OEGMBT Annual Meeting

Biomolecules in/for the 21st century

From September 21-23 a virtual meeting room will stage the Kick off event. Following the Kick off event, a virtual meeting room will open its’ doors for bi-weekly Life Science Tuesdays from Oct 2020 - Mar 2021.

Registration and abstract submission is open - more: https://oegmbt.at/jahrestagung

International Microorganism Day
17 September is International Microorganism Day, an annual celebration of microbiology to promote the diversity and variety of microorganisms and a way to encourage everyone to recognize and celebrate the many ways microscopic organisms are important in human health, culture and, throughout our daily lives. BOKU was part of it and Michael Sauer from the Institute of Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology talked in the Breakfast Show (follow this link to video No #23) about microorganisms involved in bread baking.

Publication in Nature Biotech

Gaßler T, Mattanovich D (c)Vegh, BOKU

The industrial yeast Pichia pastoris is converted from a heterotroph into an autotroph capable of growth on CO2. (2019) Gaßler, T., Sauer M., Gasser B., Egermeier M., Troyer Ch., Causon T., Hann St., Mattanovich D., Steiger M. Nature Biotechnology doi.org/10.1038/s41587-019-0363-0

New Publication

A time travel story: metagenomic analyses decipher the unknown geographical shift and the storage history of possibly smuggled antique marble statues. (2019), Pinar, G; Poyntner, C; Tafer, H; Sterflinger, K. Annals of Microbiology Vol 69, p 1001-1021. doi.org/10.1007/s13213-019-1446-3

BOKU Invention Award 2019 for Brigitte Gasser, Diethard Mattanovich, Michael Sauer and Thomas Gaßler

The inventors, Diethard Mattanovich, Brigitte Gasser, Michael Sauer and Thomas Gaßler were able to convince the jury with the "CarboFeed" technology. In this project, a method was developed that makes it possible to process CO2 into an animal feed additive by using a novel yeast. The aim is using CO2 as a sustainable source of raw materials and it also has the eco-friendly effect that no further agricultural land is needed for the production of animal feed.

The secretome of Pichia pastoris in fed-batch cultivations is largely independent of the carbon source but changes quantitatively over cultivation time.

Burgard J, Grünwald-Gruber C, Altmann F, Zanghellini J, Valli M, Mattanovich D, Gasser B. (2019) Microb Biotechnol. 2019 Nov 6. doi: 10.1111/1751-7915.13499.

Diethard Mattanovich re-elected Vice-President of the European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB).

At the last meeting of the Executive Board of the European Federation of Biotechnology in Barcelona, Diethard Mattanovich was re-elected Vice-President of the European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB).

Transforming CO2 into animal feed

Thomas Gaßler and Michael Egermeier were selected for a FFG Spin-Off Fellowship grant for the transformation of their project “CarboFeed” (Biotechnological production of high-value yeast based animal feed additives from CO2) together with Diethard Mattanovich.

Wissenschaft trifft Kunst: BOKU-Projekt bei der diesjährigen Ars Electronica

Fermenting Futures ist ein Kunst- und Wissenschaftsprojekt, das vom Institut für Mikrobiologie und Mikrobielle Biotechnologie an BOKU entwickelt und in Zusammenarbeit mit dem acib und der Abteilung Medientheorie der Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien durchgeführt wird.  >mehr darüber

What’s the yeast doing inside my bread?

Soon on BBC News - Crowd Science

If you’re one of the millions of people who used lockdown to try something new like baking sourdough bread, you may well be wondering what’s happening chemically inside your loaf, especially if the end result keeps changing.

A BBC News Podcast about baking and yeast with Prof. Diethard Mattanovich as interview partner. - available from Aug 21, 23:32 (UTC+2)

Latest Publication

Sonakshi De, Corinna Rebnegger, Josef Moser, Nadine Tatto, Alexandra B Graf, Diethard Mattanovich, Brigitte Gasser

FEMS Yeast Res. 2020 Aug; 20(5): foaa044. Published online 2020 Aug 7. doi: 10.1093/femsyr/foaa044 PMCID: PMC7419694

BOKU Story with Katja Sterflinger-Gleixner

Subcellular Proteome Atlas

A subcellular proteome atlas of the yeast Komagataella phaffii. (2020) Valli M, Grillitsch K, Grünwald-Gruber C, Tatto NE, Hrobath B, Klug L, Ivashov V, Hauzmayer S, Koller M, Tir N, Leisch F, Gasser B, Graf AB, Altmann F, Daum G, Mattanovich D. FEMS Yeast Res. 2020 Feb 1;20(1). pii: foaa001. doi: 10.1093/femsyr/foaa001.

