Center for Biofilm Engineering

News Update: 

October, 2006

Volume 9, Issue 10

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Research Highlights

New Technologies Available for Licensing

A compound with the potential to improve biocides, fungicides, anti-biofilm agents and other antimicrobial disinfectants, is among seven new biotechnologies developed by faculty at Montana State University and now available for licensing.

Interested companies and entrepreneurs can license the new biotechnologies by contacting Nick Zelver with the MSU Technology Transfer Office at (406) 994-7868, http://tto.montana.edu or by e-mail at nzelver@montana.edu. MSU requests that interest be expressed in writing by November 15th.

Read the full story and biofilm-related technology descriptions at: http://www.biofilm.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/newsarchives/HTML/2006/Biotechnologies_MSUNews.htm

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In the Media: Chitosan-Coated Surfaces

Science Daily, the Voice of America, and Forbes.com, all picked up on a press release from the American Chemical Society which covered Phil Stewart’s invited presentation “Anti-Biofilm Properties of Chitosan-Coated Surfaces,” at the American Chemical Society 232nd National Meeting & Exposition in San Francisco, CA, on September 10 −14, 2006.

'Crabby' Compound That Skewers Bacteria Could Prevent Medical Implant Infections
Science Daily
Source: American Chemical Society
September 10, 2006
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060910142640.htm

This article on the Science Daily provoked a science reporter from KMOX Radio 1120 AM in St. Louis, MO, to phone Phil Stewart for an interview. KMOX is a 50,000-watt CBS affiliate that reaches 44 states with its nighttime signal.
 

Other media that picked up the story of “Crustacean Compound Fights Bacterial Biofilms”
included Forbes.com on September 11, 2006, and the ASM Weekly News Digest, Issue #352

Coating common medical devices with an antimicrobial compound found in crabs and shrimp might fight infection in hospital patients, new research suggests. Read the full story at:
http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2006/09/11/hscout534863.html

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In the Media: Slow-Healing Wounds

The press release “Search on for Treatment of Slow-Healing Wounds” has been published on three of Medical News Today websites. The articles were published September 25, 2006 and 70,000 readers were predicted to see the headline in the 24 hours following publication.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
http://www.medilexicon.com
http://www.hospitalsworldwide.com
 

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New Faculty Members

Matthew Fields has accepted MSU’s offer to join the faculty of the Department of Microbiology and CBE. Matthew has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, since 2003. He received his PhD. in microbiology at Cornell University and completed his postdoctoral work at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He will begin his new position in January 2007, as a faculty member in the Department of Microbiology conducting research within the CBE. Matthew’s talent for bacterial physiology and collaborative style will make a great addition to the CBE. We are looking forward to working with him.

Robin Gerlach has joined Montana State University's Chemical and Biological Engineering Department as an associate professor. His research focuses on using biofilms for the control and clean up of contaminated soils and water. He will continue his association with MSU's Center for Biofilm Engineering (CBE) and the Thermal Biology Institute, where he conducts research related to biotechnology, bioremediation and biofilms in porous media. Read the full story at:
http://www.biofilm.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/newsarchives/HTML/2006/Gerlach_MSUNews.htm
 

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Recent CBE Papers

“Modification to the AOAC Sporicidal Activity of Disinfectants Test (Method 966.04): Collaborative Study”
Tomasino, S.F. and M.A. Hamilton
J AOAC International 89(5):1373-1397 (2006)

"Using an Efficient Biofilm Detaching Agent: An Essential Step for the Improvement of Endoscope Reprocessing Protocols"
Marion, K., J. Freney, G. James, E. Bergeron, F.N.R. Renaud, and J.W. Costerton
J. Hosp. Infect., 64(2):136-142 (2006)

“Engineering the Monomer Composition of Polyhydroxyalkanoates Synthesized in Saccharomyces cerevisiae”
Zhang, B., R. Carlson, and F. Srienc
Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 72(1):536-543 (2006)

“The Fractional Contributions of Elementary Modes to the Metabolism of Escherichia coli and Their Estimation from Reaction Entropies”
Wlaschin, A.P., C.T. Trinh, R. Carlson, and F. Srienc
Metabolic Eng., 8(4):338-352 (2006)

“Effects of Recombinant Precursor Pathway Variations on poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate] Synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae”
Carlson, R. and F. Srienc
J. Biotechnol., 124(3):561-573 (2006)

“Spectral, Kinetic, and Thermodynamic Properties of Cu(I) and Cu(II) Binding by Methanobactin from Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b”
Choi, D.W., C.J. Zea, Y.S. Do, J.D. Semrau, W.E. Antholine, M.S. Hargrove, N.L. Pohl, E.S. Boyd, G.G. Geesey, S.C. Hartsel, P.H. Shafe, M.T. McEllistrem, C.J. Kisting, D. Campbell, V. Rao, A.M. de la Mora, and A.A. DiSpirito
Biochemistry, 45(5):1442-1453 (2006)

"Removal and Inactivation of Staphylococcus epidermidis Biofilms by Electrolysis"
Rabinovitch, C. and P.S. Stewart,
Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 72(9):6364-6366 (2006)

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

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Ailyn Lenz Receives ASM Graduate Research Fellowship

The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) has selected Ailyn Lenz from Montana State University as a 2006-2009 award recipient of the Robert D. Watkins Graduate Research Fellowship. Lenz is awarded up to $19,000 annual stipend for three years to conduct research.
 

