[Previous Newsletters can be found on the 'ARCHIVE' page of this website]
SLTB Newsletter June 2008
Outline details
The SLTB’s 2008 meeting will take place on the 11th and 12th of September at the Faculty of Life Science in the University of Copenhagen where it is being hosted by Professor Brian Grout.
Registration and an informal reception will be in the evening of Wednesday the 10th September and the formal sessions will begin at 0830 on Thursday at the Faculty of Life Science, Bulowsvej 17, 1870 Frederiksberg C, Copenhagen.
The working day on Thursday will be taken up by a symposium to consider our view of the problems and issues facing the discipline of low temperature biology as the 21st century begins.
This will be followed by a short canal tour of the City, and then the conference dinner with the pleasures of the Tivoli Gardens to follow for those with enough stamina. Friday will be largely devoted to Free Communications, posters and the AGM
The programme
There are three major sessions planned for Thursday, dealing with plant biology (for which Prof Florent Engelmann will be a keynote speaker), mammalian biology, and the aquatic environment, and if there are speakers enough then microbial systems will also be emphasized. Each session will have an opening speaker (30 min) followed by 3 presentations of 20 minutes. The intention is for each of the speakers to use personal experience, past and current data to give an individual view of the aspects of low temperature biology they feel need to be actively pursued in the short to medium term. Likely opening speakers have been approached and contributions from colleagues for these sessions, as well as the Free Communications session, are strongly encouraged and will be warmly welcomed. There will be the opportunity for posters to be displayed for the duration of the meeting.
In addition to the Free Communications session on Friday it is intended that the opening speakers from each of the Thursday sessions will give their view, albeit relatively briefly, of the direction their area might take in the coming years and what needs to be done to ensure energy and success.
As well as a book of abstracts, and the possibility of an arrangement with CryoLetters to publish abstracts, Proceedings from the meeting can be published on the university website and so extended abstracts will be encouraged from contributors who would like to add their information and views into this forum.
The deadline for abstract submission is 30 July.
For further details of the emerging programme and other updates please look at the Faculty of Life Science website – www.life.ku.dk
Travel and accommodation
Travel is easiest via Copenhagen, where the new Metro station at the airport links directly to City, close the hotels. Some colleagues might consider flying to Malmø, in Sweden, where the airport is linked directly by a 45min bus journey across the Oresund Bridge to the centre of Copenhagen. Delegates arriving by train at Copenhagen Central should use a taxi as the easiest way to reach their hotel. The suggested hotels are within easy walking distance of the University. There are many budget airlines that fly to Copenhagen including EasyJet, Sterling DK and Air Berlin.
Three of the most convenient hotels are given below, but there are many others that can be found in tourist guides and on the internet:
Avenue Hotel, Åboulevard 29, 1960 Frederiksberg C
www.avenuehotel.dk +45 35 37 31 11
single rooms from 775 dkk
Hotel CABINN Scandinavia, Vodroffsvej 55, 1900 FrederiksbergC
www.cabinn.com +45 35 36 11 11
single rooms from 525dkk
Hotel CABINN Express, Danasvej 32, 1910 Frederiksberg C
www.cabinn.dk +45 33 21 04 00
single rooms from 475dkk
Registration, conference fees and invitations
Delegates are asked to register as soon as possible, and no later than 15 August by contacting:
Prof. Brian Grout, Department of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2630 Taastrup, Denmark.
The conference fee will be 95 €** and includes the reception on Wednesday evening, lunch/tea/coffee on Wednesday and Thursday and the canal trip. The conference dinner will be extra and the price will be announced shortly, but it will be reasonable. There is the possibility of a Saturday visit to Roskilde, the old capital, and the Viking Museum on the fjord with a small charge for transport.
** + 25€ for non-members
Letters of invitation will be issued in response to an e-mail to Brian Grout.
