"Genetic and transcriptomic insights into dissimilatory antimonate reduction by an obligately anaerobic bacterium". Christopher Abin Microbiology Dr. James T. Hollibaugh, Lab Monday, April 16, 2018 - 12:30pm Biological Sciences, 404A Special Information: Dr. James T. Hollibaugh, Lab Type of Event: Student Seminars Abstract or other information: Abin, Chris. Abstract.pdf (129.83 KB) Read more about "Genetic and transcriptomic insights into dissimilatory antimonate reduction by an obligately anaerobic bacterium".
Inspiring high school students to connect curriculum concepts with research applications On February 23rd, 2018, Microbiology graduate students and laboratory personnel provided lab tours and research demonstrations for AP Biology and AP Chemistry students from Heritage High School in Rockdale County, which encouraged students to make connections between their coursework and current research in the microbial sciences. Microbiology graduate students Rachel Burkhardt, Lauren Essler, Jennifer Kurasz, Bowen Meng, Coralis Rodriguez-Garcia, Morgan Teachey, and Tao Wang, and lab assistants Lauren Slarks and Obi Okafor, talked with the high school students about Read more about Inspiring high school students to connect curriculum concepts with research applications
David Garfinkel Adjunct Professor Education: 1975, B.S., Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison 1981, Ph.D., Microbiology, University of Washington Research Research Areas: Molecular Microbiology Read more about David Garfinkel
William B. Whitman Emeritus Professor of Microbiology William “Barny” Whitman received his PhD in 1978 from The University of Texas at Austin with Bob Tabita studying the enzyme RuBisCO from Rhodospirillum rubrum. He continued his research on autotrophic prokaryotes during his postdoctoral studies with Ralph Wolfe at the University of Illinois at Urbana. He joined the Department of Microbiology at the University of Georgia in 1982 where his laboratory studies free-living prokaryotes of environmental importance. His research attempts to understand the physiological, molecular biological and biochemical basis for the ecology and systematics of prokaryotes. This integrated approach has been applied to the methane-producing archaeon Methanococcus, the marine roseobacteria, and soil bacteria. Since 2006, he has served as Director of the Editorial Office for Bergeys Manual Trust and has worked on the 2nd edition of Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, volumes 3-5, and the new online journal Bergey’s Manual on Systematics of Archaea and Bacteria. One goal of this work is to reconcile the taxonomy with the phylogeny and understand the biological basis for the prokaryotic groups Education: BS, 1973, Dept Biological Sciences, State Univ of New York at Stony Brook PhD, 1978, Dept Microbiology, Univ of Texas at Austin. Advisor: F. Robert Tabita Postdoctorate, 1978-1982, Dept Microbiology, Univ of Illinois, Advisor: Ralph S. Wolfe Research Research Areas: Bioinformatics and -omics/Computational Biology Microbial Ecology Microbial Physiology Molecular Microbiology Research Interests: Prokaryotes are the dominant form of life on earth, representing an enormous biomass and number of individual cells. They are so diverse that it is misleading to give them a common name. In one way, they are really just what are left after the familiar plants, animals, fungi and protists are named. Nevertheless, they are the engines that make the biosphere and the ancestors to all modern life. Their evolution established the central plan for the living cell and shaped the biogeochemistry of the planet. Research in our laboratory uses an integrated approach to understand the nature of free-living prokaryotes. We believe that studying the ecology, systematics, physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology together provides the best understanding for microorganisms. Likewise, the history or evolution of an organism provides insight into the modern organism. We have used these approaches to study the carbon and sulfur metabolism of the methane-producing archaeon Methanococcus, the sulfur metabolism of the marine alphaproteobacterium Ruegeria, and the impact of agriculture on soil bacterial communities. Labs (via personnel): William B. Whitman Labs: Whitman Selected Publications Selected Publications: Complete publication list is available here Recent Research Publications Bullock, H.A., C.R. Reisch, A. Burns, M.A. Moran, and W.B. Whitman. 