Isabelle France George – CURRICULUM VITAE

I.            General Information :

1.1.  Family Name, First Name : George, Isabelle France

1.2.  Male/Female : female

1.3.  Place & date of birth : Belgium, Charleroi, 25th of August 1974

1.4.  Nationality Belgian

1.5.  Mail Address (official): Rue d’Erpent val 31, B- 5101 Erpent

1.6.  Mail address : Rue d’Erpent val 31, B-5101 Erpent

1.7. Phone, Fax, email : 081/312763 (phone at home), 02/6505924 (phone at work), 02/6505993 (fax at work), igeorge@ulb.ac.be (professionnal e-mail address)

1.8. Language skills : French (native language), English (proficient), Dutch (basic knowledge), Spanish (basic knowledge), Danish (basic knowledge)

1.9.  SIS card number : 0769601232

1.10.  NISS number : 740825 016 68

II.          Education

PhD in Bioengineering (Interfaculty Section of Agronomy, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium) – 08/06/2001

PhD dissertation : « Study of the evolution of allochthonous bacteria in natural aquatic environments. Methodological aspects; study of the processes controlling the dynamics of faecal bacteria in rivers; development of a conceptual model of their evolution »

Master in Bioengineering (Interfaculty Section of Agronomy, ULB, Belgium) – 12/09/1997

ULB Award of Excellence: degree obtained with “La Plus Grande Distinction” (Summa Cum Laude) for 5 successive years at the Interfaculty Section of Agronomy.

Paul Duvigneaud Award extended by the Interfaculty Section of Agronomy for the underthesis “Use of enzymatic methods for the enumeration of fecal bacteria in surface freshwaters”.

 

III.         Research experience:

3.1.      Positions

2010-…           Laboratories of Ecology of Aquatic Systems and of Marine Biology, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium

chargée de cours

2009-2010      Unit of Bioengineering, Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Belgium

Postdoctoral researcher under a EU FP7 grant (project entitled “Metaexplore: Metagenomics for bioexploration – tools and application”; call KBBE-2007-3-3-05)

Faculty of Bio-engineering, Agronomy and Environment, Bioengineering Unit, Dir. Prof. Spyros Agathos.

2004-2008      Unit of Bioengineering, UCL, Belgium

Postdoctoral researcher under a grant from the National Fund for Scientific Research of Belgium (FNRS).

“Analysis of soil bacterial diversity and assessment of the phylogenetic and metabolic diversity of the new division Acidobacteria”. Faculty of Bio-engineering, Agronomy and Environment, Bioengineering Unit, Dir. Prof. Spyros Agathos.

2001-2003      BioCentrum, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Postdoctoral fellow under a Marie Curie grant from the European Union “Functional genomic investigations of biodegrading microbial consortia”. Center for Biomedical Microbiology, Molecular Microbial Ecology Group, Dir. Prof. Søren Molin.

1997-2001      Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

Ph.D. student under a grant from the National Fund for Scientific Research of Belgium (FNRS)

“Study of the evolution of allochthonous bacteria in natural aquatic environments. Methodological aspects; study of the processes controlling the dynamics of faecal bacteria in rivers; development of a conceptual model of their evolution”. Interfaculty Bioengineering School, Laboratory of Ecology of Aquatic Systems (Supervisor: Dr. P. Servais).

3.2.      Short-term visits abroad (including summer courses)

2014                Max Planck Institut für Marine Mikrobiologie, Bremen, Germany

                         1-week visit (collaboration with Dr P. Yilmaz)

2013                Max Planck Institut für Marine Mikrobiologie, Bremen, Germany

                         1-week visit (collaboration with Dr P. Yilmaz)

2012                Joint Genome Institute, California, USA

        1-week course on Microbial Genomics and Metagenomics

2010                Københavns Universitet, Denmark

3-week visit in the Molecular Microbial Ecology Group, Dept. of Biology (Prof. Søren Sørensen). Search for plasmids in new Acidobacteria isolates and pyrosequencing of their genome.

2009                National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK

3-week visit in the laboratory of Prof. M. Zubkov under a grant from the British Council – Communauté française de Belgique. Training on the phylogeny of Acidobacteria (update of the ARB database and trees, design of new primers for the phylum and its sub-groups)

2007                Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, USA

Gordon Research Conference on Applied and Environmental Microbiology (1-week summer school)

2007           Institute of Biotechnology, Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam

1 week – visit in the Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology (Prof. Ha) within the framework of a collaboration financed by the Walloon Region entitled “Innovative Process of Bioremediation of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP)”

2006                Technischen Universität München, Germany

« CELLIDENT – International course of FISH and other in situ detection tools for environmental studies ». 1 week – course organized by the Department of Microbiology (Prof K.-H. Schleifer and Dr. N. Lee)

2006                Technischen Universität München, Germany

1 week – visit in the Department of Microbiology (Prof K.-H. Schleifer and Prof. W.Ludwig) under a grant from the FNRS. Training on the phylogeny program ARB and on the phylogeny of the division Acidobacteria.

