Staff profile

Dr Ashley Edwin Franks

Senior Lecturer, Laboratory Head

Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering

School of Life Sciences
Department of Microbiology

Thomas Cherry Building, Melbourne (Bundoora)

 

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) (UNSW) PhD (UNSW)

Membership of professional Associations

ASM, ISME, ISMET

Area of study

Environmental Science
Microbiology

Brief Profile

Previous Professional Experience

  • 2008-2011: Associate Research Professor, Geobacter Project, UNiversity of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachussetts, USA>
  • 2007-2008: Senior Research Scientist, Geobacter Project, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.
  • 2005-2007: Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellow in Science, Engineering and Technology. Department of Microbiology, National University of Ireland, University College Cork (UCC), Cork, Ireland.
  • 2005: Postdoctoral Research Scientist.Department of Microbiology, National University of Ireland, University College Cork (UCC), Cork, Ireland.

Awards

  • 2011 Young Investigator Award. Centre for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University
  • 2006 Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship in Science, Engineering and Technology, Ireland
  • 2004 Pro-Vice Chancellor (Institutional Advancement) High Achiever Award, The University of New South Wales, Australia

Media-Science Interactions

 

Teaching Units

MIC2IM

MIC3AM

MIC2ID

Consulting

Bioremediation, Biotechnology, Microbial Electric Systems, Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Recent Publications

 

