Comparative functional genomics of chloroplasts, mitochondria and their bacterial homologues - new perspectives on symbiosis in cell evolution

Organised by Professor John Allen and Professor John Raven FRS


Chloroplasts and mitochondria are energy-converting organelles of eukaryotic cells. They also contain small, specialised, functional genomes. While their genetic and energy-converting systems are evidently bacterial in origin, most genes for chloroplast and mitochondrial components now reside in the cell nucleus. So why did some genes move, while others did not?

Wednesday 26 June 2002

Welcome and introductory remarks by Stephen Cox, Executive Secretary of the Royal Society

Session 1
Symbiosis and genome function

Chair Christopher J Leaver
University of Oxford

0945 John A Raven
University of Dundee
The roles of cyanobacteria and proeobacteria in symbioses with eukaryotes

1015 Discussion

1030 Tea

1055 Tom Cavalier-Smith
University of Oxford
Secondary symbiogenesis and eukaryote evolution

1125 Discussion

1140 John F Allen
Lund University, Sweden
Redox control of gene expression as the function of genomes in bioenergetic organelles

1210 Discussion

1230 Lunch





Session 2
Bacterial homologues of compartments and organelles

Chair FR Whatley
University of Oxford

1400 W Ford Doolittle
Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada
How big is the iceberg of which organellar genes in nuclear genomes are but the tip?

1430 Discussion

1445 William Martin
Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany
Hydrogenosomes: unusual organelles of anaerobic ATP synthesis in amitochondriate protists and their possible evolutionary significance

1515 Discussion

1530 Tea

1600 Siv Andersson
Uppsala University, Sweden
On the origin of mitochondria: a genomics perspective

1630 Discussion

1645 Carl Bauer
Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
Similarities in bacterial and plant light perception

1715 Discussion

1730 Close


Thursday 27 June 2002

Session 3
Chloroplasts

Chair John F Allen
Lund University, Sweden

0900 Christopher J Howe
University of Cambridge
Evolution of the chloroplast genome

0930 Discussion

0945 Reinhold G Herrmann
Ludwig Maximilian’s University, Munich, Germany
Thylakoid biogenesis and dynamics: the result of a complex phylogenetic patchwork

1015 Discussion

1030 Tea

1055 John C. Gray
University of Cambridge
Coordination of plastid and nuclear gene expression

1125 Discussion

1140 RJM (Iain) Wilson
National Institute for Medical Research, London
Parasite plastids: maintenance and functions

1210 Discussion

1230 Lunch

Session 4
Mitochondria
Chair Angela Douglas
University of York

1400 Axel Brennicke
University of Ulm, Germany
Integration of the mitochondrial genome in the plant cell

1430 Discussion

1445 Martin Embley
Natural History Museum
Mitochondria and Hydrogenosomes: two different faces of the same organelle?

1515 Discussion

1530 Aloysius GM Tielens
Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Evolutionary aspects of anaerobically functioning mitochondria

1600 Discussion

1615 General Discussion

1645 Closing Remarks

1700 Close