As Tolstoy noted (sort of), all unhappy microbiomes are unhappy in their own way – UW Today

News releases | Research | Science

August 25, 2017

The bacterial communities that live inside each of our guts are relatively similar when times are good, but when stress enters the equation, those communities can react very differently from person to person.

This microbiological version of the Anna Karenina principle is a new paradigm suggested by scientists at the University of Washington Bothell and Oregon State University. It may suggest who would benefit most from screens to identify the microbes that reside in their gut, with implications for drug therapy, management of chronic diseases and other aspects of medical care.

On Aug. 24, the researchers published a perspective piece in Nature Microbiology outlining their adaptation of the Anna Karenina principle for the microbial realm. The principle gets its name from the opening line of the novel Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

It turns out that this observation applies to perturbed microbiotas of humans and animals. When these microbiotas are unhappy, each is unhappy in its own way.

This line of thinking started with studies of the microbiology of threatened corals, said lead and corresponding author Jesse Zaneveld, an assistant professor of biological sciences at UW Bothell. We found that several stressors made the types of bacteria on corals more variable, allowing blooms of different harmful bacteria on each coral.

We were struck by similarities to HIV/AIDs. After HIV suppresses the immune system, patients become vulnerable to opportunistic pathogens but you cant predict which one will infect any particular patient. It turns out that this microbial variation is a pattern common to many though certainly not all stressors and diseases, and occurs in helpful microbes as well as harmful ones.

Before joining the UW Bothell faculty, Zaneveld was a postdoctoral researcher at OSU, working with assistant professor of microbiology Rebecca Vega Thurber. It was there that they formulated the idea that microbial communities might behave more in line with Tolstoys words than scientists had previously thought.

When microbiologists have looked at how microbiomes change when their hosts are stressed from any number of factors temperature, smoking, diabetes, for example theyve tended to assume directional and predictable changes in the community, said Vega Thurber, who is also a corresponding author on the perspective. After tracking many datasets of our own we rarely seemed to find this pattern but rather found a distinct one where microbiomes actually change in a stochastic, or random, way.

Collecting a microbiome sample from a marine coral.Oregon State University

Zaneveld and Vega Thurber worked with OSU doctoral student Ryan McMinds to survey the academic and research literature on microbial changes caused by perturbation. They found those stochastic or random changes to be a common occurrence, but one that researchers have tended to discard or bury deep in supplementary materials, rather than highlight in their reports.

Whats amazing is how obvious these Anna Karenina principle effects are if youre looking for them and how easy they are to miss if youre searching for a more conventional pattern, said Zaneveld. When researchers have reported them, theyve often assumed that they are a unique quirk of the microbiology of their disease of interest, rather than a more general phenomenon.

Their work drew together diverse ideas and experiments from microbiome research including observations from humans and other animals and across multiple human diseases. They propose new methods for analyzing microbiome data to identify situations where the Anna Karenina principle might be at work.

When healthy, our microbiomes look alike, but when stressed each one of us has our own microbial snowflake,' said Vega Thurber. You or I could be put under the same stress, and our microbiomes will respond in different ways thats a very important facet to consider for managing approaches to personalized medicine. Stressors like antibiotics or diabetes can cause different peoples microbiomes to react in very different ways.

Humans and animals are filled with symbiotic communities of microorganisms that often fill key roles in normal physiological function and also influence susceptibility to disease. Predicting how these communities of organisms respond to perturbations anything that alters the systems function is one of microbiologists essential challenges.

Studies of microbiome dynamics have typically looked for patterns that shift microbiomes from a healthy, stable state to a dysbiotic, stable state; dysbiosis refers to any unusual configuration of the microbiome with negative consequences for the health of the host. By the Anna Karenina principle, the microbial communities of dysbiotic individuals vary more in composition than in healthy individuals.

The researchers found patterns consistent with Anna Karenina effects in other systems as well, such as the lungs of smokers. Since microbiomes also influence how patients respond to medical drugs, conditions that make the microbiome more variable such as inflammatory bowel disorders may also make more variable patients responses to drugs from digoxin to asprin.

But, to consider and test these possibilities, scientists must first discuss the Anna Karenina effect among themselves.

This is the start of a conversation, and not all diseases will show these patterns, said Zaneveld. But when you see the same pattern everywhere from corals enduring high temperatures to wild chimpanzees with suppressed immunity it suggests we should pay very close attention to the mechanisms that produce it.

I hope that by drawing together these research findings from diverse areas, we accelerate the development of common tools and language to understand the role of chance in shaping the microbial part of ourselves.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.

