Seminar title

Massive expansion and molecular diversification of lectins in bivalve mollusks.

Speaker

Dr. Marco Gerdol, Assoc. Prof., University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy

Date and Venue

16-17pm, 7^th August, 2024, Conference room #6104, Building #6, Nagasaki International University, Sasebo, Nagasaki, JP This seminar is also a special lecture sponsored by the Kyushu Yamaguchi Branch of The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan.

Abstract of the topics

Due to their filter-feeding habits, bivalve mollusks in coastal marine environments face diverse stresses, including pathogens. Lacking adaptive immunity, they rely solely on innate defenses. They show molecular diversification in recognizing pathogens and producing immune effectors like antimicrobial peptides. Recent analyses highlight expansions in lectin-like proteins involved in humoral immunity, influenced by gene duplication and selection for fitness advantages. This complexity, specific to species or families, includes variants among individuals. Ongoing studies explore these mechanisms and their potential biotechnological applications.

References

1. Taxonomic distribution and molecular evolution of mytilectins. (2023)
2. Marine Glycomics 2.0 (Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 Oct 2024)

Introduction of Dr. Marco Gerdol and backgrounds of the Event

　Trieste, one of the most representative maritime cities in the Republic of Italy, located in next to the border of Slovenia and is a port city famous for tourism and trade, with a fused history and culture, having been once ruled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

　The University of Trieste is a historic university celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2024—an Assoc. Prof Dr. Marco Gerdol at the Department of Life Sciences analyzes the genes of marine invertebrates using next-generation sequencers to reveal the latest immune mechanisms and bacterial infection defense systems from bioinformatics and data science perspectives.

　The scientists of Nagasaki International University (NIU), Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Yokohama City University (YCU), Graduate School of NanoBio Sciences have collaborated with Dr. Gerdol since 2016, releasing over ten research articles in international journals and book chapters (as of July 2024). In August 2024, Dr. Gerdol will be invited to Japan from the 2^nd (Fri) to the 22^nd (Thu) to conduct international collaborative research on marine invertebrate lectins, funded by J-GlycoNet.

　He will stay at Yokohama, and YCU will visit NIU (Aug 5^th-9^th) and iGCORE (Aug 19^th-20^th). At Nagasaki, he will apply collaborative research using Nagasaki's bioresources, such as investigating marine animals and developing artificial lectins and protein secretory systems (the NIU counterpart, Dr. Yuki Fujii). We hope this seminar will be an opportunity to create further research exchanges between NIU and the University of Trieste. He is also a Guest Editor of a special issue, “Marine Glycomics 2.0,” in a Journal, Marie Drugs, MDPI.

Funding

J-GlycoNet Joint Research Program, FY2024, Funded to Dr. Yasuhiro Ozeki (R6E-26), Yokohama City University, JP. Co-researchers:　Yuki Fujii and Yukiko Ogawa, Nagasaki Int. Univ. Host Researcher: Dr. Yann Guerardel, University of Lille, FR. / iGCORE, Gifu University, JP. JSPS KAKENHI 24K08716, 23K06190, 23K10950, and 19K0239.

Sponsors

Links

• Marco Gerdol
• University of Trieste
• iGCORE

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