Center for Biofilm Engineering

News Update: 

September, 2004

Volume 7, Issue 7

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Research Highlights

In the Media:

Biophotonics International

A cool confocal picture created from the CBE’s new equipment and software made the cover (and inside article) of this journal, illustrating just how compelling microscope images can be. Recent Control lab undergrad Amber Harrer, Phil Stewart and Betsey Pitts collected the image on a Leica confocal scanning laser microscope. The article, “Dealing with Bacterial Attachments,” describes how photonics is helping scientists understand and remove biofilms. Biophotonics International presents the latest global developments and techniques to the leaders in fields from cardiology to neurosurgery, from pharmaceuticals to animal science, and from agriculture to cell biology. It has a circulation of 33,000.

Dealing with Bacterial Attachments
by Hank Hogan, contributing editor
Biophotonics International August 2004; 11(8):48-50

Horizon Air Magazine

The development of the CDC Biofilm Reactor was featured as one of the most promising prospects of state supported research projects. A commercialization grant made it possible for BioSurface Technologies Corp and the Center to develop a biofilm reactor, based on a design by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The biofilm reactor is responsible for more than 10 percent of the total sales made by BioSurface Technologies, the only licensed manufacturer of this product. Since this article was written, the reactor has been accepted for review by the American Society for Testing and Materials, and if approved it may become a standard tool used by agencies such as the FDA and the EPA.

Promising Prospects
by Mary Pat Murphy
Horizon Air Magazine July 2004; M7

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Outstanding Researcher Award

Linda Loetterle, laboratory specialist and recently designated CBE biofilm workshop coordinator, was nominated for this year’s outstanding researcher award. She was presented the award at the Technical Advisory Conference in June, and recognized for her special contributions to the research and educational efforts at the CBE. Congratulations, Linda!

See full feature article at http://www.erc.montana.edu/CBEssentials-SW/research/Researcher_Award04.htm
 

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Outreach

PASI Workshop

The second of two Pan-American Advanced Studies Institutes (PASI) workshops took place this summer (June 28 – July 16) at the Center. A number of CBE faculty, staff, and students, as well as other international scientists, delivered the workshop “Techniques for Biofilm Community Analysis.” Nineteen students participated in the workshop, representing Chile (5), Argentina (2), Mexico (2), Colombia (1), Brazil (2) and the USA (6). Techniques presented included engineering aspects of reactor design, genomic and proteomic approaches to investigation of microbial communities, the use of microelectrodes in biofilm research, and advanced microscopy and use of imaging software. The first workshop took place in January at the University of Concepción, Chile.

See a group picture of the workshop participants at: http://www.erc.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/newsarchives/HTML/2004/PASI%20Participants.htm

See the workshop program at: http://www.erc.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/newsarchives/HTML/2004/PASI%20Program.htm

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Biofilm Structure and Function Research Group Workshops

This group hosted two successful workshops this summer for industrial and academic researchers from around the world, including the US, Canada, Finland, Ireland, and France. The program topics can be seen at the web links below.

Biofilm Structure Quantification and Image Analysis Workshop
July 22 – 23, 2004
http://www.erc.montana.edu/CBEssentials-SW/research/workshops/details.htm

Microsensors: Manufacture and Applications Workshop
August 9 – 13, 2004
http://www.erc.montana.edu/CBEssentials-SW/research/workshops/detailsmicro.htm

This same group has organized the Biofilms 2004 conference, which will be held in Las Vegas, NV, October 24– 26. This conference is sponsored by the International Water Association. Conference program details can be found at: http://www.erc.montana.edu/biofilms2004/default.htm

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Education

Research Experience for Undergraduates

Eight REU students completed ten weeks of research August 13th. Students gave final professional presentations and wrote final technical papers on their project work. Some students will later be presenting their research results to the industrial sponsors of their project.

Linda Loetterle and Darla Goeres coordinated the program this year. Students attended ethics and communications seminars and enjoyed an overnight field trip to Yellowstone National Park.

See pictures of the students and a listing of their projects, mentors, and paper abstracts at: http://www.erc.montana.edu/CBEssentials-SW/education/REU/students_REU2004.htm

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Theses Alert

Thesis abstracts can be found on the CBE website and copies can be ordered from there as well. To view the thesis abstracts see: http://www.erc.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/pubs/Theses/Database/TD_DisplayScript.asp

Spatial Growth Patterns of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms, Thesis Defense by Ruifang (Grace) Xu, M.S. Candidate in Chemical Engineering, Montana State University, July 2004.

