Center for Biofilm Engineering

News Update: 

October, 2004

Volume 7, Issue 8

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Research Highlights

Paper Spotlight

Subsurface biofilm barrier project yields promising results

This 22-month demonstration project, conducted at the MSE Technology Applications, Inc. test facility, showed promising results in the use of biofilm barriers to contain and remediate subsurface water contaminated by nitrates. Starved bacteria were injected into the ground, transported beneath the surface, and then resuscitated by subsurface-injected nutrients. The resuscitated bacteria produced copious amounts of slimy biofilm, effectively reducing the flow of subsurface water. After three months of weekly or bi-weekly nutrient injections, water flow across the barrier was reduced an average of 99%. Reducing hydraulic conductivity is useful for controlling the spread of underground contaminants. It also provides a mechanism for breaking down underground contaminants at the site of contamination. This technology is most promising for water sites at depths greater than 50 feet, where groundwater must be cleaned. It was recently used in a field demonstration project for the U.S. Department of Agriculture at a nitrate-contaminated water site in Albuquerque, NM.

Subsurface Biofilm Barriers for the Containment and Remediation of Contaminated Groundwater

A.B. Cunningham, R.R. Sharp, R. Hiebert and G. James
Bioremediation Journal 2003; 7(3-4):1-13

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Interim Director

Montana State University has formally announced Phil Stewart as the interim director of the CBE until the national search for a director is complete. Phil joined the faculty of chemical engineering in 1991, and has since been an integral part of the CBE, serving as research leader of the Biofilm Control group, deputy director and executive committee member. He received his chemical engineering degrees from Rice University, B.S. (1982) and Stanford University, M.S. (1985) and Ph.D. (1988). Stewart was a NATO postdoctoral fellow at the Institut Jacques Monod in Paris, France and a senior chemical engineer at Bechtel Environmental in San Francisco, California.

See the Interim Director's message at: http://www.erc.montana.edu/CBEssentials-SW/director's%20message/

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Grant Awards

Otto Stein received a new grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study the interaction between plants and root zone bacteria in constructed wetlands. Paul Hook, Anne Camper, and Mark Burr are the co-principal investigators; they will be assisted by graduate students Kylie Ricks and Rickey Schultz. The project aims to optimize the performance of constructed wetlands and make them a more attractive wastewater treatment option in colder climates. The award amount is $425,000 for September 2004 through September 2006.

Robin Gerlach received a new grant from the U.S. Department of Defense Army Research Office. Robin will be collaborating with the Center for Innovation in Butte, MT, in order to develop a biofilm-based subsurface remediation technology for the control of mixed wastes containing heavy metals, explosives, and chlorinated aliphatics. The award amount is $750,000 for September 2004 through August 2006.

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International Collaboration

Rick Veeh was at La Sapienza University in Rome, Italy collaborating with Marco Artini and Laura Selan's research group. The group is now conducting a study involving gfp-expressing Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus strains in biofilms on contact lenses. As a result of the visit, the group at La Sapienza will be sending members to work on the confocal microscope with the CBE’s Betsey Pitts and Benjamin Klayman in November, 2004.
 

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Welcome Back!

Elinor Pulcini has returned to the CBE as a research associate in the Biofilm Behavior Laboratory. Elinor holds a BS from Chapman University, and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from Montana State University. Her doctoral research was conducted with Anne Camper at the CBE. For the past several years she has been a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Microbiology at MSU. Her work there included project management for a space shuttle project funded by NASA. Elinor strengthens the laboratory with her expertise in molecular biology and proteomics as well as her experience teaching high school science, mentoring undergraduate and graduate college students and over 10 years of biofilm research. The CBE is happy to have her back.
 

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Recent CBE Publications

Polymer Designs to Control Biofilm Growth on Medical Devices
I. Francolini, G. Donelli and P. Stoodley
Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology 2003; 2(2-4):307-319

Commonality of Elastic Relaxation Times in Biofilms
T. Shaw, M. Winston, C.J. Rupp, I. Klapper and P. Stoodley
Physical Review Letters 2004; 93(9): 098102 1-4

Statistical Quantification of the Detachment Rates and Size Distribution of Cell Clumps from Wild Type (PAO1) and Cell Signaling Mutant (JP1) Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms
S. Wilson, M.A. Hamilton, G.C. Hamilton, M.R. Schumann and P. Stoodley
Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2004; 70(10):5847-5852

Comparison of Fluorescence Microscopy and Solid-Phase Cytometry Methods for Counting Bacteria in Water
J.T. Lisle, M.A. Hamilton, A.R. Willse and G.A. McFeters
Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2004; 70(9):5343-5348

To read these paper abstracts or to order paper copies see:
http://www.erc.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/pubs/Database/PD_DisplayScript.asp
 

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Education

Abigail Aiken won 3rd place in a student poster competition at the 4th Inland Northwest Research Alliance Environmental & Subsurface Science Symposium, September 20-22, 2004. She was awarded $250 for her poster titled “Characterization of a Siderophore Produced by the Halo-Alkaliphile Halomonas campisalis.” Abigail works with Brent Peyton and Anne Camper at the CBE where she is a PhD student in chemical engineering.

