Program

15.00-18.00 Registration at the Villa Universitaria
18.00-18.15 Welcome to Halophiles 2022 (Conference room Villa Universitaria)
18.15-19.00 Opening lecture by Francis M. Mojica: “CRISPRs and salt”
19.00-20.30

MOLECULES AND CELLS: Molecular Biology of halophilic microorganisms (Conference room Villa Universitaria)

Chairs: Jörg Soppa and Mar Martínez
19.00-19.25 Anita Marchfelder: Cas1 and Fen1 display equivalent functions during archaeal DNA repair
19.25-19.50 J. DiRuggiero: Translational landscape of the halophilic archaeon Haloferax volcanii
19.50-20.15 Uri Gophna: The effect of CRISPR-associated nucleases on DNA repair and recombination in Haloferax
20.15-20.30 Discussion
20.30-22.00 Welcome cocktail at the Villa Universitaria
8.30-11.20                       

MOLECULES AND CELLS: Molecular and Cell Biology of halophilic microorganisms (Conference room Germán Bernácer UA)

Chairs: Jocelyne DiRuggiero and Uri Gophna
8.30-8.55 Mar Martínez Pastor: TroR: the DtxR Transcription Factor that regulates iron homeostasis in Haloferax volcanii
8.55-9.20 Mechthild Pohlschroder: Elucidating the mechanisms of Haloferax volcanii morphological plasticity using genetic screens and proteomics.
9.20-9.40 Laura Sanchez. Is a transcriptional regulator Lrp involved in nitrogen metabolism in Haloarchaea?
9.40-10.00 Jörg Soppa.  Important roles of zinc finger µ-proteins in Haloferax volcanii 
10.00-10.20 Maria Magliulo.  Living at two extremes: salt and time
10.20-10.50 Coffee break and networking
11.50-11.10 Sonja Verena Albers. Chemotaxis and motility in Haloferax volcanii (pre-recorded talk)  
11.10-11.20 Discussion   
11.20-17.00

DIVERSITY OF HALOPHILES: TAXONOMY, EUKARYOTIC MICROBES, VIRUSES, NANOHALOARCHAEA. (Conference room Germán Bernácer UA)

Chairs: Antonio Ventosa and Pepa Antón
11.20-12.05 Aharon Oren. Practicing the world's oldest profession
12.05-12.30 Antonio Ventosa: Culturomics of halophiles: from pure culture to metagenomics...and back
12.30-12.55 Michail Yakimov: Functional analysis of nanohaloarchaea-haloarchaea associations
13:00-15:00 Lunch at the University of Alicante
  Chairs: María Eugenia Farias and Esteban Bustos  
15.00-15.25 Elina Roine.  Halophilic vesicle-like viruses and plasmid vesicles, what's the difference?  
15.25-15.55 Brittany Baker.  Asboarchaeia and Afararchaeia: Two novel hyper halophilic archaeal lineages with key phylogenetic positions  
15.55-16.15 Joshua Hamm. Assessing the impact of host genetic variation on interactions between Nanohaloarchaeota and Haloarchaea
16.15-16.35 Diego Esteban Jiménez Lalana.  The influence of taxonomic resolution on microbial correlation networks and diversity studies in solar saltern prokaryotes
16.35-16.55 Tomeu Viver. Combining metagenomics and isolate sequencing to define “strain” within a natural Salinibacter ruber population
16.55-17.05 Discussion
17.00-17.30 Networking and coffee break
17.30-18.50

THE ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSION I: Biogeochemical cycles/Microbial Ecology. (Conference room Germán Bernácer UA)

Chairs: Elina Roine and Joshua Hamm
17.30-17.55 Horia Banciu: Unlocking the diversity and ecology of uncultured microbes in the permanently stratified hypersaline lakes
17.55-18.20 Mohamed Amoozegar: Iranian hypersaline lakes: Diversity, Taxonomy, Applications
18.20-18.40 Ioana Rusu.  The fungal side of the story: saprotrophic- vs. symbiotrophic- predicted ecological roles of fungal communities in two hypersaline salt lakes from Romania
 18.40-18.50  Discussion
19:00-21:00: "Poster Party" (Oral short presentations; Molecules and Cells, Halophiles and Humans). (Villa Universitaria)
09.00-10.55                  

