8^th Euro Biotechnology Congress August 18-20, 2015 Frankfurt, Germany

Hee-Mock Oh is currently a Senior Research Scientist at the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB). His research has centered upon ecophysiological and molecular aspects of microalgae, notably control of cyanobacterial bloom, monitoring of cyanobacterial toxins and biodiesel production by mass-cultivation of microalgae. He is President of the Korean Society of Phycology (2014-2015) and a Fellow of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST).

The oleaginous microalga, Ettlia sp. YC001 was isolated from Daejeon, South Korea and was classified to class Trebouxiophyceae based on 18S rRNA gene sequences. The average lipid content was found to be 20-30%. However, maximum lipid contents were increased upto ~55% under the stress conditions. The whole genome of the strain has been sequenced with Illumina and PGM machine and annotated by Augustus, Glimmer HMM and PASA as Ab initio gene predictors and pipeline, respectively. The genome was about ~170 Mbp with ~20,658 genes. The complete mitochondrial genome was 52,490 bp with GC contents of 48% and 58 genes. Through physiological characterization and transcriptome analysis we found that the carotenoids composition and quality depended on stress condition such as highlight, deficiency of nitrogen, magnesium, calcium and iron. We also identified the expression of different genes and key enzymes involved in the carotenoid synthesis pathway in young and senescent cells. The dominant carotenoids were lutein and neoxanthin. However, these were gradually decreased with time whilst cantaxanthin and antherazanthin were steadily accumulated. Thus, Ettlia sp. YC001, a natural source of carotenoids as well as high accumulated lipid seems to be suitable for industrial application to produce both biodiesel and high-value compounds. Additionally, genomic information will provide valuable clues to drive commercialization of microalgae for the maximum production of lipid and carotenoids through genetic modification.

Raoufa A I Abdel Rahman has completed her PhD in 2003 at Alexandria University, Faculty of Agriculture, Genetics Department through a collaborative scholarship with University of Georgia, Athens, USA. She completed a research project entitled ‘Exploring IRES mediated discistrons for the phytoremediation of Mercury’. Currently, she is the Director of Pharmaceutical Bio-products Research Department, City of Scientific Research and Technology Applications, Egypt. Her main research interests are using plant tissue culture and genetic engineering techniques to conserve rare and endangered plant species as well as enhancement of the productivity of important pharmaceutical compounds from plants. She is working in several projects dealing with the production of antiviral, anticancer and antioxidant compounds from plants using in vitro cultures.

Plants are important source for natural drugs and modern medicines; it is estimated that approximately one quarter of prescribed drugs contain plant extracts or active ingredients obtained from plant substance. Silybum marianum (L) Gaernt is a member of the family Asteraceae native to the Mediterranean area. The plant extract has anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, antidiabetic and immune-modulatory effects. In the present study, callus cultures obtained from leaf explants using MS medium supplemented with 1 mg/l BA and 1 mg/l 2,4-D. Effects of sodium azide and gamma rays on callus growth and silymarin production were tested. Callus treated with 1,2,3,4 or 5 mM NaN3 for 1 hour or exposed to γ-radiation at doses of 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 Gray. Results indicated that the fresh weight of treated callus decreased by increasing the dose of NaN3 and γ-rays. The chemical composition of silymarin was determined by HPLC. Sodium azide and gamma rays could induce the production of isosilybin A that was not detected in control callus. They reduced or enhanced the production of other silymarin components. Differential display technique was used to identify differentially expressed genes associated with silymarin production. Nine unique cDNAs over-expressed in treated callus and representative of suspected genes that expressed due to mutagen stress were purified and sequenced. Most of the obtained nucleotide sequence and corresponding amino acid displayed 100% similarities to chalcone synthase that is a key enzyme in flavonolignans biosynthesis. The over-expression of chalcone synthase may be the cause of enhanced production of some silymarin components.

