CSB Special Seminar: Dr. Gregory Emery, IRIC-University of Montreal

CSB Special Seminar

Dr. Gregory Emery
IRIC-University of Montreal

"An Interplay between 14-3-3 and the Rab11 Binding Potein Rip11 is Necessary for the Completion of Cytokinesis"

During cell division, the site of cytokinesis has to be precisely defined to ensure normal mitosis. In recent years, our understanding of the mechanisms ensuring the proper distribution of the cytokinetic machinery has significantly improved, yet the role and regulation of several molecules of the vesicular trafficking machinery in establishing the cytokinesis furrow and the abscission site is still under investigation. Here we have identify an interaction between 14-3-3 and Rip11, the sole Drosophila ortholog of the Rab11 class I family of effectors (Rab11-FIP1, 2 and 5), and we have found that it plays an important role in the distribution of key regulators of cytokinesis. In addition, recent developments concerning our work on the regulation of cell-cell communication during collective cell migration will also be discussed.
Host:  Prof. Dorothea Godt  < d.godt@utoronto.ca>

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CSB Special Seminar: Dr. Anna Dobritsa, Dept of Molecular Genetics & Center for Applied Plant Sciences, The Ohio State University

CSB Special Seminar

Dr. Anna Dobritsa
Department of Molecular Genetics & Center for Applied Plant Sciences
The Ohio State University

"Pattern formation on Arabidopsis pollen surface"

Tuesday, August 1, 2015 at 2:00 p.m.
Earth Sciences Centre, Room 3087

Host:  Prof. Daphne Goring d.goring@utoronto.ca

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CSB Special Seminar: Prof. Jean-Claude Labbé, University of Montreal

Cell & Systems Biology
Special Seminar

Prof. Jean-Claude Labbé
Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC)
University of Montreal

"When Failure is Success:  Syncytiogenesis of the C. elegans Germline by Incomplete Cytokinesis”

Monday, July 27, 2:10 p.m.
Ramsay Wright Building, Room #432

Host: Tony Harris  <tony.harris@utoronto.ca>

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CSB Special Seminar: Dr. Hiroyuki Kasahara, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science

CSB Special Seminar

Dr. Hiroyuki Kasahara
RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science

"Distinct Characteristics of IAA and PAA, Two Natural Auxins in Plants"

Friday, July 31, 2015
Earth Sciences Centre, Room 3087, 2-3 p.m.

The phytohormone auxin plays a central role in many aspects of plant growth and development. IAA is the most studied natural auxin that possesses the property of polar transport in plants. Phenylacetic acid (PAA) has also been recognized as a natural auxin, but its role in plant growth and development remains unclear. Recently, we showed that IAA and PAA have overlapping regulatory roles but distinct transport characteristics as auxins in plants. PAA is widely distributed in vascular and non-vascular plants. Although the biological activities of PAA are lower than those of IAA, the endogenous levels of PAA are much higher than those of IAA in various plant tissues in Arabidopsis. PAA and IAA can regulate the same set of auxin-responsive genes through the TIR1/AFB-Aux/IAA pathway in Arabidopsis. Interestingly, IAA actively forms concentration gradients in maize coleoptiles in response to gravitropic stimulation, whereas PAA does not, indicating that PAA is not actively transported in a polar manner. Our results provide new insights into the regulation of plant growth and development by different types of auxins.
Host: Eiji Nambara <eiji.nambara@utoronto.ca>

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CSB Special Seminar - Dr. Maydianne Andrade, Professor & Canada Research Chair, University of Toronto Scarborough

CSB Special Seminar

Dr. Maydianne Andrade
Professor & Canada Research Chair
University of Toronto Scarborough

Gender Bias in Science: Manifestations, Effects & Countermeasures

The Gender Workshop on Friday, July 10th at 2-3 pm, RW 432
(Broadcasting in UTSC MW229, UTM DV4001)

Assessment of professional achievement is a fundamental feature of careers in science, where it affects hiring, compensation, resource availability, promotion, and opportunities for further progress. Here I outline how decades of research, including experimental studies, show women are subject to systematic biases in the assessment of their scientific competence and achievement. Some types of bias are overt and can be addressed in many institutions with existing policies against unprofessional behaviour. Other forms are more subtle however, and may involve unconscious tendencies that are challenging to identify and address. Unconscious biases may nevertheless manifest in peer review of scholarly work or quantitative assessment of research impact, among other areas, and appear to be pervasive, regardless of the gender of the evaluator.  I discuss likely manifestations of unconscious bias and argue that education is a critical tool for counteracting its negative effects.

Founded BY IDRC (International Development Research Center), Government of Canada
Sponsored by CSB, CAGEF, Sporometrics

This workshop is a part of the on-going project on Coconut Lethal -Yellow Disease in Africa. We have two more keynote speakers who will discuss about Gender issues in Africa.

