BIOTROP, in collaboration with the Department of Aquatic Product Technology, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences of the Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB), conducted a its 5th Public Technical Seminar at IPB on 11 September 2014. The seminar featured Prof. Thomas Edison E. dela Cruz and Mr. Carlo Chris S. Aprilio from the University of Sto. Tomas in the Philippines as speakers on biodiversity and uses of mangroves fungal endophytes.

Prof. Thomas Edison E. dela Cruz shared his experiences in “Documenting Fungal Endophytes from Philippine Mangroves for Drug and Enzyme Discovery” while Mr.  Carlo Chris S. Aprilio talked about “Phylogenetic Analysis of Fungal Endophytes from Philippine Mangroves”.

In opening the seminar, Dr. Jess C. Fernandez, SEAMEO Deputy Director for Program, introduced the Joint Research Grants program to the participants as one special initiatives of the Centre under its 9th Five-Year Development Plan (2012-2017).  The program is aimed at promoting scientific collaborations among government research and academic institutions towards addressing common development concerns among Southeast Asian countries. He likewise explained that the public seminar is another special initiative of the Centre towards providing a venue to scientists and other practitioners to share their research and training knowledge and experiences in tropical biology.

Prof. Thomas Edison E. dela Cruz together with Dr. Kustiariyah Tarman of IPB are recipients of BIOTROP’s Joint Research Grants Program this year.  Their research project is on “The Search for Novel Drugs: Assessing the Biodiversity and Antimicrobial Activities of Fungal Leaf Endophytes Associated with Philippine and Indonesian Mangroves”. This project aims to (1)  assess the  diversity of mangrove fungal endophytes in Philippines and Indonesia (2) explore the potentials of mangrove fungal endophyte as bioactive source.

The seminar was attended by 73 lecturers, researchers, and post graduate students from IPB.