About BIOTEHGEN
The association “Microbial Biotechnology Center” (BIOTEHGEN) was founded in 2002 as an NGO in research and development, as part of the University of Agronomical Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Bucharest – the Faculty of Biotechnology.
The managing director of BIOTEHGEN is prof.dr. Stefana Jurcoane, specialist in biotechnology, and the scientific secretary is drd. Camelia Diguta, graduate of the Faculty of Biotechnology.
The researchers at BIOTEHGEN are involved in national research programs and also in international programmes (FP 6, Leonardo da Vinci and a programme financed by World Bank). For more details, please refer to the
Research section.
The research group of BIOTEHGEN has important experience in:
- screening and identification of microbial strains potentially producing hydrolytically enzymes;
- obtaining, isolation, purification and characterization of different metabolites, enzymes and reserve biopolymers from microbial cultures, plant and animal tissues on the laboratory and also pilot plant scale;
- immobilization of enzymes on organic and inorganic supports;
- developing ecological technologies for environmental protection;
- physical, chemical and enzymatic pre-treatment methods for lignocellulosic biomass;
- obtaining of micro- and nano-structured materials applied in sustainable development;
- applying molecular biology techniques to microorganisms for enhancing their biosynthesis capacity;
- analytical methods for development, validation and transfer.
Prof. Stefana Jurcoane has a good experience in obtaining useful metabolites from fungi, special in production and characterization of industrial enzymes; she had developed many studies which evaluated the activity of hydrolytically enzymes: proteases, amylases, cellulases, xylanases, lipases; she elaborated four patents about enzymes procedures: glucoseoxydase, polyenzymatic product (celulases, xylanases, amylases), proteases, lipases; the procedures of the patents are applied in industrial companies; she has experience in selection and characterization of cellulases producing Tricoderma viride, selection and analysis of the recombinants able to produce increased levels of cellulases; screening and characterization of bacterial strains (Bacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp.) and fungal strains (Trichoderma spp., Gliocladium spp.); also she has experience in proteins extraction, concentration, purification by chromatography (ion-exchange chromatography, affinity-chromatography, gel filtration) and analysis by electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE); cellulases activity determination, detection of enzymatic activity after PAGE (peroxidases, cellulases, proteases, amylases). She has also experience in separation and purification of enzymes using ultrafiltration, chromatographic and electrophoretic methods. She is also involved in enzymatic pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass.
Prof. Stefana Jurcoane is the author of five books in the field of biotechnology; she is the coordinator of “Treaty of Biotechnology” - 2 volumes, about 1300 pages which include a big chapter about fungal enzymes (for more details, see
Publications); she is the editor of
Romanian Biotechnological Letters, an international journal, the most important in Romania in the field of biotechnology.
The BIOTEHGEN research group includes known researchers like prof. Calina Petruta Cornea who has experience in molecular biology, identification of microorganisms, genomic DNA isolation, RNA isolation, plasmid DNA isolation and characterization, PCR, RAPD analysis, restriction enzymes purification and use for DNA cleavage, cloning methods, genetic transformation (bacteria, yeasts, plant cells) by chemical method or by electroporation, mutagenesis (UV, NTG) and selection of mutants (bacteria, yeast and filamentous fungi), selection and analysis of transformants; lectin-glycoproteins interaction applied for enzyme purification (especially for cellulases).
For a short presentation of BIOTEHGEN, download the
brochure.
For the accreditation certificate of BIOTEHGEN, click
here.
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