2005                University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

3 month – training (under a grant from the EC-US Task Force on Biotechnology Research) in the Laboratory of Prof. R.M. Goodman, Department of Plant Pathology.  Analysis of the phylogenetic diversity of Acidobacteria in nitroaromatic-contaminated soils.

2003                Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, CSIC, Madrid, Spain

Participation in a 2-week EC-US course in Environmental Biotechnology – “Molecular Biology for the environment” (funded by the 5th framework programme of the European Commission and the US Department of Energy).

2001                Université de Rouen, France

1 month – training (under an FNRS grant) in the Laboratory of Microbiology (Prof. F. Petit). Teaching on PCR techniques for the detection of fecal bacteria in environmental samples.

1999                Université Paris VI, France

3.5 month – practical training (under an FNRS grant) at the Laboratory of Microbiology (Dir. Prof. P. Lebaron) of the Oceanology Observatory at Banyuls-sur-mer. “Development of fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunofluorescence techniques to label E.coli in pure cultures and environmental samples; subsequent enumeration by epifluorescence microscopy and solid phase cytometry (ChemScan RDI, Chemunex)”

 IV.         Teaching:

4.1.      Courses

2012-…         course BIOLF301 « Microbiologie Générale et environnementale», (partim)                        36h theory + 24h practicals = 5 ECTS, Université Libre de Bruxelles

2012-…       course BINGF531 « Bioremediation», 24h (theory) = 5 ECTS, Université                        Libre de Bruxelles

2010-…      course BIOLF306 « Ecologie generale », 120h = 10 ECTS (4 theory,                      1 exercises, 3 lab work, 2 field trips) (partim), Université Libre de Bruxelles

2010-…          course BIOLF458 « River and Lake Ecology » 24h theory + 36 h practicals  =5 ECTS (partim), Université Libre de Bruxelles

2010-2014   course BIOLF209 « Excursions de Biologie », 24h =2 ECTS (partim),                         Université Libre de Bruxelles

2009-2010    course BOE2148 « Microbial Ecology », Université Catholique de Louvain  (24 h).

2008-2010     course BMC2017 « Microbial and Cell Phsyiology, Université Catholique   de Louvain  (36 h). I taught the part « Introduction to bioremediation » (2 h).

2007-2010   course MAPR2643 « Treatment of Liquid Effluents », Université Catholique     de Louvain (30 h). I taught the part « Wastewater Microbiology » (4 h).

           

Supervision of practical work :

Supervision in the Unit of Bioengineering, UCL, of :

-6 bachelor’s theses: Edwin Henry (2004-2005, Institut Paul Lambin, Bruxelles), Laurence Pesché (2006-2007, Institut Paul Lambin, Bruxelles), Benjamin Vidick (2007-2008, Institut Paul Lambin, Bruxelles), Isabelle Ernotte (2008-2009, Institut Paul Lambin, Bruxelles), Jonathan Debouche (2011-2012, Institut Paul Lambin, Bruxelles), Raphaël Lanckman (2012-2013, Institut Paul Lambin, Bruxelles), Tristan Félix, 3d year student in Cellular and Molecular Biology and Physiology, Université Paris XII Val de Marne, France, in 2005-2006 (3 months).

Supervision in the ESA, ULB, of :

-The bachelor’s thesis of Samantha Lopez, Fullbright exchange student from the University of Auburn, AL USA, in 2012-2013 (1 year).

-The bachelor’s thesis of Marine Delagrange (2014-2015, Ecole de Biologie industrielle, Cergy, France), Camille Mathieu (2015-2016, Ecole Supérieur de Biotechnologies, Strasbourg, France), Mégane Willems (2015-2016, Institut Paul Lambin, Bruxelles)

Supervision of students’ bibliographical work :

2010-…           course BINGF201 (2 ECTS) at ULB

2009-2010       course VETE1300 « Integrated seminars » at UCL

4.2.      Supervision of Master and PhD theses

master theses :

  • Laurence Meunier, ULB, 2017-2018
  • Loïc Haelterman, ULB, 2017-2018
  • Aline Jordens, ULB, 2016-2017
  • Ana Rodriguez, ULB, 2016-2017
  • Benoît Van Geem, ULB, 2015-2016
  • Lise Goetghebuer, ULB, 2013-2014
  • Catarina Silva, ULB, 2013-2014
  • Andrea Garvetto, ULB, 2013-2014
  • Nathalie Meyer, ULB, 2012-2013
  • Daniel Kieffer, ULB, 2012-2013
  • Benoît Berg Pinto, ULB, 2011-2012
  • Loic Bouillet, UCL 2010-2011
  • Antoine Vanandruel, UCL 2010-2011
  • Emeline de Hults UCL 2009-2010 (co-supervision)
  • Philippe Crop, ULB 1999-2000 (co-supervision).

