Quarterly Newsletter of the Belgian Society for Microbiology Issue no. 12, June 2016 Contents

Welcome by the president of BSM Page 1 News from FEMS Page 2 Annual Meeting 2016 Page 3 Membership Page 6 Book announcement Page 7 PhD Corner Page 9 Announcement of microbiology meetings Page 13 Job offer Page 16 Nominations New BSM Board Members Page 17 Composition of the BSM Board Page 19

Welcome

Dear microbiologist,

I am pleased to present this BSM Newsletter, albeit somewhat later than expected, because we wanted to include all details for the forthcoming annual meeting. This meeting will take place on October 28, 2016 in Brussels (Academy Palace) and will be jointly organized with the Belgian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

The topic of the meeting is Microbiome and Host Metabolism. Several experts in the field have accepted to give an overview in specific domains of this new and exciting topic. For more details of the program and the speakers, see p 3.

We take the opportunity of this Newsletter to remind you to renew your BSM membership or join BSM as a new member. The membership gives free access to the BSM organized events, and reductions for attending BSM sponsored meetings. Moreover, by joining BSM, you are also member of the Federation of the European Microbiological Societies, which provides various grants. More details and deadlines are described on p 6. The membership registration form can be found on the BSM Website: http://www.belsocmicrobio.be/BSM/Home.html. If you wish to verify whether you already paid your membership fee, please contact BSM secretariat. We are currently working on a system by which members can check themselves their payment status at any time.

During the lunch break at the Annual Symposium we will have a meeting of the General Assembly of the Society. One of the issues to be submitted for approval by the members will be the new composition of the Executive Board. The change was necessary in order to comply with the Statutes of the Society. These Statutes can be found on the BSM website. Details about nominations of new board members can be found on p 15. 1 Jef Anné, President BSM News from FEMS The 7th Congress of European Microbiologists is one of the leading meetings of its kind and will connect thousands of microbiologists from around the world. FEMS 2017 will feature symposia and workshops led by prominent scientists in their respective fields. The goal of this international gathering is to provide a comprehensive forum for the exploration and FEMS is the Federation of European discussion of various topics in Microbiological Societies, and its microbiology. FEMS 2017 will be held main mission is to advance and unify 9-13 July 2017 in Valencia, Spain. microbiology knowledge. FEMS brings together 53 member societies from Call for FEMS grants applications 36 European countries, covering over Members of FEMS Member Societies 30000 microbiologists. Belgium is can apply for research fellowships represented in FEMS by BSM, and our and/or support when organizing a FEMS delegate is Paul Cos meeting. (UAntwerpen). FEMS Research Grants. Applicants should be active microbiologists, having At the 6th Congress of European obtained their highest degree less than Microbiologists (FEMS 2015) 7-11 five years prior to the application June 2015 in Maastricht, one of the deadline date or be a PhD student. They workshops was Scientific should be a member of a FEMS Publications explained. The Member Society, at least one year presentations of this workshop are before applying and be a resident in a available for download here. European country or a country that has a FEMS member. Other grants are: FEMS Meeting Attendance Grants; FEMS Meeting Grants; FEMS National & Regional Congresses Grants. For more information how to apply for these grants, go to the FEMS website2 (http://www.fems-microbiology.org). BSM Annual Meeting 2016 - Microbiome and Host Metabolism

28 October 2016, Academy Palace, Hertogsstraat, 1, Rue Ducale, 1000 Brussels

This contact forum, with the support of the The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium, is jointly organized by BSM and the Belgian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the National Committees of Microbiology and of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

3 BSM Annual Meeting 2016 - Microbiome and Host Metabolism 28 October 2016, Academy Palace, Hertogsstraat, 1, Rue Ducale, 1000 Brussels

Patrice D. Cani is researcher from the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research, group leader in the Metabolism and Nutrition lab, and Vice-President of the Louvain Drug Research Institute from the UCL, Brussels, Belgium. He is co-director of the European Associated Laboratory: “NeuroMicrobiota” (INSERM, Toulouse, France/UCL). He is dietitian (1998), earned one M.Sc. in Nutrition (2000) and a second M.Sc. in Health Sciences and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences (2005). Dr. Cani is WELBIO investigator and recipient of prestigious grants ERC Starting Grant 2013 (ENIGMO); the prize “Baillet Latour Grant for Medical Research 2015”, as well as the International Prize of Physiology Lucien Dautrebande. He is author and co- author of more than 155 scientific research publications, he as an h-index of 50 (citations >11500). He is member of several international associations, member of the Alumni College from the Royal Belgian Academy of Sciences and founding member of the Belgian Nutrition Society.

