7th Congress of the Serbian Genetic Society

 was organized at Zlatibor mountain, Serbia from 2-5 October 2024. This was an international conference covering a wide range of topics: (1) Population genetics and genomics, (2) Evolutionary and conservation genetics, (3) Microbial genetics, (4) Medical genetics, (5) Challenges of genotoxicology in the 21st century, (6) New breeding technologies and perspectives, (7) Bioinformatics and big data analysis. It gathered over 250 participants and included 12 plenary lectures, 33 invited lectures, 44 short oral presentations, 128 posters, 13 sponsor presentations and it also had a workshop, a mini-symposium and 2 round tables. The full Book of Abstracts is available 

At the Congress, 12 plenary lectures were presented:

“Genomics technologies create the foundation for understanding who we are, how we function and what we drink!” by Dr Miodrag Grbic (University of Western Ontario, Canada)

“Epigenetic mechanisms involved in vascular degeneration induced by chronic hyperglycaemia: focus on 

 cellular models” by Dr Nadia Di Pietrantonio (University “G. d’Annunzio”, Italy)

“Transposable elements drive genetic and epigenetic novelty relevant for adaptive evolution across species” by Dr Josefa Gonzalez (University Pompeu Fabra, Spain)

“Alkaline comet and micronucleus cytome assay – the use of the methods and their perspectives trough the results of the hCOMET, HUMNap, EDIAQI and BioMolTox projects” by Dr Mirta Milic (Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Croatia)

“Exploring plant’s amazing capacity to thrive under stress to protect our genomes” by Dr Rui Oliveira (University of Minho, Portugal)

“Future of genetics in medicine” by Dr Borut Peterlin (Clinical Institute of Genomic Medicine, Slovenia)

“Use of phenomic and genetic data in buckwheat breeding – ECOBREED example” by Dr Vladimir Meglic (Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, Slovenia)

“Approaches and achievements in grapevine breeding” by Dr Dragan Nikolic (University of Belgrade, Serbia)

“Isolation of BaMMV/BaYMV barley resistance genes allows the gene-editing based disease management and redefinition of the gene origin” by Dr Dragan Perović (Federal Research Institute for Cultivated Plants, Germany)

“Genetics of early pregnancy losses” by Dr Dijana Plaseska-Karanfilska (Research Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology “Georgi D. Efremov”, North Macedonia)

“New insights into uniparental disomy” by Dr Thomas Liehr (Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University, Germany)

“rRNA operon multiplicity as a bacterial genome stability insurance policy” by Dr Ivan Matic (Institut Cochin, France)

, 1 invited lecture and 1 poster presented results relevant for the EcoPlastiC project:

Invited lecture “Environmental microorganisms and their populations as biotechnological solution to plastic pollution” by Milica Ciric from the Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering (IMGGE), Serbia.

A poster “Laboratory evolved microbial consortium towards arabinoxylan can degrade polyurethane” by Milica Ciric (IMGGE), Brana Pantelic (IMGGE) and Jasmina Nikodinovic-Runic (IMGGE).

Photo of the presenting author Milica Ciric during the invited lecture “Environmental microorganisms and their populations as biotechnological solution to plastic pollution”

Photo of the presenting author Milica Ciric with the poster “Laboratory evolved microbial consortium towards arabinoxylan can degrade polyurethane”

 EcoPlastiC Steering Meeting (SM) took place on 4 October 2024 where five EcoPlastiC partners presented the latest achievements within their Work Packages (WPs) and made further plans for Year 3, the final year of the project.

 reported that high PET monomer yields by green chemical processes were obtained, bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) production from plastic waste hydrolysates containing PET was achieved and enzymatic degradation of the PET-containing waste streams was completed.

Within WP3, both AVE and NOVA presented updates. 

 presented a comparison of results for experiments carried out in mixed aerobic cultures with REXed PET, REXed metalised PET and low Na-REXed metalised PET, where lower Na-concentration had a positive impact on the conductivity and could positively affect the growth rate. 

 screened 39 strains and selected 7 based on their ability to completely degrade TPA. Then, 4 strains were selected to enhance the process for PHA production. They also assessed a new microbiome from a municipal solid waste treatment plant and results showed good TPA removal capacity with over 70% efficiency and accumulation of intracellular PHA.

Within WP4, both NOVA and IMGGE reported promising results. 

 will perform the bioprocess scale up with the best performing microbial communities validated in WP3, they will scale-up from 2 to 10 L and the process will be continued by AVE to scale it up further for PHA production. They also shared updates on the optimisation of PHA recovery where different strategies have been tested. When supercritical CO2 treatment was used, no significant PHA extraction was observed. For green solvent extractions, they reported that cyclohexanone showed highest recovery efficiency, but an uncommon TGA profile, so dimethyl carbonate was chosen for further analysis. Enzymatic treatments (single and defined binary and tertiary mixes of enzymes) will be performed by 

. At IMGGE, PHB was successfully recovered by a protein mix from 

, as well as deep eutectic solvents (DES).

Within WP5, both TUS and KTH reported updates. 

 performed trials on microbial protein-based adhesives, which involved testing different combinations with and without a cross linker to determine the effects on adhesive strength and flexibility. Future work will focus on increasing biomass production and further improving water and heat resistance properties of the adhesives for enhanced functionality. 

 prepared multilayer films and tested barrier properties, where oxygen permeability testing is completed and water vapour permeability tests are ongoing.

 reported that website performance continues to improve steadily, as well as key performance indicators (KPIs) describing the social media and project’s activities. All consortium members are encouraged to keep dialogues with industry, as suggested by the Project Officer at the previous review meeting.

Representatives from all partner institutions attended the SM:

 (Coordinator and Team Leader), Marija Mojicevic, Laura Rodriguez, Bor Shin Chee, Cuneyt Erdinct Tas, Buket Alkan Tas, Necdet Ozcelik, Zeliha Ece Ozcelik, Eduardo Lanzagorta Garcia

 (Team Leader), Patricia Concordio dos Reis, Cristiana Torres, Maria Batista

 (Team Leader), Jelena Simic, Marijana Ponjavic

 (Team Leader), Kiran Reddy Baddigam, Anna Svagen Hanner

Regular EcoPlastiC SMs are organised each 2 months, to make sure this project moves forward according to plans.

Sixth EcoPlastiC Steering Meeting

 is a European Commission initiative to identify high potential innovations and innovators in EU-funded research and innovation projects. Their goal is to allow every citizen, public official, professional and business person to discover the outputs of EU innovation funding and give them a chance to seek out innovators who could follow in the footsteps of successful companies, all of whom received EU funding in their early days. All innovations that are part of the Innovation radar are contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Information about EU-funded innovations from high-quality projects is visible and accessible to the public via the 

. The innovations can also be explored by maturity levels: Exploring, Tech Ready, Business Ready and Market Ready.

Among great EU-funded innovations to be discovered, five EcoPlastiC innovations can be found:

Recalcitrant plastics replacement using virgin-to- virgin loops

Polyhydroxyalkanoate purification process using enzyme cocktail

Mechanical/green chemical waste PET depolymerisation

Prototype production of eco-plastic trays and films from food waste based-SCP, PHA-rich biomass for packaging

Precision fermentation for PHAs, the production of protein rich biomass and biogas

EcoPlastiC innovations on the EC Innovation Radar