Biology and Biotechnology of Actinobacteria

Introduction.- Cellular structure of actinobacteria.- Growth and life Cycle of actinobacteria.- Classification and taxonomy of actinobacteria.- Genetic of actinobacteria.- Ecology and habitat distribution of actinobacteria.- Physiology of actinobacteria.- Regulation of secondary metabolites of actinobacteria.- Symbiosis and pathogenisity of actinobacteria.- The role of actinobacteria in biotechnology.- Practical aspects of working with Actinobacteria.- Post genomic studies and systems biology of actinobacteria: a brief overview.

Joachim Wink has received his PhD from Frankfurt University, Germany in 1985. He then went into the pharmaceutical industry and started his career at the Hoechst AG, where he was responsible for the strain collection and specialized in the cultivation and taxonomic characterization of Actinobacteria and Myxobacteria. Over the years he became responsible for the strain library within the pharmaceutical research and a number of screening projects with Hoechst Marion Russel, Aventis and Sanofi. In 2005 he completed his postdoctoral degree at the Carolo Wilhelma University of Braunschweig, and in 2012 he transferred to the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig, where he founded the strain-collection working group and is currently working on the isolation and taxonomic characterization of Myxobacteria and Actinobacteria, as well as the analysis of their secondary metabolites. He has published more than 50 papers on secondary metabolites and the taxonomy of the producing microorganisms in reputed journals, a number of reviews and book chapters, and holds more than 35 patents. He is a member of the editorial board of several international journals.