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The BacTea Newsletter
Logo Design Contest

The results from the poll have come in and this is now The BacTea Newsletter! Now, we are hoping to have a new wave of submissions for a logo to accompany the name. Rules for entry and submission are avaiable in the Box below. We will keep submissions open through the summer, and will send out a poll to vote for favorites at the beginning of the fall semester. 

File Upload Link: 
https://uwmadison.app.box.com/f/7a55cbbd5e1d4eb38a74996bb7581b9e 

Rules Document:
https://uwmadison.box.com/s/9a5h8xjvorv0wj9p6onoaik8a6rmkrpb 
 Rising Stars
Undergraduate Research Symposium
Microbio 551 students, in collaboration with Professor Kerri Coon’s laboratory, cultured bacteria from the microbiome of several mosquito species and life stages. They have isolated 176 species and identified them via Sanger sequencing. In addition, genomic DNA was successfully isolated from 120 species. These have been sent to the BioTech Center for sequencing. The students presented their results in a poster session on May 5th, or posters from their independent research, outside the Ebling Auditorium. Following the poster session, the undergraduate awards ceremony celebrated the achievements of our students, including two awards for the poster session. 
Mackenzie Koellermeier
Welch Lab
"My research has positively impacted my time here in Madison, and the experience it has provided me will be invaluable in the future."
Kijeong Lee
Wang Lab
"Hi! My undergraduate research has been focused on the effects of prophage activation during excess GTP-induced stress in Bacillus subtilis."
Congratulations to all our poster presenters and to all our Spring 2022 graduates!
Final Thoughts  
from Robin Kurtz
     So, as I am finishing my last semester, I cannot help but have very mixed feelings. I have been affiliated with the Department of Bacteriology for a very long time. Starting as an undergraduate, then graduate student in the Bacteriology Ph.D. program, doing post-doc work with affiliates, and then the last 32+ years as an instructor. 
     When I first interviewed for this position, I was had mixed feelings. I enjoyed research and had a research position I enjoyed research and had a research position lined up in a great lab. However, I went with my gut feeling that teaching in general, and more specifically in this department, was the right choice for me. I have never looked back nor regretted my decision. Being an instructor has been extremely satisfying and rewarding. I thoroughly enjoy teaching microbiology, new developments, and discoveries in the field, and the students themselves who keep us on our toes. It is rewarding to see our students develop as scientists and as individuals. I believe my colleagues and hall-mates have chosen this career for the same reasons as I did. Their longevity and the cohesiveness of the instructional team speak to their satisfaction with their choice of career as well. We have all gone through major changes in our personal lives and it has been fun to see that side of them too. I have had great relationships with the many staff members who really make the labs and department run. I have felt appreciated by the faculty and likewise, appreciate their willingness to help us with our experiments. I also enjoyed working with the graduate students, some of whom will be great instructors. I  was afforded the opportunity to contribute to the department, college, and university, which also allowed me to feel a part of the whole mission of UW-Madison and added enrichment to my work life. 
     I know there are many things I will miss not working here but I know the Instructional program and department will continue to deliver a great educational experience for our undergraduates. It is in great hands. Thank you all!

Best wishes to all,
Robin
Student Perspective:
"
All in a Major" by Addie Gill

The first person wearing a cap and gown and taking pictures in front of the Camp Randall arch this spring shocked me: graduation couldn’t possibly be that soon, right? Now as I look out my apartment window at the stadium, seeing people in graduation gowns and posing for photos is no surprise at all. Spring commencement is, in fact, very soon. 

More than four years ago, I visited campus in the warmth of July for SOAR. I remember very little of it, other than struggling to sleep through emergency sirens and returning a lost button to someone. That weekend seems so very long ago. However, I do remember sitting in an upper floor computer lab of College Library faced with the terrifying task of choosing my courses for my first semester of my undergraduate education.  As I flipped through the packet of information, the SOAR advisors drew a large circle on the white board and divided it into three. “This circle is going to be your next 8 or so semesters at UW-Madison,” they explained. “One third represents your general requirements, one third electives, and one third your major classes.” I sat there in shock, quickly doing the math. One third of my college credits meant I would only take about ten classes specifically in my major. That felt like nothing. How would I be qualified to do anything in four years?