 PhD theses :

  • Mathias Bonal, ULB 2017-2020 (co-supervision with Prof Karoline Faust, KULeuven)
  • Bella Tsachidou, ULB 2016-2019 (co-supervision with Dr Philippe Delfosse, LIST, Luxemburg)
  • Lise Goetghebuer, ULB, 2014-2018 (co-supervision with Prof. Pierre Servais, ULB)
  • Loïc Dohet, ULB, 2011-2016 (co-supervision with Prof. Jean-Claude Grégoire, ULB)
  • Emna Bouhajja, UCL, 2009-2014 (co-supervision with Prof. Spiros Agathos, UCL)

4.3.      Participation in jurys

Jury secretary, School of Bioengineering at ULB, bachelor degree

Jury member, School of Bioengineering at ULB, master degree

Jury member, Department of Biology at ULB, bachelor degree

Jury member, Department of Biology at ULB, master degree

Jury member, Department of Geosciences, Environment and Society at ULB, master degree

V.        Publications and scientific activities:

5.1.      Publications

5.1.1.   Book chapters

  • I. George, P. Servais. Contamination microbienne des eaux du bassin de la Seine. (2003). In: B. Tassin, D. Thévenot, G. Varrault, J.-C. Oliva (eds), Eau dans la ville et développement durable, Presses des Ponts, Paris, France.
  • B. Stenuit, L. Eyers, S.N. Agathos, I. George. (2008). High-throughput approaches to analyse waste biotreatment in confined environments. In: E. Diaz (ed), Microbial Biodegradation: Genomics and Molecular Biology, Caister Academic Press / Horizon Scientific Press, pp. 319-357.
  • B. Stenuit, L. Eyers, L. Schuler, I. George, S.N. Agathos. (2009). Molecular tools for monitoring and validating bioremediation. In: A. Singh, R.C. Kuhad and O.P. Ward (eds) Advances in Applied Bioremediation, Soil Biology Series Volume 17, Springer Verlag, Heidelberg, Allemagne, Vol. 17, pp. 339-353. ISBN: 978-3-540-89620-3.
  • I. George, B. Stenuit and S.N. Agathos. (2010). Application of metagenomics to bioremediation. In: D. Marco (ed), Metagenomics: Theory, Methods, and Applications, Caister Academic Press / Horizon Scientific Press, Norfolk, UK, pp. 119-140. ISBN: 978-1-904455-54-7.
  • I.F. George, E. Bouhajja and S.N. Agathos (2011). Metagenomics for bioremediation. In: M. Moo Young, Editor, Comprehensive Biotechnology, Second Edition, Volume 6 – Environmental Biotechnology and Safety, pp. 47-57. Elsevier, Oxford, UK, ISBN:  978-0-44-453352-4.
  • I.F. George, P. Bogaerts, J.F. Flot, D. Gillis, M. Rooman (2016). New tools for bioprocess analysis and optimization of microbial fuel production. In : F. Darvishi Harzevili and S. Higilsman (eds), Microbial fuels : Technologies and Applications, 43p., CRC Press, Taylor ad Francis, in press.

