***NEWS***

Report in BIOspektrum 06/23 on the joint Symposium with FG Archaea at the Annual VAAM Conference

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The scientific field of microbial cell biology is relatively young; it has developed very lively since its beginnings around the year 2000. The revolutionary methodological innovations of fluorescence and cryo-electron microscopy and the biological insights they have provided have since allowed a completely new view of the cellular structure of bacteria and archaea. Microbes are functionally compartmentalized, have their own organelles and are structurally and dynamically organized down to the level of macromolecular dimensions. The specialist group was founded in 1996 under the name "Structure and Microscopy" and was initially dedicated to methodological aspects and applications of electron tomography and high-resolution localization microscopy, which were being developed at the time. Their results stimulated cytological research enormously, created the basis for the scientific branch of microbial cell biology and provided unexpected insights into the structures and their interactions in microorganisms. The specialist group therefore increasingly focused on the biological side of microbial cell biology once the microscopic methods were largely established, and in 2012 named itself after the new scientific field.

Every two years, the specialist group organizes a mini-symposium on a special topic as part of the VAAM annual meetings and invites internationally renowned researchers to give lectures. Alternating with the symposia are discussion conferences lasting several days, such as the MicrobialCellBiology 2014 and MicrobialCellBiology 2016 events at Schloss Rauischholzhausen. With this rotation, we want to offer a suitable framework for current questions and general developments in microbial cytology. Our specialist group is open to all interested parties, students and researchers in microbial cell biology, and we invite you to join us by sending a message to the VAAM office or to the speaker of the specialist group. You are welcome with your interest, your suggestions and your cooperation!