Volume 8, Issue 5, May 2011

Congratulations to Dr. Jenny Taylor for receiving the Provost's N. Preston Davis Award for Instructional Innovation at this year's Celebrate CSU Awards Ceremony.

This award is presented to a University faculty member in recognition of the use of technology to further or significantly encourage instructional innovation.

Jenny was nominated for the award because of her proactive approach in finding new tools to supplement lecture courses. She was the first faculty member to use annotation on lecture slides and also the person who took the initiative to research the use of audio recordings of the lecture slides using Camtasia software. The audio is associated with the slides so that students can both view the slides and hear the lecture using CSU iTunes. Because of her success with these new teaching techniques, other faculty have now followed suit and are using the same techniques in their courses.

Congratulations Jenny on this well-deserved honor!

Christopher Lehmann was recognized as the Outstanding Graduating Senior at the Spring 2011 commencement ceremony. Chris entered the microbiology program just four short years ago as a Hughes Undergraduate Research Scholar and began working in the laboratory of Dr. Brian Foy as a freshman. Dr. Foy was so impressed by Chris’s intellect, enthusiasm, and work ethic that he soon assigned him quite a difficult research project. Chris rose to the challenge, and continued to work in the Foy lab, becoming quite a fine young researcher in his own right. Chris presented his research work at the Celebrate Undergraduate Research and Creativity Showcase at CSU and at the annual meeting of Rocky Mountain Virology Club in Pingree Park. In addition, the American Society for Microbiology awarded Chris an undergraduate research fellowship, one of only about twenty in the nation, for his research, and Chris presented his work at the annual meeting of ASM in San Diego, California. Chris is already the second author on a paper published in the journal Insect Molecular Biology and his honor’s research thesis will be submitted this summer for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, on which he will be the primary author.

Chris’s accomplishments in the research laboratory are all the more impressive given that he has also earned excellent grades in the rigorous curriculum required for a degree in microbiology and he graduated having not only completed the University Honors Scholars Program but also with Honors – magna cum laude.

One might think that Chris must have spent all of his time either in the laboratory or studying in the library. In fact, Chris is a very well-rounded, well-liked, out-going, unassuming, young man. He was an active member of several student organizations, served as a peer tutor for the department, and was a participant in the 2008 Boston Marathon.

This fall, Chris will attend medical school at the University of Indiana and he has applied for acceptance into the combined MD-PhD program.

Chris is truly an outstanding individual and very deserving of this award. Congratulations Chris!

MIP Undergraduate Students who received their B.S. Degrees
on May 14...

Diane Bergstedt
Alexander Bocim
Kristina Carman
Elizabeth Creissen
Nhan Cung
Ryan Goffredi
John Griffith
Dennis Hanson
Brittany Hauben
Brittany Haynes
Courtney Hillard
Tiffany Hughes
Jason Kain
Anna Kellund
Christopher Lehmann
Danielle Lyons
Matthew Marquez
Ian McMillan
Paul Moresco
Michael Okada
Amber Ortiz
Jeffrey Sarek
Kenneth Seaver
Andrzej Stadnik
Mayuko Tamoto
Brianne Taylor
Brooklyn Tereyla
Ian Wallace
Jason Williams

Outstanding MIP Student Employees

Congratulations to Corrine Lindstadt and Heidi Runge for being nominated as "Outstanding Student Employees of the Year".

Both employees received certificates from the university in recognition of their nominations for this award. Thanks for all of the great work you do for the department!

Greg Ebel Signs on the bottom line....

We are extremely happy to announce that Arbovirologist Dr. Greg Ebel will be joining the MIP Department Faculty on November 1st! His lab will be located in IDA on the Foothills Campus and will become part of our AIDL group.

Congratulations to Erin Breland and Ryan Knodle for having articles printed in the second edition of the Journal of Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Excellence.