Min-Chuan Huang has completed his PhD from University of Muenster, Germany. He is the Professor of Graduate Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology. He has published more than 33 papers in reputed journals and 7 patents

Altered glycosylation is a common feature of cancers. Tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens such as Tn and T antigens are often associated with tumor progression. These carbohydrate antigens have been used to develop cancer markers and vaccines. C1GALT1 is a crucial O-glycosyl transferase that controls the formation of T antigen from Tn antigen. It remains unclear whether C1GALT1 is a potential target for cancer treatment. Here, we showed that C1GALT1 is overexpressed in several types of tumors including ovary, breast and liver cancers. Silencing of C1GALT1 with siRNAs in breast and liver cancer cells suppressed cell viability, migration and invasion as well as tumor growth and metastasis in immunodeficient mice. By using molecular docking, we identified itraconazole as a potential compound that can bind C1GALT1 protein. Importantly, enzyme activity assay and flow cytometry showed that itraconazole significantly inhibited C1GALT1 activity and T antigen expression in various cancer cell lines. Moreover, itraconazole inhibited viability of breast and liver cancer cells. Our results suggest that C1GALT1 can serve as a potential target for the development of anti-cancer drugs.

Dong Kee Jeong is a Professor of the Department of Animal Science at Jeju National University and Director of Internship support center, Chair person for the sub-committee of horse. He also occupied various honorable positions in his carrier. During 2009-2010, he was a Visiting Professor at the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Calgary. He has received his PhD in Animal Molecular Genetics from the Seoul National University in 1999. He worked as Post-doctoral Fellow at Washington State University and The Johns Hopkins University. His research interests center on Cancer Stem Cell and System Biology. He has published more than 70 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an Editorial Board Member of Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences.

Sus scrofa is considered an important animal for meat production. During the last decade pork quality is one of the main selection criteria for breeding in the swine industry and thus attracted much more research focus. Jeju Native Pig (JNP) is a typical pig breed in South Korea highly appreciated by Korean consumers; however the slower growth rate and lighter carcass weight than commercial pig breeds led the farmers move away from traditional pig farming to typically intensively muscular traits farming. One recent approach relies to identify the key gene and its SNPs as molecular markers and have been tried for their use in traceability systems in livestock. The present study focused on the association of polymorphisms in the Myosin binding protein H (MyBPH) with skeletal muscle development in the JNP and Berkshire pigs. Validation of expression of genes in the laboratory also supported the idea of differential expression of MyBPH conceived through the in silico analysis. Gene ontology analysis of MyBPH showed significant association with muscle contraction and muscle organ development. The concordant in silico analysis of MyBPH by using the various tools identified potential four nsSNPs (W93T, D218R, D230W and W315V) in JNP. Our nsSNPs analysis retrieved high deleterious effects at second coding region in JNP compared with Berkshire. This study is an in-depth pioneering in silico analysis of polymorphic MyBPH and will be a valuable resource for further targeted molecular diagnosis and population-based studies for improving the growth performance of the JNP.

Mrinmoy Ghosh has completed his PhD at the age of 28 years from Acharya Nagarjuna University and pursuing his Postdoctoral studies from Jeju National Univeristy, South Korea. The principle research interest biostatistics, system and structural biology includes recognition of differentially expressed genes in mammalian group and understanding the biodiversity, molecular evolution of marine microbial world. As a Postdoctoral Fellow, he is working on the next generation sequencing analysis covering the relevant candidate genes and SNPs. He has published more than 30 papers in reputed journals

Mainly in Asia, East Asia and Europe, the pig is an important livestock animal and a major source of meat-based protein. It was reported that Berkshire pigs are hardy, have good mothering capabilities and immunity resistance perform very well outdoors considered extreme of modern Western pig breed. Taken collectively, our approach integrating, massively unbiased information on the differential expressed genes in the fat, liver and muscle tissues RNA-seq technique was used to investigate the transcriptomes via an illumina and mapped to the pig genome using Tophat2. Using differential expression analysis, we further identified a number of genes up-regulated in three samples from piglets and adult Berkshire. Moreover we found that 46% of muscle, 28% of fat and 54% of liver genes suppress expressed in piglets than adult Berkshire. Gene Ontology and signaling pathways showed the higher immune response in piglets while the lipid metabolisms significantly (P<0.01) was commonly enriched pathways in all three tissues of adult Berkshire. We identified candidate genes involved various biological functions in piglet and adult phase of Berkshire. Our findings provide a new perspective for understanding the expression different of candidate genes in piglet and adult phase in Berkshire and revealed successful marker-assisted selection formeat quality; body growth and immune genes conferring an advantage to disease resistance and growth performance are beneficial to breeding aiming to improvement of livestock productivity.

