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A biochemist′s odyssey in microbial research and techniques
Joint Conference on GLOBAL APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY CONFERENCE & International Congress on MICROBIAL & BIOCHEMICAL RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGIES
October 18-19, 2017 Toronto, Canada
Marc Beauregard
UQTR, Canada
Keynote : Microbiology: Current Research
Abstract:
Microbes are the workhorses of most biochemistry laboratories, especially those focusing on proteins and enzymes. While everyone recognises their value as production machines (providing large quantities of pure proteins in a few hours), some other aspects deserve consideration. Protein evolution, new enzyme identification and genetic modification are some examples of extremely useful abilities afforded by our microscopic friends. In this talk the author will quickly browse through several and very different achievements that were made possible by microbes in this laboratory. The author will then focus on methodologies that they developed, especially regarding microbial lipases characterisation. At the end this presentation, the author will present our most recent findings on a microbial cocktail found on an oil recycling plant. Using used lubricant as a carbon source, this unique microbial consortium produces a bioplastic whose structure resembles that of a polyvinyl.
Biography:
Marc Beauregard got his PhD in Biophysics from UQTR in 1989 and then moved to pursue his Post-doc positions with Max-Planck-Institute (Germany), University of Liège (Belgium) and Agriculture Canada. After being tenured at UPEI (1997) and Université de Moncton (1998), he became full Professor of Biochemistry at UQTR (Québec, Canada) and is a member of the Research Center on Lignocellulosic Materials since 2011. His teaching duties include Protein Spectrocsopy and Bioinformatics. He has his expertise in protein biotechnology, and his contributions rely on a wealth of various techniques spanning from plant heterologous expression, accelerated evolution, and development of industrial applications. With his group he has published 70+ papers, some in high impact journals (Nature Biotechnology, Green Chemistry, PNAS) and has contributed to preparing four patents. He founded a Biotechnology company in 2000, has served as Director of Graduate Studies (Biophysics) and has been invited on major research committees in Canada.
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