STrap lab announcements
- September 14, 2023: Our publication hit a milestone! Characterization of casein-derived peptide bioactivity: Differential effects on angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition and cytokine and nitric oxide production. Adams, C.; Sawh, F.; Green-Johnson, J. M.; Taggart, H. Jones; Strap, J. L.. 2020. J Dairy Sci. 103:5805-5815; https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2019-17976 is among the 100 most highly cited papers published in JDS since the beginning of 2020.
- September 2, 2023: The MMBL welcomes our newest undergraduate team members Rachel De León and Evany Bernal. A warm welcome-back to Mayowa Awe and Maryam Ali.
- August 11, 2023: Our very own James Lisondra is the first Ontario Tech Student to earn a spot in the Amgen Scholars Canada Program. You can read about it here. Congratulations!
- May 26, 2023: Congratulations on your acceptance to medical school James Lisondra!
- May 8, 2023: A warm welcome to our newest team member and recipient of an NSERC-USRA, Mayowa Awe.
- April 3, 2023: Hiba Khan presented a poster based on her fourth year thesis! Congratulations!
- September 6, 2022: Welcome to our newest lab members Hiba Khan, James Rey Lisondra, Omar Afzalzada, Maryam Ali and Chenniel Dixon.
- May 7, 2022: Welcome to the MMBL team Nathanaël Bozor-Mbobi!
- March 25, 2022: Congratulations Sylvia Harnarain for receiving the Student Leadership Community Building Award!
- January 10, 2022: The MMBL welcomes our newest MSc candidate, Rhys Bartlett. Welcome to the team!
- September 13, 2021: The MMBL welcomes Taylor Ruzgys and Osama Khalid, our new fourth year thesis students.
- May 3, 2021: Mitchell Ng returns to the MMBL as an NSERC-USRA recipient. Welcome back!!
- September 4, 2020: Welcome back to the lab, Terry-Ann Hemmings! Terry-Ann will be working on her fourth year thesis project. A warm MMBL welcome to Sylvia Harnarain, our newest team member and fourth year thesis project student.
- September 4, 2020: Congratulations to our very own Intisar Qamar, this year's recipient of the Governor General's Silver Medal for academic excellence. The most prestigious honor granted to a graduating student at Ontario Tech who has achieved the highest cumulative grade point average in courses required for an undergraduate degree. Very impressive!!
- September 1, 2020: A hearty MMBL welcome to our newest team member and MSc candidate, Kaitlyn Horton. Welcome to Ontario Tech!!
- August 5, 2020: Congratulations Jarret Arbing on the new job in your field.
- July 23, 2020: Dr J.L. Strap, Dr. Zenkina and Dr. Easton are pleased to receive an NSERC Alliance Grant (ALLRP) for the project entitled: "Understanding the durability and efficacy of antimicrobial copper surfaces in preventing infectious spread in medical facilities", with Northumberland Hills Hospital.
- May 22, 2020: Congratulations to Jarret Arbing who successfully defended his MSc thesis today. Thesis title: Characterization of a carbon source-dependent, phytohormone-responsive, free methionine-(R)-sulfoxide reductase from Komagataeibacter hansenii.
- May 11, 2020: The MMBL welcomes new team member and NSERC-USRA recipient Mitchell Ng.
- March 16, 2020: Our manuscript: Characterization of casein-derived peptide bioactivity: differential effects on angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition, cytokine and nitric oxide production was accepted for publication in Journal of Dairy Science. Congratulations Christina Adams and Farrah Sawh!!
- February 14, 2020: Our manuscript: Milk fermented with Lactobacillus rhamnosus R0011 induces a regulatory cytokine profile in LPS-challenged U937 and THP-1 macrophages was accepted for publication in Current Research in Food Science.
- January 22, 2020: Kylee Ronnenberg gave her first research seminar today. Well done, Kylee!
- September 9, 2019: A hearty MMBL welcome to our two new lab members, Terry-Ann Hemmings and Aryaan Khan.
- August 23, 2019: Our manuscript: Missense mutations in a transmembrane domain of the Komagataeibacter xylinus BcsA lead to changes in cellulose synthesis was accepted for publication in BMC Microbiology.
- August 23, 2019: MMBL Research Day -- a celebration of a productive summer with a tasty lunch and research presentations from the Strap and Bonetta labs. Great presentations by Jarret Arbing, Kylee Ronnenberg, Intisar Qamar, Britney Messam and Hafsa Zia. It was a full, fun day of Komagataeibacter!!
- June 11, 2019: Jarret Arbing presented his poster at the 69th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Microbiologists (CSM) in Sherbrooke, QC. Presentation title: "Characterization of a carbon source-dependent, phytohormone-responsive free methionine-(R)-sulfoxide reductase from Komagataeibacter hansenii".
