Workshops and Training Courses

17th International Fusarium Laboratory Workshop (IFLW)

Kansas State University, Manhattan (USA) – 25 to  30 June, 2017

 

The 17th International  Fusarium Laboratory Workshop (IFLW), an internationally renowned training course for all aspects of Fusarium biology, was hosted at Kansas State University, in Manhattan, Kansas, USA from June 25 to June 30, 2017. This yearly workshop was convened by Professor John Leslie, with several international Fusarium experts as guest instructors. The Mycokey project ensured the co-organization of the IFLW with Kansas State University through the participation of Dr. Antonio Logrieco as an instructor and of the post-doc Alessandra Villani as participant and asworkshop assistant.

The Workshop had 50 participants from numerous countries in several continents: Africa(2), Australia (5),the Americas (38), and Europe (5). The workshop participants were introduced to various topics concerning Fusarium and related mycotoxins detection, for risk evaluation of pre- and post-harvest management, based also on Mycokey results.

Participants learned how to use a microscope for identifying the main morphological traits useful to distinguish more than 60 species of Fusarium, how to make tests for vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) and cross-fertility, and how to extract DNA,  perform PCR for amplifying DNA, and analyze DNA sequences. The workshop was split into 40% keynote speakers’ lectures and the remaining 60% of the time was spent in the laboratory, working with standard Fusarium strains for each species.

The 18th Fusarium Laboratory Workshop will be held next year at CNR-ISPA in Bari during the month of June, and will be held in collaboration with the Mycokey project. http://www.ispacnr.it/fusarium-2018

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Rapid Methods for Mycotoxin Detection in the Food Chain

CNR-ISPA, Bari (Italy) – 9 to 13 October, 2017

 

The Training Course “Rapid Methods for Mycotoxin Detection in the Food Chain” was hosted at the Institute of Sciences of Food Production – National Research Councilof Italy (CNR-ISPA), under the aegis of the MYCOKEY project and the International Society for Mycotoxicology (ISM) in Bari, Italy  from 9 to 13 October, 2017.

The Course gave fundamentals about major issues associated with mycotoxin analysis and contamination along the food chains.Lectures and laboratory training has beeen provided on routinely used and new screening tools for rapid, robust and user-friendly analysis of mycotoxins, including validation aspects. Practical training in the laboratory covered most of the course and trainees have been assisted individually in the laboratory by ISPA-CNR staff experts for both instrumental and immunochemical analysis of mycotoxins.

The course was designed for researchers and quality lab analysts to familiarize them with screening and reference methods for mycotoxin analysis.The Course is organized by CNR-ISPA has been held by qualified international experts on mycotoxins as well as by experts from both MycoKey and MyToolBox projects (H2020-SFS-13-2015).

The Training Course had 20 participants from 12 different Countries (Belgium,1; UK, 1; RussianFederation, 1; Austria, 1; Hungary, 1; Italy, 6; Thailand, 2; Pakistan, 1; Philippines, 1; China, 3; Benin, 1; South Africa, 1) and 16 instructors from 7 different Countries (Belgium, 3; Italy, 6; USA, 2; The Netherlands, 2; China, 1; South Africa, 1; Austria, 1) were selected.

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Strategies for minimization of mycotoxins and toxigenic fungi in food chains

CNR-ISPA, Bari (Italy) – 16 to 19 October, 2017

 

The Training Course Strategies for minimization of mycotoxins and toxigenic fungi in food chainswas held at the Institute of Sciences of Food Production – National Research Councilof Italy (CNR-ISPA), in Bari, Italy  under the aegis of the MycoKey project and the International Society for Mycotoxicology (ISM) in Bari, Italy from 16 to 19 October, 2017.

The course aimed at training smart, integrated, sustainable solutions and innovative tools to manage and reduce the major mycotoxins (aflatoxins, fumonisins, trichothecenes and ochratoxin A) in economically important food and feed chains (maize, wheat, barley, dried fruits and grape) in pre and post-harvest.

Advanced technologies in the field of chemical detection, molecular analysis, modelling and ICT solutions has been covered by highly qualified international instructors, throughout lectures and laboratory experiences. About half of the duration of the workshop has been ”hands on” and spent in the laboratory.

The Training Course had 23 participants from 8 different Countries (Belgium,1; Egypt, 1; Iran, 1; Serbia, 1; Brazil, 1; Italy, 16; Thailand, 1; China, 1) and 14 instructors from 5 different Countries (Austria, 1; Brazil, 1; Italy, 6; Switzerland, 1; The Netherland, 1) were selected.

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