I declared my major in Microbiology by the end of freshman year based on a fondness of immunology from AP Biology in high school. By fall of 2019, I was slogging up the stairs of Ag Hall by 8:50am three times a week to learn from Dr. Christopherson. By the Spring of 2022, I was isolating microbes from mosquitoes in our capstone course. In all of these cases, I was intentionally choosing to learn about microbiology, but somehow the topic kept popping up elsewhere in my studies. While discussing the rhetoric around health, I had a com arts professor bring up the impact of the gut microbiome on mental health. In a Spanish poetry course, my class discussed the importance of communication and how it differentiates human kind from other life forms. We ended up discussing Quorum Sensing, and how even one of the smallest forms of life has the ability to communicate. The connections between our study of microscopic life and other disciplines seems to be everywhere. To some extent, majoring in Microbiology has given me an appreciation for all of the little connections between things that are possible. 

As a seventeen year old, I didn’t think ten classes was enough to know anything. Eight semesters later, I think I’ve proven myself wrong. I absolutely don’t think I know even a fraction of what I could learn, but I do feel more equipped with a strong foundation in microbiology and how it applies to the world. I want to thank all of my professors, instructors, classmates, and friends for all of their support over the past four years and I can’t wait to see everything else I will learn as I leave UW-Madison. 

A Semester in Review
Microbiology Club
The Microbiology club is extremely grateful for an amazing 2021-2022 school year and we would like to extend our warmest congratulations to all graduating seniors! As this semester closes, we want to give a recap of our year.
 
We kicked off this semester by announcing our new club t-shirt design competition. We had many amazing entries but decided on this vibrant, streak plate design by Sarah Matysiak! These shirts will go on sale in Fall of 2022  .
                                                                   
We then began our bi-annual fermentation, where we set out to ferment our own wine. Our club members were very excited for this event, and in a short month we were able to taste our pristine pinot grigio. Below is a photo of our club in the early steps of the fermentation process in Kikkoman Fermentation Laboratory.     
                 

Beyond these social events, we are also a club that focuses on professional connections and community service. This semester we were offered an amazing tour of the EuroFins laboratory. They were very generous to set up this event and give many connections to our club for future career opportunities. Additionally, we took part in UW’s Science Expeditions event where our Events and Outreach Coordinator, Addie Gill, organized an exploration station. This station featured potato agar plates, microscope investigations, and microbe coloring.
 
We want to thank all our club members for an amazing semester. As a senior, I could not imagine a more fun way to spend my last semester than with all of you. We also want to thank all the amazing faculty and staff that helped us plan and execute these events. We couldn’t pull this off without you!
 
Happy summer,
 
Anna Lippert
Microbiology Club Co-President
Additionally, if anyone is interested in any merchandise we have, please contact our email: uwmicrob@gmail.com!
Social Media:
Twitter:
@MadisonMicrobio
Instagram: @MicrobioClubUWMadison

DEI Announcements

Departmental Climate Survey Reminder

Dear Department of Bacteriology members,

The Department of Bacteriology is committed to creating a community where every person feels safe, valued, and set up for success. This Bacteriology Climate Survey aims to better understand personal experiences in the Department of Bacteriology. The survey contains questions about your experiences with students, advisor(s), your lab, and the department. There are also some questions about how your experiences as a department member affect your personal life. We hope to use your responses to inform efforts to make the Department of Bacteriology more inclusive, welcoming, and supportive. The survey is confidential and should take no more than 15 minutes to complete. The results of this survey will be extremely useful to the chair and the departmental Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee to prioritize future efforts on these DEI topics. The aggregated data from this survey will be available to all department members on the Microbial Sciences Building portal (https://msb.wisc.edu/).

The link to the climate survey can be accessed through the email sent by Jean-Michel Ané to the department via MailBlast on May 3.

Have comments, questions, concerns, or ideas related to DEI in the Department? Send us an email at diversity@bact.wisc.edu, or use our anonymous submission box on our webpage.

