Hydrogenases returned to Szeged, Hungary

摘要

On September 1-5,1975, a symposium was held in Gottingen, Germany, on the "Microbial Production and Utilization of Gases." The meeting was organized by Hans G. Schlegel, Gerhard Gottschalk and Norbert Pfennig, now classics in microbiology. Ten years after this successful meeting, the 1st International Conference on Hydrogenases was held at the Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary, in 1985. The topic was hot and included numerous scientific challenges addressed by biochemists, molecular biologists, chemists and biophysicists. Although most of the issues targeted basic research of an exciting group of enzymes, the upcoming age of hydrogen economy already sent signals of the need for biotechnological applications. The meeting was a great success surpassing all our hopes. It became a tradition to call interested scientists to gather and share their new findings every 3 years at various locations around the globe. Conferences on hydrogenases have been held at Unicoi National Park, Georgia, USA (1988), Toia, Portugal (1991), Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands (1994), Albertville, France (1997), Potsdam, Germany (2000), Reading, UK (2004), Breckenridge, Colorado, USA (2007), and Uppsala, Sweden (2010). At the last meeting, the participants unanimously decided that the 10th International Hydroge-nase Conference should return to Szeged, Hungary. The event was jointly organized by the Biological Research Center, Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Department of Biotechnology, University of Szeged. About one hundred and thirty scientists participated in vivid discussions from all over the world. Some of the results presented have been compiled in this special section.