- May 6, 2019: The MMBL welcomes two new team members and NSERC-USRA recipients: Britney Messam and Intisar Qamar. Here's to a fun and productive summer!
- May 3, 2019: A warm MMBL welcome to Kylee Ronnenberg, MSc candidate.
- October 26, 2018: Our manuscript: Suppression of intestinal epithelial cell chemokine production by Lactobacillus rhamnosus R0011 and Lactobacillus helveticus R0389 is mediated by secreted bioactive molecules, was accepted for publication in Frontiers in Immunology, section Mucosal Immunity.
- October 17, 2018: Dr. J.L. Strap was honoured to support the UOIT Women in Science Speaker Series with her presentation: 'From There To Here: An Abridged Herstory'.
- October 10, 2018: Dr. J.L. Strap's research was profiled on the UOIT website.
- August 23, 2018: Gibran Edun presented his summer research at the UOIT Student Research Showcase. Gibran's poster title: Investigating the role of two-component signaling pathways in Komagataeibacter hansenii.
- July 19, 2018: Our manuscript: Alleles causing resistance to isoxaben and flupoxam highlight the importance of transmembrane domains for CESA protein function, was accepted for publication in Frontiers in Plant Science, section Plant Physiology.
- May 7, 2018: Welcome to Gibran Edun, our newest member of the MMBL team and recipient of an NSERC-USRA.
- April 15, 2018: Dr. J.L. Strap was awarded an NSERC Discovery Grant. The Strap Lab is grateful for NSERC's support of current and future research activities.
- September 8, 2017: Welcome back to the lab, Justin Saunders. Justin will be characterizing phosphodiesterases in Komagataeibacter xylinus and Komagataeibacter hansenii for his fourth year undergraduate thesis project.
- September 8, 2017: Sheena Gopaul joins the MMBL for her fourth year undergraduate thesis. She will be characterizing the phytohormone response pathway in Komagataeibacter species. Welcome to the lab!
- September 1, 2017: A warm welcome to Jarret Arbing, MMBL's newest MSc candidate. Jarret will be investigating quorum-sensing in Komagataeibacter species.
- August 24, 2017: Congratulations Paula Davila for getting 'Honorable Mention' for the Faculty of Science at the UOIT Student Research Showcase. Well done!! Poster title: Investigating the role of the GXY_RS03165 histidine kinase on biofilm formation in Komagataeibacter hansenii.
- August 24, 2017: Justin Saunders and Paula Davila presented their summer research at the UOIT Student Research Showcase. Justin's poster title: Analysis of PdeA2, a phosphodiesterase that controls cyclic diguanosine monosphosphate levels and bacterial cellulose synthesis in Komagataeibacter xylinus; Paula's poster title: Investigating the role of the GXY_RS03165 histidine kinase on biofilm formation in Komagataeibacter hansenii.
- July 26, 2017: Andrew Varley successfully defended his MSc thesis today. Thesis title: The transcription factor, FixK, plays a central role in carbon source metabolism and cellulose synthesis in Komagataeibacter species.
- June 23, 2017: Andrew Varley presented a poster at the 67th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Microbiologists (CSM) in Waterloo, ON. Presentation title: "The role of fixK in the regulation of bacterial cellulose in Komagataeibacter species."
- June 21, 2017: Sierra Dargan presented a poster and oral presentation at the 67th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Microbiologists (CSM) in Waterloo, ON describing part of her undergraduate thesis work. Presentation title: "Comparative metabolic analysis of Komagataeibacter spp. grown in different carbon sources."
- May 13, 2017: Be sure to check out Science Rendezvous. Enthusiastic members of the Faculty of Science have come up with awesome activities that will add fun and excitement to the weekend. Who can resist Science Chase? There will be milk plastic, escape room fun and more!
- May 8, 2017: A hearty welcome to our newest MMBL members, Paula Davila and Justin Saunders.
- November 10, 2016: Our Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) article "Utilizing the ethylene-releasing compound, 2-chloroethylphosphonic acid as a tool to study ethylene response in bacteria" was published online today.
- October 14, 2016: Congratulations Hira Sohail and Osama Qureshi. We wish you every happiness in your new life together!
- September 2016: A hearty welcome to the new undergraduate 4th year thesis students: Sierra Dargan and Jon Kalmeyer.
- August 25, 2016: Congratulations Sierra Dargan for winning best poster in the Faculty of Science at the UOIT Student Research Showcase. Well done!! Poster title: Proteomic investigations of the ethylene response in Komagataeibacter spp.
- August 2, 2016: A warm welcome to Jon Kalmeyer, MMBL's new research assistant.
- July 13, 2016: An interesting day filming the JoVE article with videographer Howard Wan. A view behind the scenes of the JoVE shoot can be found here.
