18th Renewable Resources and Biorefineries Symposium in Bruges, B

Our postdoctoral researcher Dr. Stefan Cord-Landwehr and our doctoral student Mounashree attended the 18th International Conference on Renewable Resources and Biorefineries from June 1st to June 3rd in the beautiful Belgium city of Brügge. The in-person conference was a perfect setting for the much-needed digital detox. The main aim of the conference was to provide a platform for more than 300 international participants with diverse backgrounds to exchange recent developments in the fields of industrial biotechnology, sustainable (green) chemistry and use of renewable raw materials for non-food applications. The unusual aspect was the involvement of the political partners to address how bio-based solutions can aid in fighting climate crisis. Mouna had a poster where she presented our new method to analyse the chitin and chitosan monomers present in the fungal cell walls. The poster attracted people from different start-ups who are looking for beneficial uses to the fungal waste they are left with. Even though many presenters reported to have seen beneficial effects, such as immunity against pathogens after treating plants with just ground-up fungal biomass, they fail to pinpoint the active compound that is present in the fungal biomass and triggering immunity. We know from our work and experience that chitosans are capable of imparting such beneficial properties to treated plants. Thus, Mouna’s poster met with great interest from researchers looking to bridge the knowledge gap between structure and function of fungal biowaste by analyzing the quantity and quality of chitin and chitosan present in it!