Newsletter: May 2007

In This Issue:

A Message from the Director

Focus on Research

Service Laboratory Update

Center News

Education and Training News

Seminars

Intermountain Systems Biology Symposium

CIB Seed Grants

International Collaborations

Archive Newsletter

A note from the Editors

This newsletter is produced by the Education Office of the Center for Integrated BioSystems. Complimentary hard copies are available by contacting the Education Office at 435-797-3504 or by email to krashid@cc.usu.edu

Editorial Board:
Kamal Rashid, Bart Weimer, Ken White, Pam Garcia, Ken Olsen

A Message from the Director

We are excited to partner with INRA in co-hosting the Intermountain Systems Biology Symposium June 5-7, 2007. The speaker lineup is centered on plants, animals and microbes with speakers from around the country. A student poster competition is being held with large cash prizes going to the winners. We look forward to seeing you there!

A focus for the Center for Integrated BioSystems (CIB) is to broadly build capacity for life scientists at USU. One goal is to provide a conduit to stimulate larger proposal submissions to enhance the vibrant USU research community. To this end, we initiated a brown-bag discussion group focused on the Great Salt Lake. Also with this in mind, we partnered with ADVS to present a seminar series during the spring semester. Both have been a great success. We invite you or your department to partner with us for a seminar series or to initiate new discussion groups.


	Bart Weimer Director & Professor Center for Integrated BioSystems Utah State University Logan, Utah

This year has started with a few changes at the Center. We have filled the vacant grant specialist position, initiated new services, expanded the training program and have welcomed new residents into the Biotechnology Building. Our core service facilities have been upgraded to offer new and improved equipment and services in genomics and proteomics. These include 16S identification and a cutting edge protein expression service. Our education and training programs increased offerings to Thailand, Singapore, and the Dominican Republic. The research program expanded collaborations in China with the formalization of a Joint Center for Integrated BioSystems at Xiamen University. We welcome your participation in these activities.

Last year the Eccles Foundation provided funding to the CIB for initiation of an Advanced Biotechnology Summer Academy, which hosted 10 high school students by invitation. Again, we will offer the Seventh Annual High School Biotechnology Summer Academy in July. We thank those faculty mentors from previous years and look forward to additional interactions and collaboration with the biotechnology community to host these students once again.

Focus on Research

Metagenomics in the Great Salt Lake

Metagenomics is a relatively new approach to provide a snapshot of the genomic diversity in complex environments. Large-scale shotgun sequencing is done at a high coverage so that a substantial portion of the diversity is sampled. This effort is providing new evidence for organisms that have never been cultured in the laboratory. This, coupled with traditional identification methods, will provide a new level of information about uncultured populations in the environment. A number of groups at USU are interested in coupling large-scale diversity with genetic evidence. One such application is to provide insight into the large diversity that impacts the production of crops and animals in regions that are largely affected by drought and salt stress. The industrial sites located around the lake (salt harvesting, oil refineries, etc.) and hot springs that flow into waterways will change the ecology and the water quality
for agricultural needs. A small project is underway to determine the ecology of the Great Salt Lake and the extensive hot springs in the context of metabolic abilities for unique organisms and metabolism for their impact on agriculture in Utah. If you are interested in participating, please join the GSL brown-bag group. The Great Salt Lake brown bag discussion group meets the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 12:30 in BTC 103 (CIB conference room). Invited speakers from USU and the state are organized to initiate the discussions. If you have suggestions for speakers please contact Pam Garcia at pamk@cc.usu.edu.

Service Laboratory Up-Dates

The Genomics Core Lab is offering a new service for 16S identification starting May, 2007. The service is available for 500 bp or full length PCR products from microbial or fungal species. The resulting DNA sequence is analyzed and compared to a library of 16S bacterial gene sequences using MicroSeq ID analysis software. For more information on these and other genomics services please contact Ninglin Yin, CIB Genomics Group Leader at usudna@cc.usu.edu or 797-8218.

The Proteomics Core Lab is offering a new Protein Expression service beginning June 1, 2007. This service allows replacement of 2D gels. Thanks to the many faculty who have provided samples to initiate the development of this service. For more information about this new service and other proteomic services please contact Dong Chen, CIB Proteomics Group Leader at dongc@cc.usu.edu or 760-3766.

Education and Training Program Updates

Biotechnology Summer Academy

The Seventh Annual High School Biotechnology Summer Academy and the Second Annual Advanced Biotechnology Summer Academy are scheduled for the week of July 9-13, 2007. The high school students who participate in these programs have rewarding experiences in science and mentoring. This program consistently recruits highly qualified students to USU. If you are interested in hosting a student, please contact Kamal Rashid at krashid@cc.usu.edu or 797-2739.