5.1.2.   Peer-reviewed publications:

  1. 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.
  2. M. Petit, I. George, P. Servais. (2000). Survival of Escherichia coli in freshwaters: â-D-glucuronidase activity measurements and characterization of cellular states. Canadian Journal of Microbiology 46(7): 679-684.
  3. I. George, M. Petit, C. Theate, P. Servais. (2001). Distribution of coliforms in the Seine river and estuary (France). Estuaries 24(6B): 994-1002.
  4. I. George, M. Petit, C. Theate and P. Servais. (2001). Use of rapid enzymatic methods to study the distribution of fecal coliforms in the Seine river (France) studied by rapid enzymatic methods and plate counts. Water Science and Technology 43(12): 77-80
  5. I. George, P. Crop and P. Servais. (2001). Use of B-D-galactosidase and B-D-glucuronidase activities for quantitative detection of total and fecal coliforms in wastewater. Canadian Journal of Microbiology 47(7): 670-675.
  6. I. George, P. Crop, P. Servais. (2002). Fecal coliforms removal by wastewater treatment plants studied by plate counts and enzymatic methods. Water Research 36: 2607-2617
  7. I. George, A. Anzil, P. Servais. (2004). Quantification of fecal coliform inputs to aquatic systems through soil leaching. Water Research 38: 611-618.
  8. L. Eyers, I. George, L. Schuler, S.N. Agathos, S. El-Fantroussi. (2004) Environmental genomics: exploring the unmined richness of microbes to degrade xenobiotics. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 66:123-130.
  9. 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.
  10. I. George, L. Eyers, B. Stenuit, S. Agathos (2008). Effect of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene on soil microbial communities. Journal of industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology 35(4):225-236.
  11. B. Stenuit, L. Eyers, L. Schuler, S. Agathos, I. George (2008). Emerging high-throughput approaches to analyze bioremediation of hazardous and/or recalcitrant waste. Biotechnology Advances 26(6):561-575.
  12. I.F. George, M.R. Liles, M. Hartmann, W. Ludwig, R.M. Goodman, S.N. Agathos. (2009). Effect of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene on soil Acidobacteria communities. FEMS Microbiology Letters 296: 159-166.
  13. M.R. Liles, O. Turkmen, B. F. Manske, M. Zhang, J.-M. Rouillard, I. George, T. Balser, N. Billor and R.M. Goodman. (2010).A phylogenetic microarray targeting 16S rRNA genes from the bacterial division Acidobacteria reveals a lineage-specific distribution in a soil clay fraction. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 42: 739-47.
  14. L.C. Parsley, J. Linneman, A. Goode, K. Becklund, I. F. George, R. M. Goodman, N. Lopanik, and M. R. Liles. (2011). Polyketide synthase pathways identified from an arrayed metagenomic library are derived from soil Acidobacteria. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 78(1): 176-187.
  15. 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.
  16. U. Nunes da Rocha, C. Plugge, I.F. George, J.D. van Elsas, L. van Overbeek. (2013). The rhizosphere selects for particular groups of Acidobacteria and Verrucomicrobia. PLOSone: 9(4): e94514
  17. L. Ye, J.F. Santos-Gandelman, C.C. P. Hardoim, I. George, P. Cornelis & M.S. Laport. (2015). Antibacterial activity and mutagenesis of sponge-associated Pseudomonas fluorescens H41. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 108(1): 117-126
  18. I.M van Aarle, A. Perimenis, J. Lima-Ramos, E. De Hults, I. George, P.A. Gerin. (2015). Mixed inoculum origin and lignocellulosic substrate type both influence the production of volatile fatty acids during acidogenic fermentation. Biochemical Engineering Journal 103: 242-249.
  19. 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
  20. M.S. Laport, J.F. Santos-Gandelman, G. Muricy, M. Giambiagi-deMarval, I. George. (2016). Antagonistic interactions among bacteria isolated from either the same or from different sponges native to the Brazilian coast. Journal of Marine Science & Research Development, 6 :2.
  21. M. Laport, P.V Pontes, D.S. Santos, J.F. Santos-Gandelman, G. Muricy, M. Bauwens, M.Giambiagi-deMarval, I. George. (2016). Antibiotic resistance genes detected in the marine sponge Petromica citrina from the Brazilian coast. Brazilian Journal of microbiology, 47(3):617-20.
  22. E. Bouhajja, S.N. Agathos  and I.F. George. (2016). Metagenomics: Probing pollutant fate in natural and engineered ecosystems. Biotechnol. Adv. 34(8):1413-1426
  23. E. Bouhajja, M. McGuire, M.R. Liles, G. Bataille, S.B. Agathos, I.F. George. (2017). Identification of novel toluene monooxygenase genes in a hydrocarbon-polluted sediment using sequence- and function-based screening of metagenomic libraries. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol, 101(2) : 797-808.
  24. I. Barjoux, LC Fechner, JD Lebrun, A Anzil, S. Ayrault, H Budzinski, J Cachot, L Charron, A Chaumot, C Clérandeau, O Dedourge-Geffard, J Faburé, A François, O Geffard, I George, P Labadie, Y Lévi, G Munoz, P Noury, L Oziol, H Quéau, P Servais, E Uher, N. Urien, A Geffard. (2017). Application of a multidisciplinary and integrative weight-of-evidence approach to a 1-year monitoring survey of the Seine River. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int., in press.
  25. M. Silva Laport, M. Bauwens, S. de Oliveira Nunes, P. Willenz, I. George, G. Muricy. (2017). Culturable bacterial communities associated to Brazilian Oscarella species (Porifera: Homoscleromorpha) and their antagonistic interactions. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 110(4) : 489-499.
  26. L.Goetghebuer, P. Servais and I.F. George (2017). Carbon utilization profiles of river bacterial strains facing sole carbon sources suggest metabolic interactions. FEMS Microbiol Lett 364 (10): in press
  27. Marinella S. Laport, M. Bauwens, Marie Collard, I. George. Phylogeny and antagonistic activities of culturable bacteria associated with the gut microbiota of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. Current Microbiology, in press.

