Conference: Integrative science of kleptobiology and photosymbiosis: a workshop during a joint conference of three societies

California State L A University Auxiliary Services Inc., Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

Harnessing the power of photosynthesis holds potential for new technologies ranging from clean and renewable solar energy, to biomedical advances in transplantation and wound healing. The investigators propose a day-long workshop that will bring over 30 leading experts, early-career scientists and students together to explore how organisms ranging from single cells to animals capture and use chloroplasts or other organelles from their food (“kleptobiology”) for their own benefit. They will compare these adaptations to traditional symbioses between animals and photosynthetic partners to gain new insights into how organisms from different branches of the Tree of Life work in an integrative manner, allowing the incredible efficiency of photosynthesis to temporarily power other organisms. By synthesizing recent advances in genomics, microscopy, field ecology, and biochemistry, they will gain new insights into the most promising directions for the field, and potential applications of biological insights from kleptobiology. Their workshop dedicated to kleptobiology will run in conjunction with a scientific conference taking place in August 2024. They will draw together a diverse group of leading researchers, early-career scientists and students who vary widely in their personal and academic backgrounds and training, which promotes interdisciplinary thinking and innovation. This working group will foster communication and collaboration, data sharing, and develop community resources to promote best practices and move quickly on new discoveries. Participants will also present their research and network during the three-day joint meeting of professional societies that follows. The 35 confirmed participants are diverse in career level, scientific interests, and personal identity/experience; half are students, postdocs or new faculty. Integrative and genomic studies provide new opportunities to investigate how photosymbiotic relationships arise and promote holobiont success, with diverse applications from biophotovoltaics to tissue transplantation. This workshop will be the first to focus on kleptobiology, in which chemicals or chloroplasts are captured and integrated into the host cell. A one-day workshop will facilitate research coordination and synthesis for a nascent community, promoting the integration of new approaches, model systems, and emerging techniques. 35 participants are confirmed for the workshop during a joint meeting of three mollusc societies (AMS-WSM; Aug 4-7, 2024). Funds will offset travel, registration, and hotel costs for 18 U.S. attendees, with society funds covering international colleagues and other costs. Through presentations, break-out groups and panel discussions, the workshop will answer five questions: (1) What were the major advances in kleptobiology over the past 5 years; (2) What are the research priorities; (3) Where are the opportunities for breakthroughs, collaborations, and comparative studies; (4) How can efforts be better coordinated to share resources and methods; sustain communication; and synthesize and disseminate data; and (5) How can the researchers build a pipeline for interdisciplinary training? The goals are to produce new protocols, synthesize recent findings and challenges, and establish platforms for sharing information and resources to sustain this research network studying kleptobiology. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.