Justification

Several invertebrate systems have been developed to study the eye and eye disease (Drosophila, Planaria, Platynereis, and most recently, the cubozoan jellyfish Tripedalia), but a molluscan model is conspicuously absent. This is surprising as mollusc systems offer many advantages and opportunities to study basic visual processes that may be altered in the disease state, physiology of vision, development of the visual system, and evolution. As an example, recent work shows that cytoskeletal organization is regulated by the state of light and dark adaptation in cephalopods. We also know that some disease states in the retina affect the cytoskeleton. Studies on cephalopod photoreceptors could lead to a better understanding of the role of the cytoskeleton in photoreceptors and provide clues that link its organization to retinal disease. To take advantage and increase the use of molluscan eye models, there is a need to encourage interactions between eye researchers and malacologists, who study the organism as a whole. Malacologists provide a detailed knowledge of the organism's ecology/habitat/niche that, when combined with expertise on the development and physiology of the eye, have the potential to re-direct research to more fruitful questions and model systems. At present, these two groups of researchers are largely unaware of the other's body of work as they do not attend the same meetings or publish in the same journals. The goal of this symposium is to open a dialog between these fields, to invigorate and advance eye research into new frontiers by using molluscan eyes as a model system to study eye development and disease.

The objectives of this symposium are to:
1)    Bring eye researchers and malacologists together to exchange research, ideas and perspectives
2)    Focus attention on the rich morphological diversity of molluscan eyes
3)    Inspire future researchers to incorporate molluscan model organisms in eye research
4)    Provide a forum for new ideas and approaches for future study

Confirmed speakers and topics include:

Dr. Jeanne Serb, Iowa State University, USA
Welcome and symposium overview;
Molecular perspective on the development of the scallop pallial eye

Dr. Marina Zieger International University of Bremen, Germany
Anatomy, development, and regeneration of eyes among pulmonate and aquatic gastropods

Prof. Brian Morton, University of Hong Kong
The evolution of eyes in the Bivalvia: Some new insights

Dr. Joram Piatigorsky, National Eye Institute, U.S. National Institutes of Health, USA
Evolution of mollusc lens crystallins

Dr. Laura Robles, California State University, Dominquez Hills, USA
Using the octopus retina to understand the cell biology of the eye: Surprises and clues!

Prof. Luitfried Salvini-Plawen, University of Vienna, Austria
On the evolution of photoreceptors and eyes

Dr. Lon Wilkens, University of Missouri - St. Louis, USA
Receptor physiology in the eyes of bivalve molluscs

Conference information

Details of the conference, including an online abstract submission can be found at the World Congress of Malacology website: http://www.ucd.ie/zoology/unitas/congress.html
Relevant dates for the conference include:

• Deadline for Eye Symposium Student Travel Grants - 20 April.
• Deadline for early registration - 30 April. 
  
• Deadline for abstract submission - 31 May.
  
• Conference begins on the evening of 15 July 2007. 
  
• The Eye Symposium will be held on 16 July 2007.

Student Travel Grants

To increase student participation and support attendees of the symposium, we will offer competitive travel awards (up to $US 750 per student).  Students who wish to participate in the symposium and present their work at this meeting can apply. Members of underrepresented groups in science will be encouraged to apply and given special consideration regarding awards. 

Eligibility for the symposium travel awards will be judged on the basis of merit and need by the chairs of the symposium. All successful applicants must present a paper or poster at the World Congress of Malacology. Applications will include: 1) a statement (one page maximum) of how they feel this opportunity will be important to their future career goals; 2) an abstract of their proposed talk or poster; 3) a curriculum vitae; and 4) a letter of recommendation from their advisor or someone familiar with their research and qualifications.

The closing date for Eye Symposium Student Travel Grant applications is 30 April 2007

For further information, please contact the symposium organizers:

Dr. Jeanne Serb, Dept. Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, 245 Bessey, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA; Email: serb@iastate.edu;

Dr. Laura Robles, California State University, Dominquez Hills, 1000 E. Victoria Street, Carson, CA 90747, USA; Email: lrobles@csudh.edu

Financial support from: