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 Progress Report

  

The Florida Center for Renewable
Chemicals and Fuels (FCRC)

 

July 2001- June 2003

 

University of Florida
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
Microbiology & Cell Science Department
 

 

  

 

 

CONTACT INFORMATION
 



Dr. Lonnie O. Ingram
Director
Bldg. 981 Museum Road, PO Box 110700
Gainesville, Fl 32611-0700
Tel: (352) 392-8176; Fax: (352) 846-0969
ingram@ufl.edu

  Dr. Keelnathan T. Shanmugam
Associate Director
Bldg. 981 Museum Road, PO Box 110700
Gainesville, Fl 32611-0700
Tel: (352) 392-2490; Fax: (352) 392-5922
shan@ufl.edu

 Dr. Sheilachu P. Gomez
Assistant Director
Bldg. 981 Museum Road, PO Box 110700
Gainesville, Fl 32611-0700
Tel/Fax: (352) 392-00237
spgomez@ufl.edu

 

Florida Center for Renewable Chemicals and Fuels (FCRC)
University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
Department of Microbiology and Cell Science 
Bldg. 981 Museum Road, PO Box 110700
Gainesville, Fl 32611-0700

http://fcrc.ifas.ufl.edu

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS
 

Introduction

Conferences, Seminars, and Workshops

Service and Awards
Service
Awards

Research Assistantships

Patents and Publications
Patents
Approved Patents
US patent applications (16)
International patent applications (17)

Publications
In Press
Book Chapter
Journal Articles
Other Publications

On-Going Research Projects

Acknowledgments

 

 

 

Introduction
 

The Florida Center for Renewable Chemicals and Fuels (FCRC) was formally established in  2001 for the purpose of providing a focus for the multi-disciplinary education and research in this field. The main goal of FCRC is to contribute to the reduction of the nation’s dependence on imported petroleum through the production of chemicals and fuels from agricultural residues and other biomass.

 The FCRC seeks to discover and implement novel solutions to the conversion of biomass to chemicals and fuels using metabolically engineered bacteria. In addition, the FCRC coordinates bioproducts research by providing a liaison with granting agencies, assisting in the development of competitive grants, and by facilitating graduate education through graduate assistantships, seminar series featuring student and faculty researches. An added component of research on biosensors to detect harmful chemicals in the environment was initiated in the interest of national security.

 Conferences, Seminars, and Workshops

 The Center co-sponsored one regional and one national conference during the past three years. They are the Conference on Interfacing Microbiology and Biotechnology held at the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL on May 17-19, 2001, and the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology Southeastern Branch, at Gainesville, Florida, on November 7-9, 2002.

Local and in-house seminars presented by faculty members and visiting scientists during the period 2001 to 2003 include the following:   

Faculty Member/Visiting Scientist

Place and Date

Topic

James F. Preston, III

Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, September 3, 2001.

Pasteuria Spp.: Endospore-Forming Bacterial Parasites Of Cladocerans And Phytopathogenic Nematodes”.

 

Department of Plant Pathology, January 14, 2003.

Pasteuria Spp.: Endospore-Forming Bacterial Parasites Of Cladocerans And Phytopathogenic Nematodes As Naturally Occurring Biocontrol Agents.”

 In-house seminars are conducted during the Fall and Spring Semesters. Research progress reports by undergraduate, and graduate students, post-docs, staff members, and research faculty members are presented for discussion and suggestions. Twenty five to thirty people regularly attend this weekly seminar.

Faculty members and their students attended conferences and seminars to present research results and to interact with other researchers from other academic and industrial institutions. The Table in the following pages shows the conference, seminar, or workshop, place and date, and topics presented by attendees.

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Table. 1. Conferences, Workshops, and Meetings Attended by Members of the FCRC.

 

Conference/Seminar/
Workshop

 

Date and Place

Attendees/Poster Presenters/Speakers
* - graduate student;
**- post-doc
***- undergrad student

 
Topic

Symposium for the Society of Nematology.

