- New Journal Highlights Eukaryotic Microorganisms
- 25th Anniversary of the ICAAC Lecture
- 41st ICAAC
- www.ICAAC.org
- ASM Accepted into Official Working Relations with PAHO
- Curriculum Guidelines for Microbiology Majors: Recommendations
- An Important Message to Our International Membership
- Disability Income Plan Premium Credit Announced
- Core Courses for Microbiology Majors
- Support Courses for Microbiology Majors
- Suggested Elective Courses for Microbiology Majors
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ASM News
New Journal Highlights Eukaryotic Microorganisms
Starting this month, the Society will begin reviewing manuscripts for a new journal devoted to lower eukaryotic microorganisms. The journal, entitled Eukaryotic Cell, will debut on a bimonthly basis in February 2002.
"This journal will attempt to represent the best of basic research on eukaryotic microbes that has general significance in furthering our understanding of these organisms," says C. C. Wang, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco and editor-in-chief of Eukaryotic Cell. "It will focus on using modern experimental techniques and concepts to obtain an in-depth knowledge of molecular regulatory mechanisms involved in the growth, development, and differentiation of eukaryotic microorganisms."
Specifically, the new journal will present reports of basic research on simple eukaryotic microorganisms such as yeasts, fungi, algae, protozoa, and social amoebae. Topics will include, but are not limited to:
• Basic biology
• Molecular and cellular biology
• Mechanisms, and control, of developmental pathways
• Structure and form inherent in basic biological processes
• Cellular architecture
• Metabolic physiology
• Comparative genomics, biochemistry, and evolution
• Population dynamics
• EcologyIn addition, the journal will consider manuscripts dealing with the viruses of these organisms and their organelles and with interactions with other living systems, where the focus is clearly on the eurkaryotic cell.
The genesis of this publication began several years ago, with a number of observations by some members of the Society that pointed to potential growth in the field of eukaryotic microbiology and an unmet need that the Society might fulfill.
"ASM appears to get a very small cross-section of members who are in the community of scholars who work with eukaryotic microorganisms," says Sam Kaplan, chair of the ASM Publications Board. "If you look at our member roster you see that there are not very many." In addition, the General Meeting does not get a large representation from this community, and while the Journal of Bacteriology does have a section on eukaryotic microbiology, it has been relatively small and not very broad or deep in terms of its coverage, he says. "Those are shortcomings that existed on our part."
"In addition, coverage in other journals was scattered. There was no single publication of focus bringing together what is similar and different about these organisms from a molecular, evolutionary, and developmental sense," says Kaplan.
The potential audience for such a publication continues to grow. "With the era of genomic sequencing—genomes of fungi, algae, and protozoans continue to come online—this area of microbiology is going to blossom. So the time seemed ripe," says Kaplan. Therefore the Society initiated a three-step analysis to gauge interest in the journal.
Wang First, the Society contacted well-known and respected individuals in the field of eukaryotic microbiology and informally polled them. Although most were generally reluctant to support yet another journal, they could see a need for a journal on this subject if it was done properly. "They felt that the reputation of ASM and its journals was high enough that it would be done properly," says Kaplan. A representative subset of those scientists polled was then brought to ASM Headquarters to participate in a workshop where they settled on a name and scope statement. Next, the Society conducted a broad survey, with participants representing research fields of model microorganisms. Approximately 80% of respondents thought there was a need for a journal focusing on eukaryotic cells.
"From all three data collections (informal poll, workshop, and survey) there was a unanimity of opinion that ASM's journals program was of such high quality that should we undertake this journal it would be done properly," says Kaplan. "Based on the results, it was decided to present the journal to the ASM Leadership for permission to go ahead." It was approved by Council Policy Committee and Council at the 2001 General Meeting in Orlando.
What makes this new journal unique among its peers is its scope, which covers the full continuum of eukaryotic microorganisms. "The main purpose is for reports on all the eukaryotic microorganisms to share the same forum, to allow comparison, and to encourage collaboration among researchers in the field," says Wang. The editorial board intends to keep the journal's topics balanced to allow for a broad cross-section of research on a variety of species and experimental systems.
