2023 NeLLi – Symposium on New Lineages of Life

The DOE Joint Genome Institute will host the hybrid “NeLLi 2023 Symposium” delving into the most recent expansions of the Tree of Life and latest discoveries toward the evolution of cellular complexity and microbial symbiosis. Further, the symposium showcases cutting-edge experimental approaches, computational innovations, and other technological advancements that facilitate the shift from uncovering microbial novelties to deciphering metabolic and functional capabilities.

Overview of Symposium Goals

Metagenomic and single-cell sequence data have provided a means to access novel microbial lineages, leading to a new appreciation for the extent of diversity. The phylogenetic and functional characterization of this novel diversity represents an ongoing challenge.

This symposium series will provide an overview of the bacterial, archaeal and microeukaryote diversity cataloged and taxonomically classified to date. Under the “sequence to function’ umbrella, this symposium will further focus on computational approaches to characterize novel microbial lineages and sequence novelty and experimental approaches to assign functional “read out” to sequence data. Moving from cataloging microbial diversity to experimental characterization and validation of the functional potential of these new lineages will provide new cornerstones for research in the areas of bioenergy and biomedicine, as well as biotechnology.

Confirmed NeLLi August 24 – 25, 2023 Session Speakers:

• Laura Hug, University of Waterloo
• Fabien Burki, Uppsala University
• Rebecca Batstone, McMaster University
• Patrick Keeling, University of British Columbia
• Sergio Munoz Gomez, Purdue University
• Anja Spang, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ)
• Nicole Poulton, Bigelow Laboratory of Ocean Sciences
• Roland Hatzenpichler, Montana State University

 Abstract Submission

Deadline for submission is now closed.