Up-coming Biotechnology Training Courses at CIB:

Microbial Fermentation: Development and Scale-up, May 15-18, 2007

Protein Purification: Isolation and Characterization, June 19-22, 2007

Gene Expression and Microarray Analysis, July 31-August 3, 2007

Bioinformatics, August 14-16, 2007

For more details about the training programs please check our web site: http://www.biosystems.usu.edu/education/.

International Biotechnology Training Programs

Thailand Training Program: December 1-3, 2006 Mahidol University, Bangkok

Strategies for Stem Cell Research and Nuclear Transfer Techniques

Seventy two professionals from academic and industrial sectors attended a three-day training

course conducted at the Mahidol University, Salaya Campus. The program provided full

coverage of animal cell culture, stem cell research, and cloning and nuclear transfer. USU

faculty members Ken White, Kamal Rashid and Lee Rickords conducted the program in

collaboration with faculty members from The Institute of Science and Technology. Feedback

evaluations indicated that the program was a success and there will be more training courses

offered in Thailand in coming years.

Singapore Training Program: March 20-23, 2007 Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore

Scale-Up Strategies for Mammalian and Microbial Bioprocessing: A Hands-on Approach.


		Seventeen professionals from Singapore, India, Vietnam and Thailand attended the training course. The program covered basic animal and microbial cell culture, scale-up of animal and microbial cultures utilizing bench-scale bioreactors and fermentors, and downstream processing of biotechnology products derived from cells in culture. Our industrial partners included Dr. Julia Cino from New Brunswick Scientific and Dr. Peter Moore from GE Healthcare. The 2007 program is the third training course offered by CIB in Singapore. Two other successful programs in cell culture were offered in 2004 and 2005. Collaboration is in progress for offering more such hands-on training courses in the future.

Undergraduate Student Support Programs

Research Internships & Research Fellowships

The Center offers undergraduate research fellowships and internships to students who are actively pursuing life science or agricultural degrees at USU. These programs are crafted to be relevant to the students’ stated goals within the research activities of the Center. For more information, contact Dr. Afifa Sabir, program coordinator at afifa@cc.usu.edu.

Intermountain Systems Biology Symposium

The Center for Integrated BioSystems, in collaboration with the Inland Northwest Research Alliance (INRA), is pleased to present the First Annual Intermountain Systems Biology Symposium. The Symposium will center on recent developments in animal, plant, and microbial systems biology. Presentations and discussions will focus on utilization of functional genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and bioinformatics.

The Symposium will be held June 5-7, 2007 at Eccles Conference Center, Utah State University. For more information or to register online, please visit the Symposium website at: http://institute.inra.org or contact the INRA office at (208) 524-4800, or the CIB Education Office at 797-3504.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
We are accepting abstracts for research posters from university students who wish to participate in a judged competition. The top three poster winners will receive cash awards totaling $1750. We also encourage non-students to provide poster abstracts, although only students will be eligible to participate in the judged competition.

Poster abstracts may be submitted via email to symposium@inra.org.
All abstracts will be evaluated for scientific merit. The abstract deadline is Friday, May 14, 2007. Please visit the Symposium website for the abstract submission format. You will be notified as to your abstract’s acceptance within one week of your abstract submission. Abstracts should be focused on utilization of functional genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, or bioinformatics data relating to microbial, plant or animal genomics.

Featured Speakers and Presentations:

Keynote Speaker:
Ted McAleer, USTAR: A Catalyst for Life Science Research, Innovation and Commercialization in Utah

Plenary Speakers:
Jian-kang Zhu, University of California Riverside, A Small RNA-Mediated Regulatory Circuit for Plant Salt Tolerance
Milton Saier, UCSD, Dual Function of a Repressor Protein in Controlling both Gene Expression and Mutation Rate
Mark Westhusin, Texas A & M University, RNA Interference: A New Method to Study Functional Genomics in Livestock