Manuscripts are currently being reviewed for the inaugural issue, which is scheduled for February 2002. As of September 2001 the Journal of Bacteriology will no longer be accepting manuscripts on eukaryotic microbiology and will forward any such manuscripts received after that time to Eukaryotic Cell with the permission of the authors.
In addition to Editor-in-Chief Wang, the board of editors includes Jay C. Dunlap, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, N.H.; Ursula W. Goodenough, University of Washington, St. Louis, Mo.; Ching Kung, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Adam Kuspa, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex.; and Aaron P. Mitchell, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
25th Anniversary of the ICAAC Lecture
Celebrating its 25th year, the ICAAC Lectureship honors a distinguished scientist who has made significant contributions in the fields of infectious diseases and/or chemotherapy. Recipients of the past decade include Barry Marshall for his work on Helicobacter pylori, Nobel Prize laureate Stanley Prusiner, U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, and Stanley Falkow, who later became the president of ASM. Their work exemplifies commitment to the study of established and emerging infectious diseases.
Aguzzi Adriano Aguzzi is presenting this year's 41st ICAAC Lecture, entitled "Prions: Health Scare and Biological Challenge" on Sunday evening, 23 September. He was selected by the ICAAC Program Committee from 15 internationally renowned nominees. Aguzzi is a highly regarded member of the scientific community, holding a position as the Associate Dean for Research at the University of Zurich Medical School in Switzerland and serving on several boards, including the Consortium for Plasma Science. His research has lead to many important discoveries, most notably in the battle against mad cow disease. Readers are invited to visit icaac community for details of a premeeting interview.
Program Committee Awards
Sponsored by ASM and administered by the ICAAC Program Committee, the Program Committee Awards were established to encourage and recognize research excellence through outstanding abstract preparation. This year, 3,050 abstracts were reviewed, and the selected abstracts reflect quality research conducted with exhaustive data analysis and of major importance to the field. The six recipients in the following interdisciplinary areas will be awarded a cash prize of $1,500 on Sunday evening, 23 September preceding the ICAAC Lecture.
Pathogenesis of Microbial Diseases. David B. Weiner, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; The West Nile Virus Capsid Induces Apoptosis In Vitro and In Vivo through the Mitochondrial Based Pathway
Epidemiology of Infection. Nina Singh, VA Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Staphylococcus aureus Rectal Carriage and Association with Infections in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Liver Transplant Unit Patients.
Therapy of Microbial Diseases. Joseph Gal, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver; Stereoselectivity of CYP3A4 Inhibition and Antifungal Activity of the Enantiomers of Ketoconazole.
Clinical Microbiology and Diagnostics. Jay C. Butler, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Anchorage, Alaska; Latent Class Analysis (LCA) Evaluation of Sputum PCR for Diagnosis of Pneumococcal Pneumonia.
Resistance: Mechanisms and Consequences. Jesus Blazquez, Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, Spain; ß-Lactams Induce dinB (Error-Prone DNA-Polymerase IV) Transcription in Escherichia coli, Resulting in a Mutator Phenotype.
Immunology of Infection. Sebastiaan Weijer, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Platelet Activating Factor Receptor Deficient (PAFR-/-) Mice Demonstrate Diminished Neutrophil Recruitment and Impaired Bacterial Clearance during Escherichia coli Peritonitis, yet Are Protected against Lethality.
Launched during the 40th ICAAC, this ASM website currently serves as an entry point to the scientific program and logistics of the annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Elissa Klein Sireuil, the ICAAC Program Manager, developed the site with the goals of offering an informational resource 365 days a year to the ASM and ICAAC communities, and extending educational opportunities, and thereby facilitating health care delivery. Between 1 August and 1 September, questions were accepted for the Meet-the-Experts sessions, and selected answers will be posted this fall. In October, ASM will webcast the three evening lectures: Saturday's HIV/AIDS Keynote Session, Sunday's ICAAC Lecture on prions, and Monday's Aventis Pharamaceuticals Award Lecture on antifungal chemotherapy. Please visit http://www.icaac.org for current offerings. We welcome feedback as to what features would be important to you in the future.
