Center for Biofilm Engineering

News Update: 

February, 2007

Volume 10, Issue 1-2

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Research Highlights

Our Industrial Associate Members

We would like to recognize and thank the industries that have supported CBE research this past year. Industry’s challenge to control and exploit biofilms help guide the CBE’s research toward industrial relevance. In turn, the CBE strives to bring biofilm concept to industry’s bench tops and real-world systems, and to keep them updated on the new science and technologies that are emerging.

Member companies as of January 2007 are: American Air Liquide, Inc.; Aramco Services Company; Church & Dwight Co., Inc.; Colgate-Palmolive; The Dow Chemical Company; DuPont; Ecolab; enturia, Inc.; GlaxoSmithKline; Masco Corporation; MöInlycke Health Care; NASA; NovaCal Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Novozymes North America, Inc.; Sandia National Laboratories; Tyco Healthcare; Unilever; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; W. L. Gore & Associates; and Whirlpool Corporation.

Read more about membership information

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Latest CBE Publications

A laboratory hot tub model for disinfectant efficacy evaluation
Goeres DM, Loetterle LR, Hamilton MA
J Microbiol Methods Jan 2007; 68:184-192
PubMed® Abstract

A multidimensional multispecies continuum model for heterogeneous biofilm development
Alpkvista E, Klapper I
Bull Math Biol Jan 2007; [Epub ahead of print]
PubMed® Abstract

The effect of the chemical, biological, and physical environment on quorum sensing in structured microbial communities
Horswill AR, Stoodley P, Stewart PS, Parsek MR
Anal Bioanal Chem 2007; 387:371-380
PubMed® Abstract

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Top 10 Downloads

The publisher of Biofouling posted this list on their website and a CBE authored paper tops the list.

Biofouling
Top ten most downloaded articles in 2005

Quantifying biofilm structure: Facts and fiction
Beyenal H, Lewandowski Z, Harkin G
Biofouling Feb 2004; 20(1):1-23
Abstract

The biofilm matrix
Allison DG
Biofouling 2003;19(2):139-150

The development of a marine natural product-based antifouling paint
Burgess JG, Boyd KG, Armstrong E, Jiang Z, Yan L, Berggren M, May U, Pisacane T,  Granmo A,  Adams DR
Biofouling 2003; 19(Supp 1):197-205

Silicones containing pendant biocides for antifouling coatings
Thomas J, Choi S-B, Fjeldheim R, Boudjouk P
Biofouling 2004; 20(4-5):227-236

Microbially influenced corrosion as a model system for the study of metal microbe interactions: A unifying electron transfer hypothesis
Hamilton WA
Biofouling Feb 2003; 19(1):65-76

An evaluation of carbon steel corrosion under stagnant seawater conditions
Lee JS, Ray RI, Lemieux EJ, Falster AU, Little BJ
Biofouling 2004; 20(4-5):237-247

The influence of natural surface microtopographies on fouling
Bers AV, Wahl M
Biofouling Feb 2004; 20(1):43-51

Fouling deterrence on the bivalve shell Mytilus galloprovincialis: A physical phenomenon?
Scardino AJ, de Nys R
Biofouling 2004; 20(4-5):249-257

Fouling and ships' hulls: How changing circumstances and spawning events may result in the spread of exotic species
Minchin D, Gollasch S
Biofouling Jan 2003;19(Supp 1):111-122

Microbial diversity in biofilms from corroding heating systems
Kjellerup BV, Thomsen TR, Nielsen JL, Olesen BH, Frølund B, Nielsen PH
Biofouling Feb 2005; 21(1):19-29

See the Biofouling News and Offers for this information.
See the Biofouling homepage

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New Employee

Matthew Fields joined the faculty in Microbiology and he will be working with the CBE. We are excited to have his expertise and interest in microbial physiology, anaerobes, and biofilms added to our team. He brings with him three graduate students. Melinda Clark and Chiachi Hwang are fourth year Ph.D. students. Melinda has been focusing on Desulfovibrio vulgaris biofilms and Chiachi studies microbial ecology at heavy metal contaminated sites. Anitha Sundararajan is a third year Ph.D. student that has been studying oxygen responses in Shewanella oneidensis, including biofilms.

Audrey Corbin has returned to the CBE again, this time to work as a Research Associate. Audrey is working on a research project with Phil Stewart and Colgate-Palmolive, investigating antimicrobial action on dental biofilms. Last year, Audrey was at the CBE as a visiting Master’s student from Lyon, France. She spent spring semester working in Phil’s lab, while completing an internship requirement for her dual degrees in microbial ecology and biochemistry and biotechnology. Audrey likes to hike, read and cook, and loves to visit art exhibitions. She also developed some addictions to a few American foods that just aren’t the same in France, believe it or not – in particular, cheesecake, cream cheese and mashed potatoes!

Laura Boegli recently joined the CBE Medical Biofilms Laboratory as a Research Associate. Laura will also be working with Adie Phillips on the ZERT (Zero Emissions Research and Technology) program. For the past three years, Laura was employed by Center for Innovation (CFI), Inc, Bozeman, MT as a microbiologist. Prior to CFI, Laura was employed for seven years by MSE Technology Applications, Inc., Bozeman, MT as a microbiologist. In both positions Laura worked closely with the CBE. Laura’s research has included oilfield microbiology, biological treatment of mining wastes, microbial degradation of recalcitrant compounds, and development of biological sensors.

Lindsey Lorenz has been added to the Standardized Biofilm Methods research team as a Research Assistant. She has three years of laboratory experience including biofilm related testing work in an industrial microbiology laboratory. As part of the SBM, Lindsey will conduct the laboratory experiments for biofilm testing projects.

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CBE People in Action

Anne Camper, Ben Klayman, and Andreas Nocker helped teach a workshop entitled "Biotechnology of Plant-Associated Microbes: Practical Applications for Agricultural, Forestry, Food, and Environmental Sciences," at the University of Concepcion, Chile, January 8 - 19, 2007. The workshop was organized by former CBE visitors Kathy Sossa, Homero Urrutia Briones, and Cindy Morris.

Anne Camper presented "The impact of biofilms on bacterial biology and ecology: Medicine, industry, water resources, food and agriculture," and "Cell-to-cell signaling among microorganisms – an overview."

Andreas Nocker presented “Gene ecology”: Genetic islands and horizontal gene transfer."

Anne Camper and Benjamin Klayman presented "Pathogen capture: Microbial interactions leading to and inhibiting disease and its potential in plant disease control."

All three presented extensively in the workshop, "Research tools/techniques and design of laboratory model systems." See the workshop program  

Anne Camper presented “Overview of Available Information on Biofilm Microbiology, Growth and Release,” EPA’s Total Coliform Rule / Distribution System Technical Workshop, Washington, DC, January 30 - February 1, 2007.
 

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Web Watch

BiofilmsOnline.com

Visit www.BiofilmsOnline.com.
 

Subscribe to the monthly BiofilmsOnline.com newsletter.

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