*From the General Secretary*
As always, I am certain that the forthcoming SLTB meeting in Copenhagen will prove to be a stimulating and enjoyable scientific meeting. It also provides an opportunity for the geographically dispersed low-temperature biology community to meet, socialise, plan, develop new ideas and of course conduct the business of the SLTB. As you will note with this Newsletter is a call for nominations for membership of the SLTB Committee, namely for a replacement Chair, General Secretary and a general committee member (one of whom will need to act as a trustee for the charity) – short descriptions of the duties that go with these posts are included below. Our constitution (see http://www.sltb.info/archive.html) specifies that we must nominate and vote for the positions of General Secretary and Chairman. I would like to encourage members to agree to be nominated for these important positions in the SLTB. Please forward your nominations to me in hard-copy (see attached form), or by email jgd@sams.ac.uk, as soon as is convenient and not latter than Friday August 8th. Assuming more than one nomination is received for each post, a postal ballot will be held prior to the AGM.
The AGM will be held in the Faculty of Life Science, University of Copenhagen, Bulowsvej 17, 1870 Frederiksberg C, Copenhagen, Denmark on Friday 12th September 2008 at 15.00. For those members who are unable to attend, who wish to present a motion to the AGM, please use the attached form and/or forward an email to the General Secretary, John Day (jgd@sams.ac.uk), prior to Tues 9th Sept 2008.
John G Day
*SLTB Committee*
The Society invites nominations for three new voluntary members of the SLTB Committee – the posts comprise a general committee member and the two specific roles of replacement Chair and General Secretary. Descriptions of the official functions of these posts have been paraphrased from the UK Charity Commission website (and so must be true!):
Chair responsibilities
Providing leadership for the Committee as it fulfils its governance duties and responsibilities toward the Society including:
- setting vision, values and strategy in accordance with charity regulations and the SLTB’s governing document;
- monitoring the Society’s performance against established targets;
- securing financial stability for the Society and safeguarding its reputation and values;
- reviewing major risks and making provisions for the organisation to respond appropriately;
- establishing times and locations of meetings and setting agendas according to committee procedures. The Chair leads meetings and facilitates discussion, encouraging all committee members to participate.
- acting as a point of contact between meetings
- monitoring the communication and implementation of Committee decisions:
- acting as a spokesperson for the Society when authorised
The General Secrety is responsible for ensuring that the charity is run within the law and the terms of the governing document. His/her role is to support the Committee in its adherence to governance and good practice and to facilitate effective meetings. The Secretary is custodian of the governing document and as such is responsible for ensuring that Committee meetings, annual general meetings and extraordinary general meetings are run effectively and in accordance with the provisions of the governing document. Responsibilities include:
- developing the agenda with the Chair for meetings of the Committee and members (such as Annual and Emergency General Meetings).
- ensuring that the agenda and other papers are circulated to all members in good time for the meeting
- ensuring meetings are properly convened, constituted and quorate
- providing trustees with any additional information necessary to facilitate decision making
- confirming decisions and drafting minutes
- writing letters arising from committee meetings
- ensuring the correct appointment and induction of Charity trustees.
- keeping records of membership
One of these new Committee members will need to act as a Trustee for the Society. The Trustees (who need to be over 18 and a resident of England or Wales):
- share responsibility for directing the affairs of the Society and ensuring that it is solvent, well-run, and delivering the charitable outcomes for the benefit of the public for which it has been set up.
- ensure that the Society complies with charity law, and with the requirements of the UK Charity Commission as regulator
- ensure that the Society is and will remain solvent.
*Audrey Smith Travel Awards*
The Audrey Smith Travel Fund provides support for members of the Society For Low Temperature Biology to attend conferences and meetings where they will present work in an area appropriate to the Society. Preference will be given to members wishing to attend SLTB meetings. The award is aimed primarily at researchers new to the field (normally MSc, or PhD students, or researchers in the first year of their first post-doctoral appointment) and technical staff, or support scientists for whom funding for meeting attendance is problematic. Applicants should either be a registered student, or have been a member for 1 year.
To apply, please complete the form on the SLTB website and send it together with supporting documentation to the Society's Secretary at least one month before the meeting for which support is being sought. The closing date for applications to attend the forthcoming SLTB meeting in Copenhagen is Friday 8th August 2008.
