The cytochrome P450 monooxygenase superfamily of heme-containing enzymes contains a wide range of monooxygenase activities that make them critically important to virtually all life forms. In recent years, they have been shown to be important in human growth and development because they are involved in steroid biosynthesis and also in many pharmacological areas because they are critical for the activation and/or detoxification of drugs in human and vertebrate models. In a rapidly and ever-expanding area, they have been shown to be important in insect and plant growth and development because of their involvement in biosynthetic pathways for insect and plant hormones and in agricultural areas because they mediate the metabolism of herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and environmental pollutants.
Realizing the growing importance of this area of plant and insect P450 research, the organizing committee for the International Symposium Series on P450 Biodiversity branched from the more classical area of vertebrate P450 research represented in the Symposium Series on Microsomes and Drug Oxidations to create an independent and focused series devoted to microorganisms, plants and insects. For the Sixth International Symposium on P450 Biodiversity: Functional Biochemistry & Molecular Biology of P450 Cytochromes in Microorganisms, Plants and Insects, the organizers have endeavored to continue the examples set in the five previous meetings in this series by providing platforms for the presentation of approaches for expression analysis of model P450s as well as functional analysis of the numerous P450s existing in these non-vertebrate systems. The goal is to provide a forum for discussing leading research in the field through a single lecture series of 48 presentations interspersed with scheduled poster presentations and ample time for informal discussions. With this goal in mind, funds are requested to help support travel expenses for competitively identified advanced predoctoral and postdoctoral students.
The International Advisory Board and Scientific Organizing Committee for this Series contains representatives from seven different countries including eleven from the United States. The meeting will be held August 20-25, 2002 at the Conference Center on the UCLA campus and hosted by Armand J. Fulco, Professor of Biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Fulco's research has focused on characterization of bacterial cytochrome P450s through a variety of world-wide collaborations. It is expected that attendance at this meeting will be approximately 200 with participation from the United States, Europe and the Pacific Rim in approximately equal proportions.
