NOVEMBER 2012
A F F I L I AT E S L E T T E R The official newsletter for FEMS Affiliates
Also in this issue: Publications Page • Gas bubbles in Yeast, Highlight article from FEMS Yeast Research • Fungal infections and bacteria in Solorina, Highlight article from FEMS Microbiology Ecology • New FEMS Journal open for submissions • FEMS Microbiology Reviews is looking for a new Chief Editor Grants Corner • Featured Grantees from the Spanish Society for Microbiology and Hungarian Society for Microbiology • Call for Applications: National and Regional Congresses Grant Society Feature: Croatian Microbiological Society Leipzig, home to the next FEMS Congress Deadlines List of FEMS-sponsored meetings Microbiology Tidbits
Pathogens and Disease Chief Editor Patrik Bavoil could not contain his enthusiasm about this new journal while he sat in front of his computer for our Skype interview. “The excitement is still ongoing. We have taken risks to make improvements from FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology which this journal is replacing, but the potential benefits outweigh the risks,” he explained. He continued to describe Pathogens and Disease as an attractive publishing platform from every corner of research in pathogenesis and every part of the planet because of its scope. “This journal will focus on trends in infectious disease research. There might be an overlap as to the topics we want to publish with other scientific journals. What makes it different from other journals dealing with infectious diseases though is that our articles will not only deal with pathogenesis as studied in the laboratory in idealised systems. Our articles will also deal with pathogenic microbes in their real environment, at the site of infection. No other journal does both,” he added. As a sign that the journal is receiving positive feedback from the scientific community, Dr Bavoil was delighted to share some big names who have already contributed to the journal. www.fems-microbiology.org
Chief Editor Patrik Bavoil invites microbiologists to submit articles to Pathogens and Disease.
“We have received contributions from Europe, America and Asia. These include articles from Bob Hancock, a leading microbiologist from Canada, Feng Yi from the National Academy of Science in China and our very own Jeff Cole (Chief Editor, FEMS Microbiology Letters) from the United Kingdom,” he said. “Moreover, a very important aspect that scientists should consider when contributing to Pathogens and Disease and other FEMS Journals is the fact that FEMS re-invests in science. The money earned from the journals never leave the realms of science. So contribute to us and keep research alive,” he concluded.
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Gas bubbles in yeast This article shows that yeasts produce gas bubbles that fill a significant part of the cell. The missing link between intracellular CO2 production by glycolysis and eventual CO2 release from cells has therefore been resolved. The yeast-bubble phenomenon may serve as a model that will provide a better understanding of the origins and effects of CO2 in biology, food, medicine, physics, as well as the environment. Volume 12, Issue 7, pages 867–869, November 2012 Swart, C. W., Dithebe, K., Pohl, C. H., Swart, H. C., Coetsee, E., van Wyk, P. W.J., Swarts, J. C., Lodolo, E. J. and Kock, J. L.F. (2012), Gas bubble formation in the cytoplasm of a fermenting yeast. FEMS Yeast Research, 12: 867–869. doi: 10.1111/j.1567-1364.12004.x
The FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology journal no longer accepts submissions. Its last issue will appear in December 2012.
Pathogens and Disease, the new journal of FEMS, will be published in 2013.
SUBMIT to Pathogens and Disease TODAY. P U B L I C AT I O N S PA G E
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Fungal infections and bacteria in Solorina The lichen symbiosis allows a selfsustained life under harsh environmental conditions, yet symbiotic integrity can be affected by fungal parasites. Nothing is known about the impact of these biologically diverse and often specific infections on the recently detected bacterial community in lichens. To address this question, the authors studied the arctic–alpine ‘chocolate chip lichen’ Solorina crocea, which is frequently infected by Rhagadostoma lichenicola. The authors sampled healthy and infected lichens at two different sites in the Eastern Alps. Volume 82, Issue 2, pages 472–481, November 2012 Printzen, C., Fernández-Mendoza, F., Muggia, L., Berg, G. and Grube, M. (2012), Alphaproteobacterial communities in geographically distant populations of the lichen Cetraria aculeata. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 82: 316–325. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2012.01358.x
FEMS Microbiology Reviews is looking for a new Chief Editor.
