[Crib-list] Friday, 12/01/2006 -- Computational Research in Boston Seminar SPEAKER: Michael Driscoll (Boston University)

[Shirley Entzminger]

 		COMPUTATIONAL RESEARCH in BOSTON SEMINAR


DATE:		FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2006
TIME:		12:30 PM
LOCATION:	Building 32, Room 144 (Stata Center)

Pizza and beverages will be provided at 12:15 PM.


Title:		INFERENCE OF A GENOME-WIDE REGULATORY NETWORK FOR THE
 		METAL-BREATHING MICROBE SHEWANELLA ONEIDENSIS MR-1


Speaker:	MICHAEL DRISCOLL (Boston University)


ABSTRACT:

Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 is an environmentally ubiquitous, metabolically 
versatile microbe with a broad capacity for the reduction of metals. 
Shewanella's ability to shuttle electrons onto metals -- including arsenic 
and uranium -- has made it a leading candidate for use in microbial fuel 
cells, environmental remediation, and biologically-based sensors.  Though 
the Shewanella genome has been sequenced and many of the enzymes involved 
in electron transport have been identified, little is known about how this 
metabolic machinery is regulated.  To this end, we have designed the first 
Affymetrix microarray for this organism, to observe and its model global 
gene expression.  We have profiled gene expression in hundreds of 
environmental conditions using a fractional factorial experimental design, 
varying nutrients, metallic species, and other factors within known 
physiological ranges.  We have used this expression data to infer the 
first genome-wide regulatory model for Shewanella, and make testable 
predictions about how we might optimize this bacteria for metal reduction 
in real-world applications.

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA  02139
http://www-math.mit.edu/crib

For information on CRiB, contact:

Alan Edelman:  edelman at math.mit.edu
Steven G. Johnson:  stevenj at math.mit.edu
Jeremy Kepner:  kepner at ll.mit.edu