The International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS) has the declared goal of promoting research and the open exchange of scientific information for advancement of the health and welfare of humankind and the environment. The scientific activities of the Union are conducted by the three Divisions of Bacteriology & Applied Microbiology, Mycology and Virology. A meeting of these three divisions is arranged every three years, and the most recent meeting took place in Istanbul, Turkey, from August 5th to 9th 2008.

Since the Bacteriology & Applied Microbiology and the Mycology divisions were holding the meeting in parallel, it was possible to attend sessions from both divisions. There was a dedicated session on mycotoxins and mycotoxigenic fungi, chaired by Angelo Visconti, who also reported about the mycoglobe project. Among other presentations, John F. Leslie gave a talk about genetic variation within Fusarium species producing mycotoxins, and Gordon Shepard compared the mycotoxin problem in the food chain between developing and developed countries. Several posters on bioremediation and biodegradation of various toxic substances were presented.

The poster contributions from the BIOMIN Research Center on microbial biodegradation of mycotoxins provided a link between the Mycology and the Bacteriology and Applied Microbiology Divisions. Michaela Thamhesl reported the search for new Mycobacterium isolates for biodegradation of ergot alkaloids. Dieter Moll provided information on the isolation, identification and characterisation of several bacterial strains which were studied because of their ability to degrade and detoxify fumonisins. Due to the great interest, discussions continued well beyond the allocated poster session time.

Just like Istanbul had the flair of being an interface between Europe and the Orient, the conference gave a feeling of making a connection between basic and applied microbial science. The 2011 IUMS congresses will be held in Sapporo, Japan, 5-9 September 2011.