Research topics

• Aquatic microbial communities : phylogenetic diversity, spatio-temporal dynamics, metabolic activity, and resistance/resilience in human-impacted environments
• Symbioses between microbes and marine invertebrates from Atlantic, Mediterranean and Antarctic coastal environments
• Antagonistic relationships among microbes : ecological fundament and biotechnological potential
• Biogeography, eco-physiology, genomics and biotechnological applications of hard-to-cultivate microorganisms (focus on the phylum Acidobacteria)

Short CV

2010: Associate Professor, School of Bioengineering/Department of Biology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
2009-2010: Postdoctoral Researcher, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
2004-2008: Postdoctoral Researcher, Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
2001-2003: Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, BioCentrum, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
1997-2001: PhD candidate, Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
1997: Master degree in Bioengineering, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

Expertise

• Environmental Molecular Microbiology
• Bacterial Physiology
• Bacterial interactions
• Genomics

Teaching

• Ecologie générale (BIOL-F309)
• Microbiologie générale et environnementale (BING-F301)
• River and Lake Ecology (BIOL-F458)

Key Publications

Goetghebuer, L., Bonal, M., Faust, K., Servais, P., George, I. (2019). The dynamic of a river model bacterial community in two different media reveals a divergent succession and an enhanced growth of most strains compared to monocultures. Microbial Ecology. 78 (2): 313-323

E. Bouhajja, S.N. Agathos  and I. George. (2016). Metagenomics: Probing pollutant fate in natural and engineered ecosystems. Biotechnology Advances 34(8):1413-1426.

E. Bouhajja, M. McGuire, M.R. Liles, G. Bataille, S.B. Agathos, I.F. George. (2016). Identification of novel toluene monooxygenase genes in a hydrocarbon-polluted sediment using sequence- and function-based screening of metagenomic libraries. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 101 (2) : 797-808.

E. Bouhajja^, T. Efthymiopoulos, I.F. George, D. Moreels, R. Van Houdt, M. Mergeay, S.N. Agathos (2016).Conjugative transfer of broad host range plasmids to an acidobacterial strain, Edaphobacter aggregans. Journal of Biotechnology 221:107-113

Lumeng Ye, Juliana F. Santos-Gandelman, Cristiane C. P. Hardoim, Isabelle George, Pierre Cornelis & Marinella S. Laport (2015) Antibacterial activity and mutagenesis of sponge-associated Pseudomonas fluorescens H41. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. DOI 10.1007/s10482-015-0469-4

I.F. George, M. Hartmann, M.R. Liles, S.N. Agathos. (2011). Recovery of as-yet uncultured soil Acidobacteria on dilute solid media. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 77: 8184-8188.

P. Servais, T. Garcia-Armisen, I. George, G. Billen. (2007). Fecal bacteria in the rivers of the Seine drainage network: source, fate and modeling. Science of the Total Environment 357: 152-167.

I. George, M. Petit, C. Theate, P. Servais. (2001). Distribution of coliforms in the Seine river and estuary (France). Estuaries 24(6B): 994-1002.

I. George, M. Petit, P. Servais. (2000). Use of enzymatic methods for rapid enumeration of coliforms in freshwaters. Journal of Applied Microbiology 88(3): 404-413.