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For more information, contact Zaneveld at 425-352-3789 or zaneveld@uw.edu and Vega Thurber at 541-737-185 or Rebecca.Vega-Thurber@oregonstate.edu.

Adapted from a press release by the OSU Office of News and Research Communications.

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As Tolstoy noted (sort of), all unhappy microbiomes are unhappy in their own way - UW Today

‘C. diff. Science’ Honors Microbiology Professionals Dedicated to … – Florida Newswire

TAMPA, Fla. /Florida Newswire/ The C Diff Foundation hosts C. diff. Science on Sept. 14 to honor professionals dedicated to the scientific research and development in the Clostridium difficile (C. difficile, C. diff.) community worldwide, chaired by Professor Simon M. Cutting, PhD, of Molecular Microbiology at Royal Holloway, University of London.

The free live webinar will take place from 8 a.m. 12 p.m. ET, Sept. 14, 2017.

Professor Cutting, Event Chair and guest presenter, shares the platform with seven fellow scientists focused on their contributions involving the most common pathogen identified, and leading healthcare-associated infection (HAI) Clostridium difficile.

C. difficile infections can be acquired and diagnosed in infants and across the life-span with a higher risk involving our senior citizens and that is why it is imperative to learn about a C. difficile infection, its most common symptoms, the treatments available, and environmental safety products to prevent the spread of this spore-bacteria and to help reduce C. difficile infection recurrences.

On September 14th fellow professionals in the C. diff. community, and those who share a common interest, will have the opportunity to gain knowledge from scientists around the globe who have dedicated their professional lives researching and developing new concepts, new theories, and the progress towards a better understanding pursuing future developments in Clostridium difficile (a.k.a., C. difficile, C.diff.) infection prevention, treatments, and environmental safety products worldwide, states Nancy C Caralla, Executive Director.

About the C Diff Foundation:

The C Diff Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, founded in 2012 by Nancy C Caralla, a nurse diagnosed and treated for Clostridium difficile (C. diff.) infections.

Through her own journeys and witnessing the passing of her father diagnosed with sepsis secondary to C. difficile infection involvement, Nancy recognized the need for greater awareness through education, the research being conducted by the government, industry, and academia and better advocacy on behalf of patients, healthcare professionals, and researchers worldwide working to address the public health threat posed by this devastating infection.

For webinar information contact event coordinators: info@cdiffscience.org and visit the event website: http://cdiffscience.org/ to register for this free webinar.

For C Diff Foundation information please visit: https://cdifffoundation.org/.

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'C. diff. Science' Honors Microbiology Professionals Dedicated to ... - Florida Newswire

Bacterial pathogenesis Campylobacter follows the clues – Nature.com


Nature.com
Bacterial pathogenesis Campylobacter follows the clues
Nature.com
Campylobacter jejuni is a commensal bacterium that colonizes the intestinal tracts of avian species and other animals, but it is also an enteric pathogen in humans that causes diarrhoeal disease. C. jejuni can distinguish between different intestinal ...

and more »

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Bacterial pathogenesis Campylobacter follows the clues - Nature.com

Scientists sock it to bacteria – The Sydney Morning Herald

Technological advances often lead to better science, but every now and then opting for the lowest tech levels possible can achieve the best outcome.

This was demonstrated spectacularly this month when a team of British microbiologists found that the best tool for determining the size of nasty bug population wasn't a laser or a chromatograph or a sophisticated scanner, but a sock.

The scientists, led by Natalia Jones from the University of East Anglia, wanted to assess the population density of a gastrointestinal bacteria species called Campylobacter in a couple of rural areas.

After much thought, they realised that the best way to do this was to enlist a cohort of volunteers and ask them to walk along country lanes while wearing a sock over one boot. Participants were asked to repeat the process over a 16 month period.

At the end of each walk, the volunteers were instructed to mail the sock to the university, an act that doubtless raised a few eyebrows at the local post office.

Once received, Jones and colleagues grew some of the gungy bits in Petri dishes, and subjected others to a process known as polymerase chain reaction in order to reveal the microbial population picked up along the way.

The results showed that the bacteria were most common in areas associated with livestock farming, and reached peak density in winter.

The team hopes the data will help to explain the ways in which Campylobacter infects people. It's a common cause of food poisoning, but that alone doesn't account for all the cases.

The scientists' report was published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. It is unknown whether laboratory equipment stores will now start stocking footwear.