Salt Lake City, 2001

Preston, J.F., D.W. Dickson, J.E. Maruniak, J.A. Brito, L.M. Schmidt, and J.M. Anderson

Pasteuria Spp.: Systematics-Phylogeny Of These Unusual Bacterial Parasites Of Phytopathogenic Nematodes.

Conference on Interfacing Microbiology and Biotechnology

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL May 17-19, 2001.

J.F. Preston, III

 Microbial Strategies For The Depolymerization Of Glucuronoxylan.

Madeline E. Rache

C1 Metabolism And Methanogens

Lonnie O. Ingram and James F. Preston, III

Metabolic Engineering And Regulation

K.T. Shanmugam

Bioinformatics And Global Gene Expression

Julie A. Maupin-Furlow

Nanocompartments Of Prokaryotic Cells

 101st American Society for Microbiology General Meeting

 

Orlando, FL. May 20-24, 2001.

Lonnie O. Ingram 

 

Symposium Speaker: Genetic Engineering For Production Of Industrial Chemicals.

Rebecca M. Harbucker*

Isolation Of A Thermotolerant Acid Resistant Host For The adh And pdc Genes Of Zymomonas mobilis To Enable Cost Effective Production Of Ethanol For Biomass.

ME Rodriguez*

Properties Of The Hemicellulose Fractions Of Lignocellulosic Biomass Affecting Bacterial Ethanol Production.

Tony Gutierrez*

Biotransformation Of Furfural By Ethanologenic Bacteria And Its Effect On Ethanol Production.

Lee Ann Talarico*

Cloning And Characterization Of Pyruvate Decarboxylase From SarcinavVentriculi.

FrankG. Healy*

Development Of Ethanologenic Escherichia coli For The Simultaneous Utilization Of Glucose And Xylose.

Stuart A. Underwood*

Additional Osmoprotectants Are Required For The Efficient Fermentation Of 10% Xylose To Ethanol In Nutrient-Limiting Media

Ramon Gonzalez*

Identification Of Promoters For Programmed Expression Of Recombinant Products Im Escherichia Coli By Transcriptone Analysis.

Steven J. Kaczowka*

Structure And Function Of Proteasomes From A Halophilic Archaeon Halofreax volcanii.

H.L. Wilson*

Purification And Characterization Of The 20S Proteasome And PAN From Methanococcus maripaludis.

Mark S. Ou*

Influence Of The Alpha Subunit On The Proteolytic Activity Of 20S Proteosomes

Kheir Zuobi-Hasona**

Oligosaccharides Containing Glucuronoxylose As Substrates For Selecting Bacteria For Depolymerization Of Hemicellulose.

Shengde Zhou

Fermentation Of Cellulooligosaccharides And Amorphous Cellulose To Ethanol By Cellulolytic Detivatives Of Klebsiella oxytoca.

A.M. Paredes, F. Soyer, H.C. Aldrich, S. Lutke, H Tsuruta, W.Chiu, JM Shively

Three-dimensional structure of Thiobacilllus neapolitanus Carboxysomes as Determined by Cryo-electon Microscopy.

E.M. Sampson, G.D. Haveman, H.C. Aldrich, T.A. Bobik

Effect of  In-Frame pdu Deletions on Polyhedra Body Formation by Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium LT2.

Gordon Research Conference on Archaea: Ecology, Metabolism, and Molecular Biology

2001 Proctor Academy, NH

Steven Kaczowka*

Localization Of The Alpha-1 And Alpha-2 Subunits Of 20S Proteasomes From A Halophilic Archaeon, Haloferax volcanii

2nd Gordon Conference on Molybdenum and Tungsten Enzymes

Queen’s College, Oxford, England July 1-6, 2001

K.T. Shanmugam

Molybdenum Metabolism.

University of Florida, Dept. of Microbiology and Cell Science

Gainesville, FL, 2001

Julie A. Maupin-Furlow

Energy-dependent Proteolysis in the Archaea.

Gordon Research  Conference, Archaea: Ecology, metabolism, and Microbiology

Andover, NH, 2002

Julie A. Maupin-Furlow

Archael Proteosomes and Proteosome-Activating Nucleotidases.

Brookhaven National Laboratories

Upton, NY, 2001

Julie A. Maupin-Furlow

Proteosomes: Molecular Machines Integral to the Genomes to Life Initiative.

223rd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Orlando, FL April 7-11, 2002.

Preston, J.F., and J.C. Hurlbert

Microbial Strategies For The Depolymerization Of Methylglucuronoxylan.- Payen Award Symposium Honoring Liisa Viikari: Application Of Enzymes To Lignocellulosics.

23rd Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals

Breckenridge, Colorado May 4-7, 2003

Stuart Underwood*

Optimizing Carbon Partitioning between Biosynthesis and Ethanol Production in Ethanologenic Escherichia coli KO11

James F. Preston, Franz J. St. John and John D. Rice

Selection of Endoxylanases for Depolymerization of Glucuronoxylan from Hemicellulose

 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology Southeastern Branch

 Gainesville, Florida, on November 7-9, 2002

Lonnie O. Ingram

Engineering E. coli For Renewable Chemicals And Fuels.

K.T. Shanmugam

Whole Genome Expression Analysis Of E. coli Growing Under Aerobic And Anaerobic Condition.

Bryce Causey*

Microbial Platform For The Production Of Oxidized Compounds (Acetate And Pyruvate) From Escherichia coli W3110 ATCC.

Lee Ann Talarico*

Characterization Of Pyruvate Decarboxylase From Sarcina ventriculi.

Franz St. John*

Xylan Utilization By Paenibacillus Sp Secresting a GH10 Xylanase With Significant Homology To GH10 Of Clostridium josui.

Stuart Underwood*

Balancing Carbon Partitioning Between Biosynthesis And Product Formation

Shengde Zhou

Metabolic Engineering Escherichia coli W3110 Fro Production Of Optically Pure D(-) And L(+)-Lactic Acid From Mineral Salts Medium.

Christopher Reuter*

Biochemical Characterization And Subunit Arrangement Of PAN Proteins From Halophilic Archeon Haloferax volcanii.

Steven J. Kaczowka*

Subunit Arrangement Of 20S Proteosomes From Haloferax volanii.

Phoung-Uyen Le***

Thermostability Of Sarcina ventriculi Pyruvate Decarboxylase At Ph 5.5

Brea Duval***

Generation Of Coupled Microtiter Plat Assay For Sarcina ventriculi Pyruvate Decarboxylase.

Cheryl Boice*

Characterization Of Bacteriphages For Use In Adsorption And Transport Studies.

Johnny Davis*

Fate Of Bacterial Indicators And Pathogens In Anaerobically Digested Dairy Wastewater.

Yilei Qian

Isolation Of The Xylosidase Gene (Xynb) Operon From Klebsiella oxytoca.

Liesbeth Schmidt**

Detection Of  Pasteuria penetrans P20 Infected Meloidogyne arenaria Race 1 By Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).

Vilas Shukla**

Engineering Escherichia coli For Lactic Acid Production From Sucrose.

Brent Wood*

Reprioritization Of Sugar Utilization Profiles By Overexpression Of A CRP* In Escherichia coli KO11

Annual Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology

Salt Lake City, Utah, 2002

Julie A. Maupin-Furlow

Compartmentalization of Proteolysis Mediated by the Archaeal Proteosome.

G.C. Cannon, S. Heinhorst, H.C. Aldrich, E. Williams, J. Shively

Characterization of Halothiobacillus neapolotanus Carboxysomes Rcombinantly Expressed in E. coli.

E.E. Sampson, G.D. Hveman, H.C. Aldrich, T.A. Bobik

Genetic Analysis of the 1,2-propanediol Degradation by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium LT2.