5.1.3.   Proceedings:

  • I. George, P. Servais. Utilisation de méthodes enzymatiques pour la détermination de l’abondance des coliformes dans les eaux de surface. Proceedings of the 5ème Congrès International des Limnologues d’Expression Française, Namur, Belgium, 1 p., 1997.
  • I. George, L. Cattolico, P. Servais, C. Buffet-Janvresse.  Différentes approches de détection des bactéries d’origine fécale dans l’estuaire de la Seine. Proceedings of the annual workshop of the scientific programme Seine-Aval, Rouen, France, 1 p., 1998.
  • I. George, M. Petit, P. Servais. Nouvelles méthodes pour l’étude des bactéries fécales appliquées au bassin de la Seine. Proceedings of the annual workshop of the scientific programme PIREN-Seine, Pairs, France, 1 p., 1999.
  • P. Servais, I. George, M. Petit, A. Ficht, G. Billen. Dynamique des bactéries fécales dans l’estuaire de la Seine. Proceedings of the annual workshop of the scientific programme Seine-Aval, Rouen, France, 1 p., 1999.
  • I. George, P. Crop, M. Petit, P. Servais. Utilisation d’une méthode enzymatique rapide pour le dénombrement des coliformes fécaux dans les eaux douces de surface: application au bassin hydrographique de la Seine. Proceedings of the 4th International Congress of Limnology and Oceanography ‘Temporal and Spatial Fluctuations in hydrosystems’, Talence, France, 1p., 1999.
  • I. George, M. Petit, P. Crop, P. Servais. Dynamique des coliformes fécaux dans l’estuaire de la Seine. Proceedings of the Congress ‘L’estuaire de la Seine: fonctionnement et perspectives’, Rouen, France, 1 p., 1999.
  • I. George, P. Crop, P. Servais. Quantification des apports de coliformes en Seine par les rejets de stations d’épuration. Proceedings of the annual workshop of the scientific programme PIREN-Seine , Paris, France, 1 p., 2000.
  • I. George, M. Petit, C. Theate, P. Servais. Use of rapid enzymatic methods to study the distribution of fecal coliforms in the Seine river (France).  Proceedings of the 1st world Water Congress of the International Water Association, Paris, France, 1 p., 2000.
  • I. George, P. Servais. Bilan des sources de contamination fécale et premiers essais de modélisation. Proceedings of the annual workshop of the scientific programme PIREN-Seine, Paris, France, 1 p., 2001.
  • M.-H. Tusseau, M. Sainte-Laudy, J.-M. Mouchel, I. George. Diversité des rejets des stations d’épuration d’un bassin versant rural (Grand Morin, France). Proceedings of the annual workshop of the scientific programme PIREN-Seine, Paris, France, 1 p., 2001.
  • P. Servais, I. George, A. Albabusaclaui, P. Lizin. Etude expérimentale de la dynamique des coliformes fécaux dans l’estuaire de la Seine. Proceedings of the annual workshop of the scientific programme Seine-Aval II, Rouen, France, 1 p., 2001.
  • P. Servais, I. George, J. Garnier, A. Laroche. Source et dynamique des bactéries fécales, hétérotrophes et nitrifiantes dans le bassin de la Seine. Proceedings of the annual workshop of the scientific programme PIREN-Seine, Paris, france, 1 p., 2002.
  • P. Servais, I. George. Contamination microbienne du bassin de la Seine. Proceedings of the congress ‘L’eau dans la ville et développement durable’, Créteil, France, 1 p., 2002.
  • I. George, J.A.J. Haagensen, S. Molin. Characterization of Acinetobacter sp. C6 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms degrading toluene derivatives. EC-US course in Environmental Biotechnology – “Molecular Biology for the environment”. Madrid, Spain, 2003 (no Proceedings / book of Abstracts)
  • I. George, J.A.J. Haagensen, S. Molin. Characterisation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter sp. biofilms degrading toluene derivatives. Proceedings of the European Symposium on Environmental Biotechnology, ESEB 2004, Ostende, Belgium, 1 p., 2004.
  • I. George, L. Eyers, B. Stenuit, S. Agathos, S. El-Fantroussi. Impact of long-term contamination with TNT on soil microbial communities. Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology (ISME-10 « Microbial Planet: Sub-Surface to Space »), Cancun, Mexico, p. 46, 2004 .
  • S. El Fantroussi, L. Eyers, B. Stenuit, I. George, S.N. Agathos. Denitration of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene using enrichment cultures and metagenomic libraries. Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology (ISME-10 « Microbial Planet: Sub-Surface to Space »), Cancun, Mexico, p. 185 , 2004.
  • I. George, L. Eyers, B. Stenuit, S.N. Agathos, S. El-Fantroussi. Impact of long-term contamination with TNT on soil microbial communities. Proceedings of the Annual Symposium of the Belgian Society for Microbiology, Brussels, Belgium, p. 34, 2004.
  • L. Schuler, I. George, S.N. Agathos. Detection of uncultured Acidobacteria in heavy metal polluted soil samples. BIWA (Belgian branch of the International Water Association) meeting, Brussels, Belgium, 2004 (no Proceedings / book of Abstracts)
  • I. George, M.R. Liles, L. Eyers, L. Schuler, S. El Fantroussi, R.M. Goodman, S.N. Agathos. Impact of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene contamination on soil microbial communities and on the new division Acidobacteria. Proceedings of the Workshop of the Working Group on Biotechnology for the Environment, EC-US Task Force on Biotechnology Research, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium, p. 15, 2005.
  • I. George, M.R. Liles, R.M. Goodman, S.N. Agathos. Changes in the soil Acidobacteria communities due to TNT contamination. Proceedings of the 11th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology (ISME-11 « The hidden powers: microbial communities in action »), Wien, Austria – book of abstracts, p. 126, 2006.
  • I. George, S.N. Agathos. Changes in soil bacterial communities after TNT contamination studied by culture-dependent and -independent approaches. Proceedings of the International, European and Japan Societies for Environmental Biotechnology (ISEB/ESEB/JSEB) meeting, Leipzig, Germany, p. 35, 2006.
  • I. George, M.R. Liles, M. Hartmann, W. Ludwig, R.M. Goodman and S.N. Agathos. Impact of the pollutant 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) on the proportion and diversity of Acidobacteria in soils. Proceedings of the 9th Symposium on Bacterial Genetics and Ecology (BAGECO-9), Wernigerode, Germany, p. 96, 2007.
  • I. George, M.R. Liles, M. Hartmann, W. Ludwig, R.M. Goodman and S.N. Agathos. Changes in soil Acidobacteria populations after 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) contamination. Gordon Research conference on Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Mount Holyoke College, MA, USA, July 2007. (no Proceedings / book of Abstracts). POSTER AWARD.
