What They Are Doing Now: Todd Smith (PhD 2009) Todd Smith (PhD, 2009) After studying the regulation of flagellar genes in Helicobacter pylori with Dr. Tim Hoover, Todd was awarded an American Society for Microbiology Post-doctoral Fellowship in Infectious Disease and Public Health Microbiology. This two-year fellowship must be carried out at one of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's national laboratories. Todd chose to work at the CDC in Atlanta with Dr. Charles Rupprecht in the Rabies Program as part of the Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology. Read more about What They Are Doing Now: Todd Smith (PhD 2009)
What They Are Doing Now: Michael Gatlin (PhD 2009) Michael Gatlin (Ph.D. 2009) Michael’s dissertation research with Dan Colley was on host immunogenetics in relationship to resistance to reinfection by schistosomes. His work followed up on 40 years of research by Dan on the immunology of schistosomiasis. As fate would have it, Michael’s postdoctoral research in Nancy Manley's lab at UGA on the developmental biology of the thymus was in the same area as Dan’s work 41 years ago, i.e. lymphocyte development in the thymus! Read more about What They Are Doing Now: Michael Gatlin (PhD 2009)
What They Are Doing Now: Laura E. Williams (PhD 2009) Laura E. Williams (PhD 2009). After finishing her PhD with Dr. Anne Summers, Laura started her postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Jennifer Wernegreen's Laboratory (originally located at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., but since moved to the Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, Duke University, Durham, N.C.). Her research focuses on genome evolution in Blochmannia, which are bacterial endosymbionts of carpenter ants. Read more about What They Are Doing Now: Laura E. Williams (PhD 2009)
Juergen Wiegel Emeritus Professor of Microbiology Education Year Degree Institution: 1960 Horticulture certificate Landwirtschaftskammer Hannover, Germany 1968 Vordiplom in Chemistry (B.S.) Univ. of Göttingen, Germany 1969 Diplom in (Organic) Chemistry) (M.S.) Dept. of Organic Chemistry, Univ. Göttingen 1973 Dr. rer. nat. (Microbiology) (Ph.D.) Dept. of Microbiology, Univ. Göttingen 1983 Dr. habil. (Dr. Sc.) (venia legendi for Microbiology) Fachbereich Biologie, Univ. of Göttingen TITLE OF MASTER'S THESIS: "Chemical synthesis of deoxyribonucleotides and deoxyribooligonucleotides with repeating dinucleotide sequence" (engl. transl.). TITLE OF DOCTORAL THESIS: "a-Isopropylmalate synthase from Hydrogenomonas eutropha H16" (engl. transl.). TITLE OF THESIS FOR VENIA LEGENDI IN MICROBIOLOGY: "Isolation and characterization of new thermophilic anaerobic bacteria and their potential for biotechnological processes. (engl. transl.). POSITIONS HELD: 1960-1961 Horticulturist, Gärtnerei Ev. Johannesstift, Berlin-Spandau, Germany. 1969-1973 Diplom-Chemist, Institute for Microbiology (Göttingen) of the "Gesellschaft für Strahlen-und Umweltforschung, München" (Research Inst. for Radiation and Environment) and Univ. Göttingen. 1973-1984 (From 1977 until 1979 and 1982-1984 on the basis of leave of absence). Microbiologist and Diplom-chemist, Inst. for Microbiology, in Göttingen, Germany. 1977-1979 Research Associate, Dept. Biochemistry, Univ. of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA. Postdoctoral advisors: Prof. Dr. Lars G. Ljungdahl & Prof. Dr. Harry Peck 1982-1985 Visiting Associate Professor, Dept. of Microbiology, Univ. of Georgia, USA 1985-1990 Associate Professor, Dept. of Microbiology, Univ. of Georgia 1982-2010 Member of Center for Biological Resource Recovery, Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA Since 1983 Member of the Institute of Ecology, Univ. of Georgia, Athens GA, USA Since 1989 Adjunct Professor of Department of Biochemistry, and Member of Center for Studies of Metalloproteins, Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA USA Since 1990 Professor, Department of Microbiology 1997-2001 Graduate Coordinator, Department of Microbiology Since 2002 Member of UGA Faculty of Engineering 2005 -2010 University of Georgia Institute of Bioinformatics (IOB); Associate member. 2006-2010 UGA-Academy of the Environment, Member 2008- Emeritus Distinguished Research Professor in Microbiology HONORS: 1) Fulbright travel grant to Kristjanson, Reikjavik Iceland, 1992 2) Included into Who's Who in Science, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World , Who’s Who in American Education in various years 3) Member of American Academy of Microbiology (elected Fellow 1995) 4) Recognized through Thermoanaerobacterium wiegelii (IJSB46::123-127 (1996) 5) P.R. Edward Award for Outstanding Service and Accomplishments in Microbiology Southeastern Branch of American Society for Microbiology, 1997. 