Erin's article is entitled, "Antibiotic resistance profiles for the opportunistic pathogens Burkholderia oklahomensis, Burkholderia ubonensis and Burkholderia vietnamensis", her advisors are Drs Herbert Schweizer and RoxAnn Karkhoff-Schweizer

Ryan's article was a staff editorial entitled, "Arsenic - now part of a complete breakfast (for bacteria, that is)". Ryan has done research under the tutelage of Drs. Angelo Izzo and Ajay Grover.

To read the articles and subscribe to the publication, visit the JUR website.

In the News...

Vara Vissa was quoted in the April 27 issue of the LA Times in the article, "Armadillos pass leprosy to humans, study finds" and in the April 28 issue of the Chicago Tribune.

Kristy Pabilonia was quoted in the May 10 Denver Post article, "Urban chickens scratch up a following along Front Range".

Drew Rholl presented his PhD Defense entitled "ß-Lactam Resistance Mechanisms in Burkholderia pseudomallei and the Tools Used Their Elucidation" on May 5. His advisor is Dr. Herbert Schweizer.

Kevin Kobylinski presented his PhD Defense entitled, "The effect of human mass drug administration of ivermectin on wild Anopheles gambiae survivorship, sporozoite rate and malaria transmission" on May 6. His advisor is Dr. Brian Foy.

Congratulations to Microbiology Undergraduate, Chole Elder, for having her resume selected as one of the best of 223 CVMBS undergraduate resumes posted on CareerRAM.

CVMBS Resume Contest iPod/iPad Winners from Left to right: Alex Bray (ERHS), Kelley Madden (CVMBS Career Liaison), Katie Fromuth (ERHS), Sarah Meine (BMS) and Chloe Elder (MIP)

CareerRAM provides online job postings, on-campus interviewing services, resume handling, networking mentors for students, career event information, and more.

Post your resume to CareerRAM to help you land a summer job, create a successful transition to a career beyond Colorado State, and maybe win an iPod or iPad!

Mycobacterium tuberculosis septum site determining protein, Ssd encoded by rv3660c, promotes filamentation and elicits an alternative metabolic and dormancy stress response

Kathleen England, Rebecca Crew and Ric Slayden

BMC Microbiology 11:79 (April 2011)

Attention mycobacteria! Are you frustrated by your tiny size? Do you sometimes wish that you were as long as the other rods in your microenvironment? Well Dr. Richard Slayden feels your pain and now may have the solution to your ‘small’ problem. For just $19.95 (plus 47% indirect costs and a nominal IDRC facilities fee), he will overexpress your Ssd (rv3660c) protein and within the hour you’ll not only feel – but you’ll actually be - 50% longer!

All sophomoronic kidding aside, what Ric et al demonstrate in this study is that overexpression of the rv3660c (Ssd) gene in M.Tb. results in an increase in the length of the bacillus from an average of 1.7 microns to 2.5 microns.  Similar results were obtained in M. smegmatis (2.1 microns to 3.2 microns).  The reason for the increase in size is that Ssd regulated septum formation in bacteria – one of the last steps in cell division.  If the septum fails to form, the bacilli enlarge as a result of DNA replication and associated aspects of the cell cycle, but never divide as they usually do by binary fission.  Kathy, Rebecca and Ric also went on to show using their custom made TB genome microarray chips that Ssd expression influences the expression of 432 other genes.  Thus Ssd may be part of a global regulatory mechanism that allows the mycobacterium to adapt to its environment and shift its metabolism.

Choosing this manuscript as our coveted MIPub of the Month® was a no-brainer from several perspectives.  First, the study combines several key tools of modern biology – bioinformatics, molecular biology, electron microscopy and transcriptomics – to gain potential valuable new insights into the very old problem of adaptation of M. tb to microenvironments inside the lung.  Second, TB infects ~ a third of the world’s population.  That’s 2,253,718,192 really good reasons to pay close attention to key advances in this field.  Finally, with the Royal wedding two weeks ago, we didn’t want to be the only monthly publication on the planet that didn’t say something good about England.  (Nice work Kathy!)

