NEW - Microbiology Today
See: http://www.sgm.ac.uk/en/publications/microbiology-today/current-issue.cfm.

By: Alan Cann

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NEW - Microbiology Today - Video

Colo State Elevator Vids #12 Microbiology Building (Ginormous ThyssenKrupp
This thing is fucking huge.

By: Colin Comer

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Colo State Elevator Vids #12 Microbiology Building (Ginormous ThyssenKrupp - Video

Toronto, Canada (PRWEB) June 04, 2013

The ability to ensure that relevant and accurate laboratory testing is performed is the basic expectation for any central laboratory. To optimally employ the myriad of laboratory resources available to perform seemingly identical tests, a rigorous scientific review is an essential component of clinical trials protocol design.

An important step is a thorough review by experienced personnel versed in the scientific/technical and operational aspects of indication-specific laboratory testing. Additional considerations include the level of experience the laboratory has with performing testing for specific indications; how the laboratorys current test menu aligns with the protocol requirements and the willingness of the laboratory to tailor innovative solutions to meet unique endpoints.

Attendees of this webinar will acquire a solid understanding of:

This webinar is part of ACM Globals Navigating Global Clinical Trials with your Central Lab series of informative and interactive events.

To learn more about the event, visit: http://www.xtalks.com/Endpoint-Based-Protocol-Development.ashx

Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global Life Sciences community. Every year thousands of industry practitioners turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.

To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.com/ContactUs.ashx.

Contact: Karen Lim (416) 977-6555 ext 227 clientservices(at)xtalks(dot)com

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Endpoint Based Protocol Development: A Central Laboratory Perspective + Microbiology Case Study, New Life Science ...

It is the 161th birthday of the German microbiologist Julius Richard Petri, whom we can thank for those low-tech but indispensable tools of the microbiology lab: the petri dish. Google honors Petris birthday today with their lovely Google Doodle riffing on his invaluable discovery.

The Google Doodle for May 31, 2013 in honor of Julius Richard Petri. Image: Google.

Petri created these nowubiquitousshallow containers while working as an assistant to Robert Koch, the man widely referred to as the father of microbiology. (Kochs postulates of germ theory detail the essential methodology needed to identify the causative agent of a disease.) Petris dishes would be supplied with the gelatinous agar that served as a culture medium providing anything from amino acids, salts, carbohydrates and blood to encourage bacterial growth. The lidded dishes created a contained environment, a miniature cordon sanitaire, in which to culture isolated bacteria and prevent contamination from airborne organisms and molds. His simple discovery paved the way for more sophisticated advancements and vital discoveries in microbiology.

In the Doodle, a gloved hand swabs each petri dish and slowly bacteria and molds materialize within. The growth in the six dishes just discernibly spells out G-O-O-G-L-E and rolling your mouse over each will identify the provenance of those captured organisms:

G is a fetid sock. O, a doorknob followed by a computer keyboard swab as the second O. G is a swab from a dog (but which part?). L, a flower. And E, the grossest of them all, is a kitchen sponge.

Google Doodles are the search engines online tip of the hat to the world outside our computer,acknowledgingholidays and important anniversaries as well as pioneering scientists, artists and innovators in variousdisciplines.My favorites include the gorgeous animated tribute to the dancer Martha Graham, and the doodles for the mathematicianAda Lovelaceand the naturalistMinakata Kumagusuwho studied fungi and slime molds. To see all of the Google Doodles designed in the past 15 years, now clocking in at more than 1000, check out their page here.

Resources

Care to know more about laboratorytechniquesof old? Check out my article on a rather ignominiouspiece of science history, Suck It: The Ins and Outs of Mouth Pipetting.

I wrote about Nobel prizesawardedto great discoveries in microbiology in my post Nobel Prizes, Tropical Medicine & One Nazi Sympathizer. Robert Koch is included in thisillustrious list for his work in identifying the bacterial organismresponsiblefor tuberculosis, once thought to be an inheritable disease.