Ramona Bosch completed his studies in biology with specialization in Molecular Biology and Microbiology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, KIT. During his Diploma thesis, he investigated the efficiency and classification of antimicrobial substances against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Subsequently, he has started his Doctoral studies at the University of Hohenheim at the Institute of Food Science and Biotechnology, Department of Bioprocess Engineering. His research focusses on the development of biotechnological processes including all process steps (upstream processing, bio-production, downstream processing) which are necessary for the industrial production of biotechnological products

Nano-discs are nanoscale discoidal phospho-lipid bi-layers encircled by stabilizing amphipathic helical membrane scaffold proteins (MSP). For the synthesis of the nano-discs, the membrane scaffold protein MSP1D1 is used (a genetically engineered, biotechnological produced derivate of the human apo lipoprotein A-1.) In the last few years the use of these reconstitute membranes containing embedded proteins has become increasingly important e.g. for the study of membrane-associated proteins. In the known studies, nano-discs are assembled by adding a micelles- organized detergent- phospholipid mixture to an aqueous system containing the MSPs. Upon removal of detergent, 10nm diameter particles are formed. Unfortunately, the resulting nano-discs are disordered in this solution, and therefore a simple and further processing into an ordered and directed membrane cannot be easily achieved. Therefore the aim of this work is to create biomimetic membranes consistent of cross-linked nano-discs with the translocon SecYEG as embedded protein complex for an active biological transport of potential target proteins. Now the approach should be replaced by a continuous synthesis focused on bio-mimetic active nano-disc membrane. Compared to the previously described method, the synthesis will proceed in an aqueous-organic two-phase system, where the required components such as the MSPs and phospholipids are added continuously. The phospholipids accumulate as amphiphilic molecules in the boundary layer and the MSPs are localized in the hydrophobic layer. As in the discontinuous synthesis, it is assumed that the right MSP-phospholipid ratio occurs as a spontaneous assembly of the nano-discs. These planar aligned nano-discs will be networked via cysteins which are located in the membrane scaffold proteins. These cysteins serve as cross-links for the disulfide bonds. The resulting membrane allows a directed investigation function of membrane proteins and therefore biomimetic membranes consisting of cross-connected nano-discs have the perspective to serve as excellent biotechnological tool and may be applied in the research of directed membrane-associated proteins as well as in method development for selective separation or transport of biomolecules

Vera Taina Mota is a PhD student in Sanitary Engineering from University of São Paulo, Brazil, and has BSc degree in Biology (specialization in Microbiology) and MSc in Environmental Engineering from Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. She worked for public and private sectors in the field of sanitation and sewage services. She has published 4 papers in reputed journals, 11 conference presentations and 6 technical reports

In recent years, much attention has been given to the potential of hydrogen production by fermentative pathways in waste water treatment processes. However, it is not a well-established technology and much investigation is still required. In this work, the effect of nutrients and yeast extract on biohydrogen production was evaluated by batch tests. Bottles of 250 ml useful volume containing 4.7 g/l of glucose (G), Glucose+Nutrients (GN), Glucose+Yeast extract (GY), and Glucose+Nutrients+Yeast extract (GNY) were incubated at 30 °C for 7 days. Microbial growth was equivalent to (gVSS/l): G: 0.02, GN: 0.11, GY: 0.14 and GNY: 0.184. In order to obtain an inoculum concentration of 1.5 gVSS/l, specific volumes of each bottle (except G) were centrifuged and transferred to flasks of 15 ml useful volume, which were filled with the respective fresh solutions. In the first 30 hours, GNY achieved the faster hydrogen production (0.576 mmolH2/gVSS.h), followed by GY (0.184 mmolH2/gVSS.h) and GN (0.025 mmolH2/gVSS.h). However, the maximum H2 liquid yield, after 95 hours, was very close between GNY and GN, i.e., 1.80 and 1.47 molH2/molglucose, respectively, and much higher than that of GY, i.e., 0.85 molH2/molglucose. Regarding biogas composition, GNY exhibited the highest H2 content (58-73%), while GY and GN presented 50±8 and 43±19 H2% on average, respectively. These results indicate that yeast extract and nutrients had a synergic positive effect on biohydrogen production, as yeast extract contributed to the kinetics increase and the nutrients were essential to achieve the maximum hydrogen yield

