8th Annual Microbial Sciences Symposium

April 16, 2011 Radcliffe Gym

Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies

Harvard University Cambridge, MA

Microbial Sciences Initiative at Harvard

Introduction
Todays Symposium has been organized by the Microbial Sciences Initiative (MSI) at Harvard University. MSI is an interdisciplinary science program aimed at a comprehensive understanding of the richest biological reservoir of the planet, the microbial world. Microbes are ubiquitous and have an impact on every aspect of our existence. Yet, their intrinsic invisibility has meant that they have remained largely unknown, their effects and enormous potential often unrecognized. The recent realization of the vastness of microbial diversity and the genomics revolution have propelled the microbial sciences into an exciting new era of investigation. MSI is playing a key role in this emerging area by creating an organizational focal point for microbial studies with strong links to already existing science departments and schools at Harvard. MSI encourages broad interactions among microbial scientists across the Boston area and connects work on microbial sciences to ongoing work in related areas including molecular biology, medicine, biogeochemistry, oceanography, and environmental engineering. Thus, MSI has built a community across the entire University including students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty. MSI supports a variety of programs that foster interdisciplinary research, including colloquia, seminars and weekly discussions of microbial science issues, and an undergraduate summer fellowship program. Recently, MSI launched a Graduate Consortium for studies in the microbial sciences as well as a Secondary Field in Microbial Sciences for undergraduates. Further, the MSI has played a key role in the recruitment of several new faculty. It is our hope that this Symposium will, by presenting some of the breadth and depth of microbial sciences today, stimulate discussion among members of our scientific community that will help strengthen this integrative science program. We thank you for your attendance and welcome you to todays activities.

MSI PROGRAM
Opening Remarks and Welcome Session I 8:45 9:00-10:20

Margaret McFall-Ngai

University of Wisconsin, Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology Forging a committed relationship: Signaling during the first minutes to hours of the squid-vibrio symbiosis

David Weitz

Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Physics and Applied Physics Ultra high throughput screening of single microbes using drop-based microfluidics

Coffee Break Session II

10:20 -10:40 10:40 -12:00

Ann Hochschild

Harvard Medical School, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Transplanting yeast prion proteins into E. coli cells

Franois Morel

Princeton University, Department of Geosciences CO 2 in the ocean and atmosphere: The role of microalgae and cellular mechanisms

Lunch

12:00 - 2:00

Session III

2:00 - 3:20

Kim Orth

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Molecular Biology Black spot, black death, black pearl: The tales of bacterial effectors

L. Mahadevan

Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Physics Macromolecular and cellular growth and form

Coffee Break Session IV

3:20 - 3:40 3:40 - 5:00

Harvard Medical School, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Womens Hospital Bacterial protein glycosylation: from interesting to essential

Laurie Comstock

James Collins

Boston University, Biomedical Engineering Bacterial network biology

Closing Remarks Reception

Margaret McFall-Ngai Professor Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology University of Wisconsin Education: B.S. University of San Francisco Ph.D. University of California at Los Angeles Selected Honors and Awards: John Simon Guggenheim Fellow (2009) Regents Medal for Excellence in Research (2002) Miescher-Ishida Prize (1999) Research Interests: Our research focuses on host responses to interactions with beneficial microbes. Within this context, the studies of my laboratory address five major questions: 1. How are environmentally rare bacteria harvested from the hosts habitat during the onset of a horizontally transmitted symbiosis? 2. By what mechanisms does the host recognize its specific symbiotic partner(s)? 3. What are the influences of symbiotic bacteria on the development of the host tissues with which they associate? 4. How is the symbiont population maintained in balance over the hosts lifetime, such that neither does the symbiont overgrow the host nor does the host eliminate the symbiont? 5. What are the similarities and differences between pathogenic and beneficial animalbacterial interactions?

David Weitz Mallinckrodt Professor Physics and Applied Physics Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Education: B.S. University of Waterloo Ph.D. Harvard University Selected Honors and Awards: Member of National Academy of Sciences Member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow of the American Physical Society Research Interests:

The Weitz lab studies the physics of soft condensed matter, materials which are easily deformed by external stresses, electric or magnetic fields, or even by thermal fluctuations. These materials typically possess structures which are much larger than atomic or molecular scales; the structure and dynamics at the mesoscopic scales determine macroscopic physical properties. The goal of our research is to probe and understand this relationship. We study both synthetic and biological materials; our interests extend from fundamental physics to technological applications, from basic materials questions to specific biological problems. The techniques we employ include light scattering, optical microscopy, and rheology. Considerable current effort is devoted to the development of microfluidic devices based on the creation of drops. These are used to make new materials, and for novel applications in biotechnology, including ultra-high-throughput screening, high-speed genomic sequencing and advanced cell sorting.

Ann Hochschild Professor Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Harvard Medical School Education: B.A. Radcliffe College Ph.D. Harvard University Selected Honors and Awards: Pioneer Award (2008) American Heart Association Established Investigator Award (1996) Presidential Young Investigator Award (1991) Searle Scholar Award (1991) Research Interests: Transcription by the multi-subunit RNA polymerases is a complex process consisting of multiple steps at which regulation can occur. To understand the relevant molecular interactions and regulatory mechanisms, we are taking advantage of the relative simplicity of the prokaryotic transcription machinery and the power of bacterial genetics. Because the RNA polymerase (RNAP) core enzyme is evolutionarily conserved from bacteria to humans, insights into the function of the bacterial enzyme are likely to inform the study of all multisubunit RNAPs. We are using a variety of genetic tools, including a transcription-based bacterial two-hybrid assay, to functionally dissect the transcription apparatus, focusing particularly on post-initiation regulatory events. Our study of the protein-protein interactions that underlie the transcription process has led to a more general interest in protein-protein interactions. A newer project in the lab is focused on the potentially pathogenic protein-protein interactions that mediate the formation of prion-like protein aggregates. We are using E. coli cells to develop assays that would allow us to study prion proteins from other organisms and potentially to identify prion-like proteins of bacterial origin.

