Angert Lab Research Interests:

Epulopiscium spp. are some of the largest known bacteria. Individuals can reach lengths in excess of 600 µm; large enough to be seen with the unaided eye. In terms of cell volume, Epulopiscium can be as much as a million times larger than a bacterium the size of Escherichia coli. Another unusual feature of this group is the manner in which they reproduce. While most bacteria undergo binary fission · simply dividing into two equivalent daughter cells · an Epulopiscium cell can produce multiple offspring intracellularly. These internal daughter cells grow inside the mother cell until they completely fill the mother cell cytoplasm. The daughter cells eventually burst through the mother cell envelope and are released. This process destroys the mother cell.

Research in the Angert lab focuses on several aspects of Epulopiscium biology.

1) Characterizing cellular modifications that support large cell size in a bacterium.

2) Identifying molecular mechanisms involved in intracellular offspring formation and development. 

3) Determining how reproductive strategy impacts the symbiotic relationship of intestinal bacteria and their vertebrate host. 

We have developed a number of approaches to study Epulopiscium and its relatives in their natural environments. Current research projects use comparative genomics, phylogenetics, cell biological and microbiological methods to study these exceptional microorganisms.

In addition, we have on-going collaborative projects developing microbial proteins for nanofabrication, assessing the efficacy of antimicrobial compounds, describing the ecology and diversity of gastrointestinal microbial symbionts, and characterizing biophysical factors that impact soil ecology.

Courses:

BioMI 418 Microbial Ecology 

Course description: Understanding the role of microorganisms in natural environments is one of the greatest challenges facing microbiologists. This course introduces current biochemical and macromolecule sequence-based methods to assess community diversity and microbial activity in a variety of ecosystems. Other topics discussed include bacterial growth and survival, population biology and microbial interactions.

BioMI 791 Advanced Topics in Microbiology:
Environmental Microbiology Journal Club 

for Cornell Affiliates: Journal Club Papers are available through the Blackboard
Website.

Biographical Sketch: 

Esther Angert earned a B.S. in Biology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Her graduate training was in the laboratory of Dr. Norman Pace at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, where she earned her Ph.D. She was Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Richard Losick at Harvard University before joining the Cornell faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology in 1999.

Selected Publications:

Click here for a PubMed listing of Dr. Angert's publications

J. F. Flint, D. Drzymalski, W. L. Montgomery, G. Southam and E. R. Angert. 2005. Nocturnal production of endospores in natural populations of Epulopiscium-like surgeonfish symbionts. Journal of Bacteriology 187: 7460-7470. [pdf]

E. R. Angert. 2005. Alternatives to binary fission in bacteria. Nature Reviews Microbiology 3: 214-224. [pdf]

J. F. Flint and E. R. Angert. 2005. Development of a strain-specific assay for detection of viable Lactobacillus sp. HOFG1 after application to cattle feed. Journal of Microbiological Methods 61: 235-243. [pdf]

E. R. Angert and K. D. Clements. 2004. Initiation of intracellular offspring in Epulopiscium. Molecular Microbiology 51: 827-835. [pdf]

M. Bergkvist, S. S. Mark, X. Yang, E. R. Angert and C. A. Batt. 2004. Bionanofabrications of ordered nanoparticle arrays: effect of particle properties and adsorption conditions. Journal of Physical Chemistry Part B 108: 8241-8248. [pdf]

J. H. DeMera and E. R. Angert. 2004. Comparison of the antimicrobial activity of honey produced by Tetragonisca angustula (Meliponinae) and Apis mellifera L. from different phytogeographical regions of Costa Rica. Apidologie 35: 411-417. [pdf]

E. R. Angert and R. M. Losick. 1998. Propagation by sporulation in the guinea pig symbiont Metabacterium polyspora. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 95: 10218-10223. [pdf]

C. Robinow and E. R. Angert. 1998. Nucleoids and coated vesicles of "Epulopiscium" spp. Archives of Microbiology 170: 227-235. [pdf]

E. R. Angert, D. E. Northup, A.-L. Reysenbach, A. S. Peek, B. M. Goebel and N. R. Pace. 1998. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of a bacterial community in Sulphur River, Parker Cave, Kentucky. American Minerologist 83: 1583-1592.

J. Schwedock, J. R. McCormick, E. R. Angert, J. R. Nodwell and R. Losick. 1997. Assembly of the cell division protein FtsZ into ladder-like structures in the aerial hyphae of Streptomyces coelicolor. Molecular Microbiology 25: 847-858.

E. R. Angert, A. E. Brooks and N. R. Pace. 1996. Phylogenetic analysis of Metabacterium polyspora: Clues to the evolutionary origin of Epulopiscium spp., the largest bacteria. Journal of Bacteriology 178: 1451-1456. [pdf]

E. R. Angert, K. D. Clements and N. R. Pace. 1993. The largest bacterium. Nature 362: 239-241.