C J Andrade is a PhD student in Biotechnological Processes at State University of Campinas, and has been working on methods to use industrial wastes as a culture medium. Among the compounds of his interest are biosurfactants, galacto-oligosaccharides, enzyme, flavours, etc. He is also interested on the integration between fermentation and purification, in particular, ultrafiltration.

Currently, industries focus on environment friendly processes. An alternative is replacement of chemicals by bioproducts with similar properties – obtained from biotechnological processes - (eg. surfactants to biosurfactants). The main bottlenecks implementing of this technology are: culture medium and downstream process. Culture medium represents ≈25-35% of production cost whereas downstream ≈60-85%. Cassava wastewater (CWW) is well-described as culture medium for surfactin production, which is a sort of biosurfactant (BS). On the other hand, only a few papers evaluated the affect of activated carbon (AC) and whey on surfactin production. BS are amphiphilic compounds, mainly from microbial origin. The 2,3-Butanediol (2,3-BD) is a promising compound, which can be produced also by bioprocess. BS and 2,3-BD have a wide range of potential applications. The two main producers of 2,3-BD are Bacillus and Klebsiella. Compared with Klebsiella, Bacillus has lower yields, however, Bacillus synthesis only the isomer D-(-)-2,3-BD, which is advantageous. The aim of this work was evaluated different concentrations of CWW, whey and AC – as culture medium – for the simultaneous production of surfactin and 2,3-BD, from Bacillus subtilis LB5a. Whey and CWW were dried by spray dry and lyophilizer, respectively. Then, they were rehydrated at different concentration and used as culture media. The central composite design (erlenmeyer), was carried out with 3 variables (CWW, whey and AC), which –α=0 g.L-1 and +α=as twice the original concentration or recommended by literature, as following: (experimental points=g.L-1): CWW (-1.68=0; -1=29.95; 0=74; +1=118.04; +1.68=140.8); whey (-1.68=0; -1=26.26; 0=55; +1=87.73; +1.68=110); AC (-1.68=0; -1=10.12; 0=25; +1=39.88; +1.68=50). After 72h of fermentation, samples were collected, centrifuged and mixture to ethyl acetate (1:1) and kept for 24h (equilibrium). Then, 1µL of organic phase was injected in CG-FID to analysis the concentration of 2,3-BD. Thus, was identified the optimum concentration of CWW, AC and whey. Then, the experiments of validation were carried out (erlernmeyer). Finally, it was scale-up to bioreactor (7.5L) 3L working volume. Foam ≈230mL (high content of BS) from the top of bioreactor was collected, centrifuged, precipitated (pH=2), neutralized, rehydrated (200mg.L-1) and analyzed by HLPC. On the bench experiments, the 2,3-BD production was evaluated by SPME and liquid-liquid extraction. AC may induce the BS production by growth as biofilm and improve also the transfer coefficient of oxygen. The central composite design indicated the ideal culture medium composition is (g.L-1): ≈74 (CWW), 27.7 (whey) and 25 (CA). Therefore, regarding to these substrates is unnecessary dry them. On the bench experiments, for the first time was identified the 2,3-BD production by SPME and liquid-liquid extraction, in which the highest production interval (both analysis) was between 60 and 72h, ≈300 mg/L (80% by liq-liq and 20 % SPME). ABS, after acid precipitation, reached ≈55% of purity. Therefore, it was confirmed the production of surfactin and 2,3-BD, simultaneously.

