Day 1 :
Keynote Forum
Baolin Zhang
Food and Drug Administration
Keynote: Glycosylation of therapeutic proteins: Functions and analytical innovation
Time : 10:00-10:45
Biography:
Dr. Baolin Zhang is Senior Investigator and Review Team Leader in the Office of Biotechnology Products of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Zhang has 15 years of FDA experience regulating biotechnology drug product applications, inlcuding monoclonal antibodies and biosimilars. Dr. Zhang also directs a research program on advancing analytics for biotechnology products. He has published over 80 original studies in high profile journals, and presented at numerous scientific and regulatory conferences. Dr. Zhang has received numerous awards for excellence in scientific achievement and for mentoring junior scientists including FDA Excellence in Laboratory Science and Excellence in Leadership.
Abstract:
Glycosylation is a critical quality attribute of therapeutic glycoproteins, including monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), which can directly affect product safety and efficacy. However, the complexity of protein glycosylation poses a daunting analytical challenge. The current methods for glycan analysis (e.g., mass spectrometry) consist of laborious enzymatic digestion protocols and analyses of the resulting free glycans and aglycosylated proteins. This presentation describes an innovative lectin-based microarray approach for high throughput glycan analysis of native proteins. Case studies of commercial therapeutic glycoproteins will be discussed to highlight the applications of the lectin microarray platforms for the characterization of biotechnology products.
Keynote Forum
Chien-Hsun Huang
Fudan University
Keynote: Reconstruction of evolutionary history of several plant families using bioinformatics as a framwork for comparative studies
Time : 11:05-11:50
Biography:
Dr. Chien-Hsun Huang is now an associate researcher in Fudan University, China. He received his Ph.D. degree of Plant Biology in the Institute of Plant Biology, Department of Life Sciences, National Taiwan University, and started to study plant evolution in bioinformatics in his postdoc position. He accumulated his experiences in molecular biology, biochemistry and bioinformatics. He has involved in several government-granted projects of NSFC.
Abstract:
Bioinformatics is getting vital in the genomic era with the advance of sequencing tecniques leading to large amounts of datasets generated around the world. Similarly is the emerging importance of the comparative studies, instead of focusing on understanding one particular model species in previous days, to find the mechanisms basal and universal to most of the species as well as the ones specified to a few organisms. However, a well-resolved and robust phylogeny is required for many of the comparative studies to make assumptions as well as possible. Thus, we focus on resolving the phylogeny of angiosperms, hoping to provide a framework for comparative studies in plants. Using large numbers of transcriptomic datasets, we selected hundreds of low-copy or single-copy nuclear genes to reconstruct the phylogeny of several angiosperm families such as Asteraceae, Rosaceae and Brassicaceae. In these studies, we first provide a solid relationships among members of these families by using different approaches to confirm the results, and then reconstruct the history of morphological characters or gene/genome duplications based on the model phylogeny. We have found repeated and nested whole-genome duplications in Asteraceae, and also revreal the evolutionary history of fruit type in Rosaceae. Furthermore, we especially focus on and anticipate to provide a solid framework and sufficient information for Brassicaceae to be used as a “model family” in plant biology.
- Plant Biotechnology
Session Introduction
Mehmet Cengiz BALOGLU
Kastamonu University,Turkey
Title: miRNome Analysis of Einkorn Turkish Wheat Cultivar (Siyez) under Drought Stress
Time : 11:50-12:25
Biography:
Dr. Mehmet Cengiz Baloglu is Associate Professor of Department of Genetic and Bioengineering at Kastamonu University. He received his PhD in 2011 at Middle East Technical University (METU). His PhD thesis was awarded as the best thesis in METU. He has established molecular biology, transcriptomics and bioinformatics research laboratories at the Kastamonu University in 2013. Dr. Baloglu has published over 50 peer-reviewed manuscripts on topics concerning with gene identification in plants, transcriptome and miRNA analysis using NGS and abiotic stress in plants. He is serving as an Associate editor and Editorial Board member for international journals with high impact factors.