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Visitors

Elena Deligianni, a microbiologist from the University of Ulster, Ireland, will be working with Phil Stewart's control group for the months of October and November. She will be using confocal microscopy to characterize the biofilm formation of several clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

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Outreach

Community Outreach

Benjamin Klayman presented a lecture to 60 home school students and their parents concerning the various disciplines in engineering at the CBE. Following the presentation Jennifer Sestrich, Patrick Norris, and Allison Rhoads assisted Ben in giving the group a tour of the CBE’s laboratories. Center for Biofilm Engineering, Bozeman, MT, September 23, 2004.

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Upcoming CBE Workshops

Oral Biofilm Techniques, Using Flow Cells and Other Basic Biofilm Research Techniques
A workshop for the Indiana University School of Dentistry, Indianapolis, IN
October 28-29, 2004

Contact Linda Loetterle for more information about CBE workshops.
email: linda_l@erc.montana.edu
phone: (406) 994-7761

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CBE People in Action

Phil Stewart presented “Center for Biofilm Engineering Overview and Biofilm Antimicrobial Tolerance,” Ecolab, Mendota Heights, MN, September 10, 2004.

Joe Seymour, as invited speaker, presented “Magnetic Resonance Microscopy of Scale Dependent Transport Phenomena in Bioreactors and Polymer Electrolyte Membranes," 1st International Symposium on Micro & Nano-scale Sensing Techniques for Energy and Bio System, Keio University, Yokohama, Japan, September 14, 2004.

Justin Gage presented "Biofilm Growth Induced Transformation of Porous Media Dynamics," by J.P. Gage, J.D. Seymour, S.L. Codd and R. Gerlach, 4th Inland Northwest Research Alliance Environmental & Subsurface Science Symposium, Spokane, WA, September 20-22, 2004.

Robin Gerlach made two presentations: “Reductive Transformation of Cr(VI) and 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) in Batch and Flow Systems – Scale-up Considerations,” by R. Gerlach and L. Matheson; and “Influence of Carbon Sources, Electron Shuttling Compounds, and Iron Minerals on the Reduction of Oxidized Contaminants,” by R. Gerlach, A.B. Cunningham, S. Viamajala, B.M. Peyton and W.A. Apel, 4th Inland Northwest Research Alliance Environmental & Subsurface Science Symposium, Spokane, WA, September 20-22, 2004.

Mark McBroom presented “A Molecular View of Microbial Communities Inhabiting Mine Tailings,” Inland Northwest Research Alliance Subsurface Science Symposium, Spokane, WA, September 20-22, 2004.

Al Cunningham, along with Professor Rainer Helmig of the Universität Stuttgart, directed a short course titled “Multiphase Flow, Transport and Bioremediation in the Subsurface,” Institut für Wasserbau Universität Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany, September 21-25, 2004.

Avinash Shantaram and Raaja Raajan Angathevar Veluchamy presented a poster titled “Low Power Microcontroller Based Potentiostat for Remote Metal Monitoring,” Peaks in Plating: Conference on Electrochemical Deposition for Microelectronics hosted by Semitool, Whitefish, MT, September 23, 2004.

Marty Hamilton, as invited speaker, presented “Standard Antibiofilm Disinfectant Test Methods,” AOAC Symposium on Disinfectant Test Methods, St. Louis, MO, September 23, 2004.

Bill Costerton, Pradeep Singh and Mike Gilmore presented a biofilm symposium, “Microbial Pathogenesis: Biofilms in Infections – Disease and Therapeutic Impact,” Annual Meeting of the Infectious Disease Society of America, Boston, MA, October 2, 2004.

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Web Watch

BiofilmsOnline.com

See the BiofilmsOnline.com October issue at http://www.BiofilmsOnline.com.

Subscribe to the bi-weekly newsletter by registering at: http://www.biofilmsonline.com/cgi-bin/biofilmsonline/newsletter_signup.html

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Newsletter Listserve

The CBE News Update is a listserve newsletter. If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe from the listserve, follow the directions at the following CBE website.

http://www.erc.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/newsarchives/subscribe.htm

An alternative to subscribing to the listserve is to view the CBE News Update on our web page at http://www.erc.montana.edu/Ind-Col99-SW/Current_Newsletter/default.htm. Newsletter archives can be found at http://www.erc.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/newsarchives/index.htm.

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