Bryan A. White

Professor of Microbiology
Department of Animal Sciences
B.A., 1978, Virginia Wesleyan College, Norfolk
Ph.D., 1982, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond
Campus Address: 460 Animal Sciences Laboratory
Email: bwhite44@illinois.edu
Phone: 217-333-2091

Research Interests:

Genomics, metagenomics and molecular ecology of ruminal cellulose hydrolysis, using cellulose degradation in the rumen and Ruminococcus flavefaciens as the model systems; molecular epidemiology and genotyping of Campylobacter from poultry.

My major research interests are in the microbial genomics of anaerobic fibrolytic bacteria, the use of molecular microbial ecology techniques and metagenomic sequencing in microbial ecology, and food safety issues related to the epidemiology of Campylobacter in production animal systems. We recently completed the complete genome sequences for the rumen bacteria Fibrobacter succinogenes and Prevotella rumicola, as well as draft genome sequences for Ruminococcus albus and Ruminococcus flavefacien. These studies have resulted in microarrays, which are essential for fully enabling the use of "post-genomics" technologies, as well as needed bioinformatic tools to study the expression of carbohydrate active glycoside hydrolase enzymes in response to different plant cell wall types. We are also conducting research using metagenomic sequencing using 454 pyrosequencing to provide information pertaining to the physiological ecology of microorganisms involved in fiber degradation. These metagenomic approaches will give tremendous insight into the microbial community structure of the rumen, and link these data to the functional status of the community. Our hypothesis is that the most important organisms and their gene sets involved in the most efficient hydrolysis of plant cell walls are associated with the fiber portion of the rumen digesta. Therefore, we are using a cadre of metagenomic approaches to analyze the phylogenetic and genomic content of the fiber-associated rumen communities. This approach will allow us to identify the functional gene sets responsible for efficient fiber degradation and the organisms that express them. These organisms and gene sets will represent candidates for improving fiber degradation in the rumen. We are also interested in the food safety issues related to the genetic diversity of Campylobacter isolates from various animal species. We are conducting molecular typing of Campylobacter isolates from various sources as well as metagenomics of the chicken cecal microbiome as a model.

Representative Publications

Jindou, S., I. Borovok, M.T. Rincon, H.J. Flint, D.A. Antonopoulos, M.E. Berg, B.A. White, E.A. Bayer, and R. Lamed. (2006) Conservation and divergence in cellulosome architecture between two strains of Ruminococcus flavefaciens. J. Bacteriol. 188:7971-7976.

Antonopoulos, D.A., K.E. Nelson, M. Morrison, and B.A. White. (2004) Strain-specific genomic regions of Ruminococcus flavefaciens FD-1 as revealed by combinatorial random-phase genome sequencing and suppressive subtractive hybridization. Environ. Microbiol. 6:335-346.

Galbraith, E.A., D.A. Antonopoulos, and B.A. White. (2004) Suppressive subtractive hybridization as a tool for identifying genetic diversity in an environmental metagenome: the rumen as a model. Environ. Microbiol. 6:928-937.

Weigel, R.M., B. Qiao, B. Teferedegne, D.K. Suh, D.A. Barber, R.E. Isaacson, and B.A. White. (2004) Comparison of pulsed field gel electrophoresis and repetitive sequence polymerase chain reaction as genotyping methods for detection of genetic diversity and inferring transmission of Salmonella. Vet. Microbiol. 100:205-217.