A. Hasona**, H. Tao

Global Gene Expression Analysis of Escherichia coli Reveals a Role for ModE-Mo in Pyrimidine Metabolism.

R.V. Dumitru, H. Palencia, J.M. Takacs, B. DeMontigny, J. Miner, M. Rasche, S.W. Ragsdale

Novel Enzyme Targeted Strategy to Inhibit Methanogenesis.

S.A. Wiles, M. Rosentzvaig, M.E. Rasche

Dentification of the First Methanopterin Biosynthesis Gene in Methylothropic Bacteria.

J. Strate, R. Harris, I. Uz, A. Ogram, M.E. Rasche, A.S. Lindner

Characterization and Activity Comparisons of Methanothropic-Heterothropic Mixed Cultures Derived From Landfill Environments.

University of Georgia, Department of Microbiology

Athens, GA, 2002

Julie A. Maupin-Furlow

Energy-dependent Proteolysis in the Archaea.

DARPA Biological Input-Output Systems Program, Kick-off Meeting

San Diego, CA, June 14-15, 2002

Arlington, VA, May 27-28, 2003


Lonnie O. Ingram, William B. Gurley, Nemat O. Keyhani, Thomas A. Bobik and Shouguang Jin

Sentinel Plants Utilizing Bacterial Two-Component Systems.

Gordon Conference: Biocatalysis Workshop

Meredith, NH, July 11-12, 2002

 

 

  

 

 Lonnie O. Ingram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Symposium  Speaker

Society of Industrial. Microbiology and Biotechnology

Philadelphia, Aug 2002

Symposium Speaker

Bioproducts Advisory Group

Washington, DC., September, 2002

Invited Speaker

Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee-Sponsored Workshop

Gaithersburg, MD, October 21-24, 2002

Basic Research Needs To Assure A Secure Energy Future

DOE, DOE, BER Genomes to Life Advisory Group

Washington, DC. October, 2002

Invited Speaker

DOE, Basic Energy Science Advisory Group (Future Challenges)

Washington, DC, November, 2002

Invited Speaker

Cargill, Inc.

St. Paul, MN, November 10-11

Review Cargill’s Biobased Chemicals Research And Development Program.

InterAgency (DARPA, DOE, USDA, NSF, NIH, NIST, ONR) Conference

Arlington, Virginia,

2001, 2002,

January 31, 2003

Metabolic Engineering Working Group

25th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals

April, 2003

Symposium Speaker

Annual Meeting of the Amer. Society  for Microbiology

Wash DC. May, 17-19, 2003

Symposium Speaker

Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Symposium

Washington DC February 26-27, 2003.

Maria E. Rodriquez, Alfredo Martinez, Sean W. York, Kheir Zuobi-Hasona, Lonnie O. Ingram, K. T. Shanmugam, and James F. Preston

Properties of the Hemicellulose Fractions of Lignocellulosic Biomass Affecting Ethanol Production

 

James F. Preston, Franz J. St John, John D. Rice, Lonnie O. Ingram, and K. T. Shanmugam

Utilization of Hemicellulose-derived Glucuronoxylose for Ethanol Production

James F. Preston, Franz J. St John, John D. Rice, Lonnie O. Ingram, and K. T. Shanmugam

Bioconversion of Lignocellulosics to Alternative Fuels and Chemicals

25th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals

Washington, DC, May 4-7, 2003

K.T. Shanmugam

Second Generation Biocatalysts for Production of Fuels and Chemicals from Biomass

1st Annual Meeting of S1007 – The Science and Engineering for a Biobased Industry and Economy

Washington, DC May 8-9, 2003

K.T. Shanmugam

 

Annual Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology

Washington, DC, May 18-22, 2003

Lonnie O. Ingram

Symposium Speaker: Engineering Escherichia coli For The Production Of Higher Value Fermentation Products.

Vilas Shukla**

Production Of Lactic Acid From Sucrose By Metabolic Engineered Escherichia coli.