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Scientists sock it to bacteria - The Sydney Morning Herald

Microbiology Testing Market Players Johnson & Johnson, Bruker Corporation, Cepheid, Danaher Corporation and … – MENAFN.COM

MENAFN Press - 12/03/2017 (MENAFN Editorial) Microbiology testing Application: Microbiology testing is majorly used in pharmaceuticals/medical, food and beverages market, energy and in cosmetics market. The products such as Aqua Plate, Real-time PCR, food pathogen system, etc. are being used by laboratories to test water contamination, pharmaceuticals and food samples. Various methods such as culture testing method or food pathogen test are used to perform microbial testing on the microbial samples.

Request a Sample Copy @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/697

Key Players: Abbott Laboratories Inc. (U.S.) Alere, Inc. (U.S.) bioMrieux SA (France) Becton Bio-Rad Laboratories Bruker Corporation (U.S.) Cepheid (U.S.) Danaher Corporation (U.S.) Hologic Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. (Switzerland)

Regional Analysis North America North America dominates the Microbiology Tests Market due to large number of market-focused players providing wider range of product portfolio and is followed by Europe. Asia Emerging economies of Asia Pacific and Latin America are expected to show significant growth in the microbiology tests market due to an increase in the number of laboratories in these regions and development of existing ones for automation of various instrumentation systems.

About Microbiology Testing Market: This is very essential to ensure the safety of products people eat and drink or use in their daily routine. The FDA sets scientific standards for testing foods for various contaminants. Laboratories and food companies worldwide use these standards to make sure that food products are safe to eat and drink. The Microbial testing is one of these methods used for the purpose of testing.

Segmentation By Application - Food, Energy, Pharmaceutical, Clinic By Consumable - Kit and Reagent By Instruments - Dispenser, Automated microbiology By Regio- North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Row

Access full MT market @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/microbiology-testing-market

Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 150 market data tables and figures spread in 115 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on 'Microbiology testing market Research Report- Global Forecast to 2024'

Microbiology Testing Market Growth Influencer: The major growth drivers of microbial market is the large disease burden of infectious diseases, the growing trend of laboratory automation, the increase in access to medical insurance and increased healthcare expenditure. However, strict regulatory policies for medical devices, advancements in molecular diagnostic technologies, reimbursement issues are the major restraints of microbiology market.

Geographical Region Includes Americas North America US Canada Europe Western Europe Germany France Italy Spain U.K Rest of Western Europe Eastern Europe Poland Russia Asia Pacific Asia China India Japan Rest of Asia Pacific Countries Australia New Zealand The Middle East & Africa

About Market Research Future At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.

Contact: Akash Anand Market Research Future Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune - 411028 Maharashtra, India 1 646 845 9312 Email: Web: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com

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About EIN EIN Presswire publishes and distributes press releases worldwide for small and mid-sized companies both public and private. Specializing in industry and business, topic categories range from agriculture and aviation to pharma and technology. The company was founded in 1995.

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Microbiology Testing Market Players Johnson & Johnson, Bruker Corporation, Cepheid, Danaher Corporation and ... - MENAFN.COM

Industrial Microbiology Market to Show Impressive Growth Rate Between 2016-2024 – Digital Journal

Impact analysis of key growth drivers and restraints are included in this report to better equip clients with crystal clear decision-making insights.

This press release was orginally distributed by SBWire

Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/09/2017 -- Industrial microbiology is the application of microbiology techniques for management and exploitation of microorganisms for production and processing of useful products on a commercial scale. Industrial microbiology has wide applications in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, agriculture products, industrial chemicals, environment and others. The growing research in these field for obtaining high quality products is expected to fuel growth of the global industrial microbiology market. Moreover, factors such as increasing awareness among researchers related to new strains of microorganisms capable of producing enhanced quality products which have applications in drug development, food processing and other industries is expected to fuel growth of the global industrial microbiology market.

Request Sample Copy of the Report @ http://www.mrrse.com/sample/2085

Future Market Insights offers forecast of the global industrial microbiology market between 2016 and 2026. In terms of value, the market is expected to register a CAGR of 7.1% during the forecast period. The study demonstrates market dynamics that are expected to influence the current environment and future status of the global industrial microbiology market over the forecast period. It includes key trends, drivers, restraints, and opportunities influencing growth of the global industrial microbiology market over forecast period 20162026. Impact analysis of key growth drivers and restraints are included in this report to better equip clients with crystal clear decision-making insights.

Make an Enquiry @ http://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/2085

North America industrial microbiology market is estimated to account for 27.3% revenue share in 2016, and is expected to dominate the global industrial microbiology market over the forecast period. Europe industrial microbiology market is expected to register a significant CAGR over the forecast period.