ICAAC Young Investigator Awards
Fowler The ICAAC Young Investigator Awards, proudly sponsored by Merck U.S. Human Health since 1983, were established to encourage and reward young investigators residing in North America for scientific promise and demonstrated excellence in microbiology and infectious disease research. This year's awards will be presented to Vance G. Fowler, Jr., M.D., MHS, and Paula Ivonne Watnick, M.D., Ph.D., at the 41st ICAAC in Chicago.
Fowler earned his M.D. in 1993 at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and completed his postgraduate training in internal medicine and infectious diseases, as well as a Master of Science in biometry, at Duke University Medical School, Durham, North Carolina, in 1999. While still a junior resident, Fowler became leader of the Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia Group, and over the next six years compiled the world's largest database of more than 1,000 patients with S. aureus bacteremia. He has examined many aspects of staphylococcal disease and made important contributions to understanding both the pathogenesis and clinical consequences of the important gram-positive pathogen. His investigations of the virulence mechanisms of S. aureus include the description of in vitro resistance to thrombin-induced platelet microbicidal protein among clinical bacteremic isolates. In other work, Fowler has analyzed the risk of complications of S. aureus infection in patients with prosthetic joints.
An assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical School for just over a year, Fowler has more than 35 peer-reviewed papers to his credit. He has recently been awarded a K23 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), funding a five-year continuation of his research. Fowler is also the recipient of several awards for achievement by junior faculty including the 2001 American Federation for Medical Research Junior Physician-Investigator Award. He was nominated for the ICAAC Young Investigator prize by John Hamilton, M.D., Duke University Medical Center.
Watnick Paula Watnick boasts a unique educational background and an innovative research style that have resulted in important contributions to the understanding of bacterial evolution and the emergence of new pathogens. She earned her Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, before deciding to study medicine at Yale University, New Haven, Conn. She then undertook postdoctoral work in microbiology and infectious diseases at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, and she is currently assistant professor, Tufts University School of Medicine, Division of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Disease, New England Medical Center, Boston, Mass.
For the past six years, Watnick has researched the environmental survival of V. cholerae. She first focused on the mechanism of action of Fur, a repressor of iron scavenging pathways in iron-rich environments, and later initiated a genetic analysis of V. cholerae biofilm formation, identifying structures required for biofilm formation. Biofilm formation is an integral part of the lifestyle of V. cholerae both within the human intestine and the aquatic environment. Watnick's work has defined the environmental signals and regulatory genes that control the way V. cholerae attaches to surfaces. Her studies present new directions for the development of methods for dispersing or inhibiting biofilms. As such, Watnick's work has implications for the control of cholera and less obvious applications, such as options for the nonsurgical treatment of implanted medical device-related infections.
A past recipient of the Howard Hughes Postdoctoral Fellowship and the Warren-Whitman-Richardson Fellowship, Watnick was nominated for this award by David Snydman, M.D., of New England Medical Center.
The Aventis Pharmaceuticals Award
Dismukes William E. Dismukes, M.D., Director, Division of Infectious Diseases, Vice-Chairman, Department of Medicine, and Professor of Microbiology and Medicine, University of Alabama School of Medicine, has been named laureate of ASM's premier award in antimicrobial chemotherapy, the Aventis Pharmaceuticals Award. Established in 1986, the Aventis Pharmaceuticals Award honors sustained accomplishment in research toward the development of new antimicrobial agents, the investigation of action or resistance, and the pharmacology, toxicology, or clinical use of those agents.
Dismukes has dedicated an impressive career to establishing the scientific basis for the antimicrobial chemotherapy of invasive fungal infections and has had a profound impact on the lives of countless patients and the field of clinical mycology as a whole. He was nominated for the award by Peter G. Pappas of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and will present the Aventis Pharmaceuticals Award Lecture, "Antifungal Chemotherapy: from Amphotericin B to the Future," at the upcoming 41st annual ICAAC in Chicago, Ill.
A member of the American Association of Physicians, a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the Infectious Disease Society of America, and a Master of the American College of Physicians, Dismukes has been leader of the NIH/NIAID Mycoses Study Group (MSG) antifungal clinical trials for more than 20 years. He has directed a group of investigators representing more than 50 institutions with a $13-million budget to study innovative approaches to diagnosis and management for the invasive mycoses. In a role that combines administration with extensive involvement in protocol design, study interpretation, and statistical analysis, he is credited with leadership that has set the standard for antifungal chemotherapy clinical trials and provided the framework that guides physicians in the treatment of these complicated infections. Members of the MSG have recently written Infectious Disease Society of America guidelines for the treatment of all invasive fungal diseases.
Dismukes has been a primary investigator in a variety of areas including the initial trials that established current first-choice therapies for the treatment of cryptococcal meningitis in non-HIV-infected patients and the use of fluconazole as an agent in the management of cryptococcal meningitis among patients with AIDS. In the first and largest randomized drug trials to date, Dismukes and the MSG evaluated ketoconazole, itraconazole, and fluconazole for the treatment of histoplasmosis and blastomycosis in both HIV-infected and non-HIV patients, and subsequently established first-choice drug treatment for both disorders in non-life threatening situations.
A dedicated mentor and committed role model, Dismukes has been honored by trainees and faculty as the Best Teacher, Outstanding Clinical Faculty, and Outstanding Clinical Professor of the University of Alabama School of Medicine more than 10 times. A native of Alabama, Dismukes graduated from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, and the Medical College of Alabama. He joins the 2000 Aventis Pharmaceuticals Award laureate Richard Whitley, M.D., to become the second remarkable physician scientist from the University of Alabama, Birmingham, to receive the prize.
ASM Accepted into Official Working Relations with PAHO
The Executive Committee of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), meeting for its 128th annual session in June 2001, approved a proposal from ASM to become an official nongovernmental organization partner of PAHO.
The ASM proposal, submitted by the International Committee, consisted of a four-year workplan developed in collaboration with two technical units within PAHO, the Laboratory and Blood Services Program, and the Communicable Diseases Program/Antimicrobial Resistance Program. The purpose of the collaboration is to strengthen epidemiological prevention and surveillance systems throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, with special emphasis on emerging and reemerging infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance.
In the initial, two-year phase of the program (2001-2002), ASM will draw upon its extensive and diverse membership to assist Latin American public health services in their efforts to improve the accuracy and efficiency of infectious disease surveillance systems. ASM and PAHO will launch an intensive "Training of Trainers" effort to assist Latin American laboratories to define and master testing standards and techniques that will ensure high levels of accuracy and consistency in the identification of emerging and reemerging diseases and the determination of antimicrobial resistance. ASM will actively participate in PAHO's Technical Advisory Group to write and disseminate a set of guidelines for antibiotic use to reduce the selective pressure that promotes the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. Once national laboratories have begun defining and initiating new practices internally, ASM will organize hands-on workshops in the United States at which national public health laboratory leaders from Latin America will visit key U.S. institutions (such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, or leading universities) to consult on methods for creating surveillance systems within their own countries.
In addition to these initiatives aimed at increasing the efficacy of public health infrastructures, ASM will work with PAHO on an educational outreach program to adapt and translate into Spanish numerous ASM-published materials, such as CUMITECHs, reports, studies, and videos, and to distribute them to universities throughout Latin America. These new educational programs will be supported by ASM's International Professorship and International Fellowship Programs, which offer opportunities for meaningful exchanges of knowledge and techniques between North and South American researchers and students.
The second phase of the PAHO/ASM collaboration (2003-2004) will focus on consolidating and expanding the gains achieved in phase one, and in linking national public health programs into a continent-wide epidemiological surveillance system.
Curriculum Guidelines for Microbiology Majors: Recommendations
In an effort to provide guidance in the education of undergraduate students in microbiology, ASM has developed a set of core themes that should be addressed in every introductory microbiology course. These guidelines have proven useful in the development of the curriculum for many diverse programs that may include a single course in microbiology as a requirement. However, no such guidelines exist for departments or programs that offer degrees specializing in microbiology. ASM is often the first place contacted for such information when programs are reviewing their curricula or are undergoing major department reviews. A major goal for the 200 attendees of the 2000 Undergraduate Education Conference was to begin to develop curriculum guidelines for microbiology majors. Based on the recommendations of three working groups, a preliminary set of guidelines was produced and published in the Spring 2001 Focus on Microbiology Education newsletter. All Division W (Microbiology Education) members were alerted to this issue of the newsletter, which received 4,800 visitor sessions. Three new working groups then reviewed these recommendations at the 2001 Undergraduate Education Conference. A few of the group members were also in the groups that made the original recommendations, but the majority of the group members were new. Thus, these recommendations have had extensive review by a large cadre of experienced educators. We welcome any feedback that the microbiology community can provide for improving them.