Abstract:
Triticum monococcum is the domesticated form of einkorn wheat which is a staple food of early farmers for many thousand years. Siyez is one of the most famous einkorn wheat cultivar and domesticated in Kastamonu, Turkey. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are known as short non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at post-transcriptional level. In this study, miRNAs and their target genes were determined after drought stress in leaf and root samples of Siyez. Four small RNA libraries were constructed. Sequencing was performed on the Illumina HiSeq 2500. All bioinformatics analysis was carried out using CLC Genomics Workbench v.10. Although there are many studies related with transcriptome analyses in wheat, microRNA deep sequencing under drought stress in einkorn wheat has been firstly performed. After drought treatment, expression level of 30 and 69 miRNAs were increased and decreased, respectively. Expression level of tae-miR9672a-3p, tae-miR9666a-3p, tae-miR9773, tae-miR5048-5p and tae-miR167c-5p were significantly raised, whereas tae-miR395a/b, tae-miR9674a-5p, tae-miR9662b-3p, tae-miR159a/b and tae-miR5200 expressions were remarkably reduced after drought stress application in Siyez. To identify potential regulatory effects of miRNAs on mRNAs, target genes were also predicted for all libraries. A detailed bioinformatics analysis showed that miRNAs upregulated in response to drought stress, such as tae-miR9661-5p, tae-miR156 primarily targeted transcripts associated with activation of immune regulator SRFR1 and SBP-box genes. In the current study, a temporal miRNA-guided post-transcriptional regulation responded to drought was observed in leaf and root tissues of einkorn wheat. This kind of stress induced miRNA identification studies open new perspectives for designing novel wheat breeding strategies.
Pınar BALOGLU
Kastamonu University, Turkey
Title: Cloning and Sequence Analysis of bZIP and WRKY Transcription Factor Genes in Einkorn Wheat (Siyez)
Time : 16:05-16:40
Biography:
Pınar Baloglu is a biologist at Kastamonu University in Research and Application Center. She received her M.Sc. in 2016 at Department of Genetic and Bioengineering in Kastamonu University. In her thesis, she has identified 79 LEA (Late Embryogenesis Abundant) genes in cucumber genome. It was also tested their response against to drought stress in cucumber. Expert Biologist Baloglu has published 2 manuscripts on topics concerning with gene familes identification in different plants. She has also attended many congress related with molecular biology and bioinformatics. Now, she is a Ph.D. candidate in same department.
Abstract:
Wheat is an annual herbaceous plant whose breeding is done all over the world. Siyez wheat (Tiriticum monococcum) with 2n chromosomes is the first wheat variety which is known the oldest and taken culture. bZIP transcription factors have DNA binding motifs and form the leucine zipper dimerization. Most of WRKY type transcription factors control regulation of important functions for the development of plants. In this study, transcription factor genes were firstly cloned form einkorn wheat. For this, genes were amplified in PCR using gene specific primers with Pfu Taq Polymerase enzyme. PCR products were transferred to pENTR™/D-TOPO® input vector. Plasmids containing genes were sent to sequencing. Finally, the sequences of the genes were aligned using CLC Genomics Workbench bioinformatics program. bZIP gene with 450 bp in length and WRKY gene with 672 bp in length were successfully cloned in a Gateway-compatible input vector. DNA sequence of genes were translated to protein sequence. A total of 150 amino acids in length for bZIP proteins and a total of 224 amino acids in length for WRKY proteins were determined. 3-D structure of proteins were modeled using Phyre2 program. The structural differences of these proteins in Siyez were identified. With this study, the sequence of bZIP and WRKY type transcription factors genes were firstly determined in ancestral wheat cultivar, Siyez and tried to obtain information about the function of these genes. Obtained results from this study may be used for development of abiotic stress resistance plants.
Mehmet Cengiz Baloglu
Kastamonu University, Turkey
Title: Genome wide identifi cation of important DNA sequences in plant genomes and Its application in plant biotechnology
Time : 16:40-17:15
Biography:
Dr. Mehmet Cengiz Baloglu is Associate Professor of Department of Genetic and Bioengineering at Kastamonu University. He received his PhD in 2011 at Middle East Technical University (METU). His PhD thesis was awarded as the best thesis in METU. He has established molecular biology, transcriptomics and bioinformatics research laboratories at the Kastamonu University in 2013. Dr. Baloglu has published over 50 peer-reviewed manuscripts on topics concerning with gene identification in plants, transcriptome and miRNA analysis using NGS and abiotic stress in plants. He is serving as an Associate editor and Editorial Board member for international journals with high impact factors.