Read Complete Report @ http://www.mrrse.com/industrial-microbiology-market

Some key market participants included in FMI's global industrial microbiology market include Merck KGaA, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Becton, Dickinson and Company, Asiagel Corporation, Eppendorf AG, bioMerieux SA, Novamed., QIAGEN, Sartorius AG, 3M and Danaher Corporation

About MRRSE MRRSE stands for Market Research Reports Search Engine, the largest online catalog of latest market research reports based on industries, companies, and countries. MRRSE sources thousands of industry reports, market statistics, and company profiles from trusted entities and makes them available at a click. Besides well-known private publishers, the reports featured on MRRSE typically come from national statistics agencies, investment agencies, leading media houses, trade unions, governments, and embassies.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/industrial-microbiology-market/release-779783.htm

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Industrial Microbiology Market to Show Impressive Growth Rate Between 2016-2024 - Digital Journal

Microbiology Class Wins SWI, CDC Contest – NC State News

When the the Small World Initiative and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encouraged students to do something about the antibiotics crisis at the CDCs ninth annual Get Smart About Antibiotics Week, NC State professor Alice Lees Microbiology 360 class answered the call.

It was one of 14 groups from colleges across the country to enter the challenge last November, in association with global activities from the World Health Organization, the European Union, the Pan-American Health Organizations and similar groups in Canada and Australia.

Lees Inquiry in Microbiology: Crowdsourcing Antibiotics course took first place in the challenge. TheCDC commented that the classs entry had excellent depth and reach of impact. They believed the students did a great job recording their impact, which is one of the most important things they do in public health.

The winning class members include:

The class will receive a special tour of the CDC and the CDC museum in Atlanta. They will also receive a mentoring session with Lauri Hicks, a medical epidemiologist and director ofthe CDCs office of antibiotic stewardship. Her expertise is in bacterial respiratory diseases, outbreak investigations and antibiotic resistance and use.

Awinner profilewas posted and their outreach efforts can be seen in thisyoutubevideo.

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Microbiology Class Wins SWI, CDC Contest - NC State News

Microbiology and Infection Prevention and Control for Nursing … – Nursing Times

Title: Microbiology and Infection Prevention and Control for Nursing Students

Author: Deborah Ward

Publisher: Sage

Reviewer: Anne Duell, ward sister, Birmingham Community NHS Trust

This book part of the transforming nursing practice collection, which supports students learning the importance of adhering to the NMC standards and Essential Skills Cluster. It is a book that is exceptionally user friendly while providing clear evidence of applying evidence theory to nursing practice. It covers a wide range of infections, which students and nurses may encounter in both community and in-patient practice; while including more recent bugs such as Ebola. The readers are guided into how to obtain appropriate specimens and utilising guidance from sources such as public health.

One of the clear highlights of this books is it is both up to date and relevant. It is user friendly while encouraging its readers to undertake further research and learning to consolidate the information they have gleaned from this book. Another point is that the author goes back to basics to remind us of what constitutes an infection, and the differences between what a bacteria is as well as viruses, different fungi and parasites. Also a highlight is the importance stressed about whose responsibility it is to manage different elements of infection management and control.

One of the most evident strength of this book is its use of the NMC standards to support learning in relation to competencies that students are meant to have grasped and understood through their training to then support them as a registered nurse. The authors in a sentiment manner remind students that they must have a certain level of knowledge to deliver safe and effective care when encountering patients with various infections, under appropriate supervision in accordance with their level of progression through their nurse training (and know who to contact for additional support for both patient and their own knowledge and on going learning). A further positive in this series of books is the authors inclusion of activities and questions to aid learning and understanding and case studies.

The only weakness to this book is the limitations the reader puts on themselves to enhance their learning.

This book should certainly be read by all nursing students regardless of where their nursing placements are. The reason for this is clear as whenever we encounter patients we are potentially encountering infections which require further assessment to ensure appropriate treatment. I would even say that this book is good for mentors to read and nursing staff who may be returning to practice or want to refresh their basic knowledge around infection prevention and control.

microbiology

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Department of Microbiology and Immunology | University of …

The Department of Microbiology and Immunology provides a stimulating environment for faculty scientists and trainees who will play a leadership role in academic, government and industrial research and in international health organizations.

Advances in molecular and cell biology and genetics have opened new approaches to the basic and applied aspects of infectious diseases and host defenses. We are applying these approaches to basic aspects of receptor signaling, regulation of gene expression in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and interactions between these cells, genetic manipulation of cellular functions, microbial genomics and evolution, and development of new vaccination strategies. The techniques of functional genomics, gene delivery, stem cells and transgenic/gene disruption animal models are being developed to address specific questions.