Tom Van de Wiele obtained a PhD in Applied Biological Sciences from Ghent University with research stays at the University of Saskatchewan and McGill University. As associate professor he currently holds a chair in Host Microbe Interaction Technology at the Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET) at Ghent University, Belgium. His primary research interests deal with the study of the gut microbiome, its metabolic potency, the interactions with the host and the development of methods to steer the gut microbiome in a health- promoting direction. His group is broadly expertised in the in vitro simulation of gastrointestinal digestive processes and the mucosal microenvironment. The research of Tom Van de Wiele has resulted in a scientific output of more than 150 peer-reviewed international publications (h-index 29) and the participation as invited speaker in many international conferences. In addition, the gastrointestinal microbiological expertise has resulted in the creation of a spin-off company, ProDigest, which delivers service-based research for the food, feed and pharmaceutical industry.

Willem M. de Vos obtained a PhD at Groningen University, partly done at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin. He is over 25 years Professor at Wageningen University, holds there the Chair of Microbiology, and also serves as Professor of Human Microbiomics at the Faculty of Medicine in Helsinki. He has supervised >100 PhD students, published >500 papers, and has presently an ISI h-index >100 (GS >120). His research aims to understand and exploit microbes using molecular, (meta)genomics and systems approaches. His current interest is focused on the human intestinal tract microbiota and its relation with health and disease. BSM Annual Meeting 2016 - Microbiome and Host Metabolism 28 October 2016, Academy Palace, Hertogsstraat, 1, Rue Ducale, 1000 Brussels

Gabriele Berg obtained her diploma in biology (ecology) from Rostock University (Germany) in 1986 and her Ph.D. degree in microbiology from the same university. She spent one year (1987) at the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität in Greifswald to study biotechnology. In 2003 she got a Heisenberg grant from the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and became full professor in environmental biotechnology at Graz University of Technology (Austria) in 2005. Her research interests are focused on plant-associated microorganisms, especially to understand their structure, function and interaction with plants and pathogens. Another focus is to translate the results into new biotechnological concepts for our environment, e.g. for biological control of plant and human pathogens. Results have published in more than 200 peer-reviewed papers and in several patents (h-index 42). Within ACIB Gabriele Berg is responsible for metagenomics and new bioprocesses. https://scholar.google.at/citations?user=TeMrTQQAAAAJ&hl=de

Jelle Matthijnssens obtained a BOF/ZAP position at the KULeuven in 2015 in the department of Microbiology and Immunology and is the head of the Laboratory of Viral Metagenomics. He is chairman of the Rotavirus Classification Working Group and the Study Group Reoviridae of the ICTV. He is author of 118 papers , has a H-index of 31 and was cited more than 4200 times. His research focusses on the viral component of the microbiome, “the virome”, using shotgun based metagenomics approaches. A sample treatment procedure to efficiently purify viral particles for viral metagenomics was fully optimized and is now being applied in various studies on: 1) the gut virome/microbiome recruitment dynamics during the first year of life of healthy infants, 2) the role of the gut virome in human disease such as IBD and various liver disorders, 3) the risk of zoonotic bat viruses to cause gastroenteritis in humans in Cameroon, 4) identification of known and novel mosquito-borne arbovirus, and 5) the role of the honeybee (Apis mellifera) virome in winter loss.

Eugene Rosenberg received his BSc in chemistry at UCLA and PhD in biochemistry at Columbia University studying the chemical structures of bacterial capsules. After postdoctoral research with Lord Todd on DNA chemistry in Cambridge, England, he joined the Microbiology Department at UCLA, becoming an Associate Professor in 1967. In 1970, he accepted the position of Professor of Microbiology at Tel Aviv University, where he has remained, becoming Professor Emeritus in 2004. He has published over 270 articles , 11 books and 15 patents. His research has included Myxobacteriology, petroleum bioremediation and bioemulsifiers, coral microbiology and the role of microbes in the evolution of animals and plants. Rosenberg has received several awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, Chair of Microbiology, Lowell Lecturer in Biotechnology, Pan Lab Award, Fogarty International Scholar, NIH and the prestigious Proctor & Gamble Award of the ASM in Environmental Microbiology.