MIP Publications Late April 2011 - Early May 2011

Foy BD, Kobylinski KC, Chilson Foy JL, Blitvich BJ, Travassos da Rosa A, Haddow AD, Lanciotti RS, Tesh RB.  Probable Non-Vector-borne Transmission of Zika Virus, Colorado, USA.  Emerg Infect Dis. 2011 May;17(5):880-2.

Paul TA, Rovnak J, Quackenbush SL, Whitlock K, Zhan H, Gong Z, Spitsbergen J, Bowser PR, Casey JW.  Transgenic Expression of Walleye Dermal Sarcoma Virus rv-cyclin (orfA) in Zebrafish does not Result in Tissue Proliferation.  Mar Biotechnol (NY). 2011 Apr;13(2):142-50.

England K, Crew R, Slayden RA.  Mycobacterium tuberculosis septum site determining protein, Ssd encoded by rv3660c, promotes filamentation and elicits an alternative metabolic and dormancy stress response.  BMC Microbiol. 2011 Apr 19;11(1):79.

Juopperi TA, Bienzle D, Bernreuter DC, Vernau W, Thrall MA, McManus PM.  Prognostic markers for myeloid neoplasms: a comparative review of the literature and goals for future investigation.  Vet Pathol. 2011 Jan;48(1):182-97.

From the ‘Can't Keep a Good Man Down‘ Files...

Ken Olson continues to improve following the horrific car accident on March 19th – in fact he came home Wednesday May 11th! All indications are that his rehab is going great – and his wife Becky has already started going back to work.

For AIDL matters until Ken returns, please contact Carol Blair who has assumed the role as Interim Director of the unit.

The MIP Picnic was held on Friday, May 6 from 4-7pm. Famous Dave's BBQ was provided and MIP'ers brought delicous side dishes to share. Weather was perfect for playing volleyball and visiting with fellow coworkers. Special thanks to Jeanette Fritzler, Ida Tieman, and Susan Deines for coordinating and doing all the work to make this event happen!

Be sure to checkout the Spring Picnic Photo Gallery (complete with captions)!

MIP700 - Topics Courses
2011-2012

Fall 2011- Mark Zabel will lead a topics course entitled (what else?) 'Prion Diseases'.

Spring 2012- Anne Lenaerts and Dean Crick will lead a topics course on the 'Development of Anti-Bacterials'.

A new search for an Anatomic Pathologist to be centered in the Diagnostic Medicine Center is underway. Dr. Gary Mason is the Chair.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:
SEPTEMBER 23-25, 2011
Pingree Park Campus

This year's keynote speaker is our incoming Dept Head Dr. Gregg Dean. Gregg will be speaking about his research on lentiviruses (HIV and FIV), innate immunity, and the generation of effective mucosal and systemic immune responses through oral immunization. This will be a wonderful opportunity to meet our new colleague in the relaxed environs of the Pingree campus. This year's meeting also coincides with peak aspen viewing and will feature the Saturday evening barbecue and, of course, a generous contribution from the New Belgium Brewery. So save up your best data and plan on breaking in those new hiking boots this September!

The Brian Geiss laboratory is the latest group to add their research to the information super-highway. Check out their website and see what is happening in the Geiss Laboratory.

Contact Erin Napier if you are interested developing a website for your research group.

MIP'ers doing their part to help the community

The 8th Annual Fast and the Furriest 5K Run/Walk was held on Saturday April 23 to raise proceeds for the CSU Veterinary Medical Center's Companion Animal Care Fund and the Professional Veterinary Medicine Class of 2013. Despite the cold, wet weather several MIP'ers participated in the race with their furry friends.

Tim Kurt and his Furry Friend enjoying the Fast and the Furriest race.

Check out the photos of other MIP particpants who were caught on film.

Payroll Shenanigans for Hourly Employees

Timesheets submitted for the May 21-June 3 pay period will not be paid on June 17th. Due to CSU fiscal year end policy, you’ll have to wait until Friday July 1, 2011 for your check. Please plan accordingly.

The ‘RNAces’ (aka MIPers Fumi Sagawa, Ashley Neff, John Anderson and Jeff Wilusz) capped off a blistering season of Monday night bowling on May 9th by winning the '10-'11 CSU Bowling League Championship. Congratulations!

