More than 300 delegates from 33 countries participated at the international symposium “miCROPe 2019 – Microbe-assisted crop production”, which took place from 2-5 December in the Orangerie of the Castle Schönbrunn in Vienna.
The symposium was organized by the Bioresources Unit of the Center for Health and Bioresources jointly with the Austrian Association of Molecular Life Sciences and Biotechnology (ÖGMBT). Angela Sessitsch, Head of Competence Unit and part of the organization team "The aim of the symposium was to address basic as well as applied aspects in regard to the application of microbiomes in crop production and hosted reputed scientists as well as 50 companies." Sessitsch explains further "Key topics were the understanding of mechanisms of holobiont interactions, microbiome functioning, microbial biocontrol and biofertilizer applications and disruptive approaches for engineering the phytobiome."
With more than 80 talks and poster pitches the days were full of first-class scientific presentations. Invited keynote speakers were Prof. Steven Lindow from the University of California Berkeley and Prof. Jos Raaijmakers from the Netherlands Institute of Ecology. The event was accompanied by a frame of satellite workshops and social events, like the “Conference Dinner @ Heurigen” supported by the mayor and governor of Vienna.
The conference ends with many new impressions and we look ahead to 2021 to the next miCROPe.