2014. Regulatory and functional diversity of methylmercaptopropionate CoA ligases from the dimethylpropionate demethylation pathway in Ruegeria pomeroyi DSS-3 and other proteobacteria. J. Bacteriol.196:1275-1285. Lin, Y.-T., S.-L. Tang, C.-W. Pai, W.B. Whitman, D.C. Coleman, and C.-Y. Chiu. 2014. Changes in the soil bacterial communities in a cedar plantation invaded by moso bamboo.Microbiol. Ecol. 67: 421-429. Gutierrez, T., G. Rhodes, S. Mishamandani, D. Berry, W.B. Whitman, P.K. Nichols, K.T. Semple, and M.D. Aitken. 2014. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon degradation of phytoplankton-associated Arenibacter spp. and description of Arenibacter algicola Maitra, N., W.B. Whitman, S. Ayyampalayam, S. Samanta, K. Sarkar, C. Bandopadhyay, M. Aftabuddin, A.P. Sharma, and S.K. Manna. 2014. Draft genome sequence of the aquatic phosphorous-solubilizing and –mineralizing bacterium Bacillus sp. strain CPSM8. Genome Announcements 2: e01265-13. Gutierrez, T., D.H. Green, P.K. Nichols, W.B. Whitman, K.T. Semple, and M.D. Aitken. 2013. Polycyclovorans algicola Sarmiento, F., J. Mrazek, and W.B. Whitman. 2013. Genome scale analysis of gene function in the hydrogenotrophic methanogenic archaeon Methanococcus maripaludis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 110: 4727-4731.[ ] Tan, D., W.M. Crabb, W.B. Whitman, and L. Tong. 2013. Crystal structure of DmdD, a crotonase superfamily enzyme that catalyzes the hydration and hydrolysis of methylthioacryloyl-CoA. PLoS ONE 8: e63870. [ Williams, M.A., K. Jangid, S.G. Shanmugam, and W.B. Whitman. 2013.Bacterial communities in soil mimic patterns of vegetative succession and ecosystem climax but are resilent to change between seasons.Soil Biol. Biochem. 57: 749-757. [ Jangid, K., W.B. Whitman, L.M. Condron, B.L. Turner, and M.A. Williams. 2013. Progressive and retrogressive ecosystem development coincide with soil bacterial community change in a dune system under lowland temperate rainforest in New Zealand. Plant Soil. 367: 235-247. [ Jangid, K., W.B. Whitman, L.M. Condron, B.L. Turner, and M.A. Williams. 2013. Soil bacterial community succession during long-term ecosystem development. Mol. Ecol. 22: 3415-3424. [ Sarmiento, F., C.K. Ellison, and W.B. Whitman. 2013. Genetic confirmation of the role of sulfopyruvate decarboxylase in coenzyme M biosynthesis in Methanococcus maripaludis. Archaea 2013: ID185250. [ Reisch, C.R., W.M. Crabb, S.M. Gifford, Q. Teng, M.J. Stoudemeyer, M.A. Moran, and W.B. Whitman. 2013. Metabolism of dimethylsulfoniopropionate by Ruegeria pomeroyi DSS-3. Mol. Microbiol. 89: 774-791. [DOI: 10.1111/mmi.12314] Schuller, D.J., C.R. Reisch, M.A. Moran, W.B. Whitman, and W.N. Lanzilotta. 2012. Structures of dimethylsulfoniopropionate-dependent demethylase from the marine organism Pelegabacter ubique. Protein Sci. 21: 289-298. Gutierrez, T., P.D. Nichols, W.B. Whitman, and M.D. Aitken. 2012. Porticoccus hydrocarbonoclasticus sp. nov., an aromatic hydrocarbon-degrading bacterium identified in laboratory cultures of marine phytoplankton.Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 78: 628-637. Lin, Y.-T., W.B. Whitman, D.C. Coleman, and C.-Y. Chiu. 2012. Comparison of soil bacterial communities between coastal and inland forests in a subtropical area.Appl. Soil Ecol. 60: 49-55. Lie, T.J., K.C. Costa, B. Lupa, S. Korpole, W.B. Whitman, and J.A. Leigh. 2012. An essential anaplerotic role for the energy-conserving hydrogenase Eha in hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis.Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.: 109: 15473-15478. Liu, Y., X. Zhu, A. Nakamura, R. Orlando, D. Söll, and W.B. Whitman. 2012. Biosynthesis of 4-thiouridine in tRNA in the methanogenic archaeon Methanococcus maripaludis.J. Biol. Chem 287: 36683-36692. Gutierrez, T., D.H. Green, W.B. Whitman, P.K. Nichols, K.T. Semple, and M.D. Aitken. 2012. Algiphilus aromaticivorans gen. nov., sp nov., an aromatic hydrocarbon-degrading bacterium isolated from a culture of the marine dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedrum, and proposal of Algiphilaceae fam. nov. Inter. J. System. Evol. Microbiol. 62: 2743-2749. Lin, Y.-T., K. Jangid, W.B. Whitman, D.C. Coleman, and C.-Y. Chiu. 2011. Soil bacterial communities in native and regenerated perhumid montane forests. Appl. Soil Ecol. 47: 111-118. Lin, Y.-T., K. Jangid, W.B. Whitman, D.C. Coleman, and C.