Dr. Ilana Zilber-Rosenberg received her BSc in Biology at the Hebrew University, MSc in Biochemistry and PhD in Microbiology at Tel Aviv University, studying the adhesion of bacteria to hydrocarbons. After performing postdoctoral research on proteins of the human red blood cell membrane, she studied nutritional science, receiving a BSc in Nutrition and a certification as a clinical nutritionist. She later received a BSS in social sciences. She worked as nutritionist in public health, as a private nutritionist, managed a mid-life women center and advised a water company. Zilber-Rosenberg has published over 30 papers and a text book on nutrition. Recently, she has been working together with Prof. Rosenberg on the hologenome concept of evolution. Membership & registration for the annual symposium

Members paying before 15/07 owe only € 25 and will get free access to the annual symposium and other events organized by BSM. They can also register at reduced rates for certain events co- sponsored by BSM.

Later payments for symposium pre-registration or for membership will be €30.

On-site registration fee will be €35.

To renew your membership and to register for the symposium visit the BSM website www.belsocmicrobio.be

6

Announcement of book on Cupriavidus metallidurans

We would like to inform you about a book publication (Springerbriefs collection), written by BSM members, related to the metal-resistant bacterium Cupriavidus metallidurans (see the book covers enclosed). This book in two volumes evokes 40 years of research carried out in Belgium (SCK•CEN, Universities of Liège, Mons, Bruxelles and Gent) as well as in many other countries on bacteria isolated from industrial biotopes. It puts some emphasis on the microbiological patrimony of the industrial revolution in Belgium and in Europe and its rewards for evolutionary studies and environmental applications.

Max Mergeay & Rob Van Houdt, Unit of Microbiology, Belgian Nuclear Research Centre Boeretang 200, B-2400 MOL

8 PhD Corner - Sven Vekeman (UGent)

Methanotrophic microbiomes from North Sea sediment

Aerobic methane oxidizing bacteria (MOB) form an References important biological sink in marine ecosystems. Despite their importance in these ecosystems, only a Heylen K, Hoefman S, Vekeman B, Peiren J, De Vos P limited amount of ex situ cultures is currently (2011). Safeguarding Bacterial Resources promotes available. This study focused on designing a large- Biotechnological Innovation. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 94(3), 565-574. scale enrichment and isolation strategy to retrieve a maximal aerobic MOB diversity from marine sediments. Vekeman B, Hoefman S, De Vos P, Spieck E, Heylen K (2013). A generally applicable cryopreservation method of The use of adhesion material seemed to significantly nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 36(8):579- positively influence methane oxidation and might 584 thus facilitate the cultivation and subsequent enrichment of members of this functional guild. The Vekeman B, Kerckhof F-M, Cremers G, De Vos P, exact mechanism of this positive effect needs further Vandamme P, Boon N, Op den Camp H.J.M, Heylen K. investigation but might be the facilitation of (2016). Methane oxidation and differential growth methane, carbon dioxide and oxygen gradients in responses suggest extreme niche specialization in marine addition to adhesion. Using these insights, a large methylotrophic Methyloceanibacter. Submitted to scale isolation strategy was performed using environmental microbiology, acceptance upon major sediment from six stations in the North Sea along a revisions. transect from estuary to open sea, and resulted in 204 MOB enrichment cultures. Performing a targeted Vekeman B, Speth D, Wille J, Cremers G, De Vos P, Op den isolation using methanol as carbon source led to an Camp H.J.M, Heylen K. (2016). Genome characteristics of axenic culture of Methyloceanibacter methanicus, two novel Type I methanotrophs enriched from North Sea representing the first MOB found in an exclusively sediments containing exclusively a lanthanide-dependent methylotrophic genus, the first marine type II MOB XoxF5-type methanol dehydrogenase. Submitted to and only the third taxon in which solely sMMO is Microbial ecology, acceptance upon minor revisions responsible for methane oxidation. In addition, three closely related novel strict methylotrophic species, Vekeman B, Dumolin C, De Vos P, Heylen K. (2016) Factors M. superfactum, M. stevinii, M. marginalis, were controlling methane oxidation in marine ecosystems: the obtained, exemplifying an extreme niche effect of adhesion material and gas composition. differentiation with a wide ecotypic variation related Submitted to Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. to growth kinetics on methanol, and preferences for nitrogen, pH, temperature and salt. Vekeman B. & Heylen K., (in press). Preservation of microbial pure cultures and mixed communities, In conclusion, marine MOBs are notoriously difficult Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology Protocols: isolation to cultivate and isolate. Despite numerous attempts and cultivation, in press (McGenity TJ, Timmis KN & only one axenic culture from the oxygenated zones of Nogales B, eds.). Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg. DOI: North Sea sediments could be obtained, in addition 10.1007/8623_2015_51 to over 200 enrichment cultures. 9 PhD Corner - Sandra Condori (SCK-CEN)

The quorum sensing system of photosynthetic Rhodospirillum rubrum

MELiSSA is a regenerative recycling system that produces oxygen, water and food for long haul space flights, which includes 5 compartments of microorganisms and plants. Rhodospirillum rubrum S1H colonizes compartment 2 and has a key role in the degradation of the organic waste, metabolizing mainly volatile fatty acids coming from compartment 1 using external light as energy source and where biofilm formation should be avoided. In nature, quorum sensing (QS) helps bacteria to overcome environmental fluctuations such as light availability, nutrient supply and temperature change. Through QS, bacteria can control expression of target The MELiSSA loop concept (courtesy of ESA). genes and mount a co-operative response like biofilm formation. Bioinformatics analysis revealed genes homologous to the well-known QS system luxIR, in the genome of R. rubrum. Also a second potential AHLs synthase that belongs to the HdtS family, which is not related to LuxI protein family, was identified. The gene Rru_A3396 (named rruI), coding for a putative acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) synthase enzyme, was knocked out giving rise to a R. rubrum QS-silent mutant named M68. Phenotypic, transcriptomic and proteomic analysis of R. rubrum S1H (wild type, WT) Swimming test (Condori et al., Res. Microbiol. 2016). and M68 showed that QS system controls directly or indirectly the biosynthesis of photosynthetic pigments, swimming motility, chemotaxis, carbon metabolism and other cellular functions such as amino acids uptake. Regarding the relationship between QS and biofilm formation, our results showed that QS promotes biofilm formation under a low shear environment. Currently the use of Genetically Modified Organisms within the MELiSSA loop is prohibited. Nevertheless, the use of a QS-silent mutant in the MELiSSA loop might be a better choice compared to the addition of external biofilm-disrupting compounds that could R. rubrum S1H biofilm and live-dead staining have a negative impact on the following bioreactors (Condori et al., in preparation). 10 including compartment 3 where the nitrifying community needs to grow as a biofilm. PhD Corner - Helen Decleyre (UGent)

Functional diversity of dissimilatory nitrate reducers in estuarine sediments

Helen Decleyre (who holds a MSc degree in Biology) The aims of this work were to study (i) the diversity carried out her PhD studies in the Laboratory of of the total bacterial and denitrifier community in Microbiology of Ghent University (Faculty of Westerschelde estuarine sediments and the effect of Sciences). Her promotor was prof. Anne Willems and microphytobenthos presence on the community, (ii) co-promotor Dr. Kim Heylen). The work was the diversity of whole genome-derived NirK performed in the framework of a UGent Special sequences and the diversity of gene inventories for Research Fund GOA project. She obtained her PhD dissimilatory nitrogen cycling present within diverse degree in Biotechnology on 23 November 2015. NirK-type denitrifiers and (iii) the relative importance of distinct nitrate removing pathways within Human activities have altered the Earth’s nitrogen estuarine sediments over a short distance. cycle substantially over the past century. The rate of terrestrial nitrogen input has more than doubled, For the first aim, high-throughput sequencing was mostly through the increased use of fossil fuels and combined with the quantitative assessment of the agricultural fertilizers. These fertilizers also contribute total bacterial community within estuarine to the increase of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide sediments. This revealed a disproportional tenfold (N2O) in the atmosphere, contributing to ozone increase in bacteria when MPB (microphytobenthos) destruction and global warming. Increased inputs of biomass doubled. Unexpectedly, no significant fixed nitrogen through agriculture run off into rivers differences in total bacterial community structure and estuaries also impact more distant marine were observed. Similar results were obtained for ecosystems. Excess nitrogen in estuaries and coastal both nirK and nirS denitrifying guilds indicating that areas is implicated in (i) eutrophication that can there is no competition for nitrate between generate excessive biochemical oxygen demands denitrifiers and MPB which probably acts as a general resulting in hypoxic zones, and (ii) promotion of determinant of estuarine bacterial communities harmful algal blooms. (Decleyre et al. 2015a).

