2006

June 23-25, Minnowbrook Lodge, Blue Mountain Lake, NY

PHOTO GALLERIES

    - NEMPET LECTURE and POSTER SESSION A

    - SATURDAY LECTURES

    - MICROBE WALK

    - POSTER SESSION B and SUNDAY LECTURES

This Year's Schedule: 

Friday 23 June

5:00p.m.   The NEMPET Lecture

 "Bdellovibrio: The Littlest Predator"

A Model for Prokaryotic Predation

Prof. John Tudor

St. Joseph’s University

6:00 p.m.         DINNER        

7:30 – 9:00 p.m.          POSTER SESSION A                                   SOCIAL: Following

Saturday 24 June

7:30 a.m.         BREAKFAST

8:15                 Methanogens in Peatlands: No Time to Wallow in the Mire

                        Steven Zinder – Cornell University

9:15                 The Physiological Role of Pyridine-2,6-Dithiocarboxylic Acid (PDTC) in Carbon Tetrachloride-Degrading Strains of Pseudomonas spp.

                        Lynne Leach – University of Vermont

9:45                 Transcriptional Regulation of the pdt Cluster Involves the AraC/XylS Type Transcriptional Regulator and the Cognate Siderophore Pyridine-2,6-Dithiocarboxylic Acid (PDTC)

                        Sergio Morales – University of Vermont

10:15               Interval

10:30               The Acid Stress Response of the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803

                        Mary Allen – Wellesley College

11:00               Hidden in Plain Sight: Using Macroscopic Field Marks to Identify Bacteria.

                        Betsey Dexter-Dyer – Wheaton College

12:00              Soil Microbial Communities Involved in the Nitrogen Cycle at the Aggregate Scale

                        Javier Izquierdo – UMass Amherst

12:30               LUNCH

1:45 p.m.         Microbial Field-Trip (Optional)

- A nature walk around Minnowbrook focusing on microbial habitats and field marks.  Led by Betsey Dexter-Dyer and Doug Eveleigh.

5:00 p.m.        NSF Funding Opportunities for Microbiologists

Matt Kane– Program Director, Div. of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, N.S.F.

6:00 p.m.         DINNER

7:30 – 9:00 p.m.          POSTER SESSION B                                                SOCIAL: following

Sunday 25 June

7:30 a.m.         BREAKFAST

8:15 a.m.         Phosphate Control of Biofilm Formation

                        George O’Toole – Dartmouth Medical School

9:00                 Measurement of Mercury Stable Isotope Fractionation during Reduction of Hg(II) to Hg(0)

                        Kritee – Rutgers University

9:30                 A Simple Soil Assay to Demonstrate Enzyme Regulation

                        Craig Phelps – Rutgers University

9:45                 Biofilms and Predatory Prokaryotes

                        Daniel Kadouri – Dartmouth Medical School

10:10               Interval

10:25               Anaerobic Dehalogenation: Sponging Up Superfund Sites

Max Häggblom – Rutgers University

11:10               Extracellular Protease Production in the Fish Pathogen Flavobacterium columnare

                        Andrew Staroscik – University of Rhode Island

11:40               Motility and Adhesion in the Photorhabdus/Heterorhabditid Symbiosis

                        Erik Janicki – University of New Hampshire

12:05               NEMPET business meeting

12:30               LUNCH; DEPARTURE

POSTER SESSION A:                                                                                 Friday, 7:30 – 9:00 pm

Interactions of Chemosynthetic Bacteria with Mercury at a Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent

    M. Crespo-Medina, N. Bloom, A. Chatziefthimiou, J. Reinfelder, C. Vetriani and Tamar Barkay – Rutgers University

The Design, Optimization and Testing of a Horizontal Gene Transfer Microarray: Detection of a Genomic Linkage between Metal Resistance and inc/rep Genes on Broad Host Range Plasmids

    Aspa Chatziefthimiou, Jonna Coombs and Tamar Barkay – Rutgers University

Mercury Enhances the Frequency of Antibiotic Resistance Gene Transfer in Aeromonas salmonicida

    E.M. Parry, M.M. Meredith, J.A. Guay, K.A. Mukerjee, G.R. Danner and F.A. Fekete – Colby College