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Visitors

Karine Ferey Marion and Thierry Sanchez from Lyon, France were visitors this summer at the Center. They worked in Garth James’s lab for three weeks on endoscope-related biofilms.

Brent Peyton, Associate Professor, from Washington State University, will be spending a sabbatical here at the Center for the fall semester. Brent received his PhD in Chemical Engineering here at Montana State University in the early 1990's and was one of the last students advised by the Center's founding director, W.G. Characklis. He worked at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for a number of years before he took on a position at Washington State University (Pullman, WA) in the Department of Chemical Engineering where he received tenure. He is also an Associate Director of WSU's NSF-IGERT Center for Multiphase Environmental Research (CMER). Brent has not only maintained a strong connection to MSU and the Center through research grants with Gill Geesey, Zbigniew Lewandowski, Robin Gerlach and Al Cunningham, but has also encouraged excellent researchers to work and study at the CBE; most recently Abbie Aiken and Lee Richards. While at MSU, among other research interests, Brent will be working with Gill Geesey to characterize microbial communities from alkaline hot springs in Yellowstone, and with Robin Gerlach to screen these cultures for the ability to transform renewable biomass compounds and degrade hazardous contaminants.

Dr. Cindy Morris from the Institut National de Recherche Agronomique (INRA) in Avignon, France, will be at the Center for a year (August 2004 – August 2005) as a visiting scientist. She will be working conjointly with Anne Camper, Dave Sands of the Dept. of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, and with the Image and Chemical Analysis Lab. Her research will concern aerial dissemination of bacterial biofilms from plant surfaces. In particular, she will be measuring the physical forces required to break off bacterial biofilms from leaf surfaces, the role of leaf-surface properties in release of biofilms into the air, and the properties of air-borne biofilms that assure bacterial survival and long distance aerial transport.
 

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Introducing New Faces

Paul Perry, Technician, is a biologist who is preparing for medical school. He will join the Control laboratory to investigate antibiofilm action of enzymes.

Ross Carlson has joined the CBE team as a post-doc in the Control lab.  Ross will also have an appointment as an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.  Ross has a BS in Biochemistry and a PhD in Chemical Engineering, and comes to us from the Srienc laboratory at the University of Minnesota.  Ross will be taking the lead on a couple of industrial projects in the Control lab and will also be pursuing some of his own ideas. 

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Upcoming Workshops

Basic and advanced biofilm research techniques
September 22 – 23, 2004

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

Zbigniew Lewandowski was invited to present a plenary lecture at Biofilms: Their Structure, Activity, and Effect on Membrane Processes. Plenary lecture at the IWA Conference Water Environment, Membrane Filtration. Seoul, Korea, June 7-9, 2004.

Marty Hamilton presented "Sporicide efficacy testing: statistical analysis of the collaborative study," to the Interagency Expert Panel on Anthrax Test Methods and Surrogates, Ft. Meade, MD August 31, 2004.

Marty Hamilton presented the "Parallel testing to determine the influence of biofilm growth conditions on antimicrobial log reduction:preliminary report" by K. Buckingham-Meyer, D. Goeres, M. Hamilton, to the Antimicrobials Division, Office of Pesticide Programs, USEPA, September 1, 2004.

Marty Hamilton presented "A laboratory hot tub model: engineering design, standard operating procedure, and performance characteristics" by D. Goeres, L. Loetterle, and M. Hamilton, to the Antimicrobials Division, Office of Pesticide Programs, USEPA, September 1, 2004.

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CBE Summer Photo Gallery

Staying connected with each other, sharing ideas across disciplines, and learning new concepts and techniques to advance our work have been a hallmark of the Center's success. These pictures illustrate the ways we connect...in hallways, through informal seminars, across picnic tables, and even on the trail!

http://www.erc.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/newsarchives/HTML/2004/Summer2004_Gallery.htm

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Web Watch

BiofilmsOnline.com

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

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Recent Web Updates

Check the Recent Web Updates link located on the CBE home page to view the latest information posted on the CBE web.

See http://www.erc.montana.edu/Recent%20Web%20Updates/default.htm

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