Latin American microbiology at the independence bicentenary: the 20th ALAM Congress (Montevideo, 27-30 September 2010).

In a hotel at Plaza de la Independencia, the big square between downtown and the historical city (Ciudad Vieja) of Montevideo, the 20th Latin American Congress of Microbiology (ALAM) took place on 27–30 September 2010 [www.alam2010.org.uy]. ALAM 2010 brought together some 1000 microbiologists from 19 countries, including 12 Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Portugal, Spain, Australia, Netherlands, USA, UK and France). ALAM 2010 was held in conjunction with the 9th Meeting of the Uruguayan Society for Microbiology. The program covered a wide range of scientific topics dealing with clinical, pharmaceutical, food, environmental, agriculture and forest microbiology, and microbial biotechnology. Over 800 posters were presented. The meeting was organized by the Latin American Association for Microbiology (ALAM) [1,2] and the Uruguayan Society for Microbiology (SUM). Matilde Soubes, vice-president of ALAM, chaired the meeting. The inaugural address—“Microbiology for the 21st century: E pluribus unum”—was given by Ricardo Guerrero, president of the Spanish Society for Microbiology (SEM). The inspiring lecture focused on microbial diversity and the role of microorganisms in nature, a very suitable topic to be discussed in 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity. INTERNATIONAL MICROBIOLOGY (2010) 13:213-218 DOI: 10.2436/20.1501.01.128 ISSN: 1139-6709 www.im.microbios.org