Scientific Program

5th European Spores Conference

April 16th-19th 2012
Royal Holloway University of London, UK

Program

Monday 16th
15.00-17.00 Registration WINDSOR BUILDING FOYER
17.00-18.30 Reception WINDSOR BUILDING FOYER
Keynote Session WINDSOR AUDITORIUM
18.30-19.30 Rich Losick
Harvard University, USA
"The Multicellular Life Style of B. subtilis"
19:30 Dinner WINDSOR BUILDING FOYER
Tuesday 17th
Session 1
Chair: Rich Losick
WINDSOR AUDITORIUM
9.00-9.40 Per Bullough
Univ. Sheffield, UK
Surface architecture of endospores of the Bacillus cereus/anthracis/thuringiensis family at the subnanometer scale
9.40-10.00 Ján Jamroškovič
Slovak Academy of Sciences
Slovakia
An Oscillating Min System in Bacillus subtilis Blocks Asymmetric Cell Division
10.00-10.20 Fatma Isik Ustok
Univ. Cambridge, UK
Cortex degradation in the absence of SleB and CwlJ, the major Bacillus cortex-lytic enzymes
10.20-10.40 Kumaran S. Ramamurthi
NIH, USA
Small proteins mediate a checkpoint to progress through a bacterial developmental program
10.40-11.10 Tea & Coffee WINDSOR BUILDING FOYER
Session 2
Chair: Per Bullough
WINDSOR AUDITORIUM
11.10-11.50 Alain Brisson
Univ. Bordeaux, France
B. clausii: spore coat structure and cell interaction
11.50-12.10 Wishwas Abhyankar
Univ. Amsterdam,
Netherlands
What's in your "Coat"? Bacterial Spore Coat Proteomics
12.10-12.30 Ashley Bate
New York Univ. USA
An Inferred Model of the Transcriptional Regulatory Network of Bacillus subtilis
12.30-12.50 J. Melničáková
Slovak Academy of Sciences
Slovakia
The programmed cell death of Bacillus subtilis mediated by SpoIISA and SpoIISB
12.50-14.00 Lunch WINDSOR BUILDING FOYER
14.00-16.00 Poster Session WINDSOR BUILDING FOYER
Session 3
Chair: Adam Driks
WINDSOR AUDITORIUM
16.00-16.40 Peter Setlow
Univ. Connecticut
Health Center, USA
Germination of Spores of Bacillus Species: The Last Frontier
16.40-17.00 Jeanette Guzman
TIFN, Netherlands
SpoVA, putative channels, involved in germination of Bacillus spores
17.00-17.20 Srishti Gupta
Univ. Cambridge, UK
Characterisation of Bacillus megaterium QM B1551 germinant receptors
17.20-17.40 Rachna Pandey
Univ. Amsterdam,
Netherlands
Live-cell imaging of aerobic bacteria; a tool to assess the heterogeneous germination & outgrowth of Bacillus subtilis spores
17.40-18.10 Tea & Coffee WINDSOR BUILDING FOYER
Session 4
Chair: Trevor Lawley
WINDSOR AUDITORIUM
18.10-18.50 Per Einar Granum
Norwegian School of
Veterinary Science,
Norway
Bacillus licheniformis germination: Poor germination depends on small differences in the receptor sequence
18.50-19.10 Robyn Eijlander
TIFN, Netherlands
Visualization of heterogeneous gene expression during sporulation of Bacillus cereus cells using time lapse fluorescence microscopy
19.10-19.30 Simon Syvertsson
Newcastle Univ., UK
Transcription profiling of Bacillus subtilis sub-populations separated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting.
19.30 Reception to be held at the NORTH QUAD
20.30 Banquet to be held at the PICTURE GALLERY1
Wednesday 18th
Session 5
Chair: Per Einar Granum
WINDSOR AUDITORIUM
9.00-9.40 Trevor Lawley
Wellcome Trust Sanger
Center, UK
Genetic and Molecular Basis of Clostridium difficile spore-mediated transmission
9.40-10.00 Roberto Grau
Universidad Nacional de
Rosario, Argentina
Carbon catabolite regulation of gas gangrene-related toxin production in Clostridium perfringens
10.00-10.20 Daniela Heeg
Univ. Nottingham, UK
