The purpose of this workshop is to assemble for discussions a select but representative group of scientists who are actively working at the forefront of research on the biochemical mechanisms used in site-specific recombination and transposition. This interrelated group reactions lie at the heart of a number of very important biological processes: integration of retroviruses generation of antibody diversity, transmission of antibiotic resistance genes, rearrangement of bacterial chromosomes and mobility of eukaryotic introns. The oral presentations at this Workshop will emphasize the mechanistic aspects of these recombination reactions. There is currently rapid progress in this area, and a specialized meeting for leaders in this field should be both timely and productive. The roster of speakers includes several scientists who have pushed the analysis of recombination for the first time into the realm of enzyme kinetics, as well as many scientists who have applied other types of biochemical, genetic and topological analysis. Topics will include retroviral integration, reactions of the integrase and resolvase families, Holliday junctions, immunoglobulin rearrangements, prokaryotic transposable elements, and Drosophila P elements. We are also encouraging poster presentations from scientists working in systems which are not yet amenable to mechanistic analysis. This should serve both to broaden the biological base of the meeting and to encourage those working in relatively undeveloped systems to undertake a more mechanistic approach. The meeting will be limited to 100-135 participants. This number is sufficient to include all of the principal investigators who are working productively in this area as well as a reasonable sampling of post-doctoral fellows and an occasional outstanding graduate student. However, this number is small enough that efficient interchange amongst all the participants is still possible.