Session Speakers:
Greg May, National Center for Genome Resources, Legume Information Network: A Component of the Virtual Plant Information Network
Keith Mott, Utah State University, Stomata Responses to Humidity: Cutting the Gordian Knot
Kenneth Birnbaum, NYU, Cellular Response to the Environment: The Dynamics of Cell-Specific Networks in Arabidopsis
Andrew Benson, University of Nebraska, Rapid Genome Evolution in Bacterial Pathogens: How E. coli 0157:H7 Tests for Successful Allele Combinations of Virulence Gene Regulators
Gary Anderson, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Effect of Local and Long-Range Reservoirs on Microbial Composition in the Atmosphere
Bart Weimer, Utah State University, Nutrient Starvation and Nonculturability in Bacteria
James MacLeod, University of Kentucky, Applying Genomic Strategies to Equine Orthopedic Research
Hanjian (John) Lu, University of Auburn, Aquaculture Genomics: Are the Waves of the Genomics Revolution Moving Anything Under the Water?
Chris Davies, Washington State University, Immunological Negotiations at the Bovine Maternal-Fetal Interface

CIB Seed Grants:

The seed grant program is intended to enable three or more collaborating USU investigators in genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics or a related field. External evaluation of the proposals is underway.

Spring 2007 Seminars

Spring Seminars Date	Location	Speaker	Affiliation	Institution
Thursday, January 11, 2007	LIB 154	Dr. Kent Reed, Associate Professor	Veterinary & Biomedical Sciences	University of Minnesota
Thursday, January 18, 2007	LIB 154	Dr. Bart Weimer, Director	Center for Integrated BioSystems	Utah State University
Thursday, January 25, 2007	LIB 154	Dr. Ken White, Associate Director / Research	Center for Integrated BioSystems	Utah State University
Thursday, February 22, 2007	LIB 154	Dr. Alejandro Sanchez, Professor	Neurobiology and Anatomy	University of Utah SOM
Thursday, March 1, 2007	LIB 154	Dr. Randall S. Prather, Curators’ Professor	Division of Animal Science	University of Missouri – Columbia
Thursday, March 8, 2007	LIB 154	Dr. Dean Betts, Associate Professor	Biomedical Sciences	University of Guelph
Thursday, March 22, 2007	LIB 154	Dr. Soonjo Kwon, Assistant Professor	Department of Biological Engineering	Utah State University
Thursday, March 29, 2007	LIB 154	Dr. Quinton Winger, Assistant Professor	Animal, Dairy, & Veterinary Science Department	Utah State University
Monday, April 2, 2007	CIB 103	Dr. Keith Baggerly, Associate Professor	Bioinformatics and Computational Biology	The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Thursday, April 5, 2007	LIB 154	Dr. Daniel Cosgrove, Eberly Professor of Biology	Biology Department	Penn State University
Thursday, April 12, 2007	CIB 103	Dr. Jeremy Taylor, Professor and Wurdack Chair in Animal Genomics	Animal Genomics	University of Missouri
Thursday, April 19, 2007	LIB 154	Dr. Roger Coulombe, Professor	Animal, Dairy, & Veterinary Science Department	Utah State University
Thursday, April 26, 2007	LIB 154	Dr. Robert Rhoads, Jr., Assistant Professor	Animal Sciences	University of Arizona

Center News


		The Center for Integrated BioSystems is pleased to announce the addition of Carol Achziger to our staff as Grants Specialist and Business & Grants Office Leader. Carol brings to the office 14 years of experience, including developing concepts into fundable ventures, implementing community-based projects, developing solid partnerships to implement and sustain programs, and using evaluative data to improve programs and services.

Carol can be reached at 760-4792 or Carol.Achziger@usu.edu. Better yet, stop by her office (BTC 207) to welcome her.

We look forward to working with Carol and to continued collaboration with the USU life sciences community as we work together to seek and manage granting opportunities that will enhance research capacity at USU.

International Collaborations

Dominican Republic
Efforts are underway to build upon the collaborative effort started in 2005/2006. Five biotechnology graduate students will be admitted to USU in a collaborative program involving the Office of the Vice Provost for International Programs, the CIB and academic departments. Additionally, five training courses will be developed by the CIB Education Office to be conducted in the Dominican Republic (DR) between October 2007 and October 2008. The specific areas for each training course will be determined by teams from USU, the CIB, and DR.

China
Last year, President Albrecht signed institutional agreements for USU on behalf of the CIB with Xiamen University and Northwest Forestry & Agriculture University. Since then we have partnered with scientists to obtain research funding for student exchanges to study drought stress in alfalfa (Yajun Wu is the host) and genetic diversity (Steve Larsen is the host). Other funding from China was obtained to study parasite infections and natural product discovery. We welcome additional topics and faculty to become involved in these collaborations. Please contact Bart Weimer bcweimer@cc.usu.edu if you are interested.

Archive Newsletter

Volume 1