Spores of C. difficile clinical isolates display a diverse germination response to bile salts
10.20-10.40 Elisabeth Tolls
Royal Holloway Univ.
London, UK
The spore coats of C. difficile
10.40-11.10 Tea & Coffee WINDSOR BUILDING FOYER
Session 6
Chair: Peter Setlow
WINDSOR AUDITORIUM
11.10-11.50 Ben Raymond
Royal Holloway Univ.
London, UK
Microbial cooperation in the real world: the ecology of virulence in Bacillus thuringiensis
11.50-12.10 Marcin Dembek
Imperial College, UK
Microarray analysis of C. difficile germination
12.10-12.30 Mahfuzur R. Sarker
Uni. Oregon, USA
Clostridium perfringens spore germination
12.30-12.50 Yinghua Xiao
TIFN, Netherlands
Prediction of unidentified germination-related genes in Clostridium perfringens by clustering time-course expression profiles during sporulation
12.50-13.45 Lunch WINDSOR BUILDING FOYER
13.45 Excursion to Windsor
COACHES WILL DEPART PROMPTLY FROM THE TENNIS COURTS
19.00 Dinner at the House on the Bridge Restaurant, Windsor
22.00 Depart for Royal Holloway2
Thursday 19th
Session 7
Chair: Tony Wilkinson
BOURNE LECTURE THEATRE 1
9.00-9.40 Nigel Minton
Univ. Nottingham, UK
Clostridium spores as anti-cancer agents
9.40-10.00 Teja Sirec
University of Naples
Federico II, Italy
Enzyme adsorption to Bacillus subtilis spores
10.00-10.20 Bea Nielsen
Christian Hansen,
Denmark
Screening for new Bacillus-based probiotic feed additives for the pig industry
10.20-10.40 Heather Fairhead
Phico Therapeutics Ltd
UK
The Use of Alpha/Beta Small, Acid-Soluble Spore Proteins as Antibacterial Agents
10.40-11.10 Tea & Coffee BOURNE FOYER
Session 8
Chair: Nigel Minton
BOURNE LECTURE THEATRE 1
11.10-11.30 Adam Driks
Loyola Univ., USA
Formation of biofilm communities by Clostridium difficile
11.30-11.50 Adriano Henriques
ITQB, Portugal
Morphodynamics of spore differentiation in Clostridium difficile
11.50-12.10 Michael Galperin
NIH, USA
Genomic determinants of sporulation: A minimal set of sporulation-specific genes in Bacilli and Clostridia
12.10-12.30 Catarina G. Fernandes
ITQB, Portugal
The Tgl transglutaminase: assembly and role in spore coat formation
12.30-12.50 Bing Hao
Univ. Connecticut
Health Center, USA
Role of a SpoVA Protein in Dipicolinic Acid Uptake into Developing Spores of Bacillus subtilis
12.50-13.50 Lunch HUB DINING HALL
Session 9
Chair: Charlie Moran
BOURNE LECTURE THEATRE 1
13.50-14.10 Ralf Moeller
Institute of Aerospace Medicine,
Germany
Insights into Bacillus subtilis spore resistance to UV and ionizing radiation
14.10-14.30 Klaus Männer
Free University of Berlin,
Germany
Efficacy of Toyocerin® on performance, faecal microflora and immune response in rearing calves
14.30-14.50 Brent Seale
Univ. Queensland,
Australia
Characterisation of present day and historical Geobacillus spp. isolates from milk powders using high resolution melt analysis (HRMA) of multiple variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) loci.
14.50-15.10 Nguyen Van Anh
Hanoi Univ. Vietnam
"Killed" Bacillus subtilis spores expressing streptavidin: potential carriers with applications in drug delivery and diagnostics
15.10-15.30 Stella Planchon
CTCPA, France
Thermophilic spore forming bacteria isolated from spoiled low-acid canned food: a French ten-year survey.
15.30 closing statements and announcement of 'Best Young Speaker' and poster awards
(Simon Cutting)

Conference ends

1Please be punctual
2Drop-off and collection points to be provided at registrations