Abstract:
Advent of next generation sequencing (NGS) has been dramatically altered the fields of omics technologies including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics. NGS provides mass analysis for genome and transcriptome of organisms including plants. This advanced technique accelerates identification of genes, regulatory sequences and biomarkers found in plant genomes. Although many draft plant genome sequences have been published over the past decade, all genes in genomes have not been completely detected. Therefore, gene family identification studies have been still continued. Gene families are often spread in the genome through tandem and segmental arrangements. Orthologous-paralogous genes, transcription factor family genes, some simple sequence repeats, microsatellites, microRNAs and long intergenic noncoding RNAs are in great demand for genome survey researchers. Development of new bioinformatics tools have caused detection of these important sequences in plant genomes. Transcriptome, molecular breeding, genetic transformation and genome editing studies can be considered as samples for this application in plant biotechnology. RNA-sequencing technology has been widely used for both measurement of gene expression levels and discovery of new genes and new alternative splicing isoforms. Aim of modern plant breeding programs is to improve and increase some agronomically important traits. The most significant contribution of genome wide investigation studies has provided precious source for functional genomics and plant breeding programs. Genome editing strategies including genetic transformation, RNA interference and CRISPR/Cas9 have a great potential to obtain new plant phenotypes with desirable characteristics. In the future, new omics analysis tools will be emerged and will provide deep investigation for plant genomes.
- Pharma Biotechonlogy
Session Introduction
Amandio Vieira
Simon Fraser University,Canada
Title: Cell function-based high-throughput screening of natural and synthetic compounds
Time : 12:25-13:00
Biography:
Dr. A. Vieira completed his BSc and PhD studies in Alberta, Canada, and postdoctoral studies in California, USA. He is currently Associate Professor, and Director of the Nutrition and Metabolism Research Laboratory, Biomedical Physiology (BPK) Department, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada. He has over 90 publications, including research papers in major international journals, with over 1500 citations. Dr. Vieira has served as reviewer and editorial board member for journals related to biomedical research, molecular and cellular biology, as well as educational and scientific books.
Abstract:
Modulators of cell functions such as transport pathways, signal transduction, and redox balance may have biomedical applications as pharmaco-therapeutics. We have developed biochemical and cellular high-throughput screening assays to assess activities of natural products, standardized plant extracts, as well as synthetic compounds and biosimilars. Several of these assays will be discussed in the context of (a) pro-oxidative and other pathological effects of misfolded and aggregated polypeptides in amyloidogenic diseases, (b) infectious diseases involving endocytosis of the microbe, and (c) epigenetic regulation in metabolic disorders. Medicinal and dietary plant extracts, purified phytochemicals including flavonoids and nutrients, as well as combinations of purified compounds, are currently undergoing screening in our laboratory; and the latest results will be presented.
- Algal biotechnology
Session Introduction
Gladys Hayashida Soiza
University of Antofagasta Chile
Title: Microalga isolated from a microbial mat in Salar de Atacama (northern Chile) as a potential source of compounds for biotechnological applications
Time : 14:00-14:35
Biography:
Gladys Hayashida has completed recently her PhD from Antofagasta University and her Master studies from Kyoto University. She is the director of the Associative Regional Project Explora of CONICYT, a Science Promotion Grant supported by the Goberment of Chile and implemented by the Antofagasta University. She has published scientific articles related to bioactive substances from marine bacteria and microalgal biotechnological applications, in reputed journals and has been her participating as researcher in several scientific studies.
