<html>
<font size=6 color="#000080"><b><u>Earth System Initiative
Seminar<br><br>
</u></font><font size=5 color="#FF0000">Tuesday April 13, 12 Noon, 68-181
<br><br>
</font><font size=6 color="#800000">"Cleaning up with
Genomics: Applying Systems Biology to Bioremediation and Energy
Harvesting with Geobacter"<br><br>
</font><font size=5 color="#FF0000">Professor Derek Lovley <br>
</font><font size=4 color="#FF0000">University of Massachusetts,
Amherst<br><br>
</font><i>Geobacter</i> species have the ability to conserve energy to
support growth by coupling the oxidation of organic compounds to the
reduction of insoluble, extracellular electron acceptors such as Fe(III)
oxides and electrodes. <i>Geobacter</i>s are important natural
inhabitants of many sedimentary environments, but are also useful agents
for the bioremediation of subsurface environments contaminated with
organic compounds or radioactive metals. They can also be used to
convert waste organic matter to electricity. Sequencing of the
genomes of several pure cultures of <i>Geobacter</i>s as well as
as-yet-uncultured <i>Geobacters</i> from the subsurface coupled with
functional genomic studies and <i>in silico</i> modeling of
<i>Geobacter</i> physiology is leading to a better understanding of the
functioning of <i>Geobacter</i>s in diverse environments and helping to
optimize bioremediation and energy harvesting with these
organisms.<br><br>
Lunch will be provided.<br><br>
</b><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Matthew Gardner, Ph.D.<br>
Program Administrator<br>
Earth System Initiative, 16-177<br>
Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br>
Cambridge, MA, 02139<br>
617.253.6895<br>
<a href="http://web.mit.edu/esi" eudora="autourl">http://web.mit.edu/esi</a></html>