Heinrich Volschenk
Second Circular & Call for Abstracts: Functional Metagenomics - 2013
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The International Society for Functional Metagenomics is pleased to announce that a dedicated website is now open for registration and submission of abstracts for the international conference:
FUNCTIONAL METAGENOMICS - 2013
Pretoria, South Africa
Details and registration forms can be found on www.up.ac.za/functionalmetagenomics/2013
Microbiology Conferences/Workshops 2013
March 13 - 18, 2013 Tuberculosis: Understanding the Enemy
€9m EU-project on deep-sea organisms started
The University of the Western Cape is partner of a large-scale, four-year project launched in October 2012 called PharmaSea funded by the EU. The UWC team is led by Prof Marla Tuffin, Acting Director of the Institute for Microbial Biotechnology and Metagenomics (IMBM), and in collaboration with Prof Michael Davies-Coleman.The collaborative project PharmaSea will bring European researchers to some of the deepest, coldest and hottest places on the planet. Scientists from the UK, Belgium, Norway, Spain, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Denmark will work together to collect and screen samples of mud and sediment from huge, previously untapped, oceanic trenches. The large-scale, four-year project is backed by more than €9.5 million of EU funding and brings together 24 partners from 14 countries from industry, academia and non-profit organisations.
New way to view SASM news
Many of you might not like to read news from SASM in the Facebook, Twitter or Google+ format. Below is a more dynamic way to read SASM news using a social front page. To view follow this link: https://www.rebelmouse.com/sasmnews/. Use the
link to subscribe and receive regular updates.
PhD and Post-Doctoral Fellowships Available
“Modified insect RNA viruses as gene delivery systems”
Recent publicationsThe positions are available immediately.Successful applicants should have a proven background in general recombinant DNA techniques. Molecular virology with hands-on expertise in cell culture and experience in generating recombinant baculoviruses and fluorescence microscopy will be an advantage.PhD and Post-Doctoral Scholarships are available to participate in a research programme funded by the NRF Blue Skies Programme to develop a novel gene delivery system based on the virus-like particles (VLPs) of a family of small insect RNA viruses, the Tetraviridae. The aim is to produce modified tetravirus VLPs that package RNAs with therapeutic potential and that can be targeted to deliver these non-viral RNAs to diseased cells and tissues. Specific research projects include the characterisation of RNA packaged by VLPs using next generation sequencing, the design and construction of recombinant baculoviruses to produce modified VLPs and assessment of the ability of modified VLPs to bind to target cells.
Successful applicants should have a proven background in general recombinant DNA techniques. Molecular virology with hands-on expertise in cell culture and experience in generating recombinant baculoviruses and fluorescence microscopy will be an advantage.
The positions are available immediately.
Recent publications
- Short & Dorrington (2012) Membrane targeting of an alpha-like tetravirus replicase is directed by a region within the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase domain. J Gen Virol; 93:1706 – 1716
- Dorrington, & Short (2010) The Tetraviruses. In "The Insect Viruses". K Johnson and S Asgari, Eds. Caister Academic Press, (UK). pp 283 - 305
- Short et al. (2010) Subcellular localisation and live cell imaging of the Helicoverpa armigera stunt virus replicase in mammalian and Spodoptera frugiperda cells. J Gen Virol; 91 (6): 1514 – 1523
For more information contact: Prof Dorrington (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Biotechnology, Rhodes University, PO Box 94, Grahamstown, 6140 South Africa. Tel: 27-46-603 8442; Fax: 27-46-6223984
Functional Metagenomics Conference
The International Society for Functional Metagenomics is pleased to announce the second conference on
FUNCTIONAL METAGENOMICS
to be held near Pretoria, South Africa in June 2013.
Dates: 2nd June 2013 to 5th June 2013
Program:
- Scheduled arrivals, Sunday 2nd June, am.
- Welcome and Plenary Lecture, evening of Sunday 2nd June
- Lecture Program; Monday 3rd - Wednesday 5th am.
- Departures: Wednesday 5th pm.
Travel: Most of the world’s major airlines have regular scheduled flights to Johannesburg’s modern O.R. Thambo International Airport.
Venue: Zebra Lodge, Limpopo is sited about 80km north of Johannesburg’s O.R. Thambo Airport in spectacular African thornveld.
