The leader of the program Prof. Dr Ines Mandić Mulec was the chair of the scientific and organizing committee of the 12th Symposium on Bacterial Genetics and Ecology (BAGECO-12) which took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from 9-13 June 2013. BAGECO meetings are held biannually and have developed into one of the most important international conferences on bacterial ecology, with attendance limited to 300 participants and only one session so that participants can hear all the talks. A major motivation of the BAGECO meetings is to open new conceptual avenues leading to better understanding of the ecology and evolution of bacteria in the environment including molecular mechanisms of their interactions that are important for their survival and ecosystem functions. Further details are available at http://www.bageco2013.org . This year’s main slogan is reflected in the title of the meeting “Networking and plasticity of microbial communities: the secret to success” which also reflects the research interests of the chair. To chair this event is an honor and also indicates that the proposed project leader is well respected in the field of microbial ecology. The symposium was a success with almost 300 researchers attending the conference, which further opened the doors for collaborations with best research groups in the world.
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting
COBISS.SI-ID: 4259448The application of methods common in life sciences in the study of cultural heritage of national importance is becoming more common. In this work 15 environmental and microbiological parameters that are important for biodegradation of archeological wet wood were regularly monitored at an abandoned clay pit depository at Ljubljana marsh. The results of a regular monitoring indicate that aerobic, oligotrofic environment of depository enables slow biodegradation of archeological wooden artefacts.
D.11 Other
COBISS.SI-ID: 4294776With this review article we clarified the resistance mechanisms to adverse environmental conditions, which depend on sigle-cell and mutli-cell strategies that result in physiological and genetically heterogeneity of cells in biofilms. Thus more productive biotechnological applications can be developed and improved safety during food production chain.
D.11 Other
COBISS.SI-ID: 4286584In 2013 the U.S. patent U.S. 8,361,777 B2 was granted for an invention, based on the newly discovered biosynthetic gene cluster for an unusual tetracycline antibiotic chelocardin. This invention provides new biologically active tetracycline structures and methods of their production, based on biosynthetic engineering and semi-synthetic chemistry approaches. The newly obtained antibiotic compounds were found to be active in a number of pathogenic organisms at extremely low concentrations and show an atypical mechanism of action, which is crucial in the development of new drugs against bacterial infections, caused by pathogenic strains, resistant to currently used antibiotics currently. The exceptional scientific importance of the new platform for development of antibiotics, together with the patent granted in 2013 is of potentially large applicative and commercial importance and has already served as a basis for cooperation with excellent academic organizations and companies that focus on the development of new drugs.
F.06 Development of a new product
COBISS.SI-ID: 4250744The goal of this study was the characterisation of indigenous lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeasts isolated from nine white-pickled (BG) and nine fresh soft (ZG) artisanal cheeses collected in Serbia and Croatia. While LAB were present in all collected cheeses, the yeasts were found in all BG cheeses and only in three ZG cheese samples. High LAB and yeast species diversity was determined (average H’L = 0.4 and H’Y = 0.8, respectively). The predominant LAB species in white-pickled BG cheeses were Lactococcus lactis, Lactobacillus plantarum and Leuconostoc mesenteroides, while in fresh soft ZG cheeses the most dominant LAB species were Lactococcus lactis, Enterococcus faecalis and Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides. Among 20 yeast species Debaryomyces hansenii, Candida zeylanoides and Torulaspora delbrueckii were found to be predominant in BG cheeses, while Yarrowia lipolytica was predominant in ZG cheeses. The characterisation of metabolic and technological potentials revealed that 53.4% LAB isolates produced antimicrobial compounds, 44.3% LAB strains showed proteolytic activity, while most of yeast species possessed either lipolytic or proteolytic activity. In conclusion, the results obtained in this study, showed that the composition of LAB and yeast populations in white-pickled and fresh soft cheeses is region specific. The knowledge gained in this study could be eventually used to select region specific LAB and yeast strains for the production of white-pickled and fresh soft artisanal cheeses with geographical origin under controlled conditions.
D.11 Other
COBISS.SI-ID: 4256888