The microbial symbiosis group at UW-Madison comprises over 20 laboratories, including those of four new faculty that were hired as part of the Symbiosis Cluster. This interdisciplinary, multidepartmental group brings together over 100 faculty and students from departments across the university. Monthly research presentations take place on the third Monday of each month, in which a host lab presents their work and leads discussion. Other periodic events for the group include small conferences and social gatherings. To get involved, contact a participating investigator, come to the next meeting, or e-mail Alicia Cramer-Carlson to get added to our e-mail listserv!   Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center UW-Madison The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center will conduct basic, genomics-based research to design the microbial and plant systems needed to realize the potential of biofuels. Combining innovative science, a critical mass of natural assets and the corporate horsepower to build and advance a new bioenergy economy, the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center will become a worldwide center of excellence for research and development of cellulosic ethanol and other bioenergy products. In support of this vision, GLBRC activities will be led by experts in plant biology, microbiology, molecular or cell biology, biochemistry, protein design, engineering, computer sciences, systems analysis, and ecology.

Recent Symbiosis Publications fromParticipating Laboratories Hinckley GT, Johnson CJ, Jacobson KH, Bartholomay C, McMahon KD, McKenzie D, Aiken JM, Pedersen JA. Persistence of pathogenic prion protein during simulated wastewater treatment processes. Environ Sci Technol. 2008 Jul 15;42(14):5254-9.   Chun CK, Troll JV, Koroleva I, Brown B, Manzella L, Snir E, Almabrazi H, Scheetz TE, Fatima Bonaldo M, Casavant TL, Soares MB, Ruby EG, and McFall-Ngai MJ Effects of colonization, luminescence, and autoinducer on host transcription during development of the squid-vibrio association. PNAS. 2008 Aug 12. Vol: 105. No:32. Pgs:11323-11328   Peterson SB, Warnecke F, Madejska J, McMahon KD, Hugenholtz P.Environmental distribution and population biology of Candidatus Accumulibacter, a primary agent of biological phosphorus removal. Environ Microbiol. 2008 Jul 17. [Epub ahead of print]]   Borlee BR, Geske GD, Robinson CJ, Blackwell HE, Handelsman J.Quorum-sensing signals in the microbial community of the cabbage white butterfly larval midgut. ISME J. 2008 Jul 24. [Epub ahead of print]   Jahn CE, Charkowski AO, Willis DK. Evaluation of isolation methods and RNA integrity for bacterial RNA quantitation. J Microbiol Methods. 2008 Jul 15. [Epub ahead of print]   Liang C, Read HW, Balser TC. Reliability of Muramic Acid as a Bacterial Biomarker is Influenced by Methodological Artifacts from Streptomycin. Microb Ecol. 2008 Jun 28. [Epub ahead of print]   Little AE, Currie CR. Black yeast symbionts compromise the efficiency of antibiotic defenses in fungus-growing ants. Current Microbiology. 2008 May;DOI 10.1007/s00284-008-9168-y   Little A, Robinson C, Peterson SB, Raffa KF, Handelsman J.Rules of Engagement: Interspecies Interactions that Regulate Microbial Communities. Ecology. 2008 May;89(5):1216-22.   Zarnowski R, Dobrzyn A, Ntambi JM, Woods JP. Ferrous, But Not Ferric, Iron Maintains Homeostasis in Histoplasma capsulatum Triacylglycerides. Annual Review of Microbiology. 2008. 62:375–401   Kent AD, Yannarell AC, Rusak JA, Triplett EW, McMahon KD. Synchrony in aquatic microbial community dynamics. ISME J. 2007 May;1(1):38-47   Charles E. Cowles and Heidi Goodrich-Blair The Xenorhabdus nematophila nilABC Genes Confer the Ability of Xenorhabdus spp. To Colonize Steinernema carpocapsae Nematodes J. Bacteriol. 2008 190: 4121-4128. Link to Cover Photo   Zarnowski R, Dobrzyn A, Ntambi JM, Woods JP. Ferrous, But Not Ferric, Iron Maintains Homeostasis in Histoplasma capsulatum Triacylglycerides. Curr Microbiol. 2008 May 28.   Yang S, Peng Q, Zhang Q, Yi X, Choi CJ, Reedy RM, Charkowski AO, Yang CH. Dynamic regulation of GacA in type III secretion, pectinase gene expression, pellicle formation, and pathogenicity of Dickeya dadantii (Erwinia chrysanthemi 3937). Mol Plant Microbe Interact. 2008 Jan;21(1):133-42.   Zhang MM, Poulsen M, Currie CR. Symbiont recognition of mutualistic bacteria by Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants. ISME J. 2007 Aug;1(4):313-20. Epub 2007 Jun 7.   Dyer DH, Wessely V, Forest KT, Lan Q. Three-dimensional structure/function analysis of SCP-2-like2 reveals differences among SCP-2 family members. J Lipid Res. 2008 Mar;49(3):644-53. Epub 2007 Dec 15.   Felnagle EA, Jackson EE, Chan YA, Podevels AM, Berti AD, McMahon MD, Thomas MG. Nonribosomal peptide synthetases involved in the production of medically relevant natural products. Mol Pharm. 2008 Mar-Apr;5(2):191-211.   Richards GR, Herbert EE, Park Y, Goodrich-Blair H. Xenorhabdus nematophila lrhA is necessary for motility, lipase activity, toxin expression, and virulence toward Manduca sexta insects. J Bacteriol. 2008 May 23.   Yap MN, Yang CH, Charkowski AO The Response regulator HrpY of Dickeya dadantii 3937 regulates virulence genes not linked to the hrp cluster. Mol Plant Microbe Interact. 2008 Mar;21(3):304-14.   Mandel MJ, Stabb EV, Ruby EG Comparative genomics-based investigation of resequencing targets in Vibrio fischeri: focus on point miscalls and artefactual expansions. BMC Genomics. 2008 Mar 25;9:138.   See more publications...

MDTP Student Seminar Wednesday : September 3rd : 1205pm : 1520 Microbial Sciences Building "Blastomyces dermatitidis Yeast Suppress Alveolar Macrophage NitricOxide Production" Speaker: Nicole Cooney, Professor Bruce Klein's Lab

Distinguished Lectures in Microbiology Thursday : September 4th : 330pm : 1520 Microbial Sciences Building "Motility, microtubules and membranes: Cellular design for pathogenicity in the African trypanosome" Speaker: Keith Gull, Oxford University

Contemporary Biochemistry Seminar Monday : September 8th : 330pm : Ebling Symposium Center, Microbial Sciences Building "Development of Cellulosic Biofuels" Speaker: Chris Somerville, UC-Berkeley

Distinguished Lectures in Microbiology Thursday : September 11th : 330pm : 1520 Microbial Sciences Building "Out of the lab and into the streets: Industrial microbiology for the production of anti-malarial drugs and advanced biofuels" Speaker - Jack Newman, Amyris Biotechnologies

2nd ASMConference on Beneficial Microbes: Beneficial Host-Microbial Interactions October 12 - 16, 2008, San Diego, California

Paper of Interest Turnbaugh, P.J. et al "The human Microbiome Project" Abstract - A strategy to understand the microbial components of the human genetic and metabolic landscape and how they contribute to normal physiology and predisposition to disease