www.fems-microbiology.org
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Lorena Rodriguez Member, Spanish Society for Microbiology Meeting Attended: 22nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Virology, Germany
Gyozo Kajan Member, Hungarian Society for Microbiology Meeting Attended: 10th International Adenovirus Meeting, Sweden G R AN T S CO R N ER
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Gr ant Description The FEMS National and Regional Congresses Grant (NRCG) is meant to provide assistance to support the microbiological congresses of FEMS Member Societies on the national or regional level. FEMS finds it very important to have microbiologists meet under the wings of their local society. The NRCG may be used by the organisers in any way as long as it ensures a successful organisation of the meetings. Annual budget for these grants is € 30 000. The grant amount may vary to between € 1 000 and € 3 000 depending on the number of society members and expected participants at an event. The regulations and application forms are available electronically. Please read them carefully and check the list at the right before contacting the FEMS Central Office. Upon its receipt at the FEMS Central Office, the application is checked for eligibility and completeness. Complete applications are then submitted to the Grants Board. Grants Board formulates its recommendations to the Executive Committee, which then makes the final decision that will be communicated soon thereafter.
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Application Checklist FEMS National and Regional Congresses Grants (NRCG) regulations apply to each application for the FEMS NRCG. The requirements consist of, but are not limited to, the following: ✓ You are a FEMS Member Society organising a national or regional society meeting ✓ Your meeting will be held between 1 January and 30 June 2013 (for meetings between 1 July and 30 December, the deadline is 1 June) ✓ You have read the regulations governing the FEMS National and Regional Congresses Startup grants ✓ You have completed the relevant application form available on the FEMS website ✓ You have provided the general and budgetary information, full programme and list of speakers along with your completed application form ✓ You have been endorsed by the FEMS Delegate of the host FEMS Member Society ✓ You have indicated how you intend to use/ spend this grant After completion of the application form, you may send it to grants@fems-microbiology.org before the deadline of 15 December 2012.
THE FEMS-LWOFF AWARD IS NOW OPEN FOR NOMINATIONS. SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATIONS BEFORE 10 JANUARY 2013. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
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Society Profile Croatian Microbiological Society (CMS) was founded in 1958. It became independent from the Federation of Yugoslav Microbiological Societies in 1991 and a FEMS and IUMS full member in 1992. The Society exists to promote the advancement of research and teaching in all branches of microbiology and immunology as well as to encourage the exchange of scientific information. Since 1992, CMS has grown to approximately 300 members divided into seven sections -- bacteriology, virology, mycology, applied microbiology, immunology, food microbiology and environmental microbiology. Members come mainly from universities, industries, research institutes and public health institutions. The Society is governed by an eleven-member Executive Committee consisting of volunteers directly elected by its members. Activities CMS currently organises at least one international conference a year. From year 2000, 20 international microbiological events have been organised or co-organised by CMS (six congresses, eleven symposia, two summer schools and one workshop).
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The next FEMS supported conference organized by the CMS will be held in Primošten, Croatia in October 2013.
which sparked a great interest among mycologists and mycotoxicologists and will probably have a sequel in 2015. CMS has recently published four books written by its members, as well as two textbooks and two poems. Veterinary Microbiology - Special Bacteriology and Mycology was published in 2005 and Veterinary Clinical Immunology in 2012. Poems Microbes and Fungus, Fung’sling – Webbing of Life written by professor Stjepan Pepeljnjak were published in 2004 and 2008, respectively. These were both translated into several foreign languages. The CMS website was created for the convenience of its members and for the promotion of the Society, microbiology and immunology.
Apart from the Croatian Microbiological Congress with International Participation which is held every four years, the majority of listed international conferences such as the Central European Symposium on Antimicrobial Resistance (CESAR) and Power of Microbes in Industry and Environment, are organised periodically. Numerous associations outside Croatia have been involved in its organisation, which has helped to establish different types of collaboration with microbiological, biotechnological or life science societies from Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey. In 2011, CMS organised an international symposium Power of Fungi and Mycotoxins in Health and Disease S O C I E T Y F E AT U R E
The 34th FEMS Council Meeting hosted by the CMS took place in Dubrovnik (Croatia) on 8 September 2007. Delegates and Executive Board members in front of the Nautika Restaurant.
