时间：2015年3月6日（周五）上午9:30-11:00
地址：闵行校区 生科辅楼城市生态实验室一楼119会议室
主持人：Dr. Varenyam Achal
主办单位：生态与环境科学学院、科技处
报告内容：
报告1：Anammox to the Nitrogen Cycle: Detection, Distribution and Diversity
报告人：Dr. Ji-Dong Gu（University of Hong Kong）
报告人简介：Ji-Dong Gu is associate professor in School of Biological Sciences of The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong since 2004. He did his postdoctoral research at Harvard University and then worked there as Research Associate for 5 years before joining The University of Hong Kong in 1999 as Assistant Professor. Dr. Gu has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers in prestigious international journals such as PLoS ONE, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Biogeosciences, Microbial Ecology, Water Research. He also served or is serving as associate editor of International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, Microbes and the Environment, International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, Environmental Geochemistry and Health and an editorial board member of many Springer journals. He is currently supervising seven PhD students. His research intersts include microbial metabolism of toxic organic pollutants and transformation of metals; molecular ecology of new microorganisms in carbon and nitrogen cycles; petroleum oilfield microbiology for energy recovery; and environmental toxicology of endocrine-disrupting chemicals and their effects.
报告简介：Nitrogen is fundamental to life and ecosystem function. Bacteria responsible for nitrite-dependent oxidation of ammonium (anammox) were first discovered in late 1990s and then were confirmed to contribute significant to 30-50% of the N2 produced in ocean ecosystems and also some wastewater treatment plants where anammox bacteria were active. Multiple PCR primer sets based on the genes encoding 16S rRNA, hydrazine oxidoreductase (HZO), cytochrome cd1-containing nitrite reductase (NirS) and hydrazine synthase subunit A (HzsA) of anammox bacteria were used to reveal the diversity and abundance from the coastal Mai Po wetland (MP) of Hong Kong to the South China Sea (SCS). Phylogenetic results of these biomarkers for anammox bacteria, namely 16S rRNA, hzo, and hzsA genes varied between these primers sets and also samples, but 16S rRNA showed a clear lack of specificity for some samples. SCS were dominated by diverse Ca. Scalindua phylotypes while MP showed the highest diversity of anammox bacteria including Ca. Scalindua, Ca. Kuenenia and Ca. Brocadia. Based on phylogenetic analyses, deduced protein sequences of the enzymes involved were grouped into relevant clusters and new HZO clusters with lower similarity to the known anammox HZO sequences were also recovered from SCS. These new clusters with in Ca. Scalindua species were named honoring the Chinese oceanographer Zheng He (1371–1433) as Ca. Scalindua zhenghei I, II, and III indigenous to SCS. Wastewater treatment plants contained anammox bacteria of the 5 known genera except Ca. Scalindua species. Honghe wetland and the rice paddy in the northeast China were dominated by Ca. Scalindua species, indicating pristine conditions. At the same time, wastewater contaminated Longfeng wetland in Daqing in the north China showed Ca. Kuenenia and Ca. Brocadia, no Ca. Scalindua. Our results collectively showed that the distribution of anammox bacteria is niche-specific within the different ecosystems and specific genera are associated with anthropogenic influence. A pattern can be delineated over the known anthropogenic pollution gradient from the Pearl River Delta to the SCS to show the increase in diversity and decrease in abundance.
报告2：Biomineralization in Biofilms
报告人：Dr. Maria Dittrich（University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada）
报告人简介：Maria Dittrich received Master Degree in Physics with distinction from Moscow State University Russia and PhD in Aquatic Ecology, Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Fisheries, Berlin, Germany. She is now Associate Professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada. Over the past several years, Professor Dittrich both initiated and collaborated on several projects focused on carbonate precipitation. She has published about 40 papers, wrote two book chapters, among them Application of an infrared spectroscopy for cell-minerals interfaces, 2012, Ali Navid (ed.), Microbial Systems Biology: Methods and Protocols, Methods in Molecular Biology, Vol. 881, Springer, 187-211. Professor Dittrich’s research approach involves a combination of a wide range of analytical tools, including Atomic Force and electron microscopy, as well as conventional and synchrotron-based spectroscopy (infra-red, electron energy loss; EELS, near-edge x-ray absorption fine-structure; NEXAFS). She teaches various courses related to Geomicrobiology at the University of Toronto, as well as a private-docent at the ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Zurich, Switzerland. Recently, she has been invited to teach a course in Geobiology for Petrobras, the Brazilian state-owned oil company.
报告简介：Biofilms are ubiquitous in nature, and consist of the attached microbial population and extracellular polymer materials of bacterial origin. In biofilms, biological, physical, and chemical processes influenced one another over a broad range of time and spatial scales, resulting in complex macroscopic 3-D-structures containing pores, channels, and mushroom shapes protuberances. Biomineralization appears to play an important role in biofilms.
In this talk I will give an overview what kind of the processes in biofilm may lead to mineral (e.g., iron-hydroxides, carbonate) formations under variety of environmental conditions: from extreme evaporated environments to groundwater. As examples, I will present the results from our recent studies on formation of dolomites and iron hydroxides in biofilms from extreme environment in Qatar, Brazil and sediments from Lake Superior. Finally, I will also demonstrate possible applications of a combination of microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, namely on Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) in combination with Raman spectroscopy, Scanning Transmission X-Ray Microscopy and Near Edge X-Ray Adsorption Structure Spectroscopy, in biogeochemistry.
报告3：Innovative Sustainable Renewable Energy Technologies
报告人：Prof. Tarik Ozkul（American University of Sharjah）
报告人简介：Prof. Ozkul has recieved his PhD from Florida Institute of Technology in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1988. In the industry he has worked in different positions ranging from Design engineer to R&D director for large corporations. He has currently 29+ patents mostly on renewable energy related instruments. In order to kindle innovation in academia, he has developed “Patent Based Education”system where engineering courses are integrated with patent information. He is currently founder and CEO of Strategic Innovative Initiatives and Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at American University of Sharjah.
报告简介：Sustainable Renewable Energy Technologies aimed at providing energy at the least financial, environmental and social cost. A strong emphasis is placed on dealing with energy engineering tasks with due consideration of technical, environmental and socio-economic issues. It is important to emphasize on the innovative and entrepreneurial aspects of the energy society, especially related to how existing and new efficiency improvement innovations can be brought to the market in different countries. In this talk, I will discuss conventional and renewable energy sources like conventional and new power generation, solar energy, biomass energy, wind power, geothermal power, and energy utilization in the built environment by means of economically and environmentally sustainable systems and technologies. These technologies play a key role in tackling these issues coming from limited availability of fossil fuels and need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially given people’s determination to maintain or improve their living standards. This requires experts who combine specialist knowledge with broader social awareness to deliver high-tech solutions with a human touch.
