Northern Biologist Newsletter 2011

NIU ◆ Department of Biological Sciences

Letter from the Chair | Professor Barrie Bode

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The Northern Biologist15th Annual Newsletter • Department of Biological Sciences • Northern Illinios University • Fall 2011

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. -John F. Kennedy

Greetings. It is hard to believe that I am beginning my third year in the depart-ment, as it seems that only a few months ago I arrived at NIU. Change is indeed the only constant, and over the last two years we have seen several colleagues retire. The economy, state budget woes, political saber

rattling over state pension reform and faculty who are retirement-eligi-ble have converged to catalyze the accelerated rate of departure. Upon completion of 2011, five more faculty members will have retired: Neil Polans, Peter Meserve, Michael Hudspeth, Rick Hahin and David Lotshaw. Our greenhouse gardener Chuck Faivre is also retiring after 30 years at NIU. We are grateful to our colleagues for their years of service to Biological Sciences and contribution to our programs. We now must look to the future and recruit new colleagues who will succeed those who served before them.

I am happy to report, however, that in addition to departures we have had some new arrivals for academic year 2011-2012. Most notably, we were able to recruit Dr. Sherine Elsawa from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN as our new immunobiologist. There is a brief article on Sherine and her research interests in this newsletter, which can succinct-ly be described as tumor immunology and the role of inflammatory cytokines in lymphoma. We also have a new ecologist in the depart-ment: Dr. Nick Barber joined us from the University of Massachusetts. He is a trophic ecologist who studies the complex dynamics between plants, herbivorous insects, predators and climate change, as well as subterranean mycorrhizal-root symbiosis. Sherine and Nick are the first in a new wave of faculty in Biological Sciences that will contribute to the growth of our programs over the next several years. This year we also welcome Dr. Sheela Vemu as an instructor in our general educa-tion and introductory biology courses. Sheela has substantial teaching experience and comes to us from the Chicago suburbs after a success-ful career as a bench scientist. We are also pleased to welcome Katie Heffernan, who joins us as a permanent human anatomical sciences laboratory instructor. Katie is a recent graduate of our MS program in anatomical science, and provides vital support to Moira Jenkins, Dan Olson and Chris Hubbard who run the gross anatomy-based courses in the department. Finally, we have been authorized to search for three new faculty members this year in the areas of bioinformatics, microbial ecology and conservation biology. We look forward to working with all of our new colleagues for many years.

Adapting to change and looking toward the future has also involved curricular restructuring and building a technological infrastructure for our students the 21st century. In curriculum, the challenge has been to maintain our service-teaching mission while looking for ways to expand offerings for our majors in the face of declining faculty numbers over the past decade. To address this challenge, we have integrated the long-

standing three-semester introductory biology course sequence at NIU into a two-semester experience (in line with national norms) starting in 2012, giving students the opportunity to take additional upper divi-sion courses in their area of interest. Also, we are currently developing a 300-level molecular biology course with a laboratory, as the current course is 400-level with no laboratory. Given the central role of molecu-lar biology in 21st century biological science we felt it was important to provide our students with a strong experiential foundation in this area. We are also planning to resurrect a cell biology laboratory for the existing course (BIOS 300); upon implementation, strong laboratory-based foundational courses in cell biology, genetics, molecular biology microbiology and ecology will serve as the cornerstone of our programs in biomedical science, molecular biotechnology, microbiology and conservation/ecology.

In building a technological infrastructure for our students, this year we implemented a “digital signage” system comprised of flat-screen monitors strategically placed around Montgomery Hall and run from a central server maintained by our web and IT staff – Barbara Ball and Donna Prain. This system is designed to convey important information to students regarding courses, research opportunities, events, depart-mental programs and other content vital to their life at NIU – like the “Huskie Bus Schedule”. Designed to replace the tired bulletin boards around the department, the digital signage initiative was made possible by a grant I received from the college when I came here two years ago for “aesthetic improvements” to Montgomery Hall. Not only have the monitors aesthetically improved our buildings (1967), but serve a vital functional role and send the message that we are indeed adapting to the 21st century. Other technological achievement this year led by Richard Becker and Donna Prain was the completion of the wireless internet access project in Montgomery Hall, allowing students, faculty and staff to access the web via Wi-Fi.

This year, President Peters announced his “Vision 2020” initiative to “make NIU the most student-centered public research university in the Midwest.” At the core of that mission is a redirected focus on “engaged learning.” Biology has been at the forefront of engaged learning for years through student research experience and laboratories, so this is good news for us. While we are indeed changing, improving and adapt-ing to the 21st century, our faculty and staff continue to contribute to our mission in teaching, research and service, and along the way have garnered remarkable achievements, which are highlighted in some of the articles in the newsletter. Space and word limits (thanks, Barb!) preclude me from naming them here, so I will simply allow you to page through and see for yourself.

I will close by thanking all of our generous alumni for their support. You are true partners with us in our educational and research-training missions, and many of the improvements and achievements I mention here would be greatly diminished without your support. Please visit our website (http://www.bios.niu.edu) for updates on events, re-search and news items in Biological Sciences. Thank you for reading. ♦


from Northern Today, April 5, 2011

At times, Richard King’s research methods can be painstaking — and outright painful.

Known as the godfather of the Lake Erie Water Snake, King has captured and studied thousands of the bad-tempered, foul-smelling serpents. As a measure of their gratitude, the very creatures that King has championed frequently sink

their tiny sharp teeth into him.

A 21-year veteran professor in NIU’s Department of Biologi-cal Sciences, King is an expert on reptiles and amphibians, and more broadly on evolution, ecology and conservation biology. The Lake Erie Water Snake, found only in a cluster of islands in western Lake Erie, is among his greatest triumphs.

King first identified snake-population declines in the 1980s, and his work eventually led to the snake being listed as a “threatened species.” He and his students then helped develop and implement a recovery plan.

The effort was so successful that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-vice honored King and his Ph.D. student, Kristin Stanford, with the 2010 Recovery Champion Award. The agency is now proposing to remove the snake’s threatened-species status — a remarkable achievement considering that of 1,900 protected species, just 22 have been delisted following population recovery.

The story of the watersnake’s comeback has attracted widespread media coverage from the likes of NPR and Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs,” but it only begins to describe the breadth of King’s research.

Along with students and colleagues, he has published studies on the ecology and conservation of spotted salamanders, woodfrogs, spring peepers and rattlesnake. King also has shed light on popu-lation ecology, the microevolution of color patterns in reptiles, new approaches to assess the effects of invasive species and new ways to reintroduce locally extinct species.

Marcio Martins, a biologist at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, calls King “an international reference in the areas of ecology, microevolution and conservation of amphibians and reptiles.”

Adds Steven Beaupre, professor of biological sciences at the University of Arkansas, “In Dr. King, you have an outstanding citizen and teacher who developed a world-class research opera-tion. At a time when destruction of wetlands and invasive species has forced local extinctions and listing of many amphibians and reptiles, Dr. King’s research is extremely vital and timely.”

King has an impressive and highly cited publication record. He is

a frequent invited speaker at scientific meetings and has served as a reviewer for 38 scientific journals and several funding agencies, including the National Science Foundation.

His work also has attracted more than $1.25 million in funding from NSF, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies.

“It is a tribute not only to his energy and resourcefulness, but also to the high esteem with which he is held in his field that he has been so successful in this endeavor,” says NIU Distinguished Research Professor Peter Meserve.

Interwoven throughout King’s work is a strong commitment to students. He helped develop new courses for the graduate program in biological sciences and also contributed to curriculum development for NIU’s new environmental studies program.

Additionally, King has directed 10 theses and dissertations, with five more in progress. His research projects have provided real-world experiences in cutting-edge conservation practices for dozens of students.

“Interest in conservation biology is high, but opportunities for training can be scarce,” King says. “Developing a strong conser-vation component in my work helped expand opportunities for highly qualified and motivated student researchers. My goal is to build on the success of these projects.” ♦

Presidential Research Professor | Richard B. King

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Presidential Research Professors - Distinguished Research Professors in the Department of Biological Sciences2011-2015 (Elevates to Distinguished Research Professor, 2015) Richard King

2002-2006 (Elevated to Distinguished Research Professor, 2006) J. Michael Parrish, Rangaswamy “Nathan” Meganathan

1999-2003 (Elevated to Distinguished Research Professor, 2003) Peter Meserve

1997-2001 (Elevated to Distinguished Research Professor, 2001) Jozef Bujarski

1991-1995 (Elevated to Distinguished Research Professor, 1995) Patricia S. Vary

1987-1991 (Elevated to Distinguished Research Professor, 1991) John L.A. Mitchell

1982-1986 (Elevated to Distinguished Research Professor, 1986) Arnold E. Hampel


Complete Genome Sequence | Bacillus megaterium

by Patricia Vary, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus

The genome sequences of two Bacil-lus megaterium strains have now been completed and the paper is in press (see below). The project for strain QM B1551 was funded by a National Sci-ence Foundation Grant of $631,000 to co-principal investigators Pat Vary at NIU, and Jacques Ravel, at The Institute

for Genomic Research. Jacques moved his lab to the new Genome Sciences Institute at the University of Maryland, Baltimore during the project. We also collaborated with Dieter Jahn’s laboratory at the Technical University of Braunschweig, which had begun to sequence strain DSM319. The annotation of 5.1 Mb--almost 6000 genes--in each strain (all but the 300 unique genes to DSM319) was done here at NIU, as well as some bench experiments. B. megaterium is a commercially available, nonpathogenic host for biotechnological production of several substances, including vitamin B12, penicillin acylase, used to make synthetic penicillins, and amylases, used in the baking industry. Strain QM B1551 contains seven indigenous plas-mids that represent a combined 417 kb and 523 additional genes. This is one of the largest plasmid arrays sequenced in a single bacte-rial strain. The genome has shown that B. megaterium is deep-rooted in the Bacillus phylogeny, making it an evolutionarily key species of particular importance in understanding genome evolution, dynam-ics and plasticity in the bacilli. We found extensive gene transfer between the plasmids and the chromosome, and several interesting genes. One of the surprises, was that only a region close to the origin is homologous across the genus. The genome project was used in several bioinformatics courses and provided practical experience for undergraduates and graduate students to learn genome analysis and annotation. Much of this was under the supervision of Professor Rick Johns, director of the Bioinformatics program, who individu-ally annotated many of the genes and was instrumental in much of the computer analysis. Other major annotators were Janaka Edirisinghe and Kirthi Kutumbaka who both earned M.S. degrees in bioinformatics both annotating and programming, Professor Scott Grayburn, who annotated and contributed critical wetlab analysis,

as well as Chris Braun and Sourabh Dhingra, who also annotated many genes. Department graphic designer Barbara Ball was a signifi-cant contributor to the design of critical figures. In addition, two workshops were held, one for professors and students at NIU, and one for instructors and students at the community colleges and high schools. The paper is in press and the manuscript is online in the Journal of Bacteriology as M. Eppinger, et al., “Genome Sequences of the Biotechnologically Important Bacillus megaterium Strains QM B1551 and DSM319”.

Mark Eppinger, Boyke Bunk, Mitrick A. Johns*, Janaka N. Ediris-inghe*, Kirthi K. Kutumbaka*, Sara S. K. Koenig, Heather Huot Creasy, M.J. Rosovitz, David R. Riley, Sean Daugherty, Madeleine Martin, Liam D. H., Elbourne, Ian Paulsen, Rebekka Biedendieck, Christopher Braun*, Scott Grayburn*, Sourabh Dhingra*, Vitaliy Lukyanchuk*, Barbara Ball*, Riaz ul-Qamar, Jurgen Seibel, Erhard Bremer, Dieter Jahn, Jacques Ravel, and Patricia S. Vary.* J. Bacte-riol. published 24 June 2011, 10.1128/JB.00449-11. See online: http://jb.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/193/16/4199?ct=ct. ♦

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Local collaborators in the research, sequencing and preparation of the paper gathered at Pat Vary’s DeKalb home in July to celebrate and raise a toast to the completion of this long project. Pictured from left to right, front row: Janaka Edirisinghe, Patricia Vary, Barbara Ball; back row: Kirthi Kutumbaka, Scott Grayburn, Mitrick Johns.

Cheers! Salut! Prost!


Obituary | Clara Ruth Briles

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By Patricia S. Vary, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, and Linda Yates, Research Associate

The Department of Biological Sciences lost a steadfast friend and colleague on May 7, 2011, when Clara Ruth Briles passed away in DeKalb. She was born Nov. 9, 1919, in Riverside, Fort Worth, Texas. She married Worthie Elwood Briles on June 6, 1941 in Austin, Texas, while the two of them were attending the University of Texas where they received their B.A. degrees in zoology. After World War II, Ruth and her husband W. Elwood Briles earned their advanced degrees in Immunogenetics at University of Wisconsin (Elwood, Ph.D., Ruth, M.S. in 1948) and raised three children (Susan, David and Sara) in Madison, then at College Station (Texas A&M) before

coming to DeKalb in 1957. Ruth worked as a research associate with Elwood at DeKalb Agricultural Association in immunogenetics research from 1958 through 1968. She and Elwood both came to the department in 1968 from DeKalb Ag. Ruth was, to my knowledge, the first woman instructor in the Department of Biological Sciences, teaching from 1968 through 1970. From 1970, until her health deteriorated in 2000, she worked as a research associate with Elwood. During her career, she coauthored 45 publications, several with Elwood. On October 9, 2004, both Elwood and Ruth were recognized for their major contributions to avian genetics by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ♦

26th Fungal Genetics ConferenceBy Sourabha Shantappa (M.S. student, Calvo Lab)

I was very excited when I received the scholarship to attend the most prestigious international meeting in the field of fungal biology, the 26th Fungal Genetics Conference held at Asilomar, California, March 15-21, 2011. Nearly one thousand five hundred scholars including renowned scientists and young researchers across several disciplines from all over the world met at the Asilomar conference grounds. I was very thrilled to meet the scientists, whose papers I had read and referenced before, and to present and discuss my work with the international research community.

During the first plenary session chaired by Dr. Ralph Dean, Director of the Center for Integrated Fungal Research (CIFR), Dr. Antonis Rokas summarized the importance of using various evolutionary and functional genomic techniques to characterize the origin and evolu-tion of the metabolic pathways implicated in fungal morphology, virulence, cell differentiation, and niche adaptation. He also talked about the horizontal transfer of genes being one of the key factors in the evolution of metabolic pathways in the filamentous fungi. The plenary sessions showcased novel findings in the field of mycology, while the concurrent sessions covered a wide range of topics that included current research advances in photobiology, comparative and functional genomics, cell cycle, development and morphology, interactions between fungi and prokaryotes, stress signaling and fungi that infect humans, etc.

Dr. Minou Nowrousian highlighted the use of Next-Gen sequencing techniques to characterize developmental genes in filamentous fungi. Another talk by Dr. Mikael R. Anderson about the development of an algorithm to predict the size of secondary metabolite clusters in Aspergillus nidulans was of particular interest to me, as I’m currently working on a project that includes identification of novel gene clus-ters responsible for secondary metabolite production in Aspergillus.

Besides talks by various scientists, there was also a career luncheon organized to cater to the needs of young researchers and for career guidance. At this luncheon, I had the opportunity to meet with Dr.

Sandra T. Merino, from Novozymes. She talked to us about the pros and cons of working in companies vs. academic institutions and the various opportunities available at Novozymes.

Later, the poster sessions enabled us to exchange ideas and share our work one-on-one with other researchers. The conference was concluded with an inspiring talk by Salomón Bartnicki-García, one of the leaders in the field of fungal biology. Altogether, the whole experience was extremely worthwhile. Last, but not the least, I was able to visit the Monterey Bay aquarium, located a few miles away from the conference grounds. ♦

Conidiophores of Aspergillus nidulans, a model filamentous fungus, subject of study in Calvo’s lab.


Rebuttal | Column Regarding Genetically Modified Foods Was One-Sided and Misinformed

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By Professor Thomas Sims

Melissa Mastrogiovanni’s column on Genetically Modified (GM) foods is a thinly-veiled hatchet job, repeating a mixture of half-truths, lies and grossly misinformed opinions about this technol-ogy. This was disappointing, as Ms. Mas-trogiovanni interviewed me (I’m an “NIU Expert” on plant genetic engineering) at some length during the preparation of her column.

Judging from the content in her column, Ms. Mastrogiovanni came to this subject with a pre-formed agenda, and wasn’t interested in accuracy or real science. Let me be absolutely clear that I am not upset or concerned that Ms. Mastrogiovanni used little if any of the information she and I discussed. This was an opinion piece and she was perfectly within her rights to use or not use any information that I provided to her. I have no ego involved here.

What I found disappointing, however, is that Ms. Mastrogiovanni gave enormous credibil-ity to anti-GMO advocates, when for the most part those opinions have little, if any, real scientific credibility.

When reporters are writing about science-related issues, whether that be GMOs, vaccines, Global Climate Change or E. coli from German organic farms that has recently killed at least 40 people, they have an obligation to do their best to understand the science and to realize that when experimental evidence is involved, not all opinions are equal.

Having been interviewed on the basis of what seems to me to border on false pretenses, I would like to provide a different perspective on several of the points raised in Ms. Mastrogiovanni’s article. As an example, she lifts (verbatim) a statement from the website of the official-sounding American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) about the “serious health risks associated with GM food consumption.”

Quackwatch.org lists AAEM at the top of a list of questionable organizations and explains that AAEM was founded by Theron Randolph in 1965 to promote the now-thoroughly-discredited idea of “multiple chemical sensitivity.” AAEM lists several studies in its bibliography that it claims point out the danger of GM foods.

Had Ms. Mastrogiovanni bothered to check these out she would have found that the few peer-reviewed, scientifically-vetted articles quoted showed marginal (and often statistically insignificant) differ-ences in studies of animals fed diets of GM food vs. non-GM food, with the authors of the articles stating that the few differences shown

might well be due to factors unrelated to the GM protein present in the food.

This is a typical tactic of extreme advocacy groups: take an incon-clusive study, with a couple of data points that might suggest some difference (whether biologically significant or not), blow it all out of proportion from the conclusions of the actual scientists and trumpet it as showing dangers to health and well-being.

What about Dr. Oz, “a surgeon acclaimed for providing health advice”? Ms. Mastrogiovanni conveniently left out of her piece other statements from the doctoroz.com website such as: “Overwhelming-ly...studies indicate that GMOs are safe to consume.”, “Easier farm-ing means more food which, in turn, means less expensive food...less expensive food makes it easier to feed hungry populations around the world,” and “GMOs can be modified to have greater nutritional value...scientists...have genetically modified rice to contain signifi-

cantly higher amounts of vitamin A.” (More on that in a bit.)

OK, how about the “Institute for Responsible Tech-nology”? Well that turns out to be the personal

website of Jeffrey Smith, an anti-GMO agitator with no scientific credentials. Mr. Smith’s

self-published anti-GMO books and claims have been thoroughly refuted by academ-ics, including Professors Bruce Chassy and David Tribe (www.academicsreview.org). As they say, consider the source.

Let me briefly return to the genetically modified “Golden Rice” referred to above.

This rice variety has been genetically engi-neered by the non-profit Golden Rice Project

(www.goldenrice.org) to produce Vitamin A in the rice grain, something that is not possible to attain by

conventional breeding. Vitamin-A deficiency contributes to over 500,000 cases of blindness in children in countries with rice-dependent poor populations (Nature 29, July 2010, p 561). Seventy percent of these children will die within a year of going blind. Golden Rice was developed over 10 years ago, will be provided free of charge, and has the potential to save millions of lives.

Yet Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and other anti-GMO organiza-tions have consistently opposed and delayed its introduction. Why? I don’t know, but to me it says that the political agendas of these organizations are more important to them than the lives of millions of poor children, and that’s tragic. (From the Northern Star, June 30, 2011). ♦

See the original Northern Star Article from June 23, 2011 at: http://northernstar.info/opinion/columnists/article_5c03d806-9df6-11e0-bca3-0019bb30f31a.html

Read July 5th blog out of the University of Wisconsin, called Biofortified: http://www.biofortified.org/2011/07/thomas-sims-gets-it/


n Jack Bennett Genetics; Population and Behavior Genetics.

n W. Elwood Briles Avian Immunogenetics. [email protected]

n Arnold Hampel Molecular and Cellular Biology; Biochemistry.

n Laszlo Hanzely Developmental Biology. [email protected]

n Kenneth Harmet Plant Physiology.

n Darryl Lynch Microbiology.

n John L.A. Mitchell Cell Physiology; Molecu-lar Biology. [email protected]

n Lowell Nicolaus Ethology.

n K.V. Prahlad Developmental Biology.

n Robert W. Pearson Environmental Biology; General Biology.

n Paul Sørensen Plant Taxonomy; System-atics; Ecology; Conserva-tion. [email protected]

n Marvin J. Starzyk Aquatic/Pathogenic Mi-crobiology; Microbial Ecology.

n Ronald Toth General Botany; Economic Botany; Creation/Evolu-tion Debate. [email protected]

n Patricia Vary Microbial Genetics; Molecular Biology; DNA Replication. [email protected]

n Jerrold Zar Physiological Ecology; Biostatistics; Environmental Biology [email protected].

Current Faculty | 2010 - 2011

Retired Faculty

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n Anne Berg Epidemiology of Epilepsy. [email protected]

n Neil Blackstone Evolution of Development and Complexity. [email protected]

n Barrie Bode Cancer Biology and Molecular Physiology. [email protected]

n Jozef Bujarski Plant Molecular Biology; Molecular Virology. [email protected]

n Ana Calvo Microbiology; Molecular Biology; Fungal Genetics. [email protected]

n Melvin Duvall Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. [email protected]

n Sherine Elsawa Immunologist [email protected]

n Kenneth Gasser Cell Physiology. [email protected]

n Richard Hahin Nerve and Muscle Physiology; Biophysics. [email protected]

n Stuart Hill Pathogenic Microbiology. [email protected]

n Gabriel Holbrook Plant Physiology; Plant Biochemistry. [email protected]

n Christopher Hubbard Comparative analysis of structure and function in felids. [email protected]

n Michael Hudspeth Molecular Biology; Organelles; Mycology; Fungal Plant Pathogens. [email protected]

n Mitrick Johns Plant and Animal Molecu-lar Genetics; Bioinformat-ics. [email protected]

n Barbara Johnson-Wint Development; Matrix Modelling and Remodel-ling; Gravitational Biology. [email protected]

n Bethia King Behavioral Ecology; Evolution; Entomology. [email protected]

n Richard King Evolutionary Ecology; Herpetology. [email protected]

n David Lotshaw Cell Physiology; Ion Channels and Signal Transduction. [email protected]

n R. Meganathan Microbiology; Microbial Physiology; Biochemistry; Genetics and Molecular Biology. [email protected]

n Peter Meserve Population and Commu-nity Ecology; Biogeogra-phy; Biology of Birds and Mammals. [email protected]

n Jon Miller Cellular Physiology; Invertebrate Immunology. [email protected]

n Virginia Naples Anatomy; Functional

Morphology; Mammal-ogy; Forensic Anatomy; Vertebrate Paleontology. [email protected]

n Neil Polans Genetics; Mapping & Evolution of Complex Traits; Plant Systematics. [email protected]

n Thomas Sims Self-incompatibility in Pe-tunia; Molecular Biology. [email protected]

n Joel Stafstrom Developmental Botany; Cellular/Molecular Biol-ogy. [email protected]

n Carl von Ende Population and Com-munity Ecology; Aquatic Ecology; Plant Ecology. [email protected]

n Linda Yasui Radiation Biology; DNA Damage and Repair in Chromatin. [email protected]

n Shengde Zhou Microbiology. [email protected]


By Professors Hubbard & Olson

The Department of Biological Sciences would like to welcome Moira Jenkins. Moira is an anatomical sciences instructor who currently teaches anatomy and physi-ology. She first came to the department in 2009 as a student in the Anatomical Sciences Masters program. After the unfortunate passing of Professor Sonya Conway in March of 2010, the depart-ment was left with a large gap in our

human anatomy teaching faculty. In fact, the need for an anatomy instructor has become even more acute in recent years given the number of allied health students (nursing, physical therapy, etc.) who must take anatomy and physiology to gain entrance into their program. Having been a laboratory TA, Moira was already familiar with the anatomy and physiology course. So after graduating with her MS in 2010 she was offered the job as instructor. Now she is running her own course, putting her personal touch on the program, and proving to be a wonderful asset to the department.

Following her hiring last summer, Moira and her teaching assistants began cleaning out the anatomy and physiology laboratory space in Faraday Hall. Old and broken laboratory material was discarded, and salvageable models and skeletons were cleaned and repaired. Subsequently, Moira ordered numerous new models, not only for replacements of old material, but also to enhance and expand the anatomy and physiology laboratory curriculum. Thanks to Moira and her assistant’s efforts, the laboratory space is now clean and organized, and the former storage closet is an office space for the teaching assistants.

For the Fall, Spring, and Summer lecture components of anatomy and physiology, Moira created new PowerPoints for each lecture, and upgraded the laboratory component of the course by adding relevant homework assignments. Moira is also currently involved in a project to refine the laboratory manual.

In addition, she assisted Professors Hubbard and Olson in Gross Human Anatomy last Fall, and assisted Dr. Hubbard with the labo-ratory component of Histology during the Spring semester.

Moira is a licensed Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine, and is able to enhance her instruction with clinical correlates. As a graduate of the department’s human anatomical sciences program, she was exposed to solid pedagogical techniques and strategies that she has also incorporated into her teaching. Taken together, Moira has become an engaging and effective teacher as she continues to become more comfortable in the classroom.

The hiring of Jenkins has moved the department closer to a stated goal of obtaining a dedicated set of instructors devoted to teaching human anatomical science and affiliated courses. Human Anatomy and Physiology is offered every semester, with Jenkins instruct-ing. Functional Human Anatomy is also offered every semester,

with Dan Olson instructing. Gross Human Anatomy, which is only offered in the Fall semester, will alternate between Jenkins and Olson, with Jenkins teaching that course beginning in the Fall of 2012. Since the person who is not the instructor of record in Gross Human Anatomy assists in the laboratory, Moira’s hiring has also solved a perennial problem of finding qualified teaching assistants to supervise student dissections. In the near future, there will be opportunities for Moira to expand her teaching with some of the courses affiliated with the human anatomical sciences program.

Finally, Moira will become involved with all aspects of administering and maintaining the human anatomical sciences graduate program, and the high school outreach program currently offered every Spring semester.

Jenkins’ position has ample opportunities for growth, and the department welcomes her to her new position and looks forward to many years of productive collaboration. ♦

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Anatomy Instructor | Moira Jenkins

Linda Yasui Lab | Transmission electron microscope image provides clues for a novel mode of

radiation-induced cell death

Kati Owens, a new masters student in Linda Yasui’s lab, has found an extreme example of cell “self-eating” or autophagy in an irradiated human brain tumor cell. The cell was stressed by a simultaneous dose of two kinds of radiation: neutron irradiation at Fermilab and an Auger electron cascade from a gadolinium neutron capture reaction. Some of Kati’s work was presented at the 50th Annual Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (PTCOG 50) meeting in Philadelphia, PA in May 2011 and will also be pre-sented at the 7th International Symposium on Physical, Molecu-lar, Cellular and Medical Aspects of Auger Processes in Julich, Germany in August, 2011.


Publications | 2010-2011

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Blackstone

Blackstone, N. W. (2010). A food’s-eye view of animal transitions. Pp. 327-344 in Key Transitions in Animal Evolution (Schierwater B, DeSalle R eds). Science Publishers & CRC Press Enfield, NH.

Parrin, A.P., Netherton, S. E., Bross L. S., McFadden, C. S., Black-stone, N. W. 2010. Circulation of fluids in the gastrovascular system of a stoloniferan octocoral. Biol. Bull. 219:112-121.

Bode

Bode BP. (2011). Amino Acid Transporters in Cancer Imaging. Good-man, M.M .and McConathy, J. (Eds.) Springer Publishing, New York, NY.

Briles

Singh S, Toro H, Tang DC, Briles WE, Yates LM, Kopulos RT, Collisson EW. Non-replicating adenovirus vectors expressing avian influenza virus hemagglutinin and nucleocapsid proteins induce chicken specific effector, memory and effector memory CD8(+) T lymphocytes. Virol-ogy. 2010 Sep 15;405(1):62-9. Epub 2010 Jun 16.

Singh S, Briles WE, Lupiani B, Collisson EW. Avian influenza viral nu-cleocapsid and hemagglutinin proteins induce chicken CD8+ memory T lymphocytes. Virology. 2010 Apr 10;399(2):231-8. Epub 2010 Feb 8.

Goto RM, Wang Y, Taylor RL Jr, Wakenell PS, Hosomichi K, Shiina T, Blackmore CS, Briles WE, Miller MM. BG1 has a major role in MHC-linked resistance to malignant lymphoma in the chicken. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Sep 29;106(39):16740-5. Epub 2009 Sep 11. Erratum in: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Apr 27;107(17):8041.

Bujarski

Sztuba-Solinska J, Urbanowicz A, Figlerowicz M, Bujarski JJ. RNA-RNA 2011. Recombination in Plant Virus Replication and Evolution. Annu Rev Phytopathol. Vol. 49.

Sztuba-Solinska J, Stollar V, Bujarski JJ. 2011. Subgenomic mes-senger RNAs: mastering regulation of (+)-strand RNA virus life cycle. Virology. 412(2):245-55

Sztuba-Solinska J, Dzianott A, Bujarski JJ. 2011. Recombination of 5’ subgenomic RNA3a with genomic RNA3 of Brome mosaic bromovirus in vitro and in vivo. Virology. 410(1):129-41.

Aleksandra Dzianott, Joanna Sztuba-Solinska, Anni Moore, and Jozef J. Bujarski. Null alleles of the RNA Interference Genes Affect RNA-RNA Recombination of Brome Mosaic bromovirus in Arabidopsis thaliana. Submitted to Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions.

Calvo

Atoui, A., Kastner, C., Larey, C.M., Thokala, R., Etxebeste, O., Espeso, E.A., Fischer, R., Calvo, A.M. (2010). Cross-talk between light and glucose regulation controls toxin production and morphogenesis in Aspergillus nidulans. Fungal Genet. Biol.47: 962-972.

Duran R.M., Cary J.W, Calvo A.M. (2010). Role of the Osmotic Stress Regulatory Pathway in Morphogenesis and Secondary Metabolism in Filamentous Fungi. Toxins, 2: 367-381.

Baidya S, Cary JW, Grayburn WS, Calvo AM. 2011. Role of nitric oxide and flavohemoglobin homologous genes in Aspergillus nidulans sexual development and mycotoxin production.Appl Environ Microbiol. Jun 3. [Epub ahead of print]

Myung K, Zitomer NC, Duvall M, Glenn AE, Riley RT, and Calvo AM. 2011. The conserved global regulator VeA is necessary for symptom production and mycotoxin synthesis in maize seedlings by Fusarium verticillioides. Plant Pathology. In press.

Duvall

Edwards, Erika J., Colin, P., Osborne, Caroline A. E. Stromberg, Stephen A. Smith, and C4 Grasses Consortium (in alphabetical order) William J. Bond, Pascal-Antoine Christin, Asaph B. Cousins, Melvin R. Duvall, David L. Fox, Robert P. Freckleton, Oula Ghannoum, James Hartwell, Yongsong Huang, Christine M. Janis, Jon E. Keeley, Elizabeth A. Kellogg, Alan K. Knapp, Andrew D. B. Leakey, David M. Nelson, Ben-jamin H. Passey, Jeffery M. Saarela, Rowan F. Sage, Osvaldo E. Sala, Nicholas Salamin, Christopher J. Still, and Brett Tipple. (2010). The evolutionary origins of C4 grasslands. Science 328: 587-591.

Givnish, T., M. Sevillano, J. McNeal, M. McKain, P. R. Steele, C. deP-amphilis, S. Graham, J. C. Pires, D. Stevenson, W. Zomlefer, B. Briggs, M. Duvall, M. Moore, D. Soltis, P. Soltis, K. Thiele, and J. Leebens-Mack. (2010). Assembling the tree of the monocotyledons: plastome sequence phylogeny and evolution of Poales. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 97: 584-616.

Wu, Fu-Hui, Ming-Tsair Chan, De-Chih Liao, Chen-Tran Hsu, Yi-Wei Lee, Melvin R. Duvall, Henry Daniell, and Choun-Sea Lin. (2010). The complete chloroplast genome of Oncidium Gower Ramsey and evaluation of the chloroplast region for plant identification and breed-ing. BMC Plant Biology 10: 1-12.

Wusterbarth, TL, RB King, MR Duvall, WS Grayburn, and GM Burghardt. 2010. Phylogenetically widespread multiple paternity in New World natricine snakes. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 5:86-93.

Morris, L. M. and M. R. Duvall. (2010). The chloroplast genome of Anomochloa marantoidea (Anomochlooideae; Poaceae) comprises a mixture of grass-like and unique features. American Journal of Botany 97: 1-8.

Duvall, M. R., C. H. Leseberg, C. P. Grennan, and L. M. Morris. (2010). Molecular evolution and phylogenetics of complete chloro-plast genomes in Poaceae. Pp. 437-450 In: O. Seberg, G. Petersen, A. S. Barfod, and J. I. Davis, editors. Diversity, phylogeny, and evolution in the monocotyledons pp. 437 – 450.

Grayburn

Baidya, S., Cary, J.W., Grayburn, S., Calvo, A.M. (2011) Role of nitric oxide and flavohemoglobin homologous genes in Aspergillus nidulans sexual development and mycotoxin production. Applied and Environ-mental Microbiology. doi:10.1128/AEM.00638-11.

Eppinger,M.., Bunk, B., Johns, M., Edirisinghe, J., Kutumbaka, K., Koenig, S., Huot, H., Riley, D., Daugherty, S., Martin, M,, Biedendi-eck, R., Braun, C., Grayburn, S., Dhingra, S., ul-Qamar, R., Seibel, J., Bremer, E., Jahn, D., Ravel, J., Vary, P. (2011) Genome sequences of the biotechnologically important B. megaterium strains QM B1551 and DSM319. Journal of Bacteriology. doi:10.1128/JB.00449-11.

Hahin

Hahin, R. (2010). “Action potential production: An ion channel dependent process” IN Action Potential: Biophysical and Cellular Context, Initiation and Phases and Propagation. (Cell Biology Research Progress) M.L. DuBois (ed.) Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Chapter 4. 33 pages (pagination not known at this time).

NIU ◆ Department of Biological Sciences 9

Johns

Ditty, J.L., Kvaal, C.A., Goodner, B., Freyermuth,S.K., Bailey, C., Britton, R.A., Gordon, S.G., Heinhorst, S., Reed, K., Xu, Z., Sanders-Lorenz,E.R., Axen, S., Kim, E., Johns, M., Scott, K., Kerfeld C.A. (2010). Incorporating Genomics and Bioinformatics across the Life Sciences Curriculum, PLoS Biol 8(8): e1000448.

B. King

King, B. H., Fischer, C. R. (2010). Male mating history: effects on female sexual responsiveness and reproductive success in the para-sitoid wasp Spalangia endius. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 64:607-615.

King. B. H. and C. Bressac. (2010). No fitness consequence of experimentally induced polyandry in a monandrous wasp. Behaviour 147:85-102.

King, B. H. (2010). Which sex controls the duration of postcopulatory courtship and to what effect in the parasitoid wasp Spalangia endius. Behaviour 147:993-1007.

Nichols WJ Jr, Bartelt RJ, Cossé AA, King BH. (2010). Methyl 6-methylsalicylate: a female-produced pheromone component of the parasitoid wasp Spalangia endius. Journal of Chemical Ecology 36:1140-1147.

R. King

Wusterbarth, TL, RB King, MR Duvall, WS Grayburn, and GM Burghardt. 2010. Phylogenetically widespread multiple paternity in New World natricine snakes. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 5:86-93.

Stanford, K. M., R. B. King, and D. Wynn. 2010. Summer and winter spatial habitat use by the Lake Erie Watersnake. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management 1:122-130.

Meganathan

Ranganathan, Y., S. Patel*.,V. K. Pasupuleti and R. Meganathan. (2010). Protein hydrolysates from non-bovine and plant sources replaces tryptone in microbiological media. Chapter 7, pp 115-125. In V.K. Pasupuleti and A.L. Demain, (Eds.), Protein hydrolysates in biotechnology, Springer. http://www.springerlink.com/content/g302323827512t43/

Meganathan, R. (2010). Menaquinone/Ubiquinone Biosynthesis and Enzymology. In Comprehensive Natural Products II: Chemistry and Biology, Editors-In-Chief Lewis Mander and Hung-Wen Liu; Volume 7. Pp. 411-444. “Cofactors” Edited by Tadhg Begley. Elsevier Science.

http://www.elsevierdirect.com/ISBN/9780080453811/Comprehensive-Natural-Products-II-Chemistry-and-Biology

Meserve

Gutiérrez, J.R., P.L. Meserve, D.A. Kelt, A. Engilis, Jr., M.A. Previ-tali, W.B. Milstead, and Fabian Jaksic. (2010). Long-term research in Bosque Fray Jorge National Park: Twenty years studying the role of biotic and abiotic factors in a Chilean semiarid scrubland. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 83:69-98.

Madrigal, J., D.A. Kelt, P.L. Meserve, F.A. Squeo, and J.R. Gutiérrez. (In press). Bottom-up control of consumers leads to top-down indirect facilitation of invasive annual herbs in semiarid coastal Chile. Ecology.

Miller

Naples, V.L., Breed, D. and Miller, J.S. (2010). A Skeleton Tells Its Own Story: Forensic Anthropological Analysis for the Science Class-room Laboratory. The American Biology Teacher, Vol. 72, 3: 162-171.

Naples

Naples, V. L., L. D. Martin and J. P. Babiarz. 2011. The Other Saber-tooths: Scimitar Tooth Cats of the Western Hemishere. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 1-136.

Naples, V. L. and J. S. Miller. (2010). A skeleton tells its own story: Forensic analyses for the science laboratory. American Biology Teacher, Vol. 72, 3:162-171.

Sims

Thomas L. Sims, Avani Patel and Pratima Shrestha. (2010). Protein interactions and subcellular localization in S-RNase-based self-incom-patibility. Biochemical Society Transactions 38 622-626 (refereed).

L. Zhao, J. Huang, H. Zhao, Q. Li, T. L. Sims, and Y. Xue (2010). “The Skp1-like Protein SSK1 is Required for Cross-pollen Compatibility in S-RNase-Based Self-Incompatibility”, Plant Journal 65 52-63 (refereed).

Vary

Mark Eppinger, Boyke Bunk, Mitrick A. Johns, Janaka N. Edirisinghe, Kirthi K. Kutumbaka, Sara S. K. Koenig, Heather Huot Creasy, M. J., Rosovitz, David R. Riley, Sean Daugherty, Madeleine Martin, Liam D. H, Elbourne, Ian Paulsen, Rebekka Biedendieck, Christopher Braun, Scott Grayburn, Sourabh Dhingra, Vitaliy Lukyanchuk, Barbara Ball, Riaz, Ul-Qamar, Jurgen Seibel, Erhard Bremer, Dieter Jahn, Jacques Ravel, and Patricia S. Vary, 2011. Genome Sequences of the Biotechnologi-cally Important Bacillus megaterium Strains QM B1551 and DSM319. 2011J. Bacteriol.193: 4199-4213 http://jb.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/193/16/4199?ct=ct

Zhou

Wang, Y., R. Manow, C. Finan, J. Wang, E. Garza, and S. Zhou. (2010). Adaptive evolution of non-transgenic Escherichia coli KC01 for im-proved ethanol tolerance and homoethanol fermentation from xylose. J. Industrial Microbiol. Biotechnol. DOI: 10.1007/s10295-010-0920-5.

Li, Q., L Zheng, H. Cai, E. Garza, Z. Yu, S. Zhou. 2010. From organic waste to biodiesel: black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, makes it fea-sible. Fuel. DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2010.11.016.

Li, Q., H. Cai, B. Hao, C. Zhang, Z. Yu and S. Zhou. (2010). Enhancing clostridial acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) production and improving fuel properties of ABE-enriched biodiesel by extractive fermentation with biodiesel. Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. DOI: 10.1007/s12010-010-9010-4

Garza E., C. Finan, A. Iverson and S. Zhou. (2010). Extension tempera-ture of 600C required for PCR amplification of large DNA fragments (> 5 kb) from a low GC bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology. DOI: 10.1007/s11274-010-0451-2.

Zhou, S., A. G. Iverson, and W. S. Grayburn. (2010). Doubling the catabolic reducing power (NADH) output of Escherichia coli fermen-tation for production of reduced products. Biotechnol Progress. 26(1):45-51.

Chen, K., A. G. Iverson, E. A. Garza, W. S. Grayburn, and S. Zhou. 2010. Metabolic evolution of non-transgenic Escherichia coli SZ420 for enhanced homoethanol fermentation from xylose. Biotechnol. Lett. 32:87-96

NIU ◆ Department of Biological Sciences10

Secrets of the Black Petunia

by Thomas Sims, Ph.D. Associate professor

Summertime. Walk down almost any residential or urban street in Illinois - or for that mat-ter, most of the U.S., Europe, Latin America and elsewhere, and you’ll see them. Red, blue, white, purple, yellow, salmon, pink and (now for 2011!) black. They’re in gardens,

window boxes, hanging baskets and virtually every garden center in the country. Dixon, IL

has a citywide celebration of them over the 4th of July weekend every year. I’m talking about Petunias, of course, the ubiquitous garden petunia Petunia x hybrida Juss. to botanists. The largest-selling ornamental flowering plant in the U.S. Over $96 million dollars wholesale value in 2010, according to the statistics bureau of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that tracks that sort of thing.

But petunias are far more than a popular and widely loved flower. For decades, plant scientists have used petunia as an easily-studied “model-system” to investigate many basic processes in plant develop-ment, plant genetics and evolution. For example, did you know that the process called “RNA-interference” (or RNAi) which is now being tested for several experimental disease therapies in humans, was first observed in Petunia hybrida? Many of the processes studied in Petunia are of importance in crop plants, but are more easily understood in this model system, and the knowledge then used to figure out how similar processes work in crops. When scientists were first learning how to make transgenic (GM) plants, such as insect-resistant “Bt-corn” or “Round-Up Ready” soybeans, what plant did they use first, to work out the techniques and the fundamental biol-ogy? Yes that’s right - Petunia.

Another fact that many people don’t realize is that the garden petunia (Petunia hybrida) is not a “real” species, in the sense that it doesn’t occur naturally in the wild. Petunia species are native to South America, primarily southern Brazil and Argentina, and live in a variety of habitats from grasslands to mountain foothills. There are 25 wild petunia species known, some fairly common, and some, like Petunia exserta, now threatened. Petunia hybrida is the result of a cross (or hybrid) between two of these wild species: Petunia inflata (a purple-flowered species pollinated by bees) and Petunia axillaris (a white-flowered species pollinated by moths). In the early 1800’s European botanists, exploring the different and varied flora of the New World, brought back Petunia axillaris and Petunia inflata to Glasgow and Paris, and made inter-specific crosses between the two plants. Because P. axillaris and P. inflata both have 7 chromosomes, and are interfertile (but only in one-direction, when P. axillaris is used as the “female” parent, a phenomenon known as unilateral in-compatibility) they make a fertile hybrid, Petunia hybrida, which in all its variation (and with decades of breeding) has given rise to our favorite, ubiquitous bedding and hanging-basket flowering plant.

So what does any of the above have to do with the human genome project? (How’s that for a segue?) A lot, actually. In the current “genomics” era, advances in technology and computational analy-sis have made it possible and cost-effective to determine the entire DNA sequence of the genome of complex organisms, such as

humans and Petunia. The overall size of the human genome and that of Petunia is about the same, 2.6 billion base-pairs of DNA in total. This summer, NIU biologists Prof. Thomas Sims and Prof. Mitrick Johns, along with several graduate students, are collaborating with an international group of scientists to sequence and decipher the complete genomes of both Petunia inflata and Petunia axillaris. The group of international scientists that embarked on the effort (we call ourselves the “Petunia Platform”; www.petuniaplatform.net) decided it was biologically more accurate and informative to deter-mine the genome sequences for both progenitor species rather than the artificial hybrid. How is this effort possible by a small group of scientists? A little history gives some perspective. The first complete “draft” sequence of the human genome was completed in 2000 at an estimated cost of $3 billion after over a decade of work and the efforts of hundreds of scientists. In 2011, we are determining the sequences of two complete genomes each of the same size as humans for a total cash outlay of €50,000 (about $70,000), in less than a year. What a difference a decade makes!

What’s the point? Why spend $70,000 determining the sequence of two complete genomes even of a popular ornamental plant? It’s in the genes, of course. All of the information required for any organism to function properly is encoded in its DNA. If you want to understand both fundamental and applied questions of biology, you have to understand how that genetic information is organized, encoded and expressed. Just having the complete genome sequence isn’t enough (as the human genome project has clearly shown), but NOT having the genome sequence doesn’t get you to first base. So over the next several months, Prof. Sims, Prof. Johns, NIU gradu-ate students, along with scientists from Cornell, the University of Verona, Italy, the Free University of Amsterdam, the University of Nijmegen, and BGI-HK Ltd. of Shenzhen, China, will work in a collaborative international effort to decipher the secrets of one of our favorite garden plants.

Which brings me back to black petunias. This summer, Ball Horti-culture, headquartered in West Chicago, IL (and who contributed financially to this project along with NIU), has introduced new varieties of “Black” petunias to the retail market, such as “Black Velvet.” The black coloration of the petal is due to an interesting genetic mutation, along with a lot of sophisticated breeding. The mutation was first observed a decade ago as a petunia flower that remained green at maturity, because chloroplasts (the photosynthetic organelles of the cell that produce the green pigment chlorophyll) did not degrade in mature petals as they normally do. This “green corolla” mutant was subsequently crossed into a variety of different genetic backgrounds of Petunia. In the current market varieties, the black petunias accumulate chlorophyll (green) anthocyanins (red/purple), carotenoids (yellow/orange) and other pigments. When you have pigment accumulation spread across the entire visual spectrum, what do you get? Black! (You did take physics didn’t you?). All that is nice, but for Ball, there’s one catch. They don’t know what the mutation is. Oh, they understand enough about it to use it for breeding, but they don’t know what gene is defective, or what the specific biochemical defect is. Ball breeds hundreds of ornamental crops, not just Petunia, and if they could find the gene defect in Petunia, maybe they could find mutants of the same gene in their other products and breed similarly cool (and profitable) varieties. Maybe not, but you can’t even think about doing that unless you understand the genes. And that’s what we’re trying to do. ♦


R. Meganathan’s Lab

A novel 4-hydroxybenzoate (precursor of coen-zyme-Q) biosynthetic pathway in Klebsiella oxytoca

by Janaka N. Edirisinghe

Coenzyme-Q (ubiquinone; Q) is widely distributed in living organisms and was discovered as a component of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Hence, it is present in plants, animals, aerobic and facultative Gram-negative bacteria. It was thought that in eukaryotes it is present only in the respiratory chain; however, recent developments have shown that it is distributed in all cell membranes. It undergoes oxidation-reduction in cell membranes of lysosomes, golgi and the plasma membrane and functions as an antioxidant, either by direct reaction with radicals or by regeneration of a-tocopherol (vitamin E) and ascorbate (vitamin C). Recently, Q has gained importance because of its usefulness in the treatment of heart disease. Human serum low density lipoprotein (LDL) is protected from lipid peroxidation by Q; thus delaying the onset of atherosclerosis.

Prokaryotes such as Escherichia coli synthesize 4-hydroxybenzoate (4-HB), the precursor of Q, directly from the well characterized shikimate pathway via chorismate. Higher animals and humans lack the shikimate pathway and hence synthesize 4-HB from the essential amino acid tyrosine. However, the reaction steps involved in the for-mation of 4-HB from tyrosine are not known. Recent studies in our lab show that the bacterium Klebsiella oxytoca, can synthesize 4-HB from chorismate similar to E.coli as well as from tyrosine similar to eukaryotes.

Fig 1. Reactions leading to the formation of 4-hydroxybenzoate. (1) 3-dehydroshikimate; (2) shikimate; (3) CHA, chorismate; (4) prephenate; (5) tyrosine; (6) 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate; (7) 4-hy-droxyphenylacetate; (8) 4-hydroxymandelate ; (9) 4-hydroxybenz-aldehyde; (10) 4-hydroxybenzoate. PEP (Phosphoenoyl pyruvate) E-4-P (Erythrose-4- Phosphate); Q (CoenzymeQ).

By isolating mutants blocked in the various reactions, testing of potential intermediates in growth experiments, enzyme assays, mass spectrometry and isotopic labeling experiments show that the following pathway for the formation of Q likely operational in K.oxytoca; tyrosine (5) ➞ 4-hydroxphenylpyruvate (6) ➞ 4-hydrox-phenylacetate (7) ➞ 4-hydroxymandelate (8) ➞ 4-hydroxybenzalde-hyde (9) ➞ 4-hydroxybenzoate (10) - - - ➞ Q (Fig 1). ♦

11

Moving On by Professor Anne Berg

After 17 years at NIU, 12 spent in the Department of Biological Sciences, I am finally moving on to the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine and Children’s Memorial Hospital.

Being a clinical researcher at a school without a hospital has been a bit of a challenge to say the least, and the bulk of my research efforts the last many years have gone on elsewhere. I have also spent the last several years working at the national and international levels to identify research priorities with important clinical implications and develop meaningful guide-lines and definitions that can be implemented in research geared toward improving clinical epilepsy care. Over the last two decades – roughly the time I have been in DeKalb - our knowledge of epilepsy has grown by leaps and bounds. From the human perspective, one of the most important lessons we have learned is that anything that can cause a brain to have

seizures probably has other consequences as well. People with epilepsy, even forms of epilepsy that are viewed as relatively “benign” (a word I try to avoid in this context) face a multitude of problems . Cognitive and behavioral/psychiatric disorders are the most common. Sudden death, although rare statistically speaking, is the most devastating. These “co-morbid” conditions are often more troublesome than the seizures themselves.

One of my chief projects now is to develop and evaluate programs aimed at addressing these co-morbidites. Initiatives include early detection and treatment as well as prevention. For this, I am fortunate now to be part of a fully integrated clinical neurosciences program involving several superb pediatric epileptologists, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, neurosurgeons, advanced practice nurses, RNs, social workers, a ketogenic diet nutritionist, an educational liaison, and a host of EEG technicians and other support staff. The early research endeavors have already involved the beginnings of a large, multi-institutional consortium of pediatric epilepsy centers. There is enough to keep me busy for decades to come.

As I leave NIU, it is exciting and gratifying to see that the institution is remaking itself. New additions such as our chair, Barrie Bode, and the new VP for Research, Lisa Freeman, will be central to putting research in its rightful context in a university setting. Teaching, research, and ser-vice are not alternatives to each other but complementary activities that all faculty should engage in and get their students engaged in; they are the essence of scholarship. I wish everyone the best and trust our paths will cross in the future. ♦


PI Last Name Sponsor Name Project Title Award Amount

Bode National Cancer Institute/ Amino Acid Transporters ASCT2 and LAT1 in $123,302 NIH/DHHS Human Hepatocellular Cancer Growth

Bode National Cancer Institute/ Amino Acid Transporters ASCT2 and LAT1 in $30,972 NIH/DHHS Human Hepatocellular Cancer Growth

Bujarski National Science Foundation Role of Subgenomic RNAs in Genetic Recombination $495,000 of Brome Mosaic Bromovirus

Bujarski National Science Foundation Role of Subgenomic RNAs in Genetic Recombination $30,000 of Brome Mosaic Bromovirus

Calvo USDA Identification of Regulatory Genes in A. Flavus and A. Nidulans $41,000 that are Involved in Mycotoxin Production, Morphogenesis, and Virulence

Calvo National Institute of Health Characterizing VeA, a fungal specific global regulator controlling $210,440 secondary metabolism

Calvo National Institute of Allergy and Study of the veA Gene in the Human Pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus $145,000 Infectious Diseases/NIH/DHHS

Duvall National Science Foundation Collaborative Research: Ecological Diversification and $171,904 Molecular Evolution of Grasses (Poaceae)

King Department of the Interior Annual Census of Lake Erie Watersnakes $50,000

King U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service/ Predicting Climate Change-Induced Distributional Shifts in $34,755 Department of the Interior Great Lakes Region Reptiles

King U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service/ Assessing Management Needs to Enhance the Recovery $106,036 Department of the Interior for the Eastern Massasauga

King U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service/ Lake Erie Watersnake Post-delisting Monitoring, 2012 $35,000 Department of the Interior

Meserve National Science Foundation Collaborative Research: LTREB: Climatic Change and $22,607 Community Organization Across Three Trophic Levels: Long-Term Research at a Sentinel Site in Semiarid North-Central Chile

Miller Illinois State Board of Education Mastering Biology Teaching with Content, Pedagogy, $217,290 and Technology

Total $1,713,306

Grants Awarded | 2010-2011

Alumni Update | By Joanna Sztuba-Solinska

Currently I am working at National Institutes of Health, the division of National Cancer Institute (NIH/NCI-Freder-ick) at Dr. Stuart Le Grice’s laboratory (http://home.ncifcrf.gov/hivdrp/Le_Grice.html). The primary research objective of the laboratory focuses on developing and applying state-of-the-art technologies to study proteins, nucleic acids and nucleoprotein complexes that mediate retroviral life cycle. The main goal of my study will be the analysis of the structure of viral genomic RNAs, e.g., HIV-1, Dengue virus, via application of selective 2’ hydroxil acylation analyzed by primer extension (SHAPE), targeted Fe-EDTA-footprinting with “threading intercalators” and small angle X-ray scattering. Since the replication and pathogenesis of viruses is tightly linked to the structure of their genomic RNA, this knowledge is a fundamental prerequisite to a complete understanding of retroviral molecular processes.


Field Course | Summer 2012 Fossil Collection Opportunity in Utah

By Professor Virginia Naples

In the summer of 2010 I joined the excavation of sauropod di-nosaurs being undertaken by the staff and students working with Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, Illinois, that was already in progress at the Burpee Hanksville Quarry near Hanksville, Utah. The field site where dinosaur fossils can be found is extensive, an expanse of spectacular Utah scenery stretching for more than a half mile in length, and nearly as wide. That summer yielded many bones of large dinosaurs, including limb bones, vertebrae, and, if our hopes are met, a skull associated with the arch of teeth unearthed toward the final days of the excavation. As of this writing, that par-ticular block is still the equivalent of an incompletely opened “pres-ent,” allowing our anticipation of what we might find to continue. The staff and volunteers working with Burpee Museum, including many NIU undergraduate and graduate students, has gone on for several years, with the epectation that we will be able to expand the program into the future.

An alumnus of the Northern Illinois University biology department, Matt Bonnan, who is now a professor at Western Illinois University, has taken groups of WIU students to this collecting locality for several years, and we are hoping to do the same for a group of NIU students for several weeks in the summer of 2012. The NIU geology department offers a field course for their students, which teaches them many aspects of the geology of the areas they explore, but no similar field courses presently exist for biology or other majors who are interested in vertebrate paleontology in general or dinosaur biology specifically. We anticipate that this course will complement Vertebrate Paleontology, the course that I took over upon the depar-ture of Prof. J. Michael Parrish several years ago. One of the most important experiences a student interested in vertebrate paleontol-ogy and geology can acquire is to participate in finding, excavating and identifying fossils in the field. The course we are anticipating teaching at the Burpee Museum Hanksville Quarry in conjunction with their staff will allow students to engage in these activities and will also take advantage of the beautiful Utah geology on display both at the quarry and in the nearby surrounding areas.

The Burpee Hanksville Quarry is unusual in several ways. Not only does it cover an extremely large geographic area, but Burpee Mu-seum has made it one of the most pleasant field sites to work at that I know. No other field site I have worked has had electricity, which, at the Hanksville Quarry is supplied by generators that allow the use of power tools for fossil excavation rather than the usual assortment of dental tools, picks and shovels. Yes, hand tools of all sizes are still used, but power tools speed the acquisition of specimens and allow better clearing of specimens in the field. Additionally, the generators supply electricity for large fans, which makes collecting in a hot, dry environment more pleasant than I have ever experienced elsewhere. I look forward to instituting the new field course, and hope that many NIU students with a variety of interests in fossils, geology and field work will join us next year.

13

2011 Honors Convocation

◆ Department Honors - John Price, Erik Curry, Jacqueline Do, Jay Highland, Matthew Kispert, Kate Krise, Cole Lightfoot, Lindsey McKinney, Rachel Moran, Hiren Patel, Emily Sorenson, Andrew Thompson, Kaylee Walters

◆ Charles E. Montgomery Award - Beth Michels

◆ Mortar Board - Ashley Mottar, Julia Powers

◆ Phi Sigma Graduate Research Award - Janaka Edirisinghe

◆ Phi Sigma Undergraduate Research Award - Hiren Patel

◆ PMBC Graduate Research Assistantship - Sourabh Dhingra, Qinzhou Qi

◆ PMBC Undergraduate Research Fellowship - James Dewey

◆ Undergraduate Research Grants (USOAR) - Erik Curry, Michael Mackey, Andrew Thompson

◆ Dean’s Award - Kaylee Walters

◆ Harvey A. Feyerherm Award - Philip Persino

◆ Dennis Larsen Memorial Scholarship in Biology - Peter Jones, Andres Ortega

◆ Alumni Award - Anne Wyer

◆ George L. Terwilliger Award - Andrew Iverson, Ryan Manow

◆ Sidney Mittler Award - Janaka Edirisinghe, Erin Garza

◆ Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award - Nisreen Hamarshah

◆ Dissertation Completion Award - Anni Moore

◆ Jerrold H. Zar Scholarship Award - Yessica Escutia Ponce de Leon

◆ NIU at Oxford 2008 Biological Sciences Scholarship - Daniel Izor, Samantha Kampas

◆ August M. Gorenz Award -Marcy McClean, Rachel Moran

◆ Sonya Conway Memorial Scholarship - Kaila Colyot

◆ University Fellowship - Andres Ortega

◆ Norbert & Esther Mangold Scholarship - John Price


The Phi Sigma Biological Honor Society held its 17th annual student Research Symposium on Saturday, April 9th, 2011. Twenty-three graduate and twenty-one undergraduate students participated in the symposium by preparing posters and presenting the results of their research projects to faculty and guests. Seventeen different labs in the department were represented, and projects ranged from brain cell imaging and necrosis, snake reproductive ecology, heat stress granules in Arabidopsis, RNA recombination in Brome mosaic virus, TASK3 potassium channels, coral bleaching, regulation of myco-toxin production in Aspergillus, secretion physiology, habitat selec-tion by dragonflies, Coenzyme–Q biosynthesis, mating behavior in parasitoid wasps, wastewater algae as a source of bio-fuel, studies of gametophytic self-incompatibility in petunia, engineered metabolic pathways in E. coli., and many others. Attending the event were over 100 students, friends, faculty and staff. The Phi Sigma student membership makes annual awards to outstanding graduate and un-dergraduate research students based in part on the presentations at the symposium. This year the graduate award was given to Janaka Edirisinghe, a member of Prof. Meganathan’s lab, for his work entitled “Coenzyme-Q biosynthesis: Novel 4-hydroxybenzoate pathway in Klebseilla oxytoca” (see article on page 11), and the undergraduate award was given to James Dewy, another member of Prof. Mega-nathan’s lab for his project entitled “The utilization of amino acids as nitrogen sources in Klebsiella oxytoca”. As always, the Department of Biological Sciences is indebted to the student members of Phi Sigma for highlighting and promoting student research in the department and for their hard work and sponsorship of this important and educational yearly event. Special thanks go to Phi Sigma members Ryan Kuebler, Kaylee Walters, Bijal Patel, and Jacqueline Do for their work in helping to organize the research symposium.

The “Undergraduate Special Opportunities in Artistry and Research” (USOAR) program is a competitive university funded award system administered by the Provost’s Office to support outstanding undergraduate research at NIU. Three undergradu-ates in the Department of Biological Sciences were recognized at a reception on March 22, 2011, and received funds to support their research in the 2011-2012 academic year. Eric Curry, a senior working in the Bode lab, received the USOAR award for his project, “Investigations of human cancer cells’ response to sulfur containing amino acid deprivation,” Michael MacKey, a junior working with Professor Holbrook, for his project, “Production and testing of biochar as a way of improving low fertility soils in DeKalb County and Kenya, Africa,” and Andrew Thompson, a junior in the Duvall lab, for his project, “Isolation and stereotyping of Salmonella species by multiplex polymerase chain reaction in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.”

Pictured at right: Andrew Thompson, recipient of USOAR and Departmental Honors Award, with Professor Melvin Duvall.

Janaka N. Edirisinghe and James Dewey, Meganathan Lab

• Jay Highland (B.S. 2011) University of Illinois Chicago College of Pharmacy

• Bijal Patel (B.S. 2011) physician assistant, University of Mount Union

• Maria Gomez (