Presentation and attendance at the 14th International Congress on Yeasts, Awaji Island and a laboratory visit at the Nihon University, Japan September 2016

Abstract

Ee Lin Tek, a PhD student from Prof Vladimir Jiranek’s group, attended the 14th International Congress on Yeasts (ICY14) which took place at the Awaji Yumebutai International Conference Centre, Japan in September 11-15, 2016. EL Tek provided an oral and a poster presentation on Wine Australia-funded PhD work with the title ‘Formation and regulation of wine yeast biofilms (mats) in nitrogen-limiting conditions’.

Summary

Ee Lin Tek presented an oral presentation titled 'Formation and regulation of wine yeast biofilms (mats) in nitrogen-limiting conditions' at the 14th International Congress on Yeasts in Awaji Island, Japan. EL Tek also presented a poster with the same title. Participating in the conference broadened EL’s knowledge on the wide applications of yeast on fermentation technology and the current yeast research interests, breakthroughs and issues.

While in Japan, EL made a visit to the research laboratories A/Prof Tatsuya Maeda at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo. His research focuses on nitrogen-responsive signalling pathway in yeast. This travel also enabled network establishment.

The congress was attended by over 440 junior and senior yeast scientists, including some industry representatives, from approximately 40 countries. More than 170 lectures, including a keynote and 11 plenary lectures by distinguished international speakers, and 250 posters were delivered covering a wide range of topics from understanding the physiological system in yeast to industrial technology improvement. EL’s participation had initiated discussions on her presented work as well as on other loosely linked projects which has inspired EL with valuable leads to study the complex yeast biofilm morphology. A few presentations related to wine yeast and winemaking are outlined below and a summary will be published in an industry journal.

This travel also included a visit to a research group led by A/Prof Tatsuya Maeda at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo. The group focuses on an important nitrogen-responsive signalling pathway in yeast. This is of interest to Jiranek’s group as nitrogen is an essential factor in yeast growth and fermentation.

Attendance to this conference served a great training for Ee Lin to interact and network with yeast scientists at all levels. Such training is crucial in pursuing a career no matter whether it is within or outside the yeast community.