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This just came across my desk and thought some of you may be interested. Happy Harvesting Vicki Subject: Soil Micro Biology talk Thursday 4pm CSS/Horticulture 2007 Fall Seminar Series Thursday, September 13 4:10 pm - 5:00 pm 149 PSSB Soil Microbiology, Perhaps the Greatest Frontier for Science in All of Biology by Dr. James Tiedje University Distinguished Professor Director, Center for Microbial Ecology, MSU The case in support of the title is that the soil harbors the largest reservoir of undiscovered biological diversity on Earth. This is because of the huge number of niches, spatial isolation on a small scale and the outcome of 3.8 billion years of evolution. The new molecular methods have allowed us to understand this diversity at the gene, genome and metagenome levels. I will give some examples that illustrate progress in understanding the extent of microbial diversity, how the new 454 (pyrosequencing) is revolutionizing our understanding of soil microbial diversity, its application to determine the impact of cropping systems in Ghana (for carbon sequestration) on the microbial community. At the genome level, I will use Burkholderia is an example: a microbial group that most commonly lives on roots of grassy plants (esp corn), but also causes disease in cystic fibrosis patients, degrades pollutants, prevents as well as causes plant diseases, fixes nitrogen - even in nodules of legume plants. Its versatility may be due to its large genome and its arrangement into three replicons allowing for genetic flexibility. I will also mention the rather newly discovered nitrogen cycle process - anaerobic nitrification - known as anammox, as an example of a major diversity discovery that affects the global N cycle. Light refreshments will be available beginning at 4:00 p.m. Jeremy Moghtader Manager/Instructor Student Organic Farm Organic Farming Certificate Program Michigan State University 517-230-7987 If you would like to access previous postings to the Mich-Organic listserv you can copy and paste the following URL into your browser address bar http://list.msu.edu/archives/mich-organic.html