Carbon cycling workshop on campus

An international workshop entitled ‘New horizons for international investigations into carbon cycling in the deep crustal biosphere’ was hosted by the Extreme Biochemistry group at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein Campus, from 18 to 23 January 2011.

The purpose of the workshop was to discuss ongoing research in the microbiological, biochemical, and geochemical fields related to the deep subsurface biosphere. Over the past decade, great progress has been made in characterising the abundance and diversity of the deep subsurface biosphere, but many mysteries remain to be answered when it comes to the in situ processes of growth, biogeochemical cycling, evolution, and death of subsurface microorganisms.

This workshop was sponsored by the Deep Carbon Observatory (http://dco.gl.ciw.edu/) and brought together scientists from Canada, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Japan, China, the United States, and South Africa to explore new approaches of retrieving geochemical, isotopic, metagenomic, transcriptomic, metabolomic, and proteomic information from the deep subsurface biosphere where cell concentrations are low and metabolic rates are very slow.

The delegates also explored one of the Goldfield’s deep terrestrial biomes in a coordinated sampling effort at Beatrix Gold mine near Welkom.

Prof Derek leaving

Prof Derek Litthauer has been appointed as Director of the South African National Control Laboratory for Biological Products (NCL), a testing laboratory for the MCC that tests the quality of all vaccines for human use in South Africa. The laboratory is located on our Bloemfontein Campus.

The laboratory receives samples of the vaccines from manufacturers and importers, and after careful evaluation of the product quality control data as well as independent testing of the vaccines, it is released for use in the private or public sector. No vaccines can be used in South Africa without an exemption certificate issued by the NCL stating that the vaccine is suitable for human consumption.

Prof Litthauer and his staff visited European vaccine manufacturing plants and control laboratories in the UK, France, and Belgium.

They were also invited to the World Health Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland, to visit and discuss future cooperation with the WHO. The NCL will test polio vaccines received from manufacturers, which will be distributed worldwide by the World Health Organisation. The NCL will then make recommendations to the WHO regarding the suitability of the vaccines.

2011 year-end function

Errol visits Liberia

During the monsoon season, Errol Cason braved the weather in order to assist with water contamination assessment in Liberia.

The primary objective of the water-quality testing component was to evaluate water quality conditions in the capital city of Liberia, Monrovia, on a sample basis, classifying wells according to their level and type of contamination, and tracing causes and patterns of pollution. The results from this assessment will identify wells that should continue to be used for drinking water provision and those that should be removed from service because of unacceptable levels of contamination.

The collected data will be used by the Liberian Ministry of Public Works (MoPW) and the Liberia Water Sewerage Corporation (LWSC) to outline the possible approaches that could be taken for water quality improvement and community action plans to protect water resources in Monrovia and other urban areas of Liberia. Water samples were done at select points chosen to represent the situation in the greater Monrovia area. Of the 1 000+ water points situated in the greater Monrovia area, 200 were selected based on distribution, location, and previously known health concerns, such as cholera hotspots.

Water sampling and borehole assessment was performed by Vince Uhl and Ashish Daw (Uhl Associates Inc.) in conjunction with local staff. Quality assessment, testing for Coliforms and fecal E.coli, was performed by Errol Cason (UFS). A workshop focusing on water sampling and testing was also hosted. The practical portion of this training workshop took place in the field at selected wells. The purpose of the workshop was to train the sampling staff and any additional key Liberia Water and Sewerage Corporation staff, with the aim of building lasting capacity.

Nature publication

After a very long search and very hard work, an article was published in the Nature international weekly journal.
The article called 'Worms from Hell' was mentioned on the front page.
This was a first for the University of the Free State. What made this article so special for the group and for the University of the Free State, was the fact that 5 of the authors are from the university.

The article is about the new species of nematode discovered in South African Gold mines. Many radio interviews and news articles are available on request.

Visit to the Institute of Microbiology and Genetics in Germany

During November 2011, three of our students visited the Institute of Microbiology and Genetics at the Georg-August-University in Göttingen, Germany.

The time spent there was filled with learning new techniques, such as pyrosequencing, as well as new programmes for the accurate processing of diversity data.

The purpose of the trip was to expose the students to new laboratory techniques and to improve the techniques that are used in our laboratory. Also, to learn more about ‘Phylogenetics’, which includes preparation of sequence data using Pregap4 and Gap4 for construction of phylogenetic trees.

The three ladies came back with lots to teach other students, as well as many lovely memories.

2011 visitors