Third international symposium: Cytochrome P450 biodiversity. Final report, January 1, 1995--December 31, 1995

The Symposium was held on October 8-12, 1995 at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole Massachusetts. Other international symposia promote cytochrome P450 research but have a primary focus on mammalian systems. This symposium is exclusively devoted to research in other organisms, and major topics reflect the distribution and dominance of non-mammalian species in the biosphere. The five sessions focused on basic mechanism, regulation, biodiversity, host-parasite interactions, and practical applications. 170 Scientists contributed 38 oral presentations and 91 posters, with a truly international composition of the symposium. Practical applications were a recurring feature, linking reports on mechanism and regulation to studies on the engineering of substrate specificity, microorganisms to degrade halogenated hydrocarbons and herbicides, and the production of in vitro P450 electrochemical bioreactors. At the time of the symposium there were 477 cytochrome P450 sequences in the database. Expansion of the known plant P450 genes was reported, with 20 new plant P450 families added in the last 3 years. Of these only 5 families have a physiological function associated with them. A growing number of identified invertebrate P450s was documented, where in insects, the forms identified are primarily involved in inducible xenobiotic metabolism and detoxification of toxic plant substances