First Circular

1^st International Symposium on Ecological Volatiles

July 3 (Friday) and 4 (Saturday), 2009
The University of Tokyo, Yayoi Auditorium
Tokyo, JAPAN

Background and Scope

The biosphere on earth has a wide abundance of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). We are now learning that these VOCs play important roles in ecosystems comprising diverse microbes, plants and animals. In this symposium, such biologically active VOCs are called Ecological Volatiles. They may be essential for mutualistic/antgonisitc interactions between two organisms belonging to the same or different species. Organisms that perceive Ecological Volatiles utilize them as the information to assess their environment and respond appropriately. In this symposium, we try to understand comprehensive functions of Ecological Volatiles. Mostly, studies on biological functions of volatiles have been conducted　within a field of single research area, e.g., molecular biology, natural products chemistry, chemical ecology, physiology, and behavioral ecology, and interdisciplinary studies are rare. Now is the time to synthesize the current knowledge to understand the significance of Ecological Volatiles in nature. In this symposium, all aspects of Ecological Volatiles will be discussed. Therefore, this symposium will serve as a forum for sharing recent knowledge gained through various research efforts.

Prof. Hatanaka (Yamaguchi University) has been organizing annual domestic symposiums on green leaf volatiles for the past ten years. Because this international symposium draws on the former domestic ones, we would like to start with a special session on green leaf volatiles. In the following five sessions, invited talks on Ecological Volatiles will be given by leading scientists from various countries. The organizing committee encourages young scientists and students to present their recent achievements with posters. Please send poster titles to Kenji Matsui (matsui@yamaguchi-u.ac.jp).

Please contact Kenji Matsui (Yamaguchi University) to register the symposium. The registration form is available at the bottom of this circular or on our homepage (http://web.cc.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/~matsui/EcoVolE.html). The registration fee is 2000 JPY (free for a student). The symposium will be held at Yayoi Auditorium which is located on the Yayoi campus of The University of Tokyo. A map to the auditorium is available on the university web page (http://www.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp/yayoi/).

Contact: Kenji MATSUI (Yamaguchi University)
Graduate School of Medicine (Agriculture), Yamaguchi University
Yamaguchi 753-8515, Japan
Tel: +81-(0)83-933-5850, Fax: +81-(0)83-933-5820
E-mail: matsui@yamaguchi-u.ac.jp

--------------------------------------(Registration form)-----------------------------------------
(After filling in, cut out this part, or copy and paste to the e-mail, and send it to Kenji Matsui.)

I would like to attend the symposium.

Name: (Title: Prof., Dr., Mr., Ms.)             .
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□  I wish to attend the conference.
□  I wish to present a paper.
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