Text and images by Dr Vera Katalinic-Jankovic Croatian Microbiological Society
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Leipzig is one of the two largest cities in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. It is located south of Berlin, west of Dresden, east of Gotti-ngen and far north of Munich. Included in the list of top 100 most liveable cities in the world, Leipzig has a population of just a bit more than half a million people. Its university is one of Europe’s most established and its botanical garden, one of Germany’s oldest. Big companies such as BMW, DHL, Porsche and Siemens have set-up their businesses in Leipzig. Bachfest Leipzig is one of the city’s most celebrated annual events in memory of Johann Sebastian Bach who worked there as musical director and choirmaster for many years in the 18th century. In 2013, the 5th FEMS Congress will join this event as one of the year’s most important. The 5th FEMS Congress will take place in Congress Center Leipzig (CCL). It is part of Leipziger Messe’s new exhibition and convention centre which was opened in April 1996 and belongs to the Leipzig Trade Fair Group. CCL boasts of state-of-the-art facilities and modern communication systems. Blending these with exciting architecture and stylish design, it sets the stage for an unforgettable event.
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More than the facilities, the CCL is also very accessible with the Leipzig Messe station which is just a 4-minute walk. Along with this magnificent congress area are hotels where you can stay during the 5-day FEMS Congress (21-25 July 2013). About 15 minutes drive south of the CCL is the cultural center of Leipzig wrapped around the market northeast of St. Thomas Church where the famed St. Thomas Boys’ Choir practice their music. Other popular sights include St. Nicholas Church, Old Town Hall, Battle of the Nations Monument, New Town Hall, City-Hochhaus Leipzig, Leipzig Botanical Garden and Auerbachs Keller where the young Goethe ate and drank during his student days. The restaurant also provided the setting in one of the scenes in his play “Faust”. The FEMS Congress will be held in a top-of-theline venue located in a city of culture and music next summer. If you have not decided to go yet, think about this: the weather will be great too. So why wait? Register now. I N I T I AT I V E S
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MICROBIOLOGY TIDBITS
Bacteria Talk to Each Other and Our Cells in the Same Way, Via Molecules Bacteria can talk to each other via molecules they themselves produce. The phenomenon is called quorum sensing, and is important when an infection propagates. Now, researchers at Linköping University in Sweden are showing how bacteria control processes in human cells the same way.
1 December 2012 15 June 2013
FEMS Research Fellowships 15 December 2012 1 June 2013 FEMS National & Regional Congresses Grants
Source: Linköping University
1 March 2013 FEMS Meeting Grants (for meetings to be held in 2014) 1 April 2013 1 September 2013 FEMS Meeting Attendance Grants
FEMS-Sponsored Meetings, Spring 2013
Strange Diet for Methane-Consuming Microorganisms Methane is formed under the absence of oxygen by natural biological and physical processes, e.g. in the sea floor. It is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Thanks to the activity of microorganisms, this gas is inactivated before it reaches the atmosphere and unfolds its harmful effects on Earth’s climate. Researchers from Bremen have now demonstrated that these microorganisms are quite picky about their diet. Source: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Unexpected Bottleneck Identified in Spread of Herpes Simplex Virus New research suggests that just one or two individual herpes virus particles attack a skin cell in the first stage of an outbreak, resulting in a bottleneck in which the infection may be vulnerable to medical treatment.
10 M a r c h 2 013 International Conference on Microbiology Bremen, Germany 2 4 A p r i l 2 013 Biodeterioration of Wood and Wood Products, BWWP 2013 | Tartu, Estonia
Source: Princeton University
2 6 A p r i l 2 013 4th Microbial Genome Maintenance Meeting Oslo, Norway 2 5 M ay 2 013 Molecular Mechanisms of Host -Pathogen Interactions and Virulence in Human Fungal Pathogens - HFP2013 | Paris, France
The FEMS Affiliates Letter is a production of FEMS Central Office
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Tiger Mosquito, Vector of Chikungunya Virus and Dengue Fever, Is More Flighty Than First Thought Female tiger mosquitoes, vectors of the chikungunya virus and of dengue fever, had been thought to mate only once during their short few weeks of life. They are apparently much less faithful than imagined, however. Source: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)
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