  • I. George, M.R. Liles, M. Hartmann, W. Ludwig, R.M. Goodman and S.N. Agathos. Cultivation of fastidious microorganisms: the case of Acidobacteria. Proceedings of the 10th Symposium on Bacterial Genetics and Ecology (BAGECO-10) – “Coexisting on a Changing Planet”, Uppsala, Sweden, p. 168, 15-19 June 2009. Book of Abstracts, p. 168 (Abstract n° P87).
  • I. George. Cultivation of bacteria from Rothamsted soil, UK: building up a catalogue of reference strains to help analyze the soil metagenome. Terragenome workshop,  Uppsala, Sweden, 2009. (no Proceedings / book of Abstracts)
  • I. George, M.R. Liles, M. Hartmann, W. Ludwig, R.M. Goodman and S.N. Agathos. Cultivation of fastidious Acidobacteria. Proceedings of the Belgian Society for Microbiology Annual Meeting, Brussels, Belgium, addendum, December 2009.
  • E. Bouhajja, M.R. Liles, S.N. Agathos and I. George. Development of a protocol for High Molecular Weight DNA extraction from BTEX- and PAH-contaminated sites. “Soil Metagenomics 2010 – Implications of next generation DNA sequencing on microbial diversity research and soil ecology”, Braunschweig, Germany, December 2010.
  • I.F. George, D. Moreels, M.R. Liles, L. Bouillet and S.N. Agathos (2011). Antibiotic resistance pattern and potential for production of polyketides in novel soil Acidobacteria isolates. 11th Symposium on Bacterial Genetics and Ecology – “Microbial Genetics & Ecology Inspire the Biotechnology of an Evolving Global Economy” (BAGECO 11), Corfu Island, Greece, May 29-June 2, 2011. Book of Abstracts, p.83 .
  • I.F. George, D. Moreels and S.N. Agathos (2011). Searching for and Culturing the ‘Unculturables’. Oral presentation, 1st International Symposium on Microbial Resource Management in Biotechnology: Concepts and Applications. Scientific honorary farewell to Professor Willy Verstraete. ‘t Pand, Ghent, Belgium, June 30-July 1, 2011. Abstract 015
  • I.M. van Aarle, E. de Hults, J. Lima-Ramos, I.F. George and P.A. Gerin. Influence of substrate type and mixed inoculum origin on volatile fatty acids formation during acidogenic fermentation of ligno-cellulosic substrates. FEMS 2011 – 4th Congress of European Microbiologists, Geneva, Switzerland, June 2011.
  • D. Moreels, I.F. George and S.N. Agathos. Searching for and culturing the unculturables. 4th Conference MicroBioKosmos, Ioannina, Greece, October 2011.
  • I.F. George, B. Bergk Pinto, M. Bauwens, C. De Ridder Characterization of the bacterial community inhabiting the digestive tube of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. Proceedings of the 14th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology ISME-14 « The Power of the Small », Copenhagen, Denmark, 19-24 August 2012. Book of Abstracts P.9, poster 528A.
  • Emna Bouhajja, I.F. George, M.R. Liles, S.N. Agathos. Investigation of a metagenomic library for aerobic toluene degradation genes. Proceedings of the 14th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology ISME-14 « The Power of the Small », Copenhagen, Denmark, 19-24 August 2012. Book of Abstracts P.5, poster 497B.
  • Laport, M.S., Santos-Gandelman J.F.,Muricy, G., Giambiagi-deMarval M., De Ridder C., George I. Antagonistic interactions between cultivable bacteria isolated from Brazilian marine sponges. Proceedings of the 5th Congress of European Microbiologists (FEMS), 21-25 July 2013, Leizpig, Germany
  • Bouhajja E., George I., Liles M.R., Agathos S. Development and application of metagenomic tools for studying ecosystem potentials. Proceedings of the 12th Symposium on the Genetics on Industrial Microorganisms,23-28 juin 2013, Cancun, Mexico
  • L. Goetghebuer, M.Silva Laport, M. Bauwens, I.F. George. Antagonistic activity of marine sponge-associated bacteria collected at Wimereux (France) against clinical strains. Proceedings of the 6th Congress of European Microbiologists, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 7-11 juin 2015. E-Book of Abstracts P. 159, poster 350/821
  • L. Goetghebuer, P. Servais, I. George. Predicting the dynamics and biodegradation potential of river microbial communities in anthropized watersheds : a wet lab approach. Proceedings of the 6th Congress of European Microbiologists, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 7-11 juin 2015. E-Book of Abstracts P. 318, poster 521/2039
  • I. Barjhoux, L.C. Fechner, J.D. Lebrun, A.Anzil, S. Ayrault, H. Budzinski, J. Cachot, L. Charron, A. Chaumot, C. Clérandeau, O. Dedourge-Geffard, J. Faburé, A. François, O. Geffard, I. George, P. Labadie, Y. Lévi, G. Munoz, P. Noury, L. Oziol, H. Quéau, P. Servais, E. Uher, N. Urien, A. Geffard. Evaluation intégrée et multidisciplinaire de la qualité du milieu par l’approche “Weight-of-Evidence” : application à une étude de cas le long de la Seine (PIREN-Seine). Colloque  de la Société Française d’Ecotoxicologie Fondamentale et Appliquée (SEFA), Reims, France, 29-30 Juin 2016.
  • M. R. Liles, S. Monsma, E. Bouhajja, J. Zhou, A. Pereira, B. Pfeifer, C. Wu, S.N. Agathos, I.F. Georgeand D. Mead. Exploring soil and sediment metagenomic libraries using function- and sequence-based approaches. Functional Metagenomics 2016, 25-28 September 2016, Inderøy, Norway.
  • P. Servais, I. George, A. Anzil, I. Brajhoux, P. Labadie, H. Budzinski, L. Fechner. Bacterial community structure in the Seine river (France): relationship with physico-chemical parameters and pollutants, Proceedings of the 16th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology ISME-16, Montréal, Canada, 21-26 August 2016. Book of Abstracts PS04-p. 28
  • I. George, L. Goetghebuer, M. Silva Laport, M. Bauwens. Antagonistic activity of marine sponge-associated bacteria collected at Wimereux (France) against clinical strains, Proceedings of the 16th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology ISME-16, Montréal, Canada, 21-26 August 2016. Book of Abstracts PS22-P.27
  • L. Goetghebuer, P. Servais, I. George. Can we predict the performance of synthetic river microbial communities based on single strain’s carbon utilization profiles and initial community evenness? Proceedings of the 16th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology ISME-16, Montréal, Canada, 21-26 August 2016. Book of Abstracts PS19-p. 17
  • L. Goetghebuer, P. Servais, I. George. Characterization of the metabolic profile of river bacterial strains in pure and mixed cultures. Proceedings of the Belgian Society for Microbiology Annual Meeting, Brussels, Belgium, 28th of October 2016, poster 37

