OIST Mini Symposium "Phylogeny and Classification of Termites"

Zoom link:  https://oist.zoom.us/j/96104938481

Summary:

Termites are a small insect order including about 3000 described species. However, their importance in tropical and substropical ecosystems is far higher than that suggested by their modest diversity. Termites are one of the main decomposers of organic matter in tropical terrestrial ecosystems, where they make up about one fourth of the animal biomass. Recently, comprehensive phylogenetic trees have shed light on the timing and the mechanisms that led termites to become the dominant decomposers in the terrestrial tropics. These phylogenetic trees have also revealed that several taxonomic groups are not monophyletic, pointing to the need of a nomenclatural revision of higher rank termite taxonomic names. This mini-symposium will allow the leading researchers on termite phylogeny and evolution to present their latest results. It will help determining the gaps in our understanding, and design approaches to fill them. In particular, this mini-symposium will provide a platform for researchers to determine the necessary steps to take to create a new termite classification, that takes into account phylogenetic evidences.

Invited Speakers (Alphabetical order by last name):

• Cedric Aumont, Freie Universität Berlin
• Thomas Chouvenc, University of Florida
• Michael Engel, Kansas University 
• Frederic Legendre, National Museum of Natural History, France
• Nathan Lo, University of Sydney
• Dino Peter McMahon, Freie Universität Berlin
• Alina Mikhailova, University of Münster 
• Yves Roisin, University of Brussels
• Jan Šobotnik, Czech University of Life Science

Contact:

Tom Bourguignon: egu@oist.jp, 

Kako Toyoda: Kazuko.Toyoda@oist.jp

Zoom link:  https://oist.zoom.us/j/96104938481

(To check your time zone > http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/tzc.tzc)

Timetable:

*Main presentations are basically 50 min session including talk and Q&A, and small talks are 30 min sessions.

Day 1: Tuesday, 29th November 2022                           

08:30-09:00        Morning coffee Time      

09:00-09:30        Opening Remarks by Prof. Dr. Thomas Bourguignon (OIST: Organizer)        

09:30-10:20        Prof. Dr. Yves Roisin (University of Brussels), “Termite phylogeny and evolution of caste patterns”

10:30-11:20        Prof. Dr. Michael Engel (Kansas University),
                           “Termites in time and space: The evolutionary history of Earth’s most ubiquitous ecosystem engineers”

11:20-14:00        Lunch break and Campus Tour   

14:00-14:50        Prof. Dr. Frederic Legendre (National Museum of Natural History, France),
                           “Dating the phylogenetic tree of termites”

15:00-15:50        Dr. Menglin Wang (OIST),
                           “Worldwide historical biogeography of termites (Blattodea: Isoptera)”

15:50-16:20        Afternoon coffee Break  

16:20-17:10        Dr. Simon Hellemans (OIST),
                           “Towards a lasting higher-level classification of termites from genomic snapshots”

17:20-17:50        Small Talk1: Prof. Dr. Taisuke Kanao (Yamagata University),
                           “Termitophily in the rove beetle subfamily Aleocharinae”

17:50-18:30        Free/Discussion

18:30 -                Dinner                  

                           

Day 2: Wednesday, 30th November 2022                      

08:30-09:00        Morning coffee Time      

09:00-09:50        Prof. Dr. Thomas Chouvenc (University of Florida),
                           “The perils of colony foundation and their evolutionary implications in termites”

10:00-10:50        Prof. Dr. Jan Šobotnik (Czech University of Life Science),
                           "Evolution of termite feeding habits"

11:00-11:30        Small Talk 2: Dr. Nobuaki Mizumoto (OIST),
                           “Evolution of movement coordination in termites”

11:30-12:20        Lunch break      

12:30-19:00        EXCURSION      

19:00-                 Dinner  

               

Day 3: Thursday, 1st December 2022                

08:30-09:00        Morning coffee Time      

09:00-09:50        Prof. Dr. Dino McMahon (Freie Universität Berlin),
                           “Immunity and the evolution of termite sociality”

10:00-10:50        Prof. Dr. Nathan Lo (University of Sydney),
“                          "Comparative genomics of termite and cockroach genomes”

11:00-11:30        Small Talk 3: Tracy Audisio (OIST), “To be confirmed”

11:30-13:30        Lunch break      

13:30-14:20        Cedric Aumont (Freie Universität Berlin),
                           “Genomic innovations underlying the evolution of termite society”

14:30-15:20        Alina Mikhailova (University of Münster),
                          “Major changes in domain arrangements are associated with the evolution of termite castes”

15:20-15:50        Afternoon coffee Break  

15:50-16:40        Dr. Ales Bucek (OIST), 
                          "Inferring evolution of life traits in termites without fully resolved phylogenies"

16:50-17:20        Short Talk4        

17:30-18:00        Short Talk5        

18:00-18:30        Free/Discussion

18:30-20:00        Dinner  

 

 https://oist.zoom.us/j/96104938481