In the groups of Prof. Dr. Reinhard Hensel (Mikrobiology I, Faculty of Biology) and Prof. Dr. Bettina Siebers (Molecular Enzyme Technology and Biochemistry, Biofilm Centre, Faculty of Chemistry; both Centre for Water and Environmental Research and Centre for Medical Biotechnology) the genome (i.e. genome sequence information) of Thermoproteus tenax has been deciphered recently, in course of an UDE and DFG funded project.
The organism is a member of the third Domain of Life – the Archaea - and is due to its adaptation to extreme environments (86°C, pH 5.6) and its physiological versatility of special interest for biotechnological applications. A special focus of this project was to improve the functional annotation (i.e. the assignment of possible functions) realized by the involvement of numerous experts in the field. The article was published in PLoSone (Siebers et al. 2011, 6 (10), e24222)
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0024222

Fig.: Central metabolism of Thermoproteus tenax as derived from genome sequence information.

The Biofilm Centre proudly presents the Biofilm Centre Annual Report 2011!

The School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering at the Central South University in Changsha, China has appointed Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Sand to guest professor.

Am Montag, 16. Mai, hat Miriam Moritz ihre Promotionsprüfung sehr erfolgreich absolviert und wurde mit dem Thema
„Integration of hygienically relevant bacteria in drinking water biofilms grown on domestic plumbing materials" zum Dr. rer. nat. promoviert.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch vom ganzen Biofilm Centre
Hans-Curt Flemming, Bettina Siebers, Wolfgang Sand

The Biofilm Centre is currently relocating from Campus Duisburg to Campus Essen. The secretariat of the Biofilm Centre and Prof. Flemmings group Aquatic Microbiology have already moved to Essen and are setting up their offices and labs. Prof. Siebers group Molecular Enzyme Technology and Biochemistry and Prof. Sands group Aquatic Biotechnology will follow end of November or end of January, respectively.

Work routine may be delayed temporarily. We are doing our best to bring it back to normal as soon as possible.

Thank you for your understanding.

for the project:
"Investigation of interfacial microbe-metal sulfide interactions in a heap (bio)-leach simulated environment"

Dear Ms Africa

I am pleased to inform you that the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch-Dienst´s Selection Committee, whose honorary members are professors, has considered your application for a scholarship.
DAAD assumes that a beginning of your academic studies is possible as from the 1st October 2010. Before a 4-month language course starting in June 2010 is intended.
I would like to ask you if a start of your scholarship in June (begin of the 4-month preparatory language course) would be possible from your part.
But the scholarship can only be awarded if a German full professor agrees to the allocation of a workplace and academic supervision. Even if he/she has already sent you or us a (preliminary) letter of acceptance, the DAAD has to ask for a confirmation once again whether the letter of acceptance is still valid. In your case we will contact professor Sand asking whether he will supervise you and allocate you a workplace. After a positive answer from him I can continue with the next steps for example issuing your letter of award etc.

"Molecular characterization of biofilm formation processes by bioleaching microorganisms"

Biomining is an industrial process in which leaching microorganisms are used for recovering valuable metals, such as copper or gold, from sulfidic ores. Molecular studies on biofilms formed by these bacteria in minerals such as pyrite (FeS2) are very difficult mainly due to their low growth rates, the presence of ferric iron, sulfur and exopolymeric substances (EPS), which drastically interfere with conventional DNA, RNA and protein extraction methods. Still many biofilm related functions, such as EPS biosynthesis, chemotaxis, competence, motility, protein and expolysaccharides secretion pathways still remain unknown in leaching bacteria. The knowledge about these pathways would allow an improvement of these processes resulting in widespread technological applications (Acid Mine Drainage abatement, enhancement of bioleaching by use of low-grade ores and biocorrosion reduction).
By using molecular tools we study the model organism Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and its biofilm formation process in minerals for i) the transcriptional differences between planktonic and sessile cells at different stages of At. ferrooxidans biofilm formation on pyrite. (In collaboration with Dr. Violaine Bonnefoy, CNRS, France). ii) Proteomics; proteins obtained from biofilm and planktonic cells are purified and analyzed by high resolution mass spectrometry in order to reveal changes in the proteome between both bacterial subpopulations (in collaboration with Dr. Ansgar Poetsch, Ruhr University, Bochum).
Our research also includes testing of Quorum Sensing molecules and analogs in order to identify super activators and inhibitors of the At. ferrooxidans biofilm formation process on sulphur and mineral surfaces (In collaboration with Dr. Nicolas Guiliani, University of Chile).