Understanding how microbes survive stresses in their environment, including oxidants, metals, heat, nutritional limitation, and its hosts are subjects of the Microbial Stress Response Conference. This meeting also encourages a broad view of microbial stress responses and will include sessions on the dissection of regulatory networks, sensing of DNA and replication damage, protein domains involved in stress-sensing and signaling and specialized adaptations to stress. This conference also highlights the integration of cutting edge, structural, molecular, and computational science approaches to the study of microbial systems (including eukaryotic microbes) and their stress responses. This meeting also brings together a broad cadre of scientists, from both the biological and physical sciences, which has provided a fertile ground for exchange of new ideas and approaches.