Implication of Mercury in the Indirect Selection of Antibiotic Resistance among Gastrointestinal Flora of Feral Brook Trout, Salvelinus fontinalis

    M.M. Meredith, E.M. Parry, J.A. Guay, V.H. Work, G.R. Danner, T. Barkay and F.A. Fekete – Colby College and Rutgers University

The Acid Stress Response of Enterobacter sakazakii

    Mary E. Heberger and Tracey Householder – SUNY Brockport

Antibiotic Resistance Screening with an Inducible Tn7 Transposon System in Bacillus subtilis

    Anna-Barbara Kleijn, Christophe Bordi and John D. Helmann – Cornell University

Growth Inhibition of the Deep-Sea Bacterium 9NA by Exposure to Elevated Levels of Carbon Dioxide

    Michael Labare – United States Military Academy

Identification and Characterization of rtx Operon in Vibrio anguillarum M93Sm

    Ling Li, and David R. Nelson – University of Rhode Island

Temporal Changes in the Expression of Genes Involved in Internal Offspring Production in Epulopiscium Type B

    David Allen Miller and Esther Angert – Cornell University

The Alternative Sigma Factor, rpoS, Regulates Chitobiose Utilization in Borrelia burgdorferi

    Ryan Rhodes, Wendy Coy and David R. Nelson – University of Rhode Island

Degradation of DEET by Pseudomonas putida Strain DTB

    Giomar Rivera-Cancel, Daniela Bocioaga and Anthony Hay – Cornell University

Microbial Fuel Cells as a Measure of Biochemical Oxygen Demand in Waste Water: Flow or No?

    Annette Rowe, Po-Hsun Lee and Ruth Richardson – Cornell University

POSTER SESSION B:                                                                                 Saturday, 7:30 – 9:00 pm

Nasal Carriage of Staphylococcus aureus in a Population of College Students

    Anita Brock and David Hunnicutt – Penn State: Erie

Isolation and Characterization of Genes Essential to Predation in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus

    Lori Cory Catherine Timby and John Tudor – Saint Joseph’s University

The Inhibition of S. aureus from Ascorbic Acid Treated Soft Contact Lenses

    Anna Yeung-Cheung, Tiffany Dwileski and Maria Fetta – Manhattanville College

Increase in Amino Acid Decarboxylase Activity as an Acid Stress Response of Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6308

    Monica Fung, Caitlin Pesout and Mary Allen – Wellesley College

Bacterial Populations of Passerine Bird Nests

    Sara Hester, Margaret A. Voss and David Hunnicutt – Penn State: Erie

Characterization of Lead, Chromium, and Antibiotic Resistance in 17 Bacterial Strains Isolated from Heavy Metal Contaminated Soil: Effects of Heavy Metal Interaction, Media Composition and pH

    Anne Madden, Maria Banica and Mary Allen – Wellesley College

Use of ³¹P and ²³Na NMR Spectroscopy to Characterize pH Homeostasis in Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803

    Michelle Nguyen, Erin Bowers, Nancy H. Kolodny and Mary Allen – Wellesley College

Heme Regulation of Slo BK Channels

    Matthew Pace, Jason Burrows and Mark Reynolds – St. Joseph’s University

The Oxygen Sensing Mechanism of FixL from Sinorhizobium meliloti

    Joseph Patterson, Matthew Weaver and Mark Reynolds – St. Joseph’s University

Community Metabolic Profiles and Enhancement of Mercury Volatilization in Bacterial Isolates from Mercury-Contaminated Soil

    Wendi Ratajczak and Ruth A. Gyure – Western Connecticut State University

Analysis of the Aerobic and Anaerobic Microbial Transformations of Tetrabromobisphenol-A

    K. W. George, R. M. Schnaidt, M. M. Häggblom – Rutgers University

The Characterization of Predation-Deficient Mutants Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus 109J

    Gavin Villacorta, Catherine Timby and John Tudor – Saint Joseph’s University

The Metal Responsive Regulator CopR Controls the Cation Transporting ATPase CopA in Sulfolobus solfataricus in the Presence of Copper

    Yekaterina Voskoboynik, Aramis Villafane and Elisabetta Bini – Rutgers University

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Attendees:

Name                                                Institution