TheGraduate Program in Molecular Microbiology and Immunologyprovides interactive, multi-departmental graduate education and research training. Our graduates receive comprehensive education in molecular and cell biology, microbiology and immunology and in-depth training in their chosen area of research.

Our Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. students train in the laboratories of participating faculty in theInstitute for Genome Sciences,Center for Vaccine Development,Institute of Human Virology,Department of Microbial Pathogenesisin the Dental School, theUniversity of Maryland Marlene & Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center, theProgram in the Biology of Model Systems; and the Departments ofMedicine,SurgeryandPediatrics.

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Department of Microbiology and Immunology | University of ...

Microbial Biology Graduate Program – Rutgers University

The Microbial Biology Graduate Program at Rutgers University offers a diverse research and educational experience focused on microbial life processes and their applications. You have the opportunity to study the genetic, metabolic, physiologic, and evolutionary diversity of microbes and explore the complex roles that microorganisms play in life on Earth. Rutgers has a rich tradition of microbiology for over a century, starting with research on bovine tuberculosis and soil denitrification in the late 1800s and continuing with the founding of its microbiology department in 1901 and the award of the Nobel Prize to Selman Waksman in 1952. Today the microbiology faculty include 13 members of the prestigious American Academy of Microbiology, 3 members of the National Academy of Science, one past president of the American Society for Microbiology, and the current editor-in-chief of FEMS Microbial Ecology. The Microbial Biology Graduate Program offers the opportunity to work with over 50 professors in 15 different departments representing all facets of microbiology and allowing for a truly interdisciplinary research and educational experience.

The discipline of microbiology has been going through a revolution in the last decade, driven by new ideas and technologies. This development has expanded our understanding of the role of microbial life on Earth not only in sustaining our biosphere but also in influencing our health and well-being. The Rutgers Microbial Biology Graduate Program offers a strong focus in understanding how microbes occupy every possible environmental niche on Earth (including frozen arctic tundra, deep sea hydrothermal vents, hazardous waste sites, and the human body) and how the diversity of microbial activities can be exploited to discover novel bioactive compounds, to characterize metabolic traits for degradation of hazardous chemicals, to develop new biofuel production methods, and to promote human health.

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Microbial Biology Graduate Program - Rutgers University

Home | Microbiology

Microbiology Faculty in MCB

David Benson -- Molecular ecology and diversity of bacteria, plant symbionts, molecular adaptations of psychrophilic bacteria, microbial diversity and ecology in traditional cheeses.

Kenneth Campellone -- Cellular microbiology,E.coliO157, host-pathogen interactions, toxin trafficking, type 3 effector proteins

Kathleen Feldman -- Environmental microbiology, indoor air quality, fungal contamination of indoor environments, history of microbiology, microbiology education

Daniel Gage -- Plant-microbe interactions, microbial genetics and physiology of infection in the Rhizobium-legume symbiosis.

J. Peter Gogarten -- Microbial evolution and phylogeny; comparative genome analyses; horizontal gene transfer; early evolution of life.

Joerg Graf -- Animal-microbe interactions, digestive-tract symbiosis, pathogenic microbes, microbial evolution, high-throughput DNA sequencing, and the use of 16S rRNA genes in the classification of bacteria.

Jonathan Klassen -- Microbial community ecology, especially using the fungus-growing ant symbiosis as a model system to study the evolution of microbial interaction networks; microbial natural product genomics, evolution and chemical ecology.

Kenneth Noll -- Microbial genetics and biochemical physiology of hyperthermophilic bacteria, carbohydrate transport and the regulation of gene expression in hyperthermophiles.

Spencer Nyholm -- Host-microbe interactions, squid / Vibrio fischeri symbiosis (colonization, interactions with the innate immune system), functional genomics of hydrothermal vent symbioses.

Thane Papke -- Evolution and biogeography of extremophiles using population genetics, genomics and metagenomics to understand the impact of sex on species and speciation.

Mary Rumpho-Kennedy -- Endosymbiotic association between algal (Vaucheria litorea) chloroplasts and a marine mollusc (Elysia chlorotica), resulting in photosynthetic sea slugs.