*Publications Roundup*
Embryonic stem (ES) cell are central to current programmes which seek to create thousands of mutant mouse strains for the production of human disease models in biomedical research. Crucial to the success of such investigations is the ability to efficiently cryopreserve these mutant cell lines for storage and transport. Although the ability to successfully cryopreserve mouse ES cells is often assumed to be adequate, the post-thaw recovery of cells varies greatly among genetic backgrounds. Therefore, in an effort to improve the efficiency and reduce the variability of current mouse ES cell cryopreservation methods, Benson et al (CELL TRANSPLANTATION 17(1-2): 61-67 2008) assessed the membrane permeability characteristics and osmotic tolerance limits during the cryopreservation of a C57BL/6 mouse ES cell line. These values were used to predict optimal cooling rates, warming rates, and type of cryoprotectant, which were then verified experimentally. The resulting protocol produced a 2-fold increase in post-thaw recovery of membrane-intact ES cells as compared to the standard freezing protocol (as measured by propidium iodide exclusion) and highlighted the value of a fundamental cryobiological approach for future improvements for both mouse and human ES cell line research.
In the more applied (and potentially more dangerous) area of genetic resource banks and assisted reproductive technologies used for the support of endangered species Caamano et al (CELL PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGY 6(1): 83-86 MAR 2008) contrasted two procedures to cryopreserve skin biopsies from live brown bears. Skin biopsies were taken from six anesthetized brown bears and small pieces were assigned to one of the three experimental groups: freezing, vitrification, or untreated fresh. While there were no differences on cell attachment, both freezing and fresh culture allowed for higher cell proliferation (p < 0.05) and less days to reach 70% to 80% confluence (p < 0.03) than vitrification. Thus skin biopsies from brown bears can be preserved long term, allowing fibroblasts to proliferate in culture. Following cooling rate determination, Matson et al (REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY 8(1): 69-73 MAR 2008) advise against the use of particular programmable freezers for the use of sperm freezing from species requiring rapid rates of cooling. Maximum rates of cooling for the Asymptote EF 100 and the Cryologic CL8800 temperature controller with either a standard or fast chamber were determined and viewed in the context of sperm cryopreservation. All three systems use liquid nitrogen to cool the plate or chamber which would hold the sample, opposed by a variable amount of heat from an internal heater. Cooling rates for all systems were a function of the temperature gradient between the liquid nitrogen and the plate/chamber and at a plate/chamber temperature of 15°C were 16.5 °C/min, 13.3 °C/min and 8.0 °C/min for the Asymptote EF 100, Cryologic fast and slow chambers respectively, making them inappropriate for a number of sperm cryopreservation approaches the authors say.
A metabolomics approach has been employed to reveal unique and shared metabolic changes in response to heat shock, freezing and desiccation in the Antarctic midge, Belgica antarctica Jacobs (Michaud et al JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 54(4): 645-655 APR 2008). This species has evolved a suite of behavioral, physiological, and life-cycle modifications to counter the numerous environmental stresses it faces during its 2-year life cycle on the Antarctic Peninsula, but thus far only a limited number of biochemical adaptations have been identified. In this study metabolomics provided a broad overview of changes in energy metabolism, amino acids, and polyols in response to three of the midge's major stresses: heat, freezing and desiccation. Desiccation (50% water loss) elicited the greatest physiological response when compared to untreated controls, with many elevated metabolites from pathways of central carbohydrate metabolism and a decrease in free amino acids. When larvae were frozen (6 h at -10 °C), alanine and aspartate increased as well as urea. Freezing also increased three polyols (glycerol, mannitol, erythritol), while desiccation increased only two polyols (glycerol, erythritol). Freezing and desiccation elicited elevation of four shared metabolites, whereas no shared metabolites were elevated by heat. All three treatments resulted in a reduction in serine, potentially identifying this amino acid as a marker for stress in this species while a number of metabolic changes, especially those in the sugar and polyol pools, are adaptations thought to have potential to enhance survival during both cold and desiccation.
Andy Wetten
*Forthcoming meetings*
46th Annual Meeting of the Society for Cryobiology
in association with the Japanese Society for Cryobiology and Cryotechnology – Sapporo, Japan.
For more information contact:
Conference Secretariat:
Email: sfuji@for.agr.hokudai.ac.jp
Tel: +81-11-706-2511
Fax: +81-11-736-1791
Conference Chair:
Dr. Seizo Fujikawa
Hokaido University
Research Group of Woody Plant Biology
Division of Environmental Resources
Graduate School of Agriculture
Sapporo
Japan
Tel: +81-11-706-2511
Email: sfuji@for.agr.hokudai.ac.jp
Note: Material for this edition prepared and compiled by Andy Wetten.