CGB Newsletter 2010-1
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CGB Newsletter 2010-1 Directors blog Rolf Birger is away on a research cruise aboard the RRS James Cook in the Caribbean with researchers from the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton. In early April they discovered the deepest hydrothermal vents yet identified. These were located in the Cayman Trough. Read more. (cruise day book. reports in the Times, BBC and CNN) If Eyjarfjallajökull is cooperative, he will be back to CGB Monday 26 of April. News and Information Annual report 2009 published 1 April is the annual deadline for the Annual Report. It was a bit hectic, but we were able to get it done on time – and Ingunn came up with a great picture for the cover – geobiology in action: an electron microscope image of microbes and rock crystals interacting. Read more Please come to the CGB office if you did not get a print version (and would like one!). CGB poster templates A number of people have been asking about whether we have a CGB poster template. The answer is that now we do. This winter Anne and Elinor have been in discussions with Formidlingsavdelingen and they have drawn up landscape and portrait templates for us. Portrait (sample columns) – portrait blank – landscape (sample columns) – landscape blank. Use of the templates are optional and the text included is meant as an example only. However, everyone MUST include the SFF logo and the UiB logo on all posters. Follow this link to the UiB intranet and the profiltorg in the left sidebar to learn more about ordering visit cards. Finding out who does what … Journalists are generally satisfied with the information that they get from UiB, but … In early March På Høyden published the results of a study by Aaland Research Centre that considered how journalists evaluated UiB’s dissemination of information in 2009. UiB scored generally between 6 & 7 on a scale between 1 & 10. The study also gave journalists the possibility of giving suggestions on how to be better. Two suggestions stood out: good personal pages – that these should particularly include information about one’s research interests and competencies. competency lists – that it should be easy to find out who does what in each unity (example) Elinor has begun work on a CGB competency list (the example list seemed a bit long, so this is something shorter). Please check that the lists giving the names of group members for each of the six themes are up to date – they come from the old web site and there have been changes! Feedback welcome! Forskningsdagene This year the theme is Research Technology and Bergen is the national host for the opening! Read more. Some participation deadlines have passed, but there is a particular need for participation this year, so contact the organizers if you have an idea please contact Geir Holen, Formidlingsavdelingen, UiB’s coordinator for Forskningsdagene, tlf 8-9039 [email protected]. Participation options include: Kunnskapsfest og skoledag Teltene på Festplassen fredag 24. og lørdag 25. september gode forskningsstasjoner og gode populærvitenskapelige foredrag. Skoleprosjekt Forsker Grand Prix 10 unge forskere. En scene. Fire minutter til å fortelle engasjert om sin forskning. Publikum og fagdommere bestemmer hvem som formidler best. åpen for stipendiater og forskere som nylig har avsluttet sin doktorgrad. Forsker til lunsj Har du et aktuelt forskningstema for en bestemt næring? Eller vil du dele din kunnskap i lunsjen hos en bedrift? Det lokale næringslivet skal få en smørbrødliste med gode foredrag de kan bestille til en lunsjpause, for et godt møte med en lokal forsker. Bidrag til byvandringer Har du en god idé? Dekanbloggen Har du meninger og et ønske om å bli hørt. Følg med og vær gjerne aktiv på Dekanbloggen. Dekan Dag Rune Olsen skriver følgende om den nyopprettede bloggen. Velkommen til dekanbloggen for fakultetet vårt! Han håper bloggen kan bli en nyttig kanal for informasjon- og meningsutveksling mellom studenter, ansatte og ledelsen ved fakultetet. Ditt bidrag er ønsket! Fravær i forbindelse med flyforbudet etter vulkanutbrudd på Island. Les mer fra Statens personalhåndbok. Official guidelines concerning absences due to flight problems relating to the Icelandic volcanic erruption. Basically, if you are on official business, you must contact your employer when there are difficulties and decide together what alternatives should be undertaken. Most additional expenses are covered by your employer. If you are on holiday, any additional expenses are naturally your own, but in addition, you are liable for the working days you miss (they will be counted as leave / avpassering, additional holiday days, or leave without pay). New Faces Martin Hovland Martin is employed as adjunct professor in Marine Geology at Department