Host: Keiko Ysohioka <keiko.yoshioka@utoronto.ca>

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CSB Seminar: Mapping Spatiotemporal Gene Regulatory Networks Guiding Root Vascular Development

CSB Special Seminar

Prof. Siobhan Brady
Dept of Plant Biology & Genome Center
University of California

"Mapping Spatiotemporal Gene Regulatory Networks Guiding Root Vascular Development"

Mallorie Taylor-Teeples, Miguel de Lucas, Allison Gaudinier, Ted Toal, Sebastian Ahnert, Francois Roudier, Siobhan M. Brady.

Arabidopsis root development provides a remarkably tractable system to delineate cell type-specific, developmental gene regulatory networks and to study their functionality in a complex multicellular model system over developmental time. We present gene regulatory networks guiding two aspects of vascular cell type development, specifically xylem cell specification and differentiation and vascular proliferation. Two components of transcriptional regulation are elucidated - transcription factor-mediated regulation and Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2)-mediated regulation. Perturbations of these networks yield insight into environmental manipulation of a developmental program. Together, these networks identify novel regulators of vascular development and provide considerable insight into the combinatorial nature of root development at cell type and temporal stage-resolution.

Host: Prof. Nicholas Provart

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CSB Special Seminar: Dr. Deborah Winter, Dept of Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

CSB Special Seminar

Dr. Deborah Winter
Department of Immunology
Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

"Nature vs. Nurture: The Influence of Environment on the Macrophage Chromatin Landscape"

Wednesday, March 4, 2015 at 1 p.m.
CCBR Black Seminar Room
160 College Street
Macrophages are critical for innate immune defense and also control organ homeostasis in a tissue-specific manner. They provide a fitting model to study the impact of ontogeny and microenvironment on chromatin state and whether chromatin modifications contribute to macrophage identity. Here, we profile the dynamics of four histone modifications across seven tissue-resident macrophage populations. We identify 12,743 macrophage-specific enhancers and establish that tissue-resident macrophages have distinct enhancer landscapes beyond what can be explained by developmental origin. Combining our enhancer catalog with gene expression profiles and open chromatin regions, we show that a combination of tissue- and lineage-specific transcription factors form the regulatory networks controlling chromatin specification in tissue-resident macrophages. The environment is capable of shaping the chromatin landscape of transplanted bone marrow precursors, and even differentiated macrophages can be reprogrammed when transferred into a new microenvironment. These results provide a comprehensive view of macrophage regulatory landscape and highlight the importance of the microenvironment, along with pioneer factors in orchestrating identity and plasticity.
Co-hosted by Gary Bader and Nicholas Provart
If you wish to meet with the speaker, please contact nicholas.provart@utoronto.ca
Recent publication: Lavin/Winter et al., Cell http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2014.11.018

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CSB Seminar: Prof. Ulrich Tepass, Cell & Systems Biology, University of Toronto

CSB Departmental Seminar

Professor Ulrich Tepass
Cell & Systems Biology
University of Toronto

"A Talk to Celebrate the Election of Prof. Tepass as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada"

From the Royal Society of Canada:

Tepass is an international leader in the analysis of epithelial cell polarity and cell adhesion using the genetic model organism, the fruit fly. He was among the first to characterize an epithelial polarity factor in 1990, and since then has made numerous seminal contributions to our understanding of the molecular regulation of cell polarity and adhesion and the developmental significance of these processes. The fundamental insights that this work has generated are relevant for our understanding of human disease, including blindness and most forms of cancer. Tepass is an international leader in the analysis of epithelial cell polarity and cell adhesion using the genetic model organism, the fruit fly. He was among the first to characterize an epithelial polarity factor in 1990, and since then has made numerous seminal contributions to our understanding of the molecular regulation of cell polarity and adhesion and the developmental significance of these processes. The fundamental insights that this work has generated are relevant for our understanding of human disease, including blindness and most forms of cancer.

Host:  Prof. Tony Harris

Refreshments will be served.  All are welcome

Video Conferencing at UTM (DV 4001) & UTSc (MW 229)

Ramsay Wright is a Wheelchair Accessible Building

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CSB Seminar: Prof. Jean-Claude Béïque, Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery and Centre for Neural Dynamics, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa

CSB Departmental Seminar

Prof. Jean-Claude Béïque
Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery and
Centre for Neural Dynamics
Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
University of Ottawa

"Spatiotemporal Input Feature Detection by Developing CA1 Pyramidal Neuronal Dendrites"

Host: Prof. Melanie Woodin

Refreshments will be served.  All are welcome

Video Conferencing at UTM (DV 4001) & UTSc (MW 229)

Ramsay Wright is a Wheelchair Accessible Building

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CSB Seminar: Dr. Matthew Gibson, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kanses City, Missouri

CSB Departmental Seminar

Dr. Matthew Gibson
Stowers Institute for Medical Research
Kansas City, Missouri

"Coordinating Mitosis and Morphogenesis in Epithelial Cell Sheets"

Host: Prof. Rodrigo Fernandez-Gonzalez

Refreshments will be served.  All are welcome

Video Conferencing at UTM (DV 4001) & UTSc (MW 229)

Ramsay Wright is a Wheelchair Accessible Building

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