  1. Nikhil S. Malvankar, Joanne Lau, Kelly P. Nevin, Ashley E. Franks, Mark T. Tuominen and Derek R. Lovley. (2012). Electrical Conductivity in a Mixed-Species Biofilm. APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY. doi: 10.1128/AEM.01803-12.
  2. Franks, A.E., R. Glaven, and D.R. Lovely. (2012) Spatial real-time gene expression within a current producing biofilm using short half-life gfp. CHEMSUSCHEM. DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201100733
  3. Lovley, D. R., T. Ueki, T. Zhang, N. S. Malvankar, P. M. Shrestha, K. A. Flanagan, M. Aklujkar, J. E. Butler, L. Giloteaux, A. E. Rotaru, D. E. Holmes, A. E. Franks, R. Orellana, C. Risso, and K. P. Nevin (2011) Geobacter: The microbe electric's physiology, ecology, and practical applications. ADVANCES IN MICROBIAL PHYSIOLOGY. 59:1-100.
  4. Malvankar, N. S.,Vargas, M., Nevin, K. P., Franks, A. E., Leang, C., Kim, B.-C., Inoue, K.. Mester, T., Covalla, S. F., Johnson, J., Rotello, V. M., Tuominen, M.  and D. R. Lovley. 2011. Tunable metallic-like conductivity in nanostructured biofilms comprised of microbial nanowires. Nature Nanotech. In Press.
  5. Morita M, Malvankar NS, Franks AE, Summers ZM, Giloteaux L, Rotaru AE, Rotaru, C. and D. R. Lovley (2011) Evidence for direct cell-to-cell electron transfer in anaerobic methanogenic wastewater aggregates MBIO, In Press.
  6. Nevin, K. P., Zhang, P., Franks, A. E., Woodard, T. L., and D. R. Lovley. 2011. Anaerobes unleashed: Aerobic fuel cells of Geobacter sulfurreducens. Journal of Power Sources. 191 (18):7514-7518
  7. Nevin, K.P., Hensley, S.A., Franks, A.E., Summers, Z.M., Ou, J., Woodward, T., Snoeyenbos-West, O.L, and Lovley, D.R. 2011. Electrosynthesis of Organic Compounds from Carbon Dioxide Catalyzed by a Diversity of Acetogenic Microorganisms. Applied and Environmental Microbiology doi:10.1128/AEM.02642-10
  8. Summers, Z.M., Fogarty, H., Leang, C., Franks, A.E. Malvankar, N.S., and Lovley, D.R. 2010. Direct Exchange of Electrons Within Aggregates of an Evolved Syntrophic Co-Culture of Anaerobic Bacteria. Science. 330 (6009):1413-1415.
  9. Inoue, K., Leang, C., Franks, A.E., Woodard, T.L., Nevin, K.P., and Lovley. D.R., 2010. Specific localization of the c-type cytochrome OmcZ at the anode surface in current-producing biofilms of Geobacter sulfurreducens. Environmental Microbiology ReportS 3 (2):211-217.
  10. Franks, A.E., Nevin, K.P., Glaven, R. and Lovely, D.R. (2010) Microtoming coupled to microarray analysis to evaluate the spatial metabolic status of Geobacter sulfurreducens biofilms. The ISME Journal. 4(4):509-519.
  11. Klimes A., Franks A.E., Glaven R.H., Tran H., Barrett C.L., Qiu Y., Zengler K. and Lovley D.R. (2010) Production of pilus-like filaments in Geobacter sulfurreducens in the absence of the type IV pilin protein PilA. FEMS Microbiology Letters. 310(1): 62-68
  12. Franks, A.E., Malvankar, N., and Nevin, K.P. (2010) Bacterial Biofilms, The Powerhouse of a Microbial Fuel Cell. BioFuels. 1(4):589-604.
  13. Franks, A.E., and Nevin. K.P., (2010) Advances in Microbial Fuel Cells, a Current Review. Journal of Energies. Special Issue "Fuel Cells". 3:899-919.
  14. Franks, A.E. (2010) Transcriptional analysis of current producing biofilms, the pitfalls of microbes in diverse physiological states. FEMS Microbiology Letters. 307(2):111-112.
  15. Nevin, K.P., Woodard, T.L., Franks, A.E., Summers, Z.M., and Lovley, D.R. 2010. Microbial electrosynthesis: feeding microbes electricity to convert carbon dioxide and water to multicarbon extracellular organic compounds. mBio 1(2)
  16. Zhang, T., Gannon, S.M., Nevin, K.P., Franks, A.E., and Lovley, D.R. 2010 Stimulating the anaerobic degradation of aromatic hydrocarbons in contaminated sediments by providing an electrode as the electron acceptor. Environmental Microbiology 12(4):1011-1020.
  17. Strycharz, S., Gannon, S., Boles, A., Franks, A.E, Nevin, K., and Lovley, D.R. (2010) Reductive dechlorination of 2-chlorophenol by Anaeromyxobacter dehalogenans with an electrode serving as the electron donor. Environmental Microbiology and Environmental Microbiology Reports. 2(2):289-294.
  18. Williams, K.H., Nevin, K.P., Franks, A. E., Englert, A., Long, P.E., and Lovley, D.R. 2010. Electrode-based approach for monitoring in situ microbial activity during subsurface bioremediation. Environmental Science and Technology 44(1):47-54.
  19. Yi, H., Nevin, K. P., Byoung-Chan, K., Franks, A. E., Malvankar, N., Haveman, S. A. and D. R. Lovley. (2009) Selection of a Variant of Geobacter sulfurreducens with Enhanced Capacity for Current Production in Microbial Fuel Cells. Biosensors and Bioelectronics.  24(12):3498-3503. Named 20th Best Invention of 2009, Time Magazine
  20. Franks, A.E, Nevin, K. P. Jao, H,.  Izallalen, M., Woodard, T. and Lovley D. R. (2009) Novel Strategy for Three-Dimensional Real-Time Imaging of Microbial Fuel Cell Communities: Monitoring the Inhibitory Effects of Proton Accumulation within the Anode Biofilm. Energy and Environmental Science. 2:113-119.
  21. Nevin, K. P., Byoung-Chan, K., Glaven, R. H., Johnson, J. P., Woodard, T. L., Methé, B. A., DiDonato. R. J., Covalla1, S. F. Franks, A. E., Liu, A. and Lovley, D. R. (2009) Anode Biofilm Transcriptomics Reveals Outer Surface Components Essential for High Density Current Production in Geobacter sulfurreducens. Fuel Cells. PLoS ONE 4(5):e5628.
  22. Franks, A. Mark-Byrne, G.L., Dow, J. M., and O’Gara F. (2008) A putative RNA-binding protein has a role in virulence in Ralstonia solanacearum GMI1000. Molecular Plant Pathology. 9(1):67-72
  23. Ryan, R. P., Germaine, K., Franks, A., Ryan, D.J and Dowling, D. (2008). Bacterial endophytes: recent developments and applications. FEMS Microbiology Letters. 278 (1):1-9
  24. Franks, A., Egan, S., Holmström, C., James, S., Lappin-Scott, H. and S. Kjelleberg. (2006) Inhibition of fungal colonisation by Pseudoalteromonas tunicata provides a competitive advantage during surface colonisation. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 72: 6079-6087.
  25. Kiely, D.P., Haynes, J.M., Higgins, C.H., Franks, A., Mark, G.L., Morrissey J.P. and F. O’Gara. (2006) Exploiting New Systems-Based Strategies to Elucidate Plant-Bacterial Interactions in the Rhizosphere. Microbial Ecology. Apr;51(3):257-66.
  26. Mark, G.L., Dow, M.J., Kiely, P., Higgins, H., Haynes, J., Baysse, C., Abbas, A., Foley, T., Franks, A., Morrissey, J., and F.  O’Gara. (2005) Transcriptome profiling of bacterial responses to root exudates identifies novel genes involved in microbe-plant interactions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America. 102 (48):17454-17459.
  27. Franks, A., Haywood, P., Holmström, C., Egan, S., Kjelleberg, S. and N. Kumar (2005) Isolation and structural elucidation of a novel yellow pigment from the marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas tunicata. Molecules 10: 1286-1291
  28. Franks, A. Mini-review: A Promising Future for Marine Natural Products. 2004, Microbiology Australia, Feb, 5-8.
  29. Holmstrom, C., Egan, S., Franks, A., McCloy, S. and S. Kjelleberg, (2002) Antifouling activities expressed by marine surface associated Pseudoalteromonas species. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 41(1), 47-58.

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