The guidelines are not meant to be a set of criteria for accreditation of a program. Rather, they are meant to be used by programs in their own assessment, maintenance, and formation of strong programs in microbiology. The recommendations assume a semester-based academic calendar. The lists are presented as courses for simplicity. We are not making a specific recommendation about how a program is structured. It may, for example, decide to integrate the equivalent content material into several courses rather than offer them each as individual defined units.
The list of core courses (see box) is composed of courses recommended by all groups. The inclusion of laboratories, or their equivalents as perhaps separate labs, for the core courses (except the Capstone course) is highly recommended. The list of elective courses (see box) includes courses placed in this category by all groups, as well as some courses that were included in the core list by at least one group. Supporting courses that should be included in a program of study are also listed (see box).
In addition to the core courses, the groups developed a list of skills thought to be important for the microbiology major. These include general research skills (e.g., microscopy, media preparation, anaerobic technique, and use of diagnostics) and communication skills (both oral and written). Basic computing skills (word processing and presentation to spread sheet) are assumed, but the use of computers in genome analysis and bioinformatics should be included as an integral part of the core courses. An elective course in bioinformatics should be available.
Two of the elective courses (Bioethics and Careers in Microbiology) could be integrated into core course material to ensure exposure of all students to the topics. Many students seem to lack a clear understanding of career choices in microbiology. More emphasis needs to be placed on educating the students about the opportunities available to them as microbiologists and how to get there. Bioethics is extremely important—especially today, because it applies to all areas in biology—and thus inclusion of a bioethics course as an elective in any biology program is appropriate.
A major problem noted was time and resources. The list is long, and it is not possible to fit all of these courses into a 4-year program; nor are all courses appropriate for all students. A critical component to this issue may be getting the students into the major early. The Introduction to Microbiology course should be designed so that it can be taken no later than the fourth semester (end of second year) of study. This will allow for two years of advanced study of microbiology.
Another issue is the recommendation that the core courses all have labs. However, laboratory courses are cost-intensive. How can departments with limited resources deal with this resource problem? One suggestion is to offer a two-semester sequence of independent lab courses that teach the skills needed to be a microbiologist rather than offer a lab with every course. This may reduce the current recommendation of five lab courses in the core curriculum to two semesters of independent lab courses that cover the basic skills and one advanced course with laboratory.
Please review the proposed guidelines and provide us with feedback. I know that as a department currently in the process of redefining our curriculum for majors, information on program expectation is extremely valuable.
Board of Education and Training
For more information about curriculum guidelines for a microbiology majors program, please refer to the website at. If you would like to send your comments about these guidelines, send an e-mail to educationresources@asmusa.org and place in the subject line "curriculum guidelines."
Neil R. Baker
Neil R. Baker is Chair of the Undergraduate Education Committee of ASM.Awards
Rose The National Water Research Institute (NWRI) awarded Joan Rose with the Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize for excellence in water research on 25 July 2001 in Costa Mesa, Calif. Rose is the eighth scientist, and the first woman, to receive the prize. The Clarke Prize was established in 1993 to award scientists and engineers for outstanding work and implementation of research in the fields of water science and technology. Rose received a gold medallion and $50,000.
Regarded as one of the world's foremost authorities on the dangerous waterborne microorganism Cryptosporidium, Rose has made significant and groundbreaking advances in understanding water quality and protecting public health. A professor at the University of South Florida since 1989, she was the first person to present a method for detecting Cryptosporidium and was the principle investigator in a survey of this deadly pathogen in surface water supplies in the United States. Among her many achievements, Rose has also advised Congress during the reauthorization of the Safe Drinking Water Act, was instrumental in changing wastewater management in the Florida Keys, and was named as one of the 21 most influential people in water in the 21st century by Water Technology Magazine. Presently, she is examining how climate factors may impact water quality and public health. Rose is currently serving as Branch Member at Large on the ASM Council Policy Committee.
