Welcome to the 31st IUBS General Assembly and Conference on ...

Cambrian–Early Ordovician, aplacophorans appeared
in <strong>the</strong> Silurian.
(2) Gastropods were <strong>the</strong> most morphologically variable
<strong>and</strong> systematically diverse group of univalved
Cambrian molluscs.
(3) The major part of Cambrian gastropods was
represented by a monophyletic subclass
Archaeobranchia, which was a ‘base’ for fur<strong>the</strong>r
evolution of <strong>the</strong> class Gastropoda, being <strong>the</strong> ances<strong>to</strong>r
of <strong>the</strong> larger gastropod branches.
Effective biodiversity conservation
challenges in Africa: a case of East Africa
Raymond KATEBAKA
African Union of Conservationists, PO Box 5068, Kampala,
Ug<strong>and</strong>a. Email: rkatebaka@afruc.org
The need <strong>to</strong> support current human needs in <strong>the</strong>
contemporary world places multiple <strong>and</strong> often competing
dem<strong>and</strong>s on ecosystems. Despite significant
environmental change, Africa still has a considerable,
significant s<strong>to</strong>re of biodiversity. However, <strong>the</strong> challenges
<strong>to</strong>day are key in promoting sustainable natural resource
use <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong> ensure that <strong>the</strong> rate of extraction, including
development process, remains within <strong>the</strong> limits of
sustainability. Strategies <strong>to</strong> ensure sustainability may rely
on a combination of protection strategies including
protected areas <strong>and</strong> conservation measures within in situ
<strong>and</strong> ex situ. Governance affects within <strong>the</strong> institutional
frameworks in <strong>the</strong> East Africa region requires a coherent
approach <strong>to</strong> effective conserve biodiversity. Current
developments of non‐renewable resources increase
pressure on fragile ecosystems in <strong>the</strong>ir deposits. The
implementation of CBD is inadequate in <strong>the</strong> region.
There is a need <strong>to</strong> harmonize development requirements
with necessary legal regimes.
Environmental awareness <strong>and</strong> conservation
of biological resources in Egypt: a review of
moves <strong>to</strong> improve <strong>the</strong> ethical management
of our ecosystems
Hussein Samir SALAMA
National Research Centre, El‐bohos St, Dokki‐ Cairo, Egypt.
Email: hsarsalama@hotmail.com
During <strong>the</strong> past 3 decades, Egypt has paid increasing
attention <strong>to</strong> environmental issues at both official <strong>and</strong>
popular levels, aiming <strong>to</strong> improve ethical management
of our ecosystems <strong>and</strong> which are affected by many
fac<strong>to</strong>rs. The Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency
(EEAA) was established in 1980 <strong>to</strong> set national
environmental policies <strong>and</strong> see <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir implementation,
including conservation of biological resources <strong>and</strong>
natural heritage <strong>and</strong> preservation of genetic resources
of living species, animals or plants that are threatened
with extinction. Challenges <strong>to</strong> nature conservation are
caused by an absence of awareness which necessitates
raising <strong>the</strong> efficiency of environmental education. A
network of 27 protected areas or protec<strong>to</strong>rates
extending over 15% of <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>tal area of Egypt was
established, encompassing over 20000 flora <strong>and</strong> fauna
species. Problems facing <strong>the</strong>se protec<strong>to</strong>rates <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir
management will be discussed. The introduction of
genetically modified (GM) crops is still limited, due <strong>to</strong>
<strong>the</strong> uncertainty about GM impact on <strong>the</strong> environment
<strong>and</strong> biodiversity. Few proposals have been reported <strong>to</strong>
raise <strong>the</strong> efficiency of <strong>the</strong> current management policy of
our ecosystems.
Epigenetic regulation of key developmental
genes: a genome­wide approach in <strong>the</strong>
medaka fish
Takeda HIROYUKI
Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science,
The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. Email:
htakeda@biol.s.u‐<strong>to</strong>kyo.ac.jp; htakeda@iubs.org
In ES cells, ‘key developmental genes’ are marked by
specific modification called ‘bivalent’, co‐existence of
active (H3K4me) <strong>and</strong> repressive (H3K27me) his<strong>to</strong>ne
modifications. The bivalent state becomes univalent
(active or repressive) upon differentiation. Although
extensive researches have been conducted using ES
cells, in vivo evidence of this bivalency during early
vertebrate development is still limited. Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, <strong>the</strong>
relationship between his<strong>to</strong>ne <strong>and</strong> DNA methylation has
not been well studied thus far. To clarify <strong>the</strong>se issues,
we performed <strong>the</strong> genome‐wide DNA methylome
analysis as well as ChIP‐seq analysis of H3K4me <strong>and</strong>
H3K27me using undifferentiated blastula‐stage
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