-Y. Chiu. 2011. Change in bacterial community structure in response to disturbance of natural hardwood and secondary coniferous forest soils in central Taiwan. Microbial Ecol. 61: 429-437. Lin, Y.-T, W.B. Whitman, D.C. Coleman, and C.-Y. Chiu. 2011. Molecular characterization of soil bacterial community in a perhumid, low mountain forest. Microbes and Environments 26: 325-331. Reisch, C.R., M.J. Stoudemayer, V.A. Varaljay, I.J. Amster, M.A. Moran, and W.B. Whitman. 2011. Novel pathway for assimilation of dimethylsulfoniopropionate widespread in marine bacteria. Nature 473: 208-211. Jangid, K., M.A. Williams, A.J. Franzluebbers, T.M. Schmidt, D.C. Coleman, and W.B. Whitman. 2011.Land-use history has a stronger impact on soil microbial community composition than aboveground vegetation and soil properties.Soil Biol. Biochem. 43: 2184-2193. Garcia, S.L., K. Jangid, W.B. Whitman, and K.C. Das. 2011. Transition of microbial communities during the adaption to anaerobic digestion of carrot waste. Bioresource Technology 102: 7249-7256. Chaerun, S.K., N.P.D. Pangesti, K. Toyota, and W.B. Whitman. 2011. Changes in microbial functional diversity and activity in paddy soils irrigated with industrial wastewaters in Bandung, West Java Province, Indonesia. Water Air and Soil Pollution 217: 491-502. Recent Reviews and Book Chapters Sutcliffe, I.C., M.E. Trujillo, W.B. Whitman, and M. Goodfellow. 2013. A call to action for the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes. Trends Microbiol. 21: 51-52. Ludwig, W., J. Euzéby, P. Schumann, H.J. Busse, M.E. Trujillo, P. Kämpfer, and W.B. Whitman. 2012. Road map of the Actinobacteria. In: M. Goodfellow, P. Kämpfer, H.J. Busse, M.E. Trujillo, K.-S. Suzuki, W. Ludwig, and W.B. Whitman (eds.). Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology 5, 2nd ed., Springer, New York, pp. 1-28. Moran, M.A., C.R. Reisch, R.P. Kiene, and W.B. Whitman (2012) Genomic insights in bacterial DMSP transformations. Ann. Rev. Marine Sci. 4: 523-542. Liu, Y., L.L. Beer, and W.B. Whitman (2012) Methanogenesis: a window into ancient sulfur metabolism. Trends in Microbiology 20: 251-258. Liu, Y., L.L. Beer, and W.B. Whitman. 2012. Sulfur metabolism in archaea reveals novel processes. Environ. Microbiol. 14: 2632-2644. Ludwig, W., J. Euzeby, and W.B. Whitman. 2011. Road Map of the Bacteroidetes, Spirochaetes, Tenericutes (Mollicutes), Acidobacteria, Fibrobacteres, Fusobacteria, Dictyoglomi, Gemmatimonadetes, Lentisphaerae, Verrucomicrobia, Chlamydiae, and Planctomycetes. In: N.R. Krieg, J.T. Staley, D.R. Brown, B.P. Hedlund, B.J. Paster, N.L. Ward, W. Ludwig, and W.B. Whitman (eds.). Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology 4, 2nd ed., Springer, New York, pp. 1-20. Sarmiento Boban, F., J.A. Leigh, and W.B. Whitman. 2011. Genetic systems for hydrogenotrophic methanogens. In. A.C. Rosenzweig and S.W. Ragsdale (eds.). Meth. Enzymol. 494, Elsevier, New York, pp. 43-73. Reisch, C.R., M.A. Moran, and W.B. Whitman. 2011. Bacterial catabolism of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP). Frontiers of Microbiology 2: article 172, doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2011.00172. Whitman, W.B. 2011. Intent of the nomenclatural Code and recommendations about naming new species based on genomic sequences. The Bulletin of BISMiS 2: 135-140. Whitman, W.B. 2011. What’s up with Bergey’s? Australia Microbiology 32: 62-63. Philippot, L., S.G.E. Andersson, T.J. Battin, J.I. Prosser, J.P. Schimel, W.B. Whitman, and S. Hallin. 2010. The ecological coherence of high bacterial taxonomic ranks. Nature Rev. Microbiol. 8: 1-7. Of note: Supervising Editor, Bergey’s Manual Trust, 2006-present Editor, Archaea, 2013-present K-Shuff K-shuff is a powerful computer program designed to identify spatial clustering in a given dataset based on the reduced second moment measure, or K-function. In essence, K-shuff can be adapted for comparing any data from two (or more) samples to understand their relationship with each other. As an example, we adapt this technique to compare 16S rRNA gene sequence libraries from different environmental samples by treating gene sequences as points in space with hundreds of dimensions. Download K-shuff. Click here to download the latest beta version of K-shuff for testing. NOTE: The current version of K-shuff was successfully tested with an input distance matrix of upto 4000 sequences on a Windows-PC with 2.8 GHz processor and 4 GB RAM. Under these conditions, the analysis was completed in less than 25 minutes including random permutations. Run times increase slightly if you have more comparisons, i.e., number of libraries within the same distance matrix size. Download WSCF-dataset. Click here to download the WSCF-dataset used in K-shuff. Download K-shuff User Manual: Click here to download the K-shuff user manual. If you wish to use K-shuff for your research, please contact Prof. William Whitman. Courses Regularly Taught: MIBO 4090/6090 MIBO 8160 MIBO 3000-3000L Read more about William B. Whitman