Franois Morel Albert G. Blanke, Jr. Professor Department of Geosciences Princeton University Education: B.S. Universit de Grenoble Ph.D. California Institute of Technology Selected Honors and Awards: Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science & Technology, American Chemical Society (2010) Elected to the National Academy of Sciences (2009) Ewing Medal, American Geophysical Union (2005) Patterson Medal, Geochemical Society (2001) Research Interests: By catalyzing biological transformations as cofactors of key enzymes, trace metals like iron and zinc play a critical role in the global cycles of major nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. In some cases metals also inhibit these transformations. The principal long-term research theme of our group is the elucidation, at both the molecular and the global level, of the linkages between the cycles of trace metals and those of C, N and P. A large part of our work deals with the oceans, focusing on the grand question of what physical and chemical factors control the growth of phytoplankton in the sea. Marine phytoplankton are responsible for about half of global primary production and, by exporting organic matter to the deep sea, they maintain a low concentration of CO 2 in surface waters and in the atmosphere. Iron limits primary production in large oceanic regions, while zinc, cobalt and cadmium are cofactors in key enzymes of the carbon concentrating mechanism of phytoplankton.

Kim Orth Associate Professor Department of Molecular Biology University of Texas Southwestern Medical Ctr. Education: B.S. Texas A&M University Ph.D. University of Texas Southwestern Medical Ctr. Selected Honors and Awards: Edith & Peter ODonnell Award in Science (2011) Welch Foundation Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Science (2010) Burroughs Wellcome Investigator in Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease (2006) Arnold and Mabel Beckman Young Investigator Award Research Interests: The Orth lab is interested in elucidating the activity of virulence factors (also called effectors) from pathogenic bacteria so that we can gain novel molecular insight into eukaryotic signaling systems. Virulence factors are secreted by bacterial using a type III secretion system (T3SS) resembling a needle-like structure that translocates virulence factors from bacteria into the cytosol of a host cell. Effectors are predicted to have usurped a eukaryotic activity that is then modified by the pathogen for its own advantage. The Orth lab focuses on bacterial effectors because we predict that it will help us provide novel insight into eukaryotic host signaling systems. Based on this hypothesis, this lab has uncovered two novel posttranslational modifications mechanisms and unique mechanisms that manipulate the dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton, induction of autophagy and the maintenance of cell membrane integrity. This work at UT Southwestern is accomplished using a broad range of tools, including biochemistry, molecular microbiology, protein chemistry, structural biology, yeast genetics, cell biology and more.

L. Mahadevan Lola England de Valpine Professor of Applied Mathematics, Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and Professor of Physics Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Physics Education: B. Tech. Indian Institute of Technology Ph.D. Stanford University Selected Honors and Awards: MacArthur Fellowship (2009) John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship (2006) George Ledlie Prize, Harvard (2006) Edgerton Prize, MIT (2000) Research Interests: Our group is interested in using quantitative approaches to understand the mesoscopic organization of matter, living and non-living, in space and time, with a particular emphasis on shape and flow. Some examples of current study include the statics and dynamics of polymeric filaments and membranes, the mechanochemistry of cells, the shaping of tissues and organs and the locomotion of whole organisms.

Laurie Comstock Associate Professor Department of Medicine, Brigham and Womens Hospital Harvard Medical School Education: B.A. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Ph.D. Wake Forest University Medical Center Research Interests: The goal of the Comstock lab is to elucidate mechanisms used by members of the intestinal microbiota to establish and/or maintain mutualistic, symbiotic and antagonistic relationships with other bacteria of the ecosystem and the host. We principally study Bacteroides species, which are the most abundant Gram-negative bacteria of the ecosystem, accounting for approximately 25% of the total colonic bacteria. Recent studies are identifying competitive/defensive mechanisms used for niche establishment and thwarting competitors. Longstanding work of the lab has focused on studying the numerous glycans produced by these bacteria including the eight surface capsular polysaccharides that are subject to phase variation. Studies from the lab have also shown that Bacteroides species glycosylate proteins, a process that is being widely recognized in diverse bacterial species. Protein glycosylation in Bacteroides is not only essential for niche colonization, but is also a physiologically important process of these bacteria. The Bacteroides protein glycosylation system is significantly different from those of other bacteria and the data suggest that it is an ancient and essential process conserved in diverse members of the phylum.

James Collins University Professor Biomedical Engineering Boston University Education: A.B. College of the Holy Cross Ph.D. University of Oxford Selected Honors and Awards: Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator National Academy of Engineering (2011) MacArthur Fellowship (2003) Metcalf Cup and Prize for Excellence in Teaching (2000) Rhodes Scholarship (1987) Research Interests: Dr. Collins is one of the founders of the emerging field of synthetic biology, and a pioneering researcher in systems biology, having made fundamental discoveries regarding the actions of antibiotics and the emergence of resistance. His current research interests include: synthetic biology - modeling, designing and constructing synthetic gene networks, and systems biology - reverse engineering naturally occurring gene regulatory networks.