Carolyn Teschke -- Bacteriophage assembly in vivo and in vitro; structural, biochemical, mutational analysis of bacteriophage capsids; macromolecular protein assembly

Steven Geary (Pathobiology) -- 1. Mycoplasma genomics, microarray (expression) analysis, proteomics. 2. Pathogenic mechanisms of mycoplasmas. Mechanisms of attachment; cytadherence molecules and host cell receptors. Investigation of variably expressed cell surface proteins. 3. Vaccine Development. Immunologic and genetic means of analysis for the detection and speciation of mycoplasmas.

Pieter Visscher (Marine Sciences) -- Biogeochemical processes in oceanic environments, the fate of methanethiol, dimethylsulfide, methylbromide and methylchloride in oceanic waters.

See the Center for Microbial Systems, Ecology and Evolution (CMSEE) for a listing of other microbiologists at UConn.

Susanne Beck von Bodman (Plant Science) -- Molecular biology of host-microbe interactions. Quorum-sensing-mediated control of bacterial virulence factors. Plant genetic engineering for crop improvement and enhanced disease resistance.

Edward Leadbetter -- Microbial ecology, physiology, and diversity; biochemistry and physiology of gliding motility in gliding bacteria, and of sulfur and sulfonate metabolism.

Thomas Terry -- Microbiology education, developing new approaches and materials for microbiology educators, Web-based teaching.

Robert Vinopal -- Microbial physiology and genetics applied to biotechnology and environmental microbiology, antimicrobial and biocidal agents, synthetic biodegradable polymers, biodegradation.

Antonio Romano -- Microbial physiology, sugar transport and general microbiology.

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Plant Pathology Graduate Program: Home

The Graduate Program of Plant Pathology at the University of California, Riverside aims at conducting research on the basic biology of plant pathogens; developing methods for the management of plant diseases; providing a quality education to its students; and, providing expert advice on plant diseases to the citizens of California and the world.

Plant pathology is a multidisciplinary field and consequently represented among our faculty are experts in the fields of genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, and chemistry, as well as the more traditional aspects of disease control. Thus, some of our faculty are exploiting novel genomics-based approaches to the study of plant pathology. World-class, federally to regionally and statewide-funded research is being conducted by our faculty with research subjects ranging from gene identification, function, and manipulation to proteomics and biochemistry. Research programs range from those based primarily in the laboratory to those with both laboratory and substantial field programs. Many faculty also have close interactions with growers and farm advisors throughout California and the world. This is critical to applied research for identifying new and common plant diseases and developing innovative management programs based on ecological and epidemiological approaches including molecular epidemiology.

The Plant Pathology Graduate Programs is a key component to the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology. Many graduate students have been attracted to Riverside by the international reputation of our Department. The Department is large enough to provide graduate students with the experience and skills needed to make them successful in scientific endeavors, but small enough for them to form close, personal relationships with their professors and colleagues. As a consequence of the multidisciplinary approaches used for this goal, graduate students in the Department have the opportunity to learn about a broad range of disciplines including molecular and classical genetics, biochemistry, botany, and disease diagnosis. Graduates may find themselves working for large agribusiness firms developing new fungicides, biotechnology firms creating disease-resistant plants through genetic engineering, universities developing tomorrow's agricultural technology or studying how microorganisms cause diseases, or at governmental agencies or private organizations providing practical advice on controlling disease.

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Plant Pathology Graduate Program: Home

microbiology — Encyclopedia Britannica

microbiology,study of microorganisms, or microbes, a diverse group of minute, simple life forms that include bacteria, archaea, algae, fungi, protozoa, and viruses. The field is concerned with the structure, function, and classification of such organisms and with ways of both exploiting and controlling their activities.

The 17th-century discovery of living forms existing invisible to the naked eye was a significant milestone in the history of science, for from the 13th century onward it had been postulated that invisible entities were responsible for decay and disease. The word microbe was coined in the last quarter of the 19th century to describe these organisms, all of which were thought to be related. As microbiology eventually developed into a specialized science, it was found that microbes are a very large group of extremely diverse organisms.

Daily life is interwoven inextricably with microorganisms. In addition to populating both the inner and outer surfaces of the human body, microbes abound in the soil, in the seas, and in the air. Abundant, although usually unnoticed, microorganisms provide ample evidence of their presencesometimes unfavourably, as when they cause decay of materials or spread diseases, and sometimes favourably, as when they ferment sugar ... (200 of 7,176 words)

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microbiology -- Encyclopedia Britannica

MasteringMicrobiology: MicroFlixâ„¢ 3D animations bring Microbiology to life – Video


MasteringMicrobiology: MicroFlix 3D animations bring Microbiology to life
Micro Flix 3D movie-quality animations help students visualize difficult microbiology topics and include automatically graded activities.