Yilei Qian

Cloning, Characterization And Functional Expression Of The Klebsiella oxytoca Xyloside Utilization Operon (xynb) In Escherichia coli

Stuart Underwood*

Osmoprotectants Stimulate Growth And Ethanol Production By Ethanologenic Escherichia coli.

Franz St. John*

Xylan Utilizing Paenibacillus sp. Encodes A GH10 Xylanase Containing Triplicate Domains For Cell Surface And Substrate Associations.

Bryce Causey*

Engineering The Metabolism Of Escherichia coli W3110 For Homo-Acetate Production.

Steven Kaczowka*

Recombinant Production Of Zymomonas mobilis Pyruvate Decarboxylase I The Archaeon Haloferax volcanii

Shengde Zhou

Novel Escherichia coli Biocatalysts For The Efficient Production Of L(+) And D(-) Lactic Acids From Hexose And Pentose Sugars In Mineral Salts Medium.

Christopher Reuter*

Proteasome-Activating Nucleotidases From Haloferax volcanii: Subunit Complexity And Activity.

Kheir Zoubi-Hasona**

Growth Dependent Post-Translational Modification Of The Alpha1 Subunit Of Halofrex volcanii 20S.

Matt Bechard*

Overproduction Characterization, And Site-Directed Mutagenesis Of RFAP Synthase From The Methanogen Methanothermobacter thermautrophicus Delta H.

Lee Ann Talarico*

Comparison And Analysis Of Pyruvate Decarboxylase Gene Expression In A Gram-Postive Host.

Milind Patel**

Genetic And Biochemical Characterization Of D-Lactate Dehydrogenase From A Secomd Generation Biocatalyst Producing L-(+) Lactic Acid.

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Service and Awards 

Service

Faculty members have been actively involved in several academic service activities. They include:

 Faculty Member

Type of Service

Insitution/Society

James F. Preston, III

 Editorial Board

Journal of Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 1996-2001.

Lonnie O. Ingram

 

Chairman, Fermentation and Biotechnology Division

American Society for Microbiology (Division O), 2000-2001

Symposium Chairman

Soc. of Indust. Microbiol. and Biotechnol., Recent Advances in Fermentation Technology IV,   October 2001

 Fellow

 American Academy of Microbiology, 1998-present

 Society of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2001-present

 Member

 U.S. National Academy of Sciences, 2001-present

 Editorial Board

 Biotechnology Letters 1996-present

Metabolic Engineering 1998-present

 Member, Grant Review Panel

 DOE, USDA, Interagency Metabolic Engineering Initiative

Grant Proposal Reviewer

NSF, NIH, DOE, USDA, several state programs, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research

 Julie A. Maupin-Furlow

 

 Conference Organizer

“Interfacing Microbiology and Biotechnology”, Gainesville on May 17-19, 2001.

President, ASM Southeastern Branch

 American Society for Microbiology, 2002

Madeline E. Rasche

Secretary-Treasurer

Julie A. Maupin-Furlow, Madeline E.Rasche, Henry C. Aldrich

Local Planners

 Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Branch at Gainesville, Florida. Nov 6-9, 2002

James F. Preston, III

Awards Committee Member

Lonnie O. Ingram

Evaluator

Research and Development Program of Cargill Central Research Division. Nov 2002

 James F. Preston, III

 

 

 

 

 

 

Refereed Journal Reviewer  

 

Science

Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Journal of Experimental Microbiology

Carbohydrate Research

Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology

James F. Preston, IIIMadeline E. Rasche, Julie A. Maupin-Furlow

Journal of Bacteriology

Madeline E. Rasche

Archives of Microbiology 

Julie A. Maupin-Furlow

Archaea, 2001 – present.

Molecular Microbiology

Canadian Journal of Microbiology

Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics

FEBS Letters

James F. Preston, III

Member, Faculty Advisory Committee

Vice-President of IFAS, 2002-2004

James F. Preston, III

Member

University Senate, 2002-2004