[Seminars] PSB event reminder

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Calendar Name: seminars
Scheduled for: Friday, June 18 2010, 11:00 - 12:30
Event text:    Atle M. Bones
	       
	       CMBG, Department of Biology
	       Norwegian University of Science and Technology
	       
	       Trondheim
	       NORWAY
Details:       "From Arabidopsis thaliana to Seminavis robusta:
	       establishing a new diatom model system for functional
	       genomics"
	       
	       ABSTRACT
	       Starting research on Arabidopsis thaliana in the 1960´s
	       our department has a long track record of using the #1
	       model in plant science. Although other plants are in use
	       the major part of our activity is still on Arabidopsis. 
	       However, we aim to establish other model systems and I
	       will address some questions related to the establishment
	       of Seminavis robusta as a laboratory model system for
	       research on diatoms.
	       
	       Diatoms are unicellular photosynthetic algae present in
	       marine and fresh water down to depths to which radiation
	       can be photosynthetically exploited. Being evolutionary
	       successful with perhaps as many as 200 000 species
	       diatoms are major global contributors to marine primary
	       production and to the biological carbon pump and
	       biogeochemical cycles. 
	       
	       Recently, the genomes of two diatoms, Thalassiosira
	       pseudonana and Phaeodactylum tricornutum have been
	       sequenced (Armbrust et al. 2004; Bowler et al. 2008).
	       These two diatoms and other algae are in use in various
	       experiments in our department related to e.g. light
	       acclimation and bioenergy issues. 
	       
	       Getting culture start help from professor Wim Vyverman´s
	       group we have set out to establish Seminavis robusta as
	       a laboratory workhorse. Basic techniques for
	       cultivation, extraction of molecules, mating and
	       transformation and imaging are being established.  We
	       are also aiming to sequence the Seminavis robusta
	       genome. This work has been started and I will briefly go
	       through the results so far and the reasoning behind the
	       choice of Seminavis as a model system.

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