Until recently, denitrification was considered the For our second aim, driven by the generally main nitrate removing process present in estuarine acknowledged limitations of nirK primer coverage, an environments. Increasing evidence indicates, in-depth analysis of a taxonomically diverse set of however, that dissimilatory nitrate/nitrite reduction full-length NirK sequences was performed. Previously to ammonium (DNRA) rivals denitrification as an observed phylogenetic division of NirK into two important nitrate removing pathway. Denitrification distinct clades was confirmed. The enormous results in nitrogen loss while DNRA retains nitrogen taxonomic and structural diversity of clade II was in the system as ammonium which can be oxidized striking and implies that nirK sequence divergence back to nitrate. The main bacterial players involved in will remain a challenge for primer design, even for these processes, their ecophysiology and how these clade or taxon-specific primers. Evaluation of the processes relate in estuarine systems remain, dissimilatory nitrate reducing genes present in the however, largely unknown. genomes of diverse NirK-type denitrifiers demonstrated that 67% contained both pathways. PhD Corner - - Helen Decleyre (UGent) (continued)

Thus, the simultaneous presence of the References denitrification and the DNRA pathway is more widespread than previously thought (Decleyre et al. Decleyre H., K. Heylen, K. Sabbe, B. Tytgat, D. Deforce, F. Van 2016). Niewerburgh, C. Van Colen, A. Willems. 2015a. A doubling of microphytobenthos biomass coincides with a tenfold increase in denitrifier and total bacterial abundances in In the past, denitrification was considered to be the intertidal sediments of a temperate estuary. PLoS One 10: main ecosystem process removing reactive nitrogen e0126583 (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0126583) from the estuarine ecosystem. However, recent Decleyre, H., K. Heylen, C. Van Colen, A. Willems. 2015b. reports indicate DNRA may be of equal importance. Dissimilatory nitrogen reduction in intertidal sediments of a Yet, DNRA has been underexplored for the last temperate estuary: small scale heterogeneity and novel decades and the key organisms carrying out the nitrate-to-ammonium reducers. Frontiers in Microbiology, process in marine environments are largely unknown. Section Aquatic Microbiology, 6:1124. Therefore, thirdly, nitrogen reduction potentials were (doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.01124) determined in sediments of the Paulina polder Decleyre H., K. Heylen, B. Tytgat, A. Willems. 2016. Highly mudflat (Westerschelde estuary). We observed small diverse nirK genes comprise two major clades that harbour scale heterogeneity with high variability in dominant substantial ammonium-producing denitrifiers. BMC nitrogen removing processes over a short distance Genomics 17:155. (doi: 10.1186/s12864-016-2465-0) (1.6 m). In addition, novel marine nitrate-to- ammonium reducers from Thalassospira, Celeribacter and Halomonas, were isolated, with DNRA phenotype reconfirmed through nrfA gene amplification. These may represent valuable alternatives to the current model organisms (Decleyre et al. 2015b).

This PhD thesis illustrates that both denitrification and DNRA are important nitrate removing processes in a temperate estuarine ecosystem. Nevertheless, knowledge on environmental parameters (both physico-chemistry and benthic organisms) driving denitrification and DNRA processes and shaping the communities, is still limited. Data from this study, together with the novel estuarine DNRA strains, can be used as a starting point for further in-depth research into the parameters driving each process in such systems. Schedule of the third BIBR meeting in Liège, on 8th September 2016 Location : ULg Sart Tilman. Exèdre Dick Annegarn, building B8.

8h45 - 9h30 : Welcome

9h30 - 10h20 : Plenary lecture by Dr Hans Steenackers (Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, Heverlee, Belgium)-Evolution in biofilm populations with special attention to antibiotic resistance development

10h20 - 10h35 : Coffee break

10h35 – 10h45 : Véronique Fontaine and Franck Meyer (ULB) : Presentation of COST actions and opportunities for PhD students of short term scientific missions (STSM) and summer schools.