Alexander Flemings fluke discovery ofpenicillinrelied on using petri dishes.

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Today's Google Doodle Honors the Petri Dish

Public release date: 31-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Sliwa jsliwa@asmusa.org 202-942-9297 American Society for Microbiology

A major question in ecology has centered on the role of microbes in regulating ecosystem function. Now, in research published ahead of print in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Brajesh Singh of the University of Western Sydney, Australia, and collaborators show how changes in the populations of methanotrophic bacteria can have consequences for methane mitigation at ecosystem levels.

"Ecological theories developed for macro-ecology can explain the microbial regulation of the methane cycle," says Singh.

In the study, as grasslands, bogs, and moors became forested, a group of type II methanotrophic bacterium, known as USC alpha, became dominant on all three land use types, replacing other methanotrophic microbes, and oxidizing, thus mitigating methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, explains Singh. "The change happened because we changed the niches of the microbial community."

The pre-eminence of USC alpha bacteria in this process demonstrates that the so-called "selection hypothesis" from macro-ecology "explains the changes the investigators saw in the soil functions of their land-use types," says Singh. The selection hypothesis states that a small number of key species, rather than all species present determine key functions in ecosystems. "This knowledge could provide the basis for incorporation of microbial data into predictive models, as has been done for plant communities," he says.

"Evidence of microbial regulation of the biogeochemical cycle provides the basis for including microbial data in predictive models studying the effects of global changes," says Singh.

Singh warns that one should not take the results to mean that biodiversity is not important. Without microbial biodiversity, the raw materialsdifferent microbial species with different capabilitiesfor adapting to changes in the environment would be unavailable, he says.

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A copy of the manuscript can be found online at http://bit.ly/asmtip0513d. Formal publication is scheduled for the June 2013 issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

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Microbial changes regulate function of entire ecosystems

Public release date: 31-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Sliwa jsliwa@asmusa.org 202-942-9297 American Society for Microbiology

Researchers at the University of Georgia, Athens, have identified a strong link between the prevalence and load of certain food-borne pathogens on poultry farms, and later downstream at the processing plant. They report their findings in a manuscript published ahead of print in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

"This study suggests that reducing foodborne pathogen loads on broiler chicken farms would help to reduce pathogen loads at processing, and may ultimately help to reduce the risk of foodborne illness," says Roy Berghaus, an author on the study. "This is important because most of our efforts towards reducing foodborne pathogens are currently focused on what happens during processing. Processing interventions are effective but they can only do so much."

Salmonella and Campylobacter bacteria cause an estimated 1.9 million food-borne illnesses in the US annually, and poultry is a major source of both. Earlier studies have linked pathogen prevalence on the farm and at processing, but none has measured the strength of the associations between pathogen loads, according to the report. In the current study, Salmonella and Campylobacter detected at the processing plant were found in farm samples 96 and 71 percent of the time, respectively.

The prevalence of both pathogens dropped during processing, Salmonella from 45.9 percent to 2.4 percent, and Campylobacter from 68.7 to 43.6 percent, according to the report.

The two pathogens are major contributors to human misery in the US. Among 104 different pathogen-food combinations, Campylobacter and Salmonella infections from poultry were recently ranked first and fourth, respectively in terms of "combined impact on the total cost of illness and loss of quality-adjusted life years," according to the report.

The team suggests that fewer pathogens on the farm would reduce contamination levels at the processing plant, and notes that "vaccination of breeder hens, competitive exclusion products and the use of acidified water during feed withdrawal" have all reduced Salmonella in commercial broiler flocks. However "reliable approaches to reduce Campylobacter colonization are currently unavailable," although post-processing freezing has reduced Campylobacter loads on carcasses.

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A copy of the manuscript can be found online at http://bit.ly/asmtip0513a. The paper is scheduled to be formally published in the June 2013 issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

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Investigators link poultry contamination on farm and at processing plant