Summer culture

The value of hard work and logical thinking shouldn t be underestimated but pure luck also plays a role in most real scientific breakthroughs. What has been called "the supreme example [of luck] in all scientific history" occurred in the late summer of 1928 when the Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming went on vacation, leaving in his lab a culture plate recently inoculated with the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. 

In the summer of 2004, the NATO A.S.I. on the subject Optical Chemical Sensors was organised in Erice, Sicily. This NATO A.S.I. was the 40th Course of the International School of Quantum Electronics, under the auspices of the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Center for Scientific Culture and was directed by Dr. J. Homola of the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronic (IREE) of the Academy of Sciences in Prague and by Dr. F.Baldini of the Nello Carrara Institute of Applied Physics (IFAC-CNR). It is also the fourth course in the framework of the ASCOS (Advanced Study Course on Optical Chemical Sensors) series, founded in 1999 by Prof. Otto Wolfbeis. This book presents the Proceedings of this advanced course providing a deep overview of both the fundamentals of optical chemical sensing and the applications of chemical sensors. 

We do know, however, that some motile cells persist at temperatures as low as 0-2°C in laboratory cultures (26, 27), but the duration of this survival has not been determined. Winter temperatures in coastal waters can be highly variable, but they often drop to this same 0-2°C range (5, 28). Summer survival would not be a problem in most areas since tamarensis growth has been reported at temperatures as high as 24°C (25, 26), a temperature above the maximum for most coastal waters. There is thus the potential for small, motile cell populations to persist in certain temperature regions throughout the year. 

Using 1 m2 containers provided with a paddle-wheel (Fig. 1) the effect of several factors on biomass yield have been assayed at 30°C in outdoor semicontinuous cultures. At the moderate irradiance proper of autumn and winter (below 10 MJ m-2 day- ), the turbulence furnished by the paddle-wheel (15-20 rpm) suffices to provide all the C and N required for optimal cell growth. Under these conditions and in the presence of 50 mM NaHC03 but without any C02 supply (pH 9.3), productivity of Anabaena ATCC 33047 was 8-13g (dry weight) m-2 day-1. In summer (irradiance, 20-25 MJ m-2 day l), productivities of more than 25g (dry weight) m-2 day-1 were recorded, provided that the cultures were supplemented with C02 at a flow rate of 1 mole m-2 day-1 in addition to bicarbonate. Under these conditions, addition of C02 was an absolute requirement for pH maintenance and growth enhacement, whereas a supply of air-N2 or combined nitrogen did not improve productivity (Moreno et al., 1987). 

Fig. 2 Effect of cell density (A) and culture depth (B) on biomass productivity of Anabaena ATCC 33047 in semicontinuous culture outdoors. Culture depth in (A) was 10 cm and cell density in (B) was 2.5 mg (chi) l-1 The culture medium (Moreno et al., 1987) was supplemented with 50 mMNaHC03 and C02 at a rate of 1-1.5 mol m-2 day 1 The pH of the cell suspension was 9.1-9.4, and the temperature, 30°C. Once a day, part of the cell suspension was removed and replaced with fresh medium in order to maintain the selected cell density. The values shown are average of four independent determinations throughout four consecutive days in Summer, at a mean irradiance of 22 MJ m-2 day-1...

Malin G, Turner S, Liss P, Holligan P, Harbour D (1993) Dimethylsulfide and Dimethylsulphoniopropionate in the Northeast Atlantic During the Summer Coccolithophore Bloom. Deep-Sea Res Part I 40 1487-1508 Malin G, Wilson WH, Bratbak G, Liss PS, Mann NH (1998) Elevated production of dimethylsulfide resulting from viral infection of cultures of Phaeocystis pouchetii. Lim-nol Oceanogr 43 1389-1393... 

Dickson says that she also wanted to do something adventurous. She wanted to travel and live in different cultures. As a summer student, Dickson worked at a Chilean copper mine. Her current job with Cominco involves frequent travel to various mines. "Every day provides a new challenge," Dickson says. When she is at Polaris, Dickson enjoys polar bear sightings on the tundra. 

The Meyerhoff Scholars Program contains several major components the Summer Bridge program, mentoring, summer research experience, monetary support (including room and board, tuition and fees, and a book allowance), cultural arts activities, academic advising, travel to present research at national scientific conferences, assistance with graduate and professional school placement, and staff support. 

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