Lekshmi R Nath obtained her MPharm from K L E Society’s College of Pharmacy. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD in Biotechnology at Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Kerala, India. She has published more than 5 papers in reputed journal

Cervical cancer, the second most common gynecological malignancy remains a leading cause of cancer death in women in developing countries. The major etiologic factor for cervical cancer is high-risk HPV infection. Several studies indicate that the E6 and E7 gene products play a critical role in cervical carcinogenesis. Medicinal plants have gained much importance in the development of new cancer treatment strategies and extracts derived from mistletoe have been shown to kill cancer cells in vitro. We have isolated 4-O-Methyl Gallic Acid (4-OMGA) from the mistletoe growing on Saraca asoca which induces apoptosis in cervical cancer cells. Among various cervical cancer cells screened the compound exhibited maximum cytotoxicity in HeLa (IC50-17 µg/ml) followed by SiHa (IC50-37 µg/ml), both of which are HPV positive cells while the cytotoxicity was comparatively less in the HPV negative cell line C33A (IC50-91 µg/ml). The compound induces apoptosis is HeLa as evidenced by caspase activation and PARP cleavage. We also observed that the compound is down-regulating the expression of E6/E7 (both RNA and protein level) in HeLa cells in a dose dependent manner

Chia-Hao Lee is now studying his PhD in Department of Chemical Engineering National Chung Cheng University since 2014. His subject is nanotechnology for drugs delivery and designing the carrier of drugs such as solid lipid nanoparticles.

Solid Lipid Nanoparticles (SLNs) grafted with p-Aminophenyl--D-Manno-Pyranoside (APMP) and Folic Acid (FA) (APMP–FA–SLNs) were applied to encapsulate 4'-demethylepipodophyllotoxin 9-(4,6-O-ethylidene--D-glucopyranoside) (etoposide) (ETP) for promoting the anti-proliferation of malignant glioblastoma multiforme. ETP-loaded APMP–FA–SLNs (APMP–FA–ETP–SLNs) were used to penetrate the Blood–Brain Barrier (BBB) and retard the propagation of U87MG cells. An incorporation of APMP and FA increased the particle size, the cytotoxicity to U87MG cells and the permeability coefficient for propidium iodide and ETP across the BBB. In addition, an increase in the APMP and FA concentration reduced the zeta potential, the grafting efficiency of APMP and FA, the dissolution rate of ETP and the trans-endothelial electrical resistance. Immunochemical staining images evidenced that APMP–FA–ETP–SLNs could infiltrate the BBB via glucose transporter 1 and recognize U87MG cells via folate receptor. APMP–FA–ETP–SLNs can be an effective pharmaco-therapeutic formulation in targeting delivery to the brain and in inhibitory efficacy against tumorous cells for cancer therapy.

Reeshab Goenka has completed his Bachelor’s degree (BTech) in Biotechnology from Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata, India and a Master’s degree (MTech) in Energy Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India. He is currently pursuing a PhD in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India, where his area of focus is microbial fuel cells

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC) have developed significant interest among researchers in the past decade and a half as a promising technology for waste-water remediation and simultaneous energy production. Catalysts, such as platinum are used on the cathode and are one of the major reasons why scale-up is still not economically feasible. Similar to a conventional fuel cell, the half reactions are compartmentalized and for a MFC, the anodic reactions determine the rate of current production. This is due to the slow kinetics of the microbes on the anode side as compared to the Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) on the cathode. Reducing the catalyst use and matching the rates of the half reactions in each compartment can be a big step towards achieving feasibility for scale-up and towards studying the characteristics of specific microbes in a MFC. In this study, we reduce the cathodic platinum loading in a Single Chamber Microbial Fuel Cell (SCMFC) in order to match the ORR kinetics with the microbial kinetics on the anode. The electrochemical characteristics of the specific microbe used at the anode was E. coli MTCC 1610, which is studied by Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) and reported as similar to the matching cathodic platinum loading. A novel electrode assembly is employed in this study, where 4 different platinum loadings on the cathode are used in the same SCMFC with a common anode

Archita Ghoshal is currently pursuing her PhD at the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India. She has published two research papers and two more are in the process of being published. Her area of research encompasses molecular biology as well as nanobiotechnology. Previously, she had obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology from a reputed university in Kolkata, India. She had also participated in a Summer Project Program at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA, as part of a student exchange program.