Back to the Salt Mines: Genome and Transcriptome Comparisons of the Halophilic Fungus Aspergillus salisburgensis and Its Halotolerant Relative Aspergillus sclerotialis. (2019) Tafer H., Poyntner C, Lopandic K., Sterflinger K., and Piñar G. Genes (Basel). May; 10(5): 381. doi: 10.3390/genes10050381

GOLD medal for iGEM Vienna Team @Giant Jamboree 2019 in Boston

The Giant Jamboree is an annual event that showcases work from the iGEM Competition. All iGEM teams were invited to present their synthetic biology projects and compete for prizes in Boston, US. The iGEM Vienna team participated for the third time at this event and we all are proud and happy to say that in 2019 their efforts were rewarded in form of a Gold Medal! - congratulations!

Spotlight on biodiversity of microbial cell factories for glycerol conversion.

Russmayer H, Egermeier M, Kalemasi D, Sauer M. (2019) Biotechnol Adv 1;37(6):107395. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2019.05.001.

Recombinant Protein Production in Yeast

This volume provides an overview of the main yeast production platforms currently used and future yeast cell factories for recombinant protein production. Chapters detail approaches of genetic and metabolic engineering, co-factor containing proteins and virus-like particles, glycoproteins, and post-translational modifications of proteins. in: Methods Mol Biol. 2019;1923: ISBN-13: 978-1493990238

Genschalter in Hefe entdeckt

Forschende am Department für Biotechnologie der Universität für Bodenkultur Wien (BOKU) und des Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology (acib) haben einen Genschalter in Hefe entdeckt, der vor Jahrmillionen zwölf Gene gleichzeitig verändert und dadurch den Hefe-Stoffwechselprozess angekurbelt hat. Die in Nature Communications veröffentlichten Forschungsergebnisse bergen großes Potenzial in der Lebensmittelproduktion, der Erzeugung von Biotreibstoffen oder zur Entwicklung von Grundstoffen für Bioplastik.

Join the Bad Bugs Book Club

on the occasion of World Antimicrobioal Awareness Week 2020
Nov 18-24, 2020

New Publication

Shotgun proteomics reveals putative polyesterases in the secretome of the rock-inhabiting fungus Knufia chersonesos. (2020) Tesei, D; Quartinello, F; Guebitz, GM; Ribitsch, D; Nöbauer, K; Razzazi-Fazeli, E; Sterflinger, K. Sci Rep. 2020; 10: 9770. Published online 2020 Jun 17. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-66256-7

ICY15 meets ICYGMB 30 - save the date - AUG 22-26, 2021

We are glad to announce that, in midst of this challenging situation the 15th International Congress on Yeast and the 30th International Conference on Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology have decided to join forces in August 2021 and merge the two events. Therefore, it means: ICY15 meets ICYGMB30. - We will keep you updated! www.icy15.org

New Publication

Totaro, D; Rothbauer, M; Steiger, MG; Mayr, T; Wang, HY; Lin,YS; Sauer, M; Altvater, M; Ertl, P; Mattanovich, D;Biotechnol Bioeng. 2020 Jul; 117(7): 2046–2057. Published online 2020 Apr 6. doi: 10.1002/bit.27338

Rapid diagnosis of biological colonization in cultural artefacts using the MinION nanopore sequencing technology. (2020) Pinar, G; Poyntner, C; Lopandic, K; Taferl, H; Sterflinger, K. doi.org/10.1016/j.ibiod.2020.104908 

BOKU Inventor 2019

This year the award BOKU inventor 2019 went ex aequo to Hertha Steinkellner (DAGZ), Reingard Grabherr (Head of Department of Biotechnology) and Brigitte Gasser (DBT). In addition to a cash prize, their commitment and exemplary effect will be rewarded with a personal video presented at the BOKU Autumn Festival at IFA Tulln. - Congratulations!

Rudolf Sallinger Special Award for CarboFeed

The CarboFeed team from the Department of Biotechnology was delighted to receive a special jury prize for their CO2-fixing yeast strain technology at the S&B Award 2019.

Christian Doppler Laboratory for Biotechnology of Glycerol

The CD-Laboratory for Biotechnology of Glycerol is dedicated to the microbial valorization of crude glycerol from biodiesel production.

Christian Doppler Laboratory for Growth-Decoupled Protein Production in Yeast

A report on the CD-lab of Brigitte Gasser in the magazine "Chemiereport 2017-03" (text only available in German).

Nature Com. Publication

A single Gal4-like transcription factor activates the Crabtree effect in Komagataella phaffii

(2018) Ata Ö, Rebnegger C, Tatto NE, Valli M, Mairinger T, Hann S, Steiger MG, Çalık P, Mattanovich D. Nature Communications, 9:4911 doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-07430-4

Retrospection: Houska Award 2010