Diana Downs, Associate Professor in the Department of Bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, received the 21st Century Scientist Award for Complex Systems Analysis award from the James S. McDonnell Foundation. Downs, a microbial physiologist, received $450,000 in direct costs over a five-year period to study the complexity of a living cell by using a bacterial cell as a model.
The goal of the award is to allow investigators to develop and pursue novel, innovative research programs to generate the knowledge needed to solve emerging global and international problems. The grants are intended to encourage investigators to engage difficult problems and to provide support for ideas and approaches that might depart from the conventional wisdom. The award typically funds proposals that, because of their novelty or interdisciplinary nature, would not be viable candidates for support from traditional sources. The McDonnell Foundation was established in 1950 by the late James S. McDonnell, Jr., founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, to support scientific, educational, and charitable causes. Its primary interests are in the biomedical and behavioral sciences.
Charles L. Duncan, Vice President of Research and Development at Hershey Foods, delivered the 10th annual Frazier Memorial Lecture in Food Microbiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Food Research Institute. Duncan's lecture, "Reflections," focused on the changes in foodborne illnesses over the last 25 years and approaches implemented by the food industry and regulatory agencies to control the problem. Duncan received his Ph.D. in bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1967. After two years of postdoctoral work, Duncan joined the faculty of the Food Research Institute in 1969 and then went on to join the Campbell Soup Company as director of microbiology research before moving to Hershey Foods in 1985. The Frazier Memorial Lecture is given annually to perpetuate the memory of William C. Frazier, a pioneering food/dairy microbiologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Deceased Members
Roger M. Cole died of a heart ailment on 12 February 2001 at the Mariner Health Nursing Home in Bethesda, Md. Roger is survived by his wife, Margaret (Peggy), whom he married in 1944, three sons, two daughters, a sister, and six grandchildren.
Roger was born in 1917 in Canton, Maine, and grew up in Marblehead, Mass. He performed his undergraduate studies at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He received a Master's degree in biology in 1941 and a doctorate in microbiology in 1943, both from Harvard University. In 1947, he received a medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine. Roger came to the Washington, D.C., area in 1948 as a microbiologist at the National Institute of Health (NIH) and eventually became a Medical Director in the U.S. Public Health Service. In 1967, he became chief of the Laboratory of Microbiology in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and later served a period as acting scientific director, NIAID, and chief of the Laboratory of Streptococcal Diseases before retiring from the U.S. Public Health Service and NIH in 1981.
His early research was on streptococci, and he published more than 40 papers on these organisms and their disease relationships. In 1967, his interests turned to bacteriophage infections, to L-forms (especially in streptococci), and to basic studies on the ultrastructure of various microbes and their cell walls.
He developed a great interest in mycoplasmas in early 1972 when the first helical mycoplasma (spiroplasma) was cultivated from plants with citrus stubborn disease by microbiologists and plant pathologists in Bordeaux, France. While the new organism (later designated Spiroplasma citri) was being examined in Bethesda, Roger's expertise in electron microscopy and microbial ultrastructure provided the opportunity to develop techniques that would preserve the true helicity of the organism and help to reconfirm the absence of bacterial cell wall. During this study he was able to observe three morphologically distinct spiroplasma viruses. In collaboration with the French workers, he published an extensive paper on the ultrastructure and virus infections of S. citri. Much of Roger's later work concerned the characterization and description of the various viruses in Spiroplasma and Mycoplasma species, including the first observation of the P1 virus in Mycoplasma pulmonis.
Just before his retirement, Roger had a very active and productive collaboration with a number of groups, including those at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. His efforts related to the use of electron microscopy to demonstrate the role of the P1 surface protein on Mycoplasma pneumoniae. With his collaborators, he demonstrated that with immunoferritin electron microscopy and a monospecific antiserum to P1, virulent and cytadhering strains of M. pneumoniae concentrated the P1 adhesin at the terminal organelle, while avirulent, noncytadhering strains either showed no concentration of P1 at the terminal structure or revealed a random distribution of P1 along the surface of the mycoplasma membrane. These studies were critical in confirming the nature of the M. pneumoniae attachment structure and the role of P1 at the terminal organelle. In the summer of 1980, just before his retirement, two strains of a new mycoplasma from patients with nongonococcal urethritis (Mycoplasma genitalium) were isolated in the Bethesda laboratory, and Roger's expertise in electron microscopy was important in establishing the ultrastructure of the isolates and documenting the cytopathogenicity of the isolates. In 1982, he was elected an Honorary Member of the International Organization for Mycoplasmology.