By: Pearson Higher Education

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MasteringMicrobiology: MicroFlixâ„¢ 3D animations bring Microbiology to life - Video

GMO-Free Jackson County presents Ray Seidler, Ph.D. (Microbiology) 20 Nov 2013 – Video


GMO-Free Jackson County presents Ray Seidler, Ph.D. (Microbiology) 20 Nov 2013
Professor Ray Seidler presented very compelling concerns around the biotechnology industry #39;s harmful effects on America #39;s environment and economy. Great information to think about, followed by Q A.

By: kevstir

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GMO-Free Jackson County presents Ray Seidler, Ph.D. (Microbiology) 20 Nov 2013 - Video

Free Microbiology Books-Microbiology Books,Textbooks Free …

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microbiology: Definition from Answers.com

Microbiology is the study of a diverse group of microscopic organisms, or microorganisms: bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoa, and viruses. Bacteria are prokaryotes; the other microorganisms are eukaryotes. Prokaryote cells lack a nuclear membrane and membrane-bound organelles. Recently, bacteria have been divided into eubacteria and archaebacteria, with the latter more closely related to eukaryote cells. Bacteria are mostly unicellular and range in size from tiny mycoplasmas, 200 nanometers (that is, 200 billionths of a meter, or less than 1/100,000 of an inch) in diameter, to the recently discovered Thiomargarita namibiensis, at one millimeter (or about 1/25 of an inch). E. coli cells are one to two micrometers in length (about five to ten times the diameter of the mycoplasmas). Fungi include yeasts, molds, and mushrooms. The bread, wine, and beer yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is ten micrometers (about 1/2,500 of an inch) in diameter. Algae are photosynthetic organisms, unicellular or multicellular. Protozoa are microscopic, unicellular, and usually motile. Viruses are not cellular organisms; they are intracellular parasites of animals, plants, or bacteria. They are composed of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) enclosed in a protein coat. Viruses range from 18 to 450 nanometers (from less than one-millionth to almost 1/50,000 of an inch). Microorganisms, with the exception of viruses, can be observed with a compound light microscope (up to ,000 magnification). Electron microscopes (up to 100,000 magnification) are used to visualize viruses.

History of Microbiology Before Pasteur

Microorganisms were first visualized by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (16321723), a Dutch cloth merchant and an expert lens grinder. His simple microscopes magnified up to three hundred diameters. In the eighteenth century, many people still believed that living organisms could arise spontaneously from organic matterthe doctrine of abiogenesis, or spontaneous generation.

Lazzaro Spallanzani (17291799), an Italian priest and physiologist, did an experiment that came close to proving that life (in this case, microorganisms) does not arise spontaneously from nonliving matter. He sealed flasks containing broth and then boiled them. No spontaneous generation or growth occurred in the flasks; however, the debate continued, as proponents of the doctrine said that air was needed for spontaneous generation. Opponents of this doctrine had a very difficult task trying to prove a negative, namely that something did not happen.

The ancient Egyptians and Romans were comfortable with the idea that organisms invisible to the naked eye could cause disease. During the Dark Ages and the medieval period of Western history, this idea virtually disappeared. In the sixteenth century, Girolamo Fracastoro (14831553) described disease passing from one person to another by "germs." Athanasius Kircher (16021680) furthered the "germ theory" by observing bacteria from plague victims.

