Harvard Medical School), and Shireen Davies (University of Glasgow).