Wnt pathway is a critical aspect in the complex network of signaling molecules implicated in cancer. In non-malignant cells, Wnt signal cascade is blocked by the Secreted Frizzled-related proteins (sFRPs), a family of glycoproteins. However, they are epigenetically silenced in cancer cells. In this study, we attempted to administer recombinant human sFRP1 purified from bacterial culture on to cervical cancer cells (HeLa) to determine its anti-cancer activity. Human sFRP1 gene was cloned into bacterial expression vector pGEX-4T2. Recombinant protein was over-expressed as inclusion bodies in E.coli BL21 (DE3). After optimization of the process of solubilization of protein using detergents, GST-sFRP1 was purified to homogeneity by glutathione agarose affinity chromatography. MALDI analysis verified peptide signature particular to GST-sFRP1 and structural integrity was characterized by circular dichroism spectra. Purified recombinant protein was found to exert significant anti-proliferative effect on HeLa cells at nanomolar concentrations. Western blotting with antibodies against beta-catenin and phosphorylated beta-catenin confirmed the implication of canonical Wnt pathway. Combination therapy exhibited that recombinant sFRP1 substantially chemo sensitized HeLa cells towards conventional chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin. Coating of the therapeutic protein over gold nano-cluster embedded novel composite nanoparticles facilitated sustained release of the protein and enhanced its functional activity. The remarkable fluorescence property of gold nano-clusters was exploited for tracking and imaging purposes. Overall, therapeutic sFRP1 based nano-system may prove to be revolutionary in the field of cancer theranostics.

Seong-Hyun Seo is a Master’s student of Hanyang University and Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology. He studies optimization of microalgae culture conditions for biodiesel production

An alternative stress inducing method, a Low-Energy Pulsed Electric Field (LE-PEF) was used to improve the lipid productivity of microalgae cultures. A large shift in the Nile-Red stained peaks towards a higher intensity in fluorescent-activated cell sorting, suggestive of an increased neutral lipid content was observed when 10 kV LE-PEF pulses were applied to 800 mL batch cultures of Scenedesmus dimorphus. The optimal LE-PEF on-off cycle treatment for S. dimorphus was 10 s on and 60 s off for 15 min with 6 cycles per day. Under these optimal LE-PEF treatment conditions, S. dimorphus showed an overall 25.6% increase in lipid productivity. Therefore, based on these results LE-PEF can be regarded as a promising tool to avoid the lipid content-growth rate tradeoff and improve the lipid productivity of microalgae in various cultivation systems

Eundoo Lee completed his BS from Kangwon University and is studying Mechanical Engineering at Korea University. He has experience in the diagnostics field at Boditech Med, a health care company. His patent is pending for flow velocity measurement and control. He has also published papers in microfluidics journals about flow velocity control.

There is a growth of social concern for personal health, medical services by improved quality of life like increase of population and aging issues. However, medical services utilizing the existing large medical facilities generate a high costs. Also, it is difficult to receive the provision of quality health care services from personal medical facilities. In comparison, diagnostics cost cheaper, easy access to public and user friendly. Therefore, society shows higher interest in health center, particularly in the aspect of diagnostics. In this field, many of laboratories are developing a microfluidics chip for diagnostics. Reaction time for each disease is different and current microfluidics chip research cannot detect various diseases by one chip. Therefore, the microfluidics chip equipped with control system is inevitable in order for a sufficient immune reaction between antigen and antibody for various diseases detection at test zone in channel, various flow velocities. Here, we suggest a flow controllable system. Control of flow velocities are measured and controlled by integrated system equipped with light source and pneumatic valve. We have demonstrated the developed system could be easily controlled for diseases detection and programmed proper algorithm using the labview.