10h45 - 12h15 : Talks of invited speakers (3 x 30 min): •Dennis Claessen University of Leiden, The Netherlands. Constructing a biofilm the Streptomyces way ! •Felice Mastroleo (SCK-CEN): Unraveling the quorum sensing system of the photosynthetic alphaproteobacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum •Frank Delvigne (ULg): New fermentation technologies based on the utilization of biofilms

12h15 - 13h00 : Lunch break

13h00 - 14h00 : Poster session

14h00 - 14h40 : Talks of invited speakers (2 x 20 min) •Olivier Henriet (UCL): Granular biofilms in waste water plants •Thomas Vanzieleghem (OneLIFE S.A, Louvain-La-Neuve): Biofilm in endoscopes : can adequate cleaning prevent them from forming?

14h40 - 15h40 : Oral presentations – Session I (4 x 15 min)

15h40 -16h00 : Coffee break

16h00-17h00 : Oral presentations – Session II (4 x 15 min)

17h00 - 17h30 : General discussion

The oral and the poster sessions are open to all attendees who submit an abstract. Abstracts will be selected either for oral or poster presentation. Attendees will be notified of acceptance by e-mail. Participation to the meeting is free of charge but registration is mandatory. 13 14 Other microbiology meetings

Microbial Genomics and Metagenomics in Human Health and Disease Bielefeld (Germany) 4-6 July 2016 http://www.cebitec.uni-bielefeld.de/index.php/events/conferences/459-2016-04-07-11th- cebitec-symposium

MEWE and Biofilms IWA Specialist Conference Copenhagen (Denmark) 4-7 September 2016 http://www.mewe2016.org/

3rd Innovative Approaches for Identification of Antiviral Agents Summer School Pula (CA), Sardinia, Italy September 28th - October 3rd 2016 http://people.unica.it/iaaass/

Joint ESGB/EPASG Meeting “Antimicrobial resistance in biofilms and options for treatment” Gent (Belgium) 5-7 October 2016 http://www.biofilmresistance.be Reduced registration fees until 15 July! Contact Tom Coenye ([email protected] for more information)

6th European Congress of Virology Hamburg (Germany) 19-22 October 2016 http://www.eurovirology2016.eu/ Reduced registration fees until 31July!

15 Opportunity for PhD student at SCK-CEN MIND – Microbiology in Nuclear waste Disposal

The Microbiology In Nuclear waste Disposal (MIND) programme (funded by EC) is a unique multidisciplinary project which brings together a broad range of leading research institutions and stakeholders in the field of radioactive waste disposal. The aim of the three main working groups and work packages of the project is to investigate and to communicate on the role of microbiological processes in the geological disposal of intermediate and high level radioactive waste, and thus to contribute to a more complete and realistic safety case.

WP 1: ILW Organic Polymer Degradation Long-lived intermediate level waste (ILW) requiring geological disposal can include a variety of organic wastes or encapsulants. These organics provide an energy and carbon source with the potential to fuel microbiological processes in ILW waste packages and in the repository.

WP 2: HLW Waste Form Degradation The metal, concrete and clay barriers in high level waste (HLW) disposal concepts are engineered barrier systems (EBS) and are susceptible to deterioration processes. Possible microbial processes are metal corrosion, illitization of smectite clay minerals and degradation of concrete.

WP 3: Evaluating and Sharing the Knowledge Results obtained from WP1 and WP2 will be ensured of proper contextualization, while remaining key topics will be extracted by maintaining an active dialogue with stakeholders. The knowledge will be distributed to a broad audience, taking into account conceptualisation and perception issues.

PhD opportunity @ SCK•CEN, Mol (Belgium) The aim of this project is to unravel the impact of microbial processes on cement in repository-like conditions and on bitumen (derivatives) at a high, cement-derived, pH. The expected outcome of both parts of the project is a detailed characterisation of microbial community dynamics and of the process kinetics, end-products and boundary conditions of those microbial metabolisms acting specifically on cementitious repository components and on bitumen (derivatives).

This PhD project will be part of the international MIND project. The PhD candidate will have ample opportunity to exchange experiences and samples with European colleagues, to relate the lab scale experiments to complementary in situ experiments and to follow the first steps towards the validation of the experimental results towards modelling and performance assessment. More information about the MIND project and PHD application can be found at following websites: http://www.mind15.eu/news/mind-microbiology-in-nuclear-waste-disposal/ http://academy.sckcen.be/en/Your_thesis_internship/AllTopics/Microbial-processes-in-geological- disposal-of-radioactive-waste-1045 Nominations BSM New Board Members

Xavier De Bolle Master thesis in yeast genetics in 1990 PhD thesis in protein 3D structure and biochemistry in 1995 Post-doc at the Moxon lab in Oxford in 1998 Professor at UNamur since 1999 ASM Ambassador for Belgium Main research activity : fundamental biology of Brucella abortus, a zoonotic pathogen. These fundamental aspects cover cell cycle, cell biology and adaptation of the bacterium to intracellular environment of the host cells.

