Insights from the Second Erasmus Meeting in Thisted: Biomass Production of Yeast Influenced by the Crabtree and Pasteur Effects
From March 31 to April 4, 2025, the charming town of Thisted in Denmark became a vibrant gathering point for teachers and students from across Europe, all coming together to explore the world of yeast metabolism. This is the second Erasmus meeting in the Thisted Gymnasium, a event under the Erasmus+ framework, focused on a topic crucial for many industries: biomass production in yeast and the critical roles of the Crabtree and Pasteur effects. These two phenomena have far-reaching implications for industrial fermentation processes, from biofuel production to brewing and biotechnology.
The event offered a unique opportunity for collaborative learning, where participants could share knowledge, discuss research, and deepen their understanding of yeast’s metabolic pathways, especially in relation to optimizing them for more sustainable production. The Danish hospitality was heartwarming, with students and teachers from France, Germany, Slovakia, Greece, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Lithuania attending the event. While some students stayed with local host families, others enjoyed their stay in cozy cabins nestled along the beautiful fjord, combining the best of both cultural exchange and a peaceful, scenic atmosphere.
The laboratory internship was instructed by an international mentor team, consisting of students from Denmark, Poland and the Czech Republic. The five workgroups, each consisting of four participants, at least one teacher and two mentors, took on the challenge of exploring how the Crabtree and Pasteur effects impact yeast’s growth, fermentation, and overall productivity.
The experiments for this meeting where a preparation for the next meeting in Brno, Czech Republic. The experiment focused on understanding how yeast produces biomass under different conditions: anaerobic or aerobic? Glucose, starch, maltose or fructose? The scientific question was: “What is the best way to produce yeast”. During the first few days, all participants received an introduction to yeast biology and learned basic laboratory techniques—such as precise pipetting, working with a photometer, and measuring optical density, ethanol, and glucose. A special highlight of the program was the lecture by Per Halkjær Nielsen from Aalborg University on Wednesday. He explained the role of bacteria in biotechnology.
Besides the practical execution of the experiments, background information about the experiments was presented by international mentor teams. The work groups also evaluated their results and presented them to the audience. These presentations revealed significant differences between Ethanol, Glucose and Optical Density Values.
To figure out the best student out of all, the students were challenged in a multiple-choice exam at the end of the meeting. The top three participants received a project certificate, and the best student was given a special reward. Konrad from Poland was the best student of the mentor team. Additionally, from Czech Republic, Štěpán achieved the highest score out of the non-mentors.
Furthermore, the students did an excursion to Aarhus and visited the Moesgaard and ARoS museum. In Moesgaard we experienced the people of the past, human development, based on the latest researches and technologies. Afterwards they got free time to explore the city. On the last day we took a peaceful walk along the beach by the North Sea. It was a perfect way to unwind and bond as a group, creating beautiful memories that would stay with us long after the event had ended.
The meeting ended with a final celebration at school which included dinner and a diashow of the highlights of the week. We hope to see each other again in the next meeting in Brno in Czech Republic.