6) American Academy of Sciences-(elected Fellow 2007) 7) UGA Freshman Seminar Teaching Award 2007 8) Bergey’s Medal 2007 Award 9) 2008 UGA-Distinguished Research Professor in Microbiology 10) 2013 Recognized through Bacillus wiegelii Studied subjects AEROBIC– MESOPHILES Leucine Biosyntheis in Knallgas bacteria; Xanthobacter, a chemithoautotrophic microaerophilic associative N2-fixer ANAEROBIC MESOPHILES: Chlorophenol & PCB Dehalogenation Hydroxybenzoate decarboxylation/phenol carboxylation Isolation & Description of novel taxa ANAEROBIC – (EXTREME)THERMOPHILES Isolation & Description of various novel taxa Ethanol Formation by anaerobic thermophiles Acetogenic Bacteria and production of Ca-Mg-Acetate as environmental safe deicer FeIII-dissimilatory Bacteria Alkalithermophiles with doubling times of 10 minutes Cellulose and Hemicellulose degradation Alkaline thermophilic Lipases Development of a rudimentary genetic system for thermophilic anaerobes ANAEROBIC POLYEXTREMOPHILES: Halophilic-alkalithermophiles AEROBIC andPOLYEXTREMOPHILES Isolation / characterization of various hydrolytic enzymes for industrial use Total publications: 241 plus 3 patents. (Partial available at ResearchGate) Detailed c.v. and complete list of publications and names of former lab members are available on request from juergenwiegel@gmail.com Read more about Juergen Wiegel
Vincent J. Starai Associate Professor By employing a powerful in vivo and in vitro model system of eukaryotic membrane fusion, my laboratory will investigate the biochemistry of eukaryotic membrane fusion, identify and biochemically characterize bacterial effectors capable of modulating membrane fusion, and finally analyze these activities within the context of pathogenesis. Education: Ph.D. in Microbiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2004) Postdoctoral Researcher in Biochemistry, Dartmouth Medical School (2009) Research Research Areas: Microbe-Host Interactions Molecular Microbiology Labs (via personnel): Vincent J. Starai Labs: Starai Read more about Vincent J. Starai
Anne O. Summers Professor We have long studied bacterial plasmid-encoded resistance to inorganic and organic mercury compounds (the mer locus) as a model for (a) gene regulation by toxic metals, (b) microbial detoxification ofenvironmental hazards, and (c) the influence of toxic metals on the commensal microbiota of vertebrates. Research Research Areas: Bioinformatics and -omics/Computational Biology Microbe-Host Interactions Microbial Ecology Molecular Microbiology Labs (via personnel): Anne O. Summers Labs: Summers Read more about Anne O. Summers
Lawrence J. Shimkets Emeritus Professor of Microbiology We study two contact-dependent cell-cell signaling systems with Myxococcus xanthus. Research Labs (via personnel): Lawrence J. Shimkets Read more about Lawrence J. Shimkets
Mark A. Schell Emeritus Professor of Microbiology We focus on uncharacterized niche colonization genes in plant and animal pathogens in the Burkholderia group and in lactic acid bacteria inhabiting the human digestive tract. Read more about Mark A. Schell
Ellen L. Neidle Professor We use the easy genetic system of a soil bacterium, Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1, to study diverse aspects of gene expression and chromosomal rearrangements. This research has implications for medical issues (gene amplification), environmental issues (bioremediation), biotechnology/bioenergy (conversion of lignin to biofuels), and evolution (new methods for experimental evolution). Education: Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University B.S. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University Research Research Areas: Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Bioinformatics and -omics/Computational Biology Microbial Physiology Molecular Microbiology Labs (via personnel): Ellen L. Neidle Labs: Neidle Selected Publications Selected Publications: Elliott, K.T., Cuff, L.E., and Neidle, E.L. (2013) Copy number change: evolving views on gene amplification. Future Microbiology 8:887-899. Alanazi, A.M., Neidle, E.L., and Momany, C. (2013) The DNA-binding domain of BenM reveals the structural basis for the recognition of a T-N11-A sequence motif by LysR-type transcriptional regulators. Acta Crystallographica Section D-Biological Crystallography 69:1995-2007. Seaton, S.C., Elliott, K.T., Cuff, L.E., Laniohan, N.S., Patel, P.R., and Neidle, E.L. (2012) Genome-wide selection for increased copy number in Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1: locus and context-dependent variation in gene amplification. Molecular Microbiology 83:520-535. Read more about Ellen L. Neidle