Xavier Saelens obtained his Master degree in Biotechnology in 1987 and his PhD degree in Sciences in 1990, both at Ghent University in the laboratory of Prof. Walter Fiers. After a postdoc in the field of influenza research he joined the group of Prof. Peter Vandenabeele at Ghent University where he studied the role of cell death in the context of antiviral defense. In 2004 he became the head of the Molecular Virology group in the Department of Molecular Biology at Ghent University, in 2008 professor at Ghent University and in 2014 group leader at VIB. The research of his team is devoted to the development of novel vaccines and antibody-based antivirals against influenza A and B viruses, human Respiratory Syncytial virus (HRSV) and Junin virus. In addition, the aim is to reveal the mechanisms of actions of these vaccines and antivirals. His group also studies the mechanism of action of type I IFN-induced host factors and aims to identify host factors that are involved in HRSV replication. Finally, the group studies the evolutionary dynamics of influenza A virus in the immune host. In 2015, he was awarded with the biennial price in Virology from the Study Centre Princess Joséphine-Charlotte by the Flanders and Walloon Research Foundation.

Nico Boon Nico Boon graduated in 1998 from the Ghent University as bio-engineer. In 2002, he obtained a PhD degree in the field of environmental microbiology at Ghent University. From 2002 until 2006 he worked at Ghent University, as doctoral-assistant of the Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET - Faculty of Bioscience Engineering). From October 2006 on, he was appointed as Associate Professor of Molecular Microbial Microbial Ecology at CMET. In 2014, he was nominated as Full Professor at CMET. During the last years, the research interests are focussed on the development of new microbial

17 ecological theories to link the microbial community structure to functionality. The central theme of this research is to understand of the composition, functionality and the limits under which a microbial community can (optimally) perform. At present, there is only limited theoretical insight in the ecology of mixed microbial cultures and engineering practices to manage those microbial resources are fragmentary. The final aim is to structure and optimize the performance of the community in respect to a desirable set of outputs. This strategy is called Microbial Resource Management (MRM). The research has resulted in more than 350 published international publications in journals with peer review (A1 + A2). He published in top journals, like Nature, Nature Communications, FEMS Microbiology Reviews, Trends in Biotechnology, PLoS Pathogens, Plos One (6x), Current Opinion in Biotechnology (2x), Biotechnology Advances (2x), Trends in Biotechnology (3x), ISME Journal (5x)…They have been cited almost 11000 times with a h-index of 50. He has also seven patents. More than 30 international conferences have been attended, and the research results have been presented in 70 national and international oral presentations. Composition of the BSM Board

President: Jozef Anné (KU Leuven) Secretary & representative in the IUMS : Paul De Vos (UGent) Treasurer & liaison with NVVM : Tom Coenye (UGent) FEMS delegate: Paul Cos (UAntwerpen)

Members : Spiros Agathos (UCL), Alfons Billiau (associate member)(KU Leuven), Guy Cornelis (UNamur), Isabelle George (ULB), David Gillan (UMons), Laurent Gillet (ULg), Natalie Leys (SCK-CEN), Max Mergeay (SCK-CEN), Dominique Schols (KU Leuven), Jos Vanderleyden (KU Leuven)

Nominations : Nico (U Boon (UGent); Xavier De Bolle (UNamur, ASM ambassador), Xavier Saelens (VIB- UGent)

Contributed to this issue: Jozef Anné, Tom Coenye, Paul De Vos, Nathalie Leys, Felice Mastroleo, Max Mergeay

Call for contributions

With this quarterly newsletter the BSM board wants to improve its communication with BSM members and we hope to bring you useful microbiology-related information on a regular basis.

Of course this is only possible with your contributions and we would like to invite you to submit these contributions to [email protected] (preferably as a Word document).

What can you submit ? Basically anything that is microbiology-related : vacancies in your lab, announcements of seminars, a summary of important/interesting research findings etc. If you want to discuss whether something would be suitable for inclusion in the newsletter prior to preparing the text, feel free to contact us as well.

VISIT US AT : http://www.belsocmicrobio.be/ 19