Abstract:
Microalgae are an important source of unsaturated fatty acids, phospholipids, glycolipids, and carotenes, which are useful compounds for the food and pharmaceutical industries. The Atacama Desert of northern Chile is one of the driest deserts on Earth and, as such, it is a great natural laboratory in which to study new microorganisms adapted to extreme environments. A microalgal strain, referred to here as CH03, was isolated from a microbial mat in salt flat water in Salar de Atacama. Genetic analysis of the 18S ribosomal RNA gene showed that the strain had homology with other known sequences of the species Chlorella sorokiniana. Results revealed the adaptability of this microalga to freshwater medium under laboratory conditions, despite coming from an extremely high-salinity environment. The fatty acid profile of CH03(A) newly isolated in Bold's basal medium differed from that of CH03(B) cultured in vitro in modified F/2 medium and from another five strains of C. sorokiniana and three strains of Chlorella vulgaris in that it had a high stearic acid content and had no polyunsaturated fatty acids. The major biochemical components observed in this strain were proteins (64.3–73.6%) and lipids (26.6–32.6%). This study suggests that the strain CH03 could be a protein source and that this oleaginous microalga is easy to grow in vitro as a biological model for future studies.
- Animal Biotechnology
Session Introduction
Leslie Retnam
Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore
Title: Enhancing animal welfare for good science through guidelines and regulations in Singapore
Time : 14:35-15:10
Biography:
Leslie Retnam completed his B. Vet. Science from the University of Queensland, Australia and Masters in Laboratory Animal Science from Hahnemann University, Philadelphia, USA. He is Director of Veterinary Services at Biological Resource Centre (BRC), Agency for Science, Research and Technology (A*STAR), Singapore. BRC is located at Biopolis, which is the national research and development hub for biomedical sciences with 9 Research Institutes. He is also Council Member with the AAA
Abstract:
The use of animals in any field – be it food, work, entertainment or scientific purposes – continues to attract the attention of individuals with interest in their welfare. Of relevance to the biotechnology industry is the use of live animals for testing, research and training because of the potential harm and distress which may compromise their wellbeing. In Singapore, national guidelines regulating the use of animals for scientific purposes are currently being revised to further enhance animal welfare and promote good science.
The National Advisory Committee on Laboratory Animal Research (NACLAR) was established in 2003 to formulate a set of national policies and standards regulating the acquisition, housing and utilisation of laboratory animals in biomedical research. It also sought to address related scientific, ethical and legal issues pertaining to the use of animals within the biotechnology industry. Shortly after the publication of NACLAR’s guidelines, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) announced ‘The Animals and Birds (Care for the use of animals for Scientific Purposes) Rules’ which legislated compulsary licensing of animal research facilities. To this day, these measures maintain a high standard of animal welfare within Singapore’s biotechnology industry.
This poster depicts a historical perspective on the development of guidelines and regulations in Singapore relating to the use of animals for scientific purposes, and illustrates enhancements to the first edition of the NACLAR Guidelines currently being deliberated to improve animal welfare.
- Genetic Engineering
Session Introduction
Saeed Kaboli
Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
Title: CRISPR-PCS: an efficient and versatile chromosome splitting technology in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Time : 15:10-15:45
Biography:
Saeed Kaboli has completed his PhD and postdoctoral degrees in Department of Biotechnology, Osaka University-Japan. In molecular biology and biotechnology lab, he engaged in a project entitled “Development of novel genome engineering technology and its application in bioscience and biotechnology”. Specifically, he involved in CRISPR/Cas9 system to disclose genome function. Breeding of strains improved in industrially and medically important phenotypes also was comprised in his research. Currently, he is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Sciences and Biological Technologies, Shahid Beheshti University-Iran.
Abstract:
PCR-mediated chromosome splitting (PCS) was developed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It is based on homologous recombination and enables division of a chromosome at any point to form two derived and functional chromosomes. However, because of low homologous recombination activity, PCS is limited to a single site at a time, which makes the splitting of multiple loci laborious and time-consuming. Here we have developed a highly efficient and versatile chromosome engineering technology named CRISPR-PCS that integrates PCS with the novel genome editing CRISPR/Cas9 system. This integration allows PCS to utilize induced double strand breaks to activate homologous recombination. CRISPR-PCS enhances the efficiency of chromosome splitting approximately 200-fold and enables generation of simultaneous multiple chromosome splits. We propose that CRISPR-PCS will be a powerful tool for breeding novel yeast strains with desirable traits for specific industrial applications and for investigating genome function.