Roger was an active participant in ASM, having served on the editorial boards of Infection and Immunity and Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. In 1975 he served as chair of the Ultrastructural Division, and he was a frequent lecturer on bacterial ultrastructure at meetings in the United States and Europe. Roger also was active in the Research Fellows Program in NIAID and trained many physicians on streptococcal disease who went on to become established faculty members in university infectious disease departments.
Joseph G. Tully
Germantown, Md.Joel B. Baseman
Dept. of Microbiology
University of Texas Health Science Center, San AntonioGary B. Calandra
AnorMed Langley, B.C., CanadaDavid L. Williamson
Nesconset, N.Y.Josy M. Bove
Bordeaux, FranceNeal B. Groman, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Washington, died on 31 March of carcinoma of the pancreas. After service in World War II, he returned to the University of Chicago to complete his undergraduate education, graduating with a B.S. degree in biochemistry in 1947. He continued in graduate school under the supervision of James Moulder and received his Ph.D. in bacteriology and parasitology in 1950. He then moved to the University of Washington, Seattle, with an appointment as instructor in the Department of Microbiology, where he spent the next 39 years of his active career, being appointed Professor Emeritus in 1989. He was a Markle Scholar and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in recognition of his work and potential. He served ASM as secretary, vice chair, and chair of the Virology Division in the 1960s, and as a member of the editorial board of Microbiological Reviews. He was a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.
Neal made one of the seminal discoveries in microbiology shortly after his arrival in Seattle, namely that a temperate bacterial virus could determine the production of toxin by a host bacterium. This research, carried out with Corynebacterium diphtheriae, began a long study of the relationship between bacteriophages and their host. This widespread phenomenon, termed lysogenic conversion, has been discovered in a wide variety of both gram-positive and gram-negative organisms, where it plays important roles in conferring new properties on host cells. The toxin of Corynebacterium still serves as the paradigm. In 1960, Neal took a sabbatical leave with A. Lwoff at the Institut Pasteur, where he became interested in the role of temperature in poliovirus replication. After returning home, he studied the effect of temperature on the replication of X phage and, in particular, on endolysin synthesis. This led to a series of important published studies. However, his first love was Corynebacterium and he returned to his work on corynebacterial phages, using molecular and genetic techniques of increasing sophistication. With his students, he isolated a naturally occurring plasmid that was able to replicate in both Corynebacterium and Escherichia coli, and also developed a DNA-mediated transformation technique for introducing genes into Corynebacterium. During his career, he published almost 75 papers, the vast majority of which had one or two authors.
Neal was deeply committed to microbiological and biological education at all levels. He was a superb undergraduate teacher and a deeply respected mentor for generations of graduate students. In 1971, he founded the Office of Biology Education at the University of Washington and served as its first director from 1971 to 1975. He was responsible for instituting a new undergraduate biology curriculum that involved coordinating the activities of different departments with varying agendas. Although he showed himself to be a skilled administrator and academic diplomat, and served as acting chair of the Department of Microbiology for one year, he realized that administration was not where he wished to devote his talents in the future.
Neal was a scholar and a poet, with wide-ranging interests beyond his microbiological career, including history, political science, and philosophy. With all this talent and diversity, he was always available to his colleagues and students as a kind, calm, unfailingly courteous, and wise friend, whose advice and counsel was sought by all who knew him. His interest in poetry developed in the 1970s and became a major focus after he retired. He wrote several hundred poems, including some that were published. He told one of us that everything he wished his beloved family to understand about him was to be found in his poems. A number of them that we had not previously seen were shared with us after his death. They range from deeply philosophical, to whimsical, to very funny, and serve as a wonderful window into the character and intellect of this remarkable and much loved man.
