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SMBE 2024 – Symposium on SVs
July 7 - July 11
Registration and Abstract Submission are now Open
For more information, please visit: SMBE 2024 Official Website
Symposium details:
Deciphering the functional and adaptive effects of genomic structural variation.
Organizers: Megan Dennis, Omer Gokcumen, Charikleia Karageorgiou, Ellen Leffler.
Invited speakers: Christine Beck, Mia Levine.
Description or the symposium:
Genomic structural variants (SVs) involve the rearrangement of DNA sequences and thus have a high potential to be functional and drive phenotypic change across diverse species. However, SVs encompass a range of variant types, including copy number changes, translocations, inversions, repeat expansions, and transposon insertions, all of which present challenges for analysis with short read sequencing that has led to their under-characterization in genomic datasets. Recent innovations in long-read sequencing have enabled the construction of comprehensive SV maps across the tree of life. These maps now allow for directly assessing their functional and adaptive consequences in diverse species and populations. For example, recent studies investigated the effects of gene copy number on transcript expression and protein-level changes, how different types of SVs alter topologically associating domains, or the impact of exonic repeat expansions on signaling and immune functions. Overall, the symposium will showcase the exciting frontier of adaptive SV evolution made possible by recent improvements in genomic technologies, including sequencing and mutagenesis of diverse model systems. We are particularly excited to bring together researchers who focus on linking genotype to phenotype to inform future collaborative research directions.