- Industrial and Microbial Biotechnology
Session Introduction
Ying Liang
Jiangnan University, China
Title: Effect of Surfactants on the Production and Structure of Curdlan from Agrobacterium sp. ATCC 31749
Biography:
Xiaobei Zhan completed his PhD from Kansans State University in 2004, and is a professor of fermentation engineering from Jiangnan University. He is the director of Industrial Microbiology and Biological Reaction Engineering Research Center, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University and the deputy Director of Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology of Ministry of Education. He is also the ASAE and IFT Institute of United States. His research focus is technology of high-viscosity fermentation, biosynthesis of microbial polysaccharide, preparation of functional oligosaccharide and design of bioreactor. He has published more than 30 papers in reputed journals.
Abstract:
The serious envelopment of curdlan on Agrobacterium sp. ATCC 31749 during fermentation is a major obstacle to increase curdlan production, and the compact macrostructure of curdlan produced from Agrobacterium sp. ATCC 31749 limits its application in preparing curdlan β-glucooligosaccharides. In this study, the effects of different surfactants on curdlan production by Agrobacterium sp. ATCC 31749 was investigated and several new perspectives concerned with the effect of Tween 80 promoting curdlan production and altering curdlan structure were presented. Maximum curdlan production (51.94 g/L) was achieved when 16 g/L Tween-80 was added at the beginning of the cell growth stage. The addition of Tween-80 at higher concentration inhibited cell growth. However, the addition of 16 g/L Tween-80 enhanced the production of curdlan with a looser ultrastructure, significantly weakened the envelopment of curdlan on Agrobacterium sp. ATCC 31749, altered the fine structure of cell membrane, and increased the cell membrane permeability. Compared with commercial curdlan, the curdlan with a looser ultrastructure exhibited higher substrate-binding affinity and maximum reaction rate when it was used as the substrate for preparing curdlan β-glucooligosaccharides. These findings demonstrate the mechanisms by which Tween-80 enhances curdlan production and provide a cheap and feasible approach to weaken the envelopment of water-insoluble polysaccharides on bacteria. Meanwhile, this paper provided an effective method to produce an ideal substrate so as to prepare oligosaccharides using enzymic degradation.
- Biochemistry
Session Introduction
Dinh Thi My Huong
Ming Chi University of Technology,Taiwan
Title: E-WASE- Effect of water and super adsorbent polymer (SAP) content on the efficiency of production biodiesel by liquid enzyme catalyst.
Biography:
Dinh Thi My Huong completed her Barchelor from Da Nang University of Technology, recently she studies master program of Biochemistry at from Ming Chi Unviersity of Taiwan. She is the lecture of Da Nang collegue of Technology.
Abstract:
Water is the factor need to attend on the esterification to produce biodiesel by enzyme catalysts because of its complicated influences on the catalyst activity and sability of enzyme as well as the productivity of reaction. Some studies conclued that some lipases need to be maintained its proper structure by the certain amount of water. On the other hand, water is the by-product of the ester reaction, hence the high water content exists in the reaction media causes the back forward reaction, consequeces to reduce the yield. Therefore, this study drive to indentify the suitable amount of water for assisting activition of liquid enzyme catalyst, and investigate the using SAP to absorb the produced water. The effect of water content on the enzyme activity was assigned through discussed the efficiency of the esterifiaction with molar ratio of oleic acid to methanol 1:3 at the temperature of 250C, catalyst amount of 10wt% and varied water amount of 0 to 30 wt% (base on the fatty acid mass) for 1 hour and 3 hours. Another rections were carried out with the condition similar to above reactions and added 5% (w/woleic acid) of SAP amount to study the ability of maintaining the esterifiaction. Results illustrated that the conversion was increased obivously from 0% to 95 % with added water content increased from 0 wt% to 30wt%. Meanwhile the conversion rate was improved significant with using SAP, the yield reached to 95% with added water ammount of 10 wt% for only 1 hour.