of Earth Sciences (funded through UiB central contribution to CGB) for a period of 2 years as of 1 January. He lives in Stavanger and is employed by StatoilHydro. Homepage: http://www.martinhovland.com/index.htm Deborah Kelley Deborah Kelley is employed as adjunct professor in Observatory-Based Marine Research at Department of Earth Sciences (funded through NFR contribution to CGB (equal opportunity money)) for a period of 3 years She is a Professor at the School of Oceanography, University of Washington New Publications *If you have papers accepted that are not registered in ISI, please inform Anne so that we can keep the publication list updated at all times. Here is the complete list of 2009 production that was sent to the Research Council as a part of erapport 1 March. List of publications 2010 Bartossek R, Nicol GW, Lanzen A, Klenk HP, Schleper C Homologues of nitrite reductases in ammonia-oxidizing archaea: diversity and genomic context. Environ Microbiol 12:1075-1088 Abstract: Summary Ammonia-oxidizing archaea are frequent and ubiquitous inhabitants of terrestrial and marine environments. As they have only recently been detected, most aspects of their metabolism are yet unknown. Here we report on the occurrence of genes encoding potential homologues of copper-dependent nitrite reductases (NirK) in ammonia-oxidizing archaea of soils and other environments using metagenomic approaches and PCR amplification. Two pairs of highly overlapping 40 kb genome fragments, each containing nirK genes of archaea, were isolated from a metagenomic soil library. Between 68% and 85% of the open reading frames on these genome fragments had homologues in the genomes of the marine archaeal ammonia oxidizers Nitrosopumilus maritimus and Cenarchaeum symbiosum. Extensions of NirK homologues with C-terminal fused amicyanin domains were deduced from two of the four fosmids indicating structural variation of these multicopper proteins in archaea. Phylogenetic analyses including all major groups of currently known NirK homologues revealed that the deduced protein sequences of marine and soil archaea were separated into two highly divergent lineages that did not contain bacterial homologues. In contrast, another separated lineage contained potential multicopper oxidases of both domains, archaea and bacteria. More nirK gene variants directly amplified by PCR from several environments indicated further diversity of the gene and a widespread occurrence in archaea. Transcription of the potential archaeal nirK in soil was demonstrated at different water contents, but no significant increase in transcript copy number was observed with increased denitrifying activity. Cardenas P, Rapp HT, Schander C, Tendal OS Molecular taxonomy and phylogeny of the Geodiidae (Porifera, Demospongiae, Astrophorida) – combining phylogenetic and Linnaean classification. Zoologica Scripta 39:89-106 Abstract: Cardenas, P., Rapp, H.T., Schander, C. & Tendal, O. S. (2010). Molecular taxonomy and phylogeny of the Geodiidae (Porifera, Demospongiae, Astrophorida) - combining phylogenetic and Linnaean classification.-Zoologica Scripta, 39, 89-106. According to the fossil records, the Geodiidae represents one of the oldest families of demosponges (Phylum Porifera). There are approximately 220 described extant species, geographically and bathymetrically widely distributed around the world. Species of this family all share a two-layered cortex with ball-shaped spicules called 'sterrasters' in the endocortex. However, molecular studies have questioned the monophyly of the group. Moreover, the evolutionary history and the intrafamily relationships of the Geodiidae are not fully resolved. Using a partial sequence of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene and a partial sequence of the 28S rDNA gene (D1-D2 domains), we present the first molecular phylogeny focusing oil this group. The congruent results from the two gene fragments suggest that (i) the Geodiidae is monophyletic, (ii) the Erylinae/Geodinae subdivision sensu Sollas, 1888 is valid and that (iii) Isops and Sidonops ire junior synonyms of Geodia. The synonymization of Isops and Sidonops implies that the oscule/pore morphology as a diagnostic character should be abandoned. Geodia bentscheli nom. nov. has been given for Geodia mesotriaena (Hentschel, 1929). This study served as the basis for a revised phylogenetic classification of the Geodiidae. Well-supported clades led to the establishment of clade names following the PhyloCode. The Geodinae clade is strongly supported and notably composed of Depressiogeodia, Cydonium and Geodia. A morphological synapomorphy of Geodinae is the presence of euasters in the ectocortex. The Erylinae (Erylus, Penares, Caminus and Pachymatisma) form a strongly supported monophyletic group with three morphological