 

5.1.4.   Reports

  • I. George, P. Servais. Détection des bactéries d’origine fécale dans l’estuaire de la Seine par des méthodes enzymatiques et des dénombrements sur gélose. 1997 Activity Report of the scientific programme Seine-Aval, Région Haute-Normandie Editions, France, Vol. FIN-2, pp. 9-19, 1998
  • I. George, M. Petit, P. Servais. Nouvelles méthodes pour l’étude des bactéries fécales appliquées au bassin de la Seine. 1998 Activity Report of the scientific programme PIREN-Seine, CNRS Editions, France, Vol. 4, pp. 36-46,  1999.
  • I. George, M. Petit, P. Servais, G. Billen. Dynamique des bactéries fécales dans l’estuaire de la Seine. 1998 Activity Report of the scientific programme, Région Haute-Normandie Editions, France, vol FIN-2, 1999.
  • I. George, P. Crop, P. Servais. Quantification des apports de coliformes en Seine par les rejets de stations d’épuration. 1999 Activity Report of the scientific programme PIREN-Seine, CNRS Editions, France, Vol. 4, pp. 49-63, 2000.
  • J.M. Mouchel, J. Dispan, P. Servais, I. George, M.-H. Tusseau, G. Le Réveillé, J. Garnier, X. Philippon, S. Pinault, M. Poulin. Premiers éléments sur l’impact de l’agglomération troyenne sur la Seine. 1999 Activity Report of the scientific programme PIREN-Seine. CNRS Editions, France, Vol. 4, pp.65-89, 2000.
  • I. George, P. Servais. Bilan des Sources de contamination fécale dans le bassin de la Seine et premiers essais de modélisation. 2000 Activity Report of the scientific programme PIREN-Seine, CNRS Editions, France, CD-rom, 2001.
  • P. Servais, I. George, A. Albabuscaclaui, P. Lizin. Etude expérimentale de la dynamique des coliformes fécaux dans l’estuaire de la Seine. 2001 Activity Report of the scientific programme Seine-Aval II, Région Haute-Normandie Editions, France, Vol. FIN-2, 2002.
  • I. George, P. Servais. Source et dynamique des coliformes dans le bassin de la Seine. Synthesis Report 1998-2001 of the scientific programme PIREN-Seine, CNRS Editions, France, Vol. 4, 45 p., 2002.
  • I. George, J.A.J. Haagensen, S. Molin. Characterization of Acinetobacter sp. C6 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms degrading toluene derivatives. Handbook for the EC-US course in Environmental Biotechnology ‘Molecular Biology for the Environment’, V.de Lorenzo (ed), pp. 76-77, 2003.
  • Manque rapports Metaexplore, rapports PIREN-Seine

 

5.2.      Scientific activities

5.2.1.   Invited speaker (other than at congresses)

I. George. Exploring the division Acidobacteria in pristine and polluted soils. Invited speaker at the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam, September 2007 (lecture).

I.George. Ecology and biogeography of Acidobacteria.