- June 13, 2016: Andrew Varley presented a poster at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Microbiologists (CSM) in Toronto, ON as part of the Beveridge Poster Competition. Presentation title: 'Plant cell wall degradation by Komagataeibacter species and its impact on bacterial cellulose production'.
- May 25, 2016: Today is a good day. Our manuscript “Utilizing the ethylene-releasing compound, 2-chloroethylphosphonic acid, as a tool to study ethylene response in bacteria” was accepted for publication in the multimedia format of the Journal of Visualized Experiments.
- March 30, 2016: Congratulations Richard Augimeri on successfully defending your MSc thesis. Thesis title: Ethylene response and phytohormone-mediated regulation of gene expression in Komagataeibacter xylinus ATCC 52582.
- February 26, 2016: Congratulations Dr. Bruna Caroline Marques-Gonçalves who successfully defended her PhD thesis today at the Universidade de São Paulo Escola de Engenharia de Lorena, Brazil. Thesis Title: "Evaluation of microorganism performance in hemicellulosic hydrolyzate detoxification and sugarcane bagasse lignin removal for bioethanol production".
- December 1, 2015: Our manuscript The phytohormone ethylene enhances bacterial cellulose production, regulates CRP/FNRKx transcription and causes differential gene expression within the cellulose synthesis operon of Komagataeibacter (Gluconacetobacter) xylinus ATCC 53582 was accepted for publication in Frontiers Microbiology. Congratulations Richard Augimeri! Well done!!
- October 31, 2015 Our manuscript: Establishing a role for bacterial cellulose in environmental interactions: lessons learned from diverse biofilm-producing Proteobacteria was accepted for publication in Frontiers Microbiology.
- September, 2015: A warm MMBL welcome to the new undergraduate 4th year thesis students: Michael Greenberg and Jean Nsanzeryaka.
- August 5, 2015: Christina Adams successfully defended her MSc thesis. Congratulations! Thesis title: ‘Analysis of peptide production by Lactobacillus species and evaluation of their antihypertensive and immunomodulatory activities’.
- July 28, 2015: Bruna Caroline Marques-Gonçalves presented a poster entitled: Biotechnological innovation towards short duration second generation bioethanol production’ at the workshop: ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Biotechnology’ (Botucatu, São Paulo).
- June 15-18, 2015: Christina Adams presented both an oral presentation (invited) and a poster at the 65th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Microbiologists (CSM) in Regina, SK. Presentation title: 'In vitro antihypertensive and immunomodulatory properties of casein-derived peptides liberated by two strains of lactic acid bacteria'.
- June 5, 2015: Famous Brazilian footballer, Marta, tours the Strap Lab.
- April 27-30, 2015: Bruna Caroline Marques-Goncalves' poster entitled: ‘Application of fractional factorial design to study the short-term biological pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse by novel ligninolytic strains' was presented at the Society of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (SIMB) 37th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals in La Jolla, San Diego, California.
- March 23-26, 2015: Dr. J.L. Strap presented at the American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting in Denver, Colorado. Presentation title: ‘Influence of plant associated compounds on bacterial cellulose production’.
- March 4, 2015: Bruna returns to Brazil. We miss you!!!
- March 3, 2015: Dr. Messias Borges Silva, (Universidade de São Paulo, USP, UNESP, Harvard, MIT), delivered an informative workshop for the Strap Lab on design of experiments (DoE). Thank-you Dr. Silva for taking the time to run the impromptu workshop, we all appreciated it!!
- February 20, 2015: Hira Sohail graciously hosts a good-bye party for Bruna. Lots of good food and company!
- October 7, 2015: Bruna Caroline Marques-Gonçalves gave her Applied Bioscience Seminar today - in English!! Great job, Bruna. Presentation title: ‘Biodelignification of sugarcane bagasse for ethanol production using integrated processing: enzymatic characterization and structural mapping’.
- August, 2014: Best poster prize for the Faculty of Science at Research Showcase goes to Andrew Varley. Poster title: Influence of plant associated compounds on bacterial cellulose.
- April, 2014: Congratulations Christina Adams and Richard Augimeri for receiving the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS). Well done indeed!!
- August, 2013: Best poster prize for the Faculty of Science at Research Showcase goes to Tanya Fernandes. Excellent work, Tanya. Poster title: ‘Synthesis and deposition of silver nanoparticles in bacterial cellulose and evaluation of its antimicrobial activity on Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli’.
- August, 2012: Richard Augimeri wins best poster award for the Faculty of Science in the UOIT Research Showcase for his poster entitled: ‘Development of a simple and efficient Tn5 mutagenesis system for Gluconacetobacter hansenii ATCC 23769 via conjugational mating with Escherichia coli BW20767/prL27’. Excellent work, Rich!!