Green Carbon co-organizes 17th International Clostridium Conference

http://qibebt.cas.cn/news/zyxw/202409/t20240922_7378447.html

From September 19th to 22nd, the 17th International Clostridium Conference was held in Qingdao, hosted by the International Clostridium Conference Organizing Committee, supported by the Bioenergy Research Laboratory of Qingdao Institute of Energy, the Key Laboratory of Solar Photovoltaic Conversion and Utilization, Shandong Energy Research Institute, and Qingdao New Energy Shandong Provincial Laboratory, and co-organized by the One Carbon Biotechnology Research Center and Green Carbon Editorial Department.

Since 1990, the International Clostridium Conference has been held every two years, and this Clostridium Conference is the second time to be held in China. On the afternoon of the 19th, the executive chairman of the conference, Researcher Li Fuli, director of the One Carbon Biotechnology Research Center, announced the opening of the conference. Director Lv Xuefeng delivered a speech on behalf of the Qingdao Institute of Energy and introduced the construction and development of the institute to the delegates.

This conference invited about 150 scholars and guests from domestic and foreign academic and business circles to attend the conference, including more than 50 foreign experts from Germany, the United States, France, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Italy and other countries. The conference was divided into four parts according to the topic direction: physiology and systems biology, genetics and synthetic biology, metabolic engineering and raw material utilization, industry and new applications. More than 40 oral speakers shared the latest research results with the participants, discussed future research directions, and exchanged problems and challenges encountered in Clostridium research and industrialization engineering.

As a valuable platform for scientific exchange and cooperation, this conference will further promote the development of Clostridium research. At the same time, the successful holding of this conference is of great significance to enhancing the influence of the institute in the field of Clostridium research. (Text/Photo by Ma Xiaoqing)

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Two-mode Raman-activated cell sorting enables downstream analysis of functional microbes

Researchers from the CAS Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT), together with collaborators, have developed a Raman-activated cell sorting platform that combines rapid cell sorting with sensitive measurements of weak Raman signals and small-volume cell collection.

Called Pit-RACS, the optical-tweezer-assisted platform operates in two modes on the same microfluidic chip, allowing researchers to adjust the sorting strategy according to the strength of the Raman signal.

Raman-activated cell sorting can identify living cells by their chemical fingerprints without fluorescent labels. Yet researchers have faced a trade-off: fast, flowing systems struggle to measure weak Raman signals, while systems that allow longer measurements sort cells slowly. Collecting the selected cells in a large volume can also make subsequent experiments difficult.

According to the researchers, cells with strong resonance Raman signals are measured and sorted as they flow through the device. In this mode, they sorted up to 836 ± 1 events per minute with a 10-millisecond spectral acquisition time.

For weaker non-resonance signals, optical tweezers move individual cells into a cell-free buffer stream. This allows for longer measurements without interference from nearby cells. This method sorted approximately 50 cells per minute. Switching modes requires no hardware changes.

The platform can also temporarily store selected cells and release them together in approximately 10 microliters of liquid. In the reported tests, the collected cells were over 97% pure and could proceed to cultivation or genomic analysis without an additional concentration step.

“Raman signals vary greatly between biological targets. We designed the two modes so researchers can choose the measurement time their question requires while using the same sorting platform,” said Prof. MA Bo, corresponding author of the study.

To demonstrate industrial strain screening, the researchers sorted a mutant library of Yarrowia lipolytica and identified a strain with 77.4% higher β-carotene yield than the control. In another demonstration, they combined heavy-water labeling with Pit-RACS to enrich phosphate-solubilizing microorganisms from river water. They used the concentrated output directly for metagenomic sequencing, revealing 12 species of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria across nine genera.

From green energy to smart cells – article in “Nachrichten aus der Chemie”

Nachrichten aus der Chemie 64, 54-59 (2026)

20261001 Nachrichten

In Shanghai, a French cargo vessel is refueld with green methanol

https://j.people.com.cn/n3/2026/0818/c95952-20489791.html

https://www.recordchina.co.jp/b990111-s50-c20-d0189.html

On August 17, 2026, at Shanghai’s Yangshan Port 8,000 tons of green methanol were used to refuel a cargo ship owned by the French shipping giant CMA CGM.

Green methanol is a key alternative fuel for reducing carbon emissions in sectors such as shipping and the chemical industry. According to Zhu Zhaokai, President of Shanghai Electric Group, this large-scale green methanol refueling operation demonstrates that China has established a complete industrial chain—spanning from large-scale production and onshore/maritime storage and transport to port-side refueling and shipboard utilization and will help drive the global shipping industry toward zero emissions.

The green methanol fuel supplied in this operation was primarily produced at Shanghai Electric’s “Integrated Demonstration Project for Wind Power and Biomass-Combined Green Methanol” in Taonan City, Jilin Province. The production process makes use of various resources, fully utilizing biomass materials—such as corn stalks from Taonan City—and green hydrogen generated from wind power.

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