The meeting will offer an all-inclusive package (airport transfers, registration fees, 3 night’s accommodation, all meals, gala dinner, internet, some beverages and a ‘Big 5’ game drive)
Scientific Content: This meeting aims to bring together the leading researchers in the field of ‘functional genomics’. The program will include the latest technical and theoretical developments in the fields of metatransciptomics and metagenomic gene discovery, with clinical, industrial, and environmental applications.
Other activities: For conference registrants wishing to arrive early or stay longer, we can provide contact details for the conference venue and travel agents who can assist with other tourist activities.
Organisation: The meeting will be hosted by the University of Pretoria and organised by a local organising committee chaired by Professor Don Cowan, Director of the Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics. For further information and expressions of interest, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
FunctGenSoc: For more information on the International Society for Functional Metagenomics, please contact Professor Trevor Charles (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Registrations will open in February 2013
The Institute for Microbial Biotechnology and Metagenomics (IMBM)
The Institute for Microbial Biotechnology and Metagenomics (IMBM), a research unit based within the Department of Biotechnology at the University of the Western Cape is seeking suitable candidates to fill several MSc, PhD and Post Doctoral positions available on offer for 2013. Projects available and further information is detailed in the brochure attached.
General inquiries can be forwarded to Professor Marla Tuffin, Acting Director: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
SASM 2013 - 18th Biennial Congress
Symposium: Biorefinery for Food, Fuel and Materials 2013 (BFF2013)
The Biorefinery for Food, Fuel and Materials symposium, for a sustainable development of a Biobased Economy, will be held on 7-10 April 2013 in Wageningen, The Netherlands.
| Organised by: | Wageningen University, Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research |
|---|---|
| Date: | Sun 7 April until Wed 10 April |
| Venue: | Hof van Wageningen, Wageningen, The Netherlands |
In the symposium on Biorefinery for Food, Fuel and Materials 2013 (BFF2013) the whole biorefinery value chain is considered, from where biomass cultivation is linked with biomass processing steps to the individual applications and recycling of resources to reduce the overall footprint. The symposium also unites stakeholders from agro, food, chemical, fuel and energy sectors with a common interest within the biorefinery chains.
Biobased chemicals, materials, biofuels and energy
Production of non-food components, such as chemicals, materials, biofuels and energy, from biomass is often considered to compete with food production with respect to land, water and scarce resources. Biorefinery is the key technology in the separation of the components of biomass for their own application. From this basis biorefinery offers the potential to use the biomass for both food and non-food production.
Biorefinery
Biorefineries advanced the use of biomass, but due to the oversupply of raw materials in our food chains in the past, there was no strong driver to improve the efficiency in using biomass. The increased request in food and non-food applications calls for a change in attitude in the interaction between food and non-food chains.
We invite you - researchers, industries and users - to forward the discussion on the development of biorefineries during the symposium on Biorefinery for Food, Fuel and Materials 2013 (BFF2013). The special challenge for the discussion is how food and non-food applications can further benefit from each other. Two times more products from biomass with two times less impact for the environment is the driver for this discussion.
Registration costs and provision
| Full fee | Student fee | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1 March 2013: | 575 euro | 375 euro | |
| After 1 March 2013: | 675 euro | 475 euro | |
| Excursions: | 50 euro |
The registration fees include
- access to the conference
- delegates pack containing the abstracts book
- lunches and refreshments during the conference
- social program and the conference dinner
- use of board rooms for satellite meetings (only after consulting the secretariat)
Grant support is offered to a limited amount of PhD students for part of the conference fee. To apply for this, a letter of motivation can be send to the Secretariat (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). PhD students that successfully apply for the grant pay a reduced symposium fee of 250 euros.
Accompanying persons are welcome. Please contact the Secretariat (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) to discuss possibilities.
Payment
Payment is only possible by Ideal or Credit Card on the registration site.
Cancellation Policy
Cancellations should be sent to the Secretariat only in a written form by e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
| Until 1 March 2013: No cancellations fees will be applied |
| From 1 March - 1 April 2013: cancellation fees are 50% |
| After 1 April: No refund |
Organization
Biorefinery for Food, Fuel and Materials 2013 (BFF2013) is organised by Wageningen UR in cooperation with INRA, France.