Awards and Fellowships
 
2022 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program
Congratulations to our 2022 NSF GRFP recipients!
Holly Nichols, Coon Lab 
Damayanti Rodriguez-Ramos, Majumder Lab
Kathryn Schmidt, McMahon Lab
 
2022 Bacteriology Student Awards
 
PhD and Post Doc student fellowships & awards
  • William H. Peterson Predoctoral Fellowship - Andrew Steinberger, Suen Lab
  • Ira L. Baldwin Distinguished Predoctoral Fellowship - Patricia Tran, McMahon Lab
  • Michael and Winona Foster Graduate Student Fellowship - Dasol Choi, Yu Lab
  • Chair's Award - Charlotte Francoeur, Currie Lab
  • Herman A. Smythe Award - Edna Chaing, Suen Lab
  • Sigrid Leirmo Memorial Award - Joanna Hou, Majumder Lab
  • Philipp and Vera Gerhardt Travel Award - Evrim Fer, Kaçar Lab
  • Bacteriology Travel Awards
    • Courtney Deblois, Suen Lab
    • Holly Nichols, Coon Lab
    • Joseph Skarlupka, Suen Lab
    • Andrew Sommer, Coon Lab
    • Ibrahim Zuniga Chaves, Suen Lab
MS student awards
  • Masters Student High Achievement Award - Erik Myers, Kaspar Lab
  • Masters Student Travel Awards
    • Ana Cruz, Hershey Lab
    • Andrew Scheftgen, Suen Lab
Undergraduate student awards
  • Philipp and Vera Gerhardt Undergraduate Excellence Award - Jeremy Fleck, Brandt Lab
  • Ronald W. Hinsdill Microbiology High Achievement Award - Anna Lippert, Deming Lab
  • Ronald W. Hinsdill Microbiology High Achievement Award (runner-up) - Misa Kawamitsu, Neumann Lab
  • Karl Leemkuil Memorial Award - Dasol Im, Yu Lab
  • Department of Bacteriology Underrepresented Minority Undergraduate Fellowship - Karinda De La Cruz
  • Jack L. Pate Undergraduate Travel Award - Erick Nilsen, Peters Lab
  • Microbiology Club Travel Award - Stevie Ward, Glass Lab
  • Microbio 551 Poster Award - Capstone Project in Class
    • Hannah Christianson
    • Arman Kamrani
    • Nicole Klein
    • Dianne Tebbe
  • Microbio 551 Poster Award - Capstone Project in Lab
    • Evan Christler
    • Timothy Davenport
    • Wanjing Chen
    • Vincent Watring

Faculty Meeting Minutes
Minutes for the September - March faculty meetings, as well as those for previous years, are available in the Bacteriology portal. 
 