5.2.2.   Membership :

  • member of the Belgian Society for Microbiology, the American Society for Microbiology, the International Society for Microbial Ecology and the Federation of European Microbiological Societes.
  • Member of the Board of Directors of the Belgian Society for Microbiology (2011-2019)
  • Secretary of the Belgian Society for Microbiology (2016-2019)

5.2.3.   Collaborations 

  • Dr Manuela Hartmann, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK (Molecular phylogeny)
  • Dr Pelin Yilmaz, Max Planck Institute for Marine Biology, Bremen, Germany
  • Dr Mark R. Liles, Department of Biology, Auburn University, AL, USA (Metagenomics, screening of novel isolates for secondary metabolites)
  • Prof. Robert M. Goodman, Executive Dean of Agriculture and Natural Resources Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, NJ, USA (Ecology and biogeography of Acidobacteria)
  • Prof. Søren Sørensen, Department of Biology, Københavns Universitet, DK (search for plasmids in novel isolates – genome pyrosequencing)
  • Prof. Ines Mandić-Mulec, Luka Ausec, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia (laccase genes in novel isolates)
  • Prof. Kornelia Smalla, Julius-Kühn-Institute, Institute for Institute for Epidemiology and Pathogen Diagnostics, Braunschweig, Germany (search for plasmids in novel soil isolates)
  • Prof. Dirk Springael, Department of Soil and Water Management, KULeuven, Belgium (alternative hosts for metagenomic libraries, bioremediation)
  • Dr. Natalie Leys, Dr. Rob van Houdt, Unit of Microbiology, SCK/CEN, Mol, Belgium (Ralstonia as an alternative host for metagenomic libraries)
  • Prof. Rainer Meckenstock, Dr Tillman Lueders and Dr Christian Griebler, Institute of Groundwater Ecology, Helmholtz Zentrum München (HMGU), Neuherberg, Germany (molecular techniques applied to contaminated aquifers)
  • Prof. Pierre Cornelis, Applied Biological Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgique  (metagenomics applied to polluted rivers)
  • Prof. M.S.Laport, Laboratório de Bacteriologia Molecular e Marinha, Departamento de Microbiologia Médica, Instituto de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • Dr K. Faust, VIB Research Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
  • Prof. Spiros Agathos, Faculty of Agronomy, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
  • Prof. Pascal Simonet, Laboratoire Ampère, UMR CNRS 5005, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, France
  • Dr Lise Fechner, Irstea – AgroParisTech, France

5.2.4.   Scientific popularization activities

  • P. Servais, N. Castignolles, F. Petit, I. George, C. Buffet-Janvresse, A. Ficht. (1999). Contamination bactérienne et virale de l’estuaire de la Seine. Vol n°6 of a series of fascicles entitled « L’estuaire de la Seine: fonctionnement et perspectives », Ifremer Editions, Plouzané, France, 1999.
  • P. Servais, G. Billen, T. Garcia-Armisen, I. George, A. Goncalves, S. Thibert. (2009). La contamination microbienne dans le bassin de la Seine. Vol n° 8 of a series of fascicles explaining the PIREN-SEINE programme to non-scientists. Edited by l’Agence de l’Eau Seine-Normandie, France, 2009.

5.2.5.   Other scientific activities

Co-coordinator of the workpackage « Cultivation of novel soil isolates » in the  international consortium TERRAGENOME (http://www.terragenome.org/, http://www.nature.com/nrmicro/journal/v7/n4/full/nrmicro2119.html)

VI       Projects granted :

  • EU FP7 Marie Curie ITN “GOODWATER” (http://www.helmholtz-muenchen.de/goodwater/project-overview/index.html). Participant. Workpackage “Development and application of metagenomic tools for studying the degradation of aromatic hydrocarbons in groundwater ecosystems” (2009-2012).
  • British Council Partnership Programme in Science United Kingdom – Communauté Française de Belgique Wallonie Bruxelles. “Exploration of the biogeography of Acidobacteria”. PI. (2009-2010)
  • EU FP7 “METAEXPLORE: Metagenomics for bioexploration – tools and application” (call KBBE-2007-3-3-04 USEFUL WASTE – Novel biotechnology approaches for utilizing wastes, including aquaculture wastes, to make high added value products, KBBE-2007-3-3-05 ACTIVITY MININING IN METAGENOMES – Exploring molecular microbial diversity in aquatic environment or the soil). Participant. Workpackage “Novel tools for environmental metagenomics” (2009-2014).
  • FRS-FNRS 4-year project DYNAMO « Towards predictive tools of the DYNamics and biodegradation potential of Aquatic Microbial cOmmunities in anthropized watersheds » (2014-2018). Co-PI

VII.     Miscellaneous

My career was temporarily interrupted by three maternity leaves (20/06/2005 – 01/10/2005 and 01/01/2008-31/03/2008 and xxx) and one period of unemployment (01/04/2008- 06/08/2008).

VIII.   Summary of the research project

The research I intend to pursue in the coming years at ULB is aimed at understanding the role of microbial diversity (both phylogenetic and metabolic) in the functioning and “good health” of aquatic ecosystems and conversely how microbial communities are impacted by external perturbations. To tackle such questions, an integrative approach combining various novel (mostly molecular) techniques will be developed.