| Johan Sanders | (Wageningen UR, The Netherlands) |
| Ton van Boxtel | (Wageningen UR, The Netherlands) |
| Marieke Bruins | (Wageningen UR, The Netherlands) |
| Ben Langelaan | (Wageningen UR, The Netherlands) |
| Michael O'Donohue | (INRA, France) |
| Hedy Wessels | (Wageningen UR, The Netherlands) |
| Rene Wijffels | (Wageningen UR, The Netherlands) |
| Johan Sanders | (Wageningen UR, The Netherlands) |
| Ton van Boxtel | (Wageningen UR, The Netherlands) |
| Marieke Bruins | (Wageningen UR, The Netherlands) |
| Michael O'Donohue | (INRA, France) |
| Atze-Jan van der Goot | (Wageningen UR, The Netherlands) |
| Anita Linnemann | (Wageningen UR, The Netherlands) |
| Rene van Ree | (Wageningen UR, The Netherlands) |
| David Strik | (Wageningen UR, The Netherlands) |
| Hans Reith | (ECN, The Netherlands) |
| Michel Eppink | (Wageningen UR, The Netherlands) |
| Ludo Diels | (VITO, Belgium) |
| Axel Kraft | (Frauenhofer, Germany) |
| Connie Philips | (Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, Canada) |
| Michael O'Donohue | (INRA, France) |
| Bruce Dale | (Michigan State University, United States) |
| Maria Barbosa | (Wageningen UR, The Netherlands) |
| Wim Soetaert | (Ghent University, Belgium) |
| Huug De Vries | (IATE/INRA, France) |
| Lilia Ahrné | (SIK, Sweden) |
| Jean Francois Jenck | (AlgoSource Technologies, France) |
Venue and Hotel
Hof van Wageningen
Lawickse Allee 9
6701 AN Wageningen
Hotel: Hof van Wageningen has 140 rooms in option for 'BFF2013' at the location of the symposium. When you are booking a room in this hotel, please mention 'BFF2013' with your booking. Reservations can only be made by e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The price per night for a single room is €75,- a double room is €92,50; including breakfast, tax not included.
November SASM Social Media Highlights
Follow SASM on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ to get these Microbiology-related news updates. Here is a curated summary of our shared tweets for November thus far:
SASM/SAVM Top 20 journals in Microbiology according to #googlescholarhttp://goo.gl/DsfYz . #microbiology #science #scientific #scientificjournals
JoVE Thousands of years ago, aquatic bacteria evolved magnetic components to identify direction. Learn more here: - http://ow.ly/fdD3N
Good middens! 30,000-year-old DNA preserved in poo - a window into the past http://goo.gl/4tBvl - and one sample came from South Africa.
Can Mushrooms Save the World? http://scitizen.com/future-energies/can-mushrooms-save-the-world-_a-14-2891.html …
Quantitative PCR -- the deltadeltaCt method: http://youtu.be/GDLPVm7fglc via @youtube
Evolution in Action - Mutant Bacteria Replicating Superbugs - Prof. Roy Kishony http://goo.gl/ZQyTI #mutation #evolution
Perhaps a bit gross for some #PLOSONE: A Jungle in There: Bacteria in Belly Buttons are Highly Diverse, but Predictablehttp://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0047712 …
Microbes Consume Methane, Sulfate http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i46/Methane-Munching-Microbes-Reduce-Sulfur.html … via@cenmag
Researchers Report Novel Approach for Single Molecule Electronic DNA Sequencing - Columbia Universityhttp://engineering.columbia.edu/researchers-report-novel-approach-single-molecule-electronic-dna-sequencing#.UJ98z8MaZBg.twitter …
Stanford Bioengineers Introduce ‘Bi-Fi’ — The Biological Internet | School of Engineering http://shar.es/G5cay via @sharethis
Upcoming Yeast Conferences-SASM http://www.sasm.org.za/blog/item/14-upcoming-yeast-conferences.html#.UJ967Wuvo34.twitter …
The Turn of the Screw: James Watson on The Double Helix and his changing view of Rosalind Franklin - http://boingboing.net/2012/11/08/the-turn-of-the-screw-james-w.html … via @BoingBoing
First International Conference of the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) http://www.sasm.org.za/blog/item/13-first-international-conference-of-the-african-society-for-laboratory-medicine-aslm.html#.UJvng83CZ8E …
SGM blog post - Boosting stress tolerance in yeast http://goo.gl/eJSN7
FEMS 2013, The 5th Congress of European Microbiologists, Leipzig, Germany, July 21-25, 2013 update: http://goo.gl/Mwt2E
Cetaceans on the short side of economic development?-SASMhttp://sasm.org.za/blog/item/12-cetaceans-on-the-short-side-of-economic-development?.html#.UJfncX8Vt_Q.twitter …
Sitting still or going hunting: Which works better? http://mitne.ws/TdVBo2 (via @MITnews)