New ChemiDoc Imaging System

The department has invested in a BioRad ChemiDoc XRS imaging system for chemiluminescence. The system is located in the common equipment area in Micro B406. If you normally use chemiluminescence for Western Blotting, please consider switching to this outstanding detection and quantification system – it is as sensitive as film, more quantitative and doesn’t generate toxic waste. The ChemiDoc is much better for this application than the old VersaDoc it replaces. It can also be used for imaging various other gels and stains including fluorescent or colorimetric agarose and protein gels.

There will be no charge for access at this time as the system comes with a 3 year onsite warranty and the software has no restrictions on number of users.

If you were not able to attend the May 5th training by David Miller, please ask Carol Wilusz or someone in the Wilusz Lab for assistance before attempting to use the instrument!

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. "
~Confucius

After many long hard years of studying, at 1PM on May 6th eight microbiology majors attended their last undergraduate class (MIP400A - Medical Microbiology Capstone taught by Dr. Karkhoff-Schweizer) EVER! A roving MIPnews photographer was there to capture the moment in all its intellectual glory...

Congratulations to all of our Spring 2011 graduates.
You guys are the best!

Questions for MIPuzzle #65
MIPuzzle #65 Answers

To ensure compliance, Jeanette Fritzler will be patrolling the floors listening for ‘Even the Nights are Better’, ‘All Out of Love’, and other hits of the late ’70’s – early ’80’s

Two Micro majors wore special shoes to celebrate graduation!

Alternative Captions:
• Add these two wardrobe items to the list of what not to wear on your first job interview...
• I know why elephants wear green sneakers (to hide in the grass) – but why would CSU grads wear yellow sneakers????
• We’re supposed to give our students good training – not good trainers…
• Sole-mates 4ever
• Submit your own

Who Does What Dawn Did?

Below is a list of duties formerly managed by Dawn Petersen - followed by the name of the person who is now handling those duties:

• Micro Travel - Jeanette Fritzler
• Hourly payroll entry - Kathy Alvarez
• Hourly hiring - Kathy Alvarez and Shannon Pfohl
• Graduate student funding and appointments - Heidi Runge
• RA/Post Doc pools, individual searches - Ida Tieman

New Course Evaluation Process

Course evaluations will no longer be mailed back to instructors. All results will now be posted online at the CSU Course Survey Website.

Only Instructors will be able to view the responses to the Instructor Prepared Items and Student Comments. These written responses will be saved as PDF files which faculty may save and submit to the department office for use in their annual review and promotion and tenure evaluations.

The first set of survey results will be available in June 2011, following submission of final grades for the spring semester and processing of survey forms. Instrutors will be notified when survey results are available.

• Ever want to appeal a score on your grant application?

  NIH does have a policy that allows applicants to contest the results of an initial peer review based on a defect in the review process but not a difference of scientific opinion. To see exactly what types of perceived flaws in the review of your application can be appealed, check out the NIAID website.

• NIH receives a 0.9% budget reduction for this fiscal year

  The good news is that NIH (and NIAID) received ONLY a 0.9% decrease in its budget for the current fiscal year. The bad news is that noncompeting grants with a modular budget will be funded at only 99% and those with a non-modular budget will only allow for a 2% escalation factor. For more details, check out the NIAID Financial Management Plan.

Brian Kvitko, "DNA Fragment Capture System to Create Burkholderia pseudomallei Isogenic Strains", NIH-NIAID.

Chester Moore, "West Nile Virus Testing", City of Fort Collins.

Claudia Gentry-Weeks, "Development & Evaluation of Bacteriophage Vaccines for Managing Pasteurellosis in Bighorn Sheep", Colorado Division of Wildlife.

Davis Seelig, "Pathogenesis of Chronic Wasting Disease in Transgenic Mice", NIH-Nat Ctr for Research Resources.

Mark Zabel, "Investigating the Actual Incidence of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Asymptomatic Deer or Elk", USDA-APHIS.

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