The Watkins fellowship seeks to increase the number of graduate students from underrepresented groups completing doctoral degrees in the microbiological sciences. The program is aimed at highly competitive students who are enrolled in a Ph.D. program and have completed their graduate coursework in the microbiological sciences. Fellows and their mentors are required to be members of ASM.

Fellows will be required to present at the ASM General Meeting annually, if their abstract is accepted, and to attend the ASM Kadner Institute, formerly known as the ASM Graduate and Postdoctoral Summer Institute in Preparation for Careers in Microbiology one time during the three-year tenure of the fellowship.

Michael Franklin is Ailyn Lenz's mentor. The title of the research is Localized Gene Expression Profiles of P. aeruginosa Biofilms in Respon.

The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the oldest and largest single biological membership organization, with over 40,000 members worldwide. Please visit http://www.asm.org/Education/index.asp?bid=6278 for more information on this fellowship.

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Visitors

John Lennox, Professor Emeritus, Microbiology, Penn State Altoona is here for the month of October to work on biofilm education projects. John is committed to bringing the biofilm concept into the undergraduate science and engineering curriculum and he contributed to the success of the Biofilms: The Hypertextbook proposal which was recently awarded by NSF. During this visit, John is collaborating with Rocky Ross and Al Cunningham on the hypertextbook project.

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CBE People in Action

Phil Stewart as an invited speaker will present “Mechanisms of Antibiotic Tolerance in Staphylococcal Biofilms,” at the Biofilm-Material Interactions Symposium H which is held within the Fall 2006 Materials Research Society meeting in Boston, MA, November 29–30, 2006. See program information at: http://www.mrs.org/s_mrs/doc.asp?CID=6982&DID=178449

Phil Stewart as an invited speaker will present "Alternative Strategies for Controlling Biofilms” at the 2006 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition, San Antonio, Texas, October 29–November 2, 2006. See program information at: http://www.aapspharmaceutica.com/meetings/annualmeet/am06/index.asp

Joe Seymour as invited speaker presented a seminar titled “Magnetic Resonance Microscopy of Hierarchical Transport: What can spatial resolution of molecular properties tell us about biofilms, colloids, porous media and membranes?” at the School of Polymer, Textile and Fiber Engineering at Georgia Tech University in Atlanta, Georgia, October 2, 2006.

Zbigniew Lewandowski chaired a session and presented “The Effect of Detachment on Biofilm Structure and Activity: Oscillating Pattern of Biofilm Accumulation,” at Biofilm Systems VI, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, September 24–27, 2006. Co-authors of the paper are: Haluk Beyenal, Jarred Myers, and Deanne Stookey.

Otto Stein presented "On Fitting the k-C* First Order Model to Batch Loaded SSF Wetlands," 10th Conference on Wetland System for Water Pollution Control, Lisbon, Portugal, September 25 – 29, 2006. Proc. 10th Inter. Conf. on Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control. Sept. 25 – 29, 2006. Lisbon, Portugal. Pgs. 1447-1454. Otto chaired a session on Heavy Metals Removal and also served on the scientific committee for the conference.

Darla Goeres presented a talk titled "Understanding the Importance of Biofilms in Recreational Water" at the World Aquatic Health Conference in Austin, TX on September 21, 2006. In attendance were individuals from public health organizations, academia and industry.

Joe Seymour as invited speaker presented a seminar titled “Characterization of Structure and Scale Dependent Hydrodynamic Dispersion in Porous Media using Magnetic Resonance Microscopy: Percolation, Biofouling and Fractional Dynamics” at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University in New York City, September 19, 2006.

Phil Stewart as an invited speaker presented “Anti-Biofilm Properties of Chitosan-Coated Surfaces,” American Chemical Society 232nd National Meeting & Exposition, San Francisco, CA, September 10 −14, 2006.

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Web Watch

BiofilmsOnline.com

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

Subscribe to the monthly 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.biofilm.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.biofilm.montana.edu/Ind-Col99-SW/Current_Newsletter/default.htm. Newsletter archives can be found at http://www.biofilm.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/newsarchives/index.htm.

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