History from Pasteur Onward

Louis Pasteur (18221895) was an intellectual giant who dominated science in the middle of the nineteenth century. In 1861, in the midst of a twenty-year study of microbial fermentation, Pasteur dealt the deathblow to the doctrine of spontaneous generation by demonstrating the presence of microorganisms in the air and then by showing that sterile liquid in a swan-necked flask remained sterile. Air could enter such a flask, but microorganisms could not. In 1875, Ferdinand Cohn (18281898) published the first classification of bacteria, and used the genus name, Bacillus, for a spore-forming bacterium. In 1875, Robert Koch (18431910), a German bacteriologist, proved that a spore-forming bacterium, Bacillus anthracis, caused anthrax. His experiments demonstrated four principles, now known as Koch's postulates, which are still the hallmark of disease etiology: (1) the microorganism must be present in every diseased animal studied, but not be isolated from healthy animals; (2) the microorganism must be isolated from the animal and cultivated; (3) an animal inoculated with the microorganism must develop the disease; (4) the same microorganism must be isolated from the diseased animal inoculated with the microorganism. Working independently on anthrax, Pasteur and his colleagues confirmed Koch's findings. Koch introduced three practices that allowed bacteriologists to obtain pure cultures simply: (1) a semisolid medium composed of nutrients solidified with gelatin, (2) platinum needles sterilized in a flame to pick up bacteria, (3) streaking of bacteria onto a gelatin surface to obtain single cells that would grow into colonies. In 1881, Fanny Hesse, the wife of German bacteriologist, Walther Hesse, suggested using a seaweed extract, agar, which she used to thicken jam, to solidify media in petri plates. Agar had neither of the disadvantages of gelatin: it was rarely degraded by microorganisms and it stayed solid at temperatures above 28C (about 82F). Agar is still the solidifying agent of choice. In 1882, Koch used the pure-culture techniques to isolate the bacterium that causes tuberculosis. In 1884, Charles Chamberland, a collaborator of Pasteur's, developed a porcelain filter that would retain all bacteria. When, in 1892, a young Russian scientist, Dmitri Iwanowski, transmitted tobacco mosaic disease to healthy plants using a porcelain-filtered extract, he postulated the presence of a toxin. In 1898, the Dutch microbiologist, Martinus Beijerinck, reproduced Iwanowski's results, but he postulated the existence of very small infectious agents, "filterable viruses." Thus began the field of virology, although visualization of viruses had to wait until the development of the electron microscope in the 1930s. Medical bacteriology progressed rapidly at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, where Pasteur presided, and the Koch Institute in Berlin, where Koch presided.

History of Food Preservation Microbiology

In 1810, Nicolas Appert (17501841) applied Spallanzani's results to develop a system of preserving food by sealing it in airtight cans and heating the cans. Without understanding that the heat treatment, or "appertization," was killing microorganisms in the canned food, Appert established the basis for the modern practice of canning. In 1852, Napoleon III asked Pasteur to study the problem of "wine diseases," particularly wine souring. In 1886, Pasteur proclaimed that the off-flavors in wine were caused by contaminating microorganisms. He suggested heating (pasteurizing) the grape juice to kill the spoilage bacteria. He discovered that some microorganisms could grow in the absence of oxygen. He used the term "anaerobic" to apply to microbial metabolism that occurs only in the absence of oxygen, and "aerobic" for metabolism that occurs under normal atmospheric conditions. Fermentation of grape juice by yeast is one kind of anaerobic metabolism. He also described the anaerobic degradation of protein, or putrefaction, by bacteria. Aerobic bacteria, namely the acetic-acid bacteria, were the cause of wine souring. Some of these bacteria metabolize ethanol to acetic acid; others metabolize the acetic acid to carbon dioxide and water. The process of pasteurization, a mild heat treatment of liquids, originated as a means of preserving the desired flavor of milk, fruit juices, beer, and wine. For example, Pasteur recommended that heating bottled wine for a short time at 122F (50C) would kill the lactic-acid and acetic-acid bacteria that can spoil wine. In traditional pasteurization, liquids are heated at about 145F (63C) for thirty minutes, then held at 50F (10C). Nowadays, flash or high-temperature, short-time (HTST) pasteurization is the preferred method (about 162F [72C] for fifteen seconds, followed by rapid cooling to 50F [10C]) because it has less effect on the flavor of the food being heated. Currently, milk is pasteurized to eliminate the bacteria responsible for tuberculosis, food poisoning, undulant fever, and Q fever. The treatment does not result in sterilization of milk, which can contain twenty thousand bacteria, such as lactobacilli, per ml post-pasteurization. More common in Europe than other parts of the world, is ultrahigh temperature (UHT) treatment (300F[148.9C] for one to two seconds), which sterilizes milk, allowing it to be stored without refrigeration for more than the limit of two to three weeks for pasteurized milk. Many brewing companies pasteurize their bottled or canned beer at 140F (60C) for a few minutes. Pasteurization is infrequently used, however, in modern winemaking, as it adversely affects the flavor.

Cohn and John Tyndall (18291893) both demonstrated that the endospores of Bacillus subtilis cells were far more resistant to heating than were vegetative bacteria. Tyndall developed a method of sterilizing liquids that contained bacterial spores: a medium was first incubated to allow the spores to germinate, then heated to kill most of the bacteria. This process, later termed "tyndallization," was repeated several times. This was a very important development in food science since the bacteria that form endospores include the food-borne pathogens, Clostridium botulinum, C. perfringens and C. difficile. Today, canned food is subjected to a temperaturetime treatment that ensures the death of heat-resistant bacterial endospores, particularly those of C. botulinum.

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microbiology: Definition from Answers.com