The mechanistic and evolutionary basis of programmed DNA elimination

Chairperson: Sandra Duharcourt
Institut Jacques Monod, 15 Rue Hélène Brion, 75013 Paris, France
Phone: +33 (0)1 57 27 80 09
Email: sandra.duharcourt@ijm.fr 

Vice-chairperson: Laura Ross
Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Edinburgh, UK
Phone: + 44(0)1316507706
Email: laura.Ross@ed.ac.uk

Beyond mutations, the genetic content of an organism is generally constant across cells throughout development. Programmed DNA elimination (PDE) – a process in which specific cell lineages lose DNA segments or whole chromosomes – represents is a striking deviation to this principle. 

PDE is widespread in eukaryotes and plays roles in a variety of cellular processes, including gene silencing, germline differentiation, genome defence, and non-Mendelian inheritance. It manifests in diverse biological contexts, including the formation of germline-limited genomes, meiotic elimination of parental chromosomes, and sex determination via X-chromosome loss.

In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that PDE occurs across a wide range of phylogenetic groups, and involves diverse mechanisms.  These findings underscore the overlooked plasticity of genome integrity, and reveal significant gaps in our understanding of why PDE has evolved repeatedly and is maintained across the Tree of Life.

This conference is designed to present the latest research on the mechanisms and evolution of PDE - from the molecular pathways that control genome stability and chromosome segregation, to genomic conflicts and the long-term evolutionary consequences of PDE on population dynamics and species diversification. We also welcome researchers studying related phenomena, such as meiotic drive, B chromosomes, and those that work on the mechanisms and regulation of genome stability, chromosome segregation and germline development.

The meeting will address the following key topics:

1.  Mechanisms and regulation of genome stability and instability
2. Mechanisms of chromosome segregation and missegregation
3. Genomic conflicts
4. Evolutionary dynamics of programmed DNA elimination 

Invited speakers

(provisional titles)

• Peter ANDERSEN (Aarhus Université, Denmark) 
  Epigenetic regulation of the fungus gnat germline genome
• Julien BISCHEROUR (I2BC, Gif-sur-Yvette, France) 
  A hybrid machinery of repair proteins and domesticated transposases ensures precise programmed DNA elimination in Paramecium tetraurelia
• Dmitrij DEDUKH (Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics Prague, Czech Republic) 
  Programmed genome elimination during gametogenesis and after fertilization in hybrid asexual vertebrates
• Marie DELATTRE (Ecole Normale Supérieure Lyon, France) 
  Is programmed DNA elimination in mesorhabditis nematodes a transposon-driven process?
• Sandra DUHARCOURT (Institut Jacques Monod, Paris, France)
  Mechanisms and regulation of programmed DNA elimination in Paramecium
• Laurent DURET (LBBE, Lyon, France) 
  The impacts of programmed DNA elimination on genome evolution in Paramecia
• Feng GAO (Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China) 
  Soma-derived 30nt small RNAs precisely target non-transposon DNA against elimination in Euplotes vannus
• Stacey HANLON (University of Connecticut, USA) 
  B chromosome dynamics in the Drosophila melanogaster germline 
• Christina HODSON (University College London, UK) 
  Dynamic evolution of germline restricted chromosomes in sciarid flies
• Andreas HOUBEN (Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Germany) 
  Programmed DNA elimination in plants 
• Laura KATZ (Smith College Northampton, USA) 
  Programmed DNA elimination and other dynamic genome processes across the eukaryotic tree of life
• Hanna KOKKO (University of Mainz, Germany) 
  Modelling faster mitochondrial evolution in haplodiploids
• Mia LEVINE (University of Pennsylvania, USA) 
  Protein-DNA satellite coevolution preserves genome integrity
• Benjamin LOPPIN (Ecole Normale Supérieure Lyon, France) 
  Mechanisms of Wolbachia-induced paternal chromosome elimination
• Kazufumi MOCHIZUKI (Institut de Génétique Humaine, Montpellier, France) 
  Small RNA-directed programmed DNA elimination in Tetrahymena
• Radka REIFOVA (Faculty of Science Prague, Czech Republic) 
  Programmed DNA elimination in songbirds: mechanisms and evolutionary significance
• Laura ROSS (Edinburgh University, UK) 
  Programmed DNA elimination from soma and germline in insects
• Denis ROZE (CNRS, Roscoff, France) 
  Models for the evolution of paternal genome elimination
• Tanja SCHWANDER (Université de Lausanne, Switzerland) 
  Selfish reproductive strategies in stick insects
• Jeramiah SMITH (University of Kentucky Lexington, USA)
  Germline restricted chromosomes in lampreys and hagfish
• Lewis STEVENS (Wellcome Sanger institute Cambridge, UK) 
  Programmed DNA elimination was present in the last common ancestor of Caenorhabditis nematodes
• Alexander SUH (Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Bonn, Germany) 
  Evolution and elimination of the germline-restricted chromosome of passerine birds
• Eelco TROMER (University of Groningen, Netherlands)
  Evolutionary cell biology of chromosome segregation systems in eukaryotes
• Frédéric VEYRUNES (Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, Montpellier, France) 
  Ménage à trois in the African pygmy mouse. A third sex chromosome and a third sexual phenotype
• Jianbin WANG (University of Tennessee, USA) 
  Programmed DNA elimination in nematodes
  

Deadline for application: May 5, 2026

Registration fee (including board and lodging)

• 560 € for PhD students
• 780 € for other participants 

Application for registration 

The total number of participants is limited to 115 and all participants are expected to attend for the whole duration of the conference. Selection is made on the basis of the affinity of potential participants with the topics of the conference. Scientists and PhD Students interested in the meeting should deposit online before the deadline: 

• their curriculum vitae
• the proof of their student status
• the list of their main publications for the 3 last years
• the abstract of their presentation:

The abstract must respect the following template:

• First line: title
• Second line: list of authors
• Third line: author's addresses
• Fourth line: e-mail of the presenting author

Abstract should not exceed 600 words. No figures.

After the deadline, the organizers will select the participants. Except in some particular cases approved by the Chairperson, it is recommended that all selected participants present their work during the conference, either in poster form or by a brief in- session talk. The organizers choose the form in which the presentations are made. No payment will be sent with application. Information on how and when to pay will be mailed in due time to those selected.