Meeting reports

The Annual Bioenergetics Christmas Meeting is an informal gathering of bioenergetics researchers held annually at UK universities.

At the 2024 event in Colchester, sponsored by the Biochemical Society, keynote speaker Professor Julea Butt (University of East Anglia) presented recent insight on how electrogenic bacteria transfer electrons across their membranes in her keynote talk: The Ins and Outs of Cytochrome Biowires.

Overall, 13 talks were delivered in three sessions by PhD students and postdocs covering a diverse range of topics from structural studies of enzymes involved in decarboxylation of fatty acids, to in vivo studies of light signalling proteins in cyanobacteria, and spectroscopic studies of bioenergetic processes inside live mycobacterial cells. During coffee and lunch breaks 15 posters from PhD students were presented encompassing studies of bioenergetics that ranged from advanced electrochemical approaches, to applications of de novo protein design. These poster sessions facilitated networking opportunities and much lively discussion. Funding from the Biochemical Society was used to support speaker costs and cover three talk prizes and one poster prize.

Overall, the meeting provided a valuable opportunity for many young scientists to present (some for the first time) their research to a friendly but critical bioenergetic-focused audience, and enabled both early career and established researchers to connect in a seasonal atmosphere allowing new collaborations and ideas to be cultivated. The event hosted 67 in-person attendees from a variety of institutions across the UK and 14 online attendees.