Welcome

Dear Colleagues,

The 12th lnternational Meeting on Yeast Apoptosis will extend the tradition of 11 highly successful conferences devoted to this topic held over the last 14 years. The previous editions, in Austria, Slovakia, United States, Czech Republic, Belgium, England, Italy, Sweden, and twice in Portugal, bear witness to the European leadership in yeast research. Indeed, the use of yeast as a superb model and toolbox to unravel basic biological processes in eukaryotic cells for biomedical research is gathering momentum. Research on ageing is one of the top medical priorities in developed societies and yeast represents an attractive model system for studying more complex phenomena that occur in higher eukaryotic cells, including cell division, ageing and apoptosis. While such research in a clinical setting is confronted with – and limited by – ethical issues, and since studying ageing, longevity and PCD in metazoan models is time consuming and costly, yeast cells offer an attractive eukaryotic model. Combining its amenability to genetic manipulation with well-established experimental tools, yeast ensures rapid and significant progress in this fundamentally important area of molecular and cell biology.

IMYA12 will bring together scientists from around the world to present and discuss results from the study of apoptosis in yeast and its role in stress response, ageing and development. The informal atmosphere is a point of strength of these meetings and favors the exchange of ideas and discussion of unpublished data (that will certainly be published later in high impact journals such as Nature, Journal of Cell Biology, Molecular Microbiology, to name but a few). Moreover, the interaction between senior scientists and younger participants is highly encouraged and, since it is another well-known hallmark of this meeting, the participation of students is very high.

We hope that the meeting will provide a great opportunity to share new ideas, start collaborations and also enjoy Bari, the capital city of Apulia with its old town, which has retained its ancient Medieval plan, and its beautiful nineteenth century Murat quarter, the major shopping district enhanced by Art Nouveau architectures. Last, but not least, Bari is an ideal starting point for discovering Apulia (http://www.viaggiareinpuglia.it/puglia/PE0/en/PUGLIA).

The sessions will cover a variety of topics, including, but not restricted to:

• Fungal cell death pathways
• Mitochondrial function and physiology
• Metabolic regulation of cell stress response
• Autophagy/Mitophagy
• Protein aggregation and toxicity
• Cellular ageing
• Yeast models of human diseases
• Yeast-based drug discovery
• Systems-based model of cell death and ageing processes
• Industrial yeast strain improvement

We look forward to welcoming you in Bari!

Sergio Giannattasio
Chair
(Bari, Italy)

Cristina Mazzoni
Chair
(Rome, Italy)