Meeting: Inside the black box: the mitochondrial basis of life-history variation and animal performance: January 3-7, 2018: San Francisco, CA

Auburn University, Auburn AL

Investigators

Abstract

Mitochondria play a critical role in determining animal performance. Mitochondria produce cellular energy molecules that fuel nearly all organismal processes, but also are responsible for the production of reactive oxygen species - and in turn oxidative stress - an important contributor to senescence. As a result, variation in mitochondrial properties between individuals can predict differences in growth, reproduction, and rate of aging. While integrative measures of mitochondrial function are beginning to provide new insight, the theory and methods associated with these approaches are not widespread in the research community. To address this need, a symposium will be held at the national meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, Jan 3-7, 2018 in San Francisco, CA. The symposium is designed to aid networking among investigators and expand the appreciation of the ecological and evolutionary effects of mitochondrial function to a wider community. The symposium will include a wide diversity of scientists, including students and postdoctoral fellows. The invited speakers will be made up of an equal number of men and women ranging from the level of post-doc, through to assistant, associate, and full professors. Complementary oral and poster sessions will enable graduate and undergraduate students to participate in the symposium. All presenters in the main symposium and companion sessions will submit an article associated with their talk that will be published in a special issue of Integrative and Comparative Biology. Through this publication, the ideas presented in the main symposium will be disseminated to a larger audience and cumulatively provide a basis for future studies of mitochondrial function and life history variation. Mitochondria play a critical role in determining organismal performance through their production of ATP. But, they also generate reactive oxygen species - and in turn oxidative stress - an important contributor to senescence. As a result, variation in mitochondrial properties between individuals can predict differences in organismal maintenance, growth, and reproduction. Researchers have begun bringing measurements of mitochondrial function common to biomedical research to ecological and evolutionary studies. In addition, researchers have begun to evaluate the genetic basis and in turn heredity of mitochondrial performance via the intricate interactions between mitochondria and nuclear genes coding for the mitochondrial proteins. The integration of these measures with oxidative stress, metabolic rate, and other variables related to energetic capacity and efficiency have begun to shed new light on the processes that contribute to organismal performance. Thus, it is an opportune moment to bring investigators together in an organized symposium, to present their research and assess the way forward in this research. The symposium will introduce new investigators to this field, provide a forum for networking, and promote expansion of expertise in the ecological and evolutionary effects of mitochondrial function.