Zsolt Doffkay has completed his MSc degree and studied at University of Szeged, Faculty of Science and Informatics as biologist (Molecular-, Immun- and Microbiology specialization). He started his PhD programme at Doctoral School of Biology in 2013 and his supervisor is Dr. Gábor Rákhely

The emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria is one of the current greatest challenges of the healthcare system. Since multidrug-resistancy is rapidly spreading, development of novel antibiotics is not a feasible strategy. Therefore, new alternative antimicrobial agents are necessary. Using bacteriophages – the natural enemies of bacteria – is a promising alternative approach. Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that are obligate intracellular parasites of bacteria, which could be applied to control also multidrug resistant bacteria. The consortium of Enviroinvest Co., University of Pécs and University of Szeged established a scientific center in order to develop phage therapeutic products against human-, animal- and plant pathogenic bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus, is a Gram-positive bacterium which is responsible for numerous infections worldwide. The emergence methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant (VRSA) cell lines made the treatment of S. aureus infections more difficult. The aim of this research was to find effective bacteriophages against S. aureus. Several potential candidates were isolated. Lysogenic bacteriophages are not suitable for therapeutic use, therefore our research focused on strictly lytic ones. Few candidates have been found which had strictly lytic phenotype. In order to use them in bacteriophage therapy, their morpoholgical characters, maximal titer, lytic spectra/host specificity and genomic sequence must be determined. Therefore, we have sequenced the viral genomes. In one lytic phage, several spontaneous mutations in the integrase gene could be recognized. These mutations could account for the strictly lytic phenotype of the bacteriophage. The complete genome sequence also allowed us to compare the new phage with previously sequenced ones

Plasmid p5.2 that carries the complete alkaline protease gene was used to transform Bacillus subtilis dnaC30 temperature sensitive mutant cells. This host is known to grow normally at 37° C; however when the temperature is changed to 48° C (non permissive-temperature) the replication of the chromosome but not the plasmid is ceased. Consequently, this system allows the amplification of genes carried on plasmids. Growth rate and sporulation frequency of B. subtilis dnaC30 host cells and those of B. subtilis dnaC30 (p5.2) cells were studied. Data indicated that they were almost identical when both were grown at 37° C. However, at non-permissive temperature the growth rate and sporulation frequency of B. subtilis dnaC30 host were reduced after 24 hours of incubation while those of B. subtilis dnaC30 (p5.2) were greatly affected. This could be due to the effect of the high copy number of the aprE gene at non-permissive temperature. Additionally, it can be stated that the characteristics of this mutant participated largely in this effect

Mohammad Imad Khrieba got a Doctorate in 2015 from Tishreen University in Syria, Faculty of Agriculture, in the field of biological control of plant diseases and interpretation of the effect by using the methods of biotechnology mechanism. He got a Master's degree from Isfahan University of Technology in Iran and almost within the same area of his Doctorate in 2011. He has participated in many scientific conferences inside Syria and abroad and published during the Master's and Doctoral studies, several articles in scientific journals. He is currently working as a Researcher at the Public Authority for Biotechnology in Damascus

Tomato seedlings damping-off is a limiting factor in commercial greenhouse production. To determine the causal agents of disease, sampling and fungal isolation were performed during 2012. Samples were collected from infected seedlings growing in greenhouses in the Syrian coastal region, isolation of fungi was done in the laboratories of the Agronomical Research Center in Lattakia and the molecular analyses were done in the Biotechnology Center at Tishreen University, Lattakia, Syria, during the year 2012-2013. Eight isolates of Pythium sp. obtained were purified using hyphal tip method (named P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6, P7 and P8). Isolates were morphologically identified by optical microscope then molecularly characterized using genus specific ITS primers. The results of morphological characterization of pathogenic species suggested the detection of Pythium aphanidermatum, P.ultimum. The analysis of DNAs from the different isolates with ITS primers recognizing the inter transcript spacer of nuclear ribosomal DNA proved that the eight isolates were belonging to the species P. ultimum. The complete sequences of ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacers regions of selected isolates were determined and submitted to GenBank. The GenBank-BLAST homology search revealed P. ultimum as the most similar sequence (>99% identity) with GenBank entry AB355596.