THE ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSION I: Biogeochemical cycles/Microbial Ecology/ Polyextreme hypersaline systems. (Conference room Germán Bernácer UA)

Chairs: Horia Banciu and Micaela Giani
9.00-9.25 Terry McGenity. Factors influencing the distribution, growth and survival of halophiles
9.25-9.50 Bonnie Baxter. Primary productivity, microbial mats, and a shrinking Great Salt Lake
9.50-10.15 Rosa Mª Martínez. Denitrifying haloarchaea: sources and sinks of nitrogenous gases involved in global warming
10.15-10.35 Esteban Bustos-Caparros. Dynamics of hyperhalophilic microbial communities submitted to cyclic disturbances
10.35-10.55 Laura Schwab. Analysis of brines and microbiomes from salt caverns used for underground gas storage
10.55-11.15 Coffee break and networking
11.15- 13.15

THE ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSION II: Astrobiology/biophysical perspectives. (Conference room Germán Bernácer UA)

Chairs: Michail Yakimov and Laura Schwab
11.15-11.40 John Hallsworth: Microbes are preserved by water on Earth (but not Venus)
11.40-12.05 Kathy Benison: The Role of the Halophiles Community in Mars Sample Return
12.05-12.25 Felipe Gómez. Halophilic Microhabitats: Case Studies for Habitability Under Very Harsh Conditions
12.25-12.45 Jorge Díaz Rullo Aroco. Deciphering the molecular mechanisms of perchlorate resistance in Haloferax volcanii using transcriptional analysis
12.45-13.05 Gabriel Riera Roca. Meteor: a METa gEnOme viRome assignment tool
13.05-13.15 Discussion
13.15-15.00 Lunch at the University of Alicante
15.00-16.55

HALOPHILES AND HUMANS: Biotechnology. (Conference room Germán Bernácer UA)

Chairs: Bonnie Baxter and Jorge Díaz
15.00-15.25 Mª Eugenia Farias. Biosalars in the Central Andes. Prospection, science, preservation and biotechnological applications
15.25-15.45 Micaela Giani Alonso. Optimization of the production of bacterioruberin: characterization of its antioxidant potential and biological activity
15.45-16.05 Ram Karan. Polyextremophilic enzymes from Red Sea Brine Pools and Deep Lake of Antarctica
16.05-16..25 Jaimi Butler. Connecting People to Great Salt Lake
16.25-16.35 Discussion
16.35-17.00 Coffe break and networking
17.00-17.45

Joint meeting of the ICSP Subcommittees on ‘Taxonomy of Halobacteria’ and ‘Taxonomy of Halomonadaceae’(Conference room Germán Bernácer UA)
18.00-19.45 "Poster Party" (Oral short presentations: Diversity of halophiles, The environmental dimension) (Villa Universitaria)
21.30-01.00 Gala dinner and fireworks. Farewell and awards. Hotel Melià Alicante, Postiguet Beach
9:00-19:00 Social program: excursion to Torrevieja salterns. Paella lunch in Torrevieja.

POSTER PARTIES - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

In this #Halophiles2022, conventional poster presentations have been substituted by short oral communications in what we have called the “Poster Party” sessions. There will be 2 “Poster Parties” included in the scientific program:

  • Poster Party I, on Monday June 27th, from 7 pm to 9 pm, which will focus on the “Molecules and Cells” and “Halophiles and Humans” topics, and
  • Poster Party II, on Tuesday June 28th, from 6 pm to 7.45 pm, related to “Diversity of Halophiles” and “The Environmental Dimension”.

Poster Parties will take place at Villa Universitaria. The order for the short communications is available in the button below and in the “Abstracts and scientific program” that can be downloaded from your private area. 

Speakers will have 3 minutes for their talks, which can be “live” or pre-recorded. In any case, attendees will have 3 additional minutes to ask questions to the speakers right after their presentations. We have a special gift for the most inquisitive participants… 

We also encourage speakers to do their upmost during their talks since there will be a prize for the best short communication in each “Poster Party” session. In order to vote for the best talk, participants will have two tickets (one per session), for them to write the number of the short communication they preferred as in the “Abstracts and scientific program”.

Finally, the organizing committee wants these “Poster Parties” to be held in a relaxed atmosphere, hence there will be two tickets per participant (one per session) that can be exchanged for a drink.

POSTER PARTIES - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW