W.T. Evert Ting, Ph.D.

 

Office: Gyte 295
Telephone: (219) 989-2490
Email: ting@purduecal.edu

Education

Ph.D. Microbiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio,1986
M.S. Microbiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 1983
B.S.A. Plant Pathology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, 1978.

Research Interests

Bacterial phages have been found useful to treat infectious diseases. Recent studies indicated that phages could be used as bio-preservatives to control foodborne pathogens. We have isolated several phages from raw sewage samples that can cause lyses of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella. We continuously isolate and select such phages and test various combinations of phages to control the target bacteria in spiked food samples.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of organic lipophilic pollutants generated during incomplete combustion of organic carbons such as burning fossil fuels, wood, and municipal solid waste.  They are of great environmental concern because of their ubiquitous presence and persistence in air, water, and soil, as well as their toxicity to humans and other living organisms.  We are studying the degradation of PAHs using an edible white rot fungus, Ganoderm lucidum. 

Escherichia coli is a common fecal indicator used to monitor food and water quality. High E. coli counts in water signifying fecal contamination often leads to beach closure. We have used DNA fingerprinting techniques such as randomly amplified polymorpohic DNA (RAPD) and automated ribotyping techniques for tracing sources of E. coli in recreational waters and studying the diversity of E. coli persisted in beach sand. We have built a database consists of hundreds of RAPD fingerprints and Riboprints of E. coli from both human and nonhuman sources for E. coli source tracking.

Hydrogen is considered as a clean energy source, which can be used for generating electricity without causing air pollution. There are increased interests of using microbes to convert organic wastes to hydrogen. We isolated and selected microbes from environment samples that can produce hydrogen from organic wastes.  We studied the optimal conditions for hydrogen production.

Professional Society Memberships

American Society for Microbiology (ASM), 1980-present
Institute of Food Technologist, 1980-present
The International Association for Food Protection, 1984-present
Chinese American Society for Microbiology, 1998-present

Selected Publications:

W.T. E. Ting a, S.Y. Yuan b, S.D. Wu c, B.V. Chang.  2011. Biodegradation of phenanthrene and pyrene by Ganoderma luciden. International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 65:238-242.

W.-T. E. Ting, S. Susoreny, L. S. Pelter, and R. Kramer, 2008. “Production of Hydrogen by Dark Fermentation of Food Waste”  Abst. O-012.  In Abstracts of the 105th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, American Society for Microbiology, Boston, MA.

M. N. Byappanahalli, R. L. Whitman, D. A. Shively, W. T. Evert Ting, C. C. Tseng, and M. B. Nevers.  2006.  Seasonal persistence and population characteristics of Escherichia coli and enterococci in deep backshore sand of two freshwater beaches. Journal of Water and Health 04:313-320.

Ting, W.T.E., D. S. Johnson, M. N. Byappanahalli, R. L. Whitman, C. C. Tseng. 2005.  Genetic Diversity of Escherichia coli isolated from backshore sand of two freshwater beaches of southern Lake Michigan. Abst. Q326.  In Abstracts of the 105th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, American Society for Microbiology, Washington D.C.

Ting, W.T.E., D.S. Johnson, and C. C. Tseng. 2004.  A comparison of riboprint patterns of Escherichia coli isolated from cows, deer, horses, and sewage in two different geographic areas. Abst. Q247.  In Abstracts of the 104th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, American Society for Microbiology, Washington D.C.

Ting, W.T.E., D.S. Johnson, A.M. Holler, K.T. Tran, and C.C. Tseng. 2003. A Study of the sources of E. coli contamination at Marquette Park Beach by random amplified polymorphic DNA typing.  Abstr. Q414, p.589  In Abstracts of the 103th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, American Society for Microbiology, Washington D.C.

Ting, W.T.E., D.S. Johnson, G.A. Thomas, A.M. Holler, and C.C. Tseng. 2002.  Discriminant analysis of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) patterns of Escherichia coli isolated from different human and nonhumean sources. Abstr. Q108 , p.396 In Abstracts of the 102th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, American Society for Microbiology, Washington D.C.

Tseng, C.C., D. Johnson, and W.T. E. Ting. 2002.  Comparison of ribotypes of Escherichia coli from sewage, humans, and animals. abstr.Q-59, p.388. In Abstracts of the 102th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, American Society for Microbiology, Washington D.C.

Tseng, C.C, D.J. Johnson, and W.T.E. Ting.  2002.  Differentiation of E coli isolated from human and nonhuman sources using automated ribotyping method. In Proceeding of 2002 Great Lakes Beach Conference, Chicago.

Ting, W.T.E., J. Vander Hoogt and R. Whitman. 2001. Growth and survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and a lake water Escherichia coli isolate in wet beach sand and water from Lake Michigan.  Abstr. Q364, p.658. In Abstracts of the 101th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology 2001, American Society for Microbiology, Washington D.C.

Tseng, C, E. Ting, D. Johnson, M. Saluta, and R. Dunst.  2001. RAPD fingerprinting as a potential means for differentiating human and animal E. coli.  Life Sci. News 7:10-11.

Tseng, C. C. D. Johnson, and W. T. E. Ting.  2001.  Automated ribotyping of Escherichia coli isolates from human and animals. Abstr. Q-330, p.650. In Abstracts of the 101th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology 2001, American Society for Microbiology, Washington D.C.

Courses

BIOL 10700 –Freshman Experience in Biological Sciences
BIOL 22100 – Introductory Microbiology
BIOL 31600 – Basic Microbiology
BIOL 53300 – Medical Microbiology
BIOL 53400 – Medical Microbiology Lab
BIOL 59500 – Food Microbiology
BIOL 48900, 49500 and 59500 – Microbiology Research
BIOL 59500 – Microbiology Readings
BIOL 59500 – Environmental Microbiology