The Department of Microbiology has established a fund to honor his dedication to scholarship through prizes for graduate student instructors who have demonstrated excellence in teaching. Contributions may be sent to the Neal Groman Fund, Department of Microbiology, Box 357242, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7242
John C. Sherris
Eugene W. Nester
University of Washington, SeattleGermaine Stanier (Cohen-Bazire) died on 9 May 2001. She was born Germaine Bazire in 1920 and educated in Toulouse, France. Her father was a high school science teacher and her mother a primary school teacher. After obtaining her high school diploma (Baccalaureat), she studied at the Faculty of Sciences of Toulouse. After the liberation of France, she came to Paris and worked at the Institut Pasteur on the mechanism of butyric and acetonobutylic fermentation, the subject of her 1950 Ph.D. thesis.
She then joined the laboratory of Jacques Monod at the Pasteur Institute and, in collaboration with M. Cohn and A. M. Pappenheimer Jr., contributed actively to the heroic period of research on the mechanisms of enzyme induction. Her research on the specificity of induction led to the concept of gratuitous inducers, and provided the experimental basis for the concept of the `differential rate of enzyme synthesis.' Her discovery, in 1953, with Jacques Monod of the specific inhibition of the synthesis of tryptophan synthase by tryptophan, along with a similar and simultaneous observation on the specific inhibition of methionine synthase by methionine, led to the concept of end-product repression of biosynthetic pathways.
In 1953, Germaine, thanks to her husband Roger Stanier, discovered a new microbial world, that of the photosynthetic prokaryotes. In Berkeley, Calif., she then started research on the physiological, biochemical, and structural properties of the principal groups of photosynthetic prokaryotes: the purple and green anoxyphotobacteria and the cyanobacteria. In particular, she became an excellent electron microscopist. More than 60 articles and a large number of unpublished results testified to the productivity and originality of Germaine's research in these domains.
Some of her most important results and those which had a wide scientific impact are as follows. (i) The very strict regulation of photosynthetic pigments (bacteriochlorophyll and carotenoids) by light and oxygen in members of the Athiorhodaceae: repressed under aerobic conditions, their rate of synthesis is inverse function of light intensity. (ii) The demonstration that the "chromatophores," sites of the photosynthetic activity in anoxyphotobacteria such as Chlorobium, are not isolated particles but intracytoplasmic vesicles. (iii) The discovery of the physiological role of carotenoids, rendered possible by the isolation of a mutant strain of Rhodopseudomonas spheroides: these pigments protect the organisms against the damaging effects of photooxidation. (iv) Her research on cyanobacteria, initiated in Berkeley and pursued after her return to Paris in 1971 until her retirement, provided important results on the structure and function of phycobiliproteins in cyanobacteria. Immunological studies revealed the high degree of evolutionary conservation of these photosynthetic antenna proteins in cyanobacteria and red algae.
Many years ago, Germaine Stanier described the beginning of her career by saying that she had been influenced by four persons: Monsieur Vandel, her biology professor at the University of Toulouse, Georges Cohen, her thesis supervisor, Jacques Monod, her "master of thinking," and Andre Lwoff, her "guardian angel." All through her scientific career, Germaine Stanier kept her fascination for biological phenomena, showing the same enthusiasm whether studying organisms, their structure, or their molecules. What was most admirable in Germaine was the courage with which she continuously chose the difficult paths, or virgin territories, and her insatiable desire to learn and to understand.
This very brief summary by no means reflects the vast richness of Germaine's scientific career. Internationally recognized as one of the specialists on photosynthetic prokaryotes, Germaine Stanier had also exceptional human qualities such as her generosity, intellectual honesty, and moral integrity. The important role she played in science was recognized in 1985 by her appointment as professor at the Pasteur Institute and is still evidenced by the continuation of the research unit, the "Unite des Cyanobacteries," a laboratory that was created in 1971 at the Pasteur Institute as the "Unité de Physiologie Microbienne" by Roger Y. Stanier in 1971 and was headed by Germaine from 1982 until her retirement in 1988. In addition to her academic interests, she acted for many years as treasurer of the International Cell Research Organization , in promoting training courses in the developing countries.
Germaine is survived by a son from her first marriage, Henri, by a daughter, Jane, and by seven grandchildren.
Agnes Ullmann
Georges N. Cohen
Francois Jacob
Institut Pasteur
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