Recent Publications
4/1/22 – present
  • Kieft K, Adams A, Salamzade R, Kalan L, Anantharaman K. vRhyme enables binning of viral genomes from metagenomes. Nucleic acids research Pubmed
  • Sephus CD, Fer E, Garcia AK, Adam ZR, Schwieterman EW, Kaçar B. Earliest photic zone niches probed by ancestral microbial rhodopsins. Molecular biology and evolution Pubmed
  • Wang G, Ran H, Fan J, Keller NP, Liu Z, Wu F, Yin WB. Fungal-fungal cocultivation leads to widespread secondary metabolite alteration requiring the partial loss-of-function VeA1 protein. Science advances Pubmed
  • Thapa V, Keller NP, Roossinck MJ. Evaluation of virus-free and wild-type isolates of Pseudogmnoascus destructans using a porcine ear model. mSphere Pubmed
  • Kędzior M, Garcia AK, Li M, Taton A, Adam ZR, Young JN, Kaçar B. Resurrected Rubisco suggests uniform carbon isotope signatures over geologic time. Cell reports Pubmed
  • Kieft K, Anantharaman K. Deciphering active prophages from metagenomes. mSystems Pubmed
  • Lewin GR, Davis NM, McDonald BR, Book AJ, Chevrette MG, Suh S, Boll A, Currie CR. Long-term cellulose enrichment selects for highly cellulolytic consortia and competition for public goods. mSystems  Pubmed
  • Petriglieri F, Singleton CM, Kondrotaite Z, Dueholm MKD, McDaniel EA, McMahon KD, Nielsen PH. Reevaluation of the phylogenetic diversity and global distribution of the genus "Candidatus Accumulibacter". mSystems Pubmed
  • Scarborough MJ, Myers KS, Fortney NW, Ingle AT, Donohue TJ, Noguera DR. Metagenome-assembled genomes from a microbiome converting xylose to medium-chain carboxylic acids. Microbiology resource announcements Pubmed
  • Wolf PG, Cowley ES, Breister A, Matatov S, Lucio L, Polak P, Ridlon JM, Gaskins HR, Anantharaman K. Diversity and distribution of sulfur metabolic genes in the human gut microbiome and their association with colorectal cancer. Microbiome Pubmed 
  • Linz AM, Ma Y, Scholz S, Noguera DR, Donohue TJ. iNovo479: metabolic modeling provides a roadmap to optimize bioproduct yield from deconstructed lignin aromatics by Novosphingobium aromaticivorans. Metabolites Pubmed
  • Özçam M, Oh JH, Tocmo R, Acharya D, Zhang S, Astmann TJ, Heggen M, Ruiz-Ramírez S, Li F, Cheng CC, Vivas E, Rey FE, Claesen J, Bugni TS, Walter J, van Pijkeren JP. A secondary metabolite drives intraspecies antagonism in a gut symbiont that is inhibited by cell-wall acetylation. Cell host & microbe Pubmed
  • Coon KL, Hegde S, Hughes GL. Interspecies microbiome transplantation recapitulates microbial acquisition in mosquitoes. Microbiome Pubmed
  • Venkatesh N, Greco C, Drott MT, Koss MJ, Ludwikoski I, Keller NM, Keller NP. Bacterial hitchhikers derive benefits from fungal housing. Current biology Pubmed
  • Cao X, Boyaci H, Chen J, Bao Y, Landick R, Campbell EA. Basis of narrow-spectrum activity of fidaxomicin on Clostridioides difficile. Nature Pubmed
  • Heil JA, Wolock CJ, Pierce NE, Pringle A, Bittleston LS. Sarracenia pitcher plant-associated microbial communities differ primarily by host species across a longitudinal gradient. Environmental microbiology Pubmed
  • Li C, Humayun M, Walker GM, Park KY, Connors B, Feng J, Pellitteri Hahn MC, Scarlett CO, Li J, Feng Y, Clark RL, Hefti H, Schrope J, Venturelli OS, Beebe DJ. Under-oil autonomously regulated oxygen microenvironments: a goldilocks principle-based approach for microscale cell culture. Advanced science Pubmed
  • Raabis SM, Holschbach CL, Skarlupka JH, Suen G, Ollivett TL. Assessing the effects of experimental bacterial challenge with Pasteurella multocida and ampicillin on the respiratory microbiota of pre-weaned Holstein calves. Veterinary microbiology Pubmed
  • Irving TB, Chakraborty S, Ivanov S, Schultze M, Mysore KS, Harrison MJ, Ané JM. KIN3 impacts arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis and promotes fungal colonisation in Medicago truncatula. The plant journal Pubmed
  • Khana DB, Callaghan MM, Amador-Noguez D. Novel computational and experimental approaches for investigating the thermodynamics of metabolic networks. Current opinion in microbiology Pubmed 
  • Pereira WJ, Knaack S, Chakraborty S, Conde D, Folk RA, Triozzi PM, Balmant KM, Dervinis C, Schmidt HW, Ané JM, Roy S, Kirst M. Functional and comparative genomics reveals conserved noncoding sequences in the nitrogen-fixing clade. The new phytologist Pubmed

Department Events
  • This year's Kenneth B. Raper Symposium will take place on September 6, 2022.
  • The Distinguished Lectures in Microbiology seminar series occurs every Thursday at 3:30 PM, from September until May, and will resume in the fall.
  • Bacteriology Faculty Meetings occur monthly on the second Friday of each month at 2:00 PM in the Faculty Meeting Room, from September until May, and will resume in the fall. Department faculty meetings are open meetings. 
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