Daniel G. Colley Emeritus Professor of Microbiology Dan Colley is an immunoparasitologist with extensive public health experience, he recently directed the Schistosomiasis Consortium for Operational Research and Evaluation (SCORE), a 10-year operational research program to provide the schistosomiasis community with an evidence base for control and elimination of the disease. Dr. Colley was at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and the VA Medical Center in Nashville for 22 years, Director of the Division of Parasitic Diseases at the US CDC for 9 years, and Director of the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases at the University of Georgia (UGA) for 15 of his 19 years at UGA. He had long-term, highly productive multi-year research collaborations on the immunology of schistosomiasis in Brazil, Egypt, Kenya and St. Lucia. In Brazil he also worked on Chagas disease and in Egypt he also worked on trachoma. He has received numerous national and international awards and is a past-president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Dr. Colley has published ~ 300 papers or chapters, and has been fortunate to have had many outstanding students, post-docs, fellows on sabbatical, technicians and colleagues. After 50 years of “chasing schistosomes” Dr. Colley retired in July, 2020 and is currently Emeritus Professor of Microbiology at UGA. Education: Centre College of Kentucky, AB, 1964 Tulane University, PhD, 1968 Yale University School of Medicine, Post-doctoral Fellow, 1968-70 Research Labs (via personnel): Daniel G. Colley Selected Publications Selected Publications: Read more about Daniel G. Colley
Hypervirulent Campylobacter jejuni: impact on One Health Hypervirulent Campylobacter jejuni: Impact on One Health Qijing Zhang - Special Seminar in Distinguished One Health Lecture Series. Co-sponsored by UGA Dept of Microbiology and UGA Dept of Infectious Diseases. NOTE ATYPICAL TIME AND LOCATION Professor in Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, College of Veterinary Medicine Iowa State University Zhang Website Monday, April 23, 2018 - 3:00pm Rm PS 101 Robert C. Wilson Pharmacy Building Read more about Hypervirulent Campylobacter jejuni: impact on One Health
SEMINAR CANCELED AND WILL BE RESCHEDULED TO A LATER DATE. Ecological dynamics of wild microbiomes! Ashley Shade Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics Michigan State University Shade Website Thursday, April 19, 2018 - 11:00am 404D Biological Sciences Bldg Abstract or other information: Shade_Abstract.pdf (268.38 KB) Read more about SEMINAR CANCELED AND WILL BE RESCHEDULED TO A LATER DATE. Ecological dynamics of wild microbiomes!
No Seminar scheduled for April 12, 2018 Thursday, April 12, 2018 - 11:00am 404D Biological Sciences Bldg Read more about No Seminar scheduled for April 12, 2018
TLR2-dependent bystander activation of T cells drives persistent Lyme arthritis - Seminar hosted by MGSA (Microbiology Graduate Student Association) Janis Weis Department of Pathology University of Utah School of Medicine Janis Weis Website Thursday, April 5, 2018 - 11:00am 404D Biological Sciences Bldg Special Information: Hosted by MGSA (Microbiology Graduate Student Association) Hosted by MGSA (Microbiology Graduate Student Association) Read more about TLR2-dependent bystander activation of T cells drives persistent Lyme arthritis - Seminar hosted by MGSA (Microbiology Graduate Student Association)
The fatty acid kinase of Staphylococcus aureus controls virulence The fatty acid kinase of Staphylococcus aureus controls virulence Jeffrey Bose Department of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics & Immunology University of Kansas Medical Center Bose Website Thursday, March 29, 2018 - 11:00am 404D Biological Sciences Bldg Abstract or other information: Bose_Abstract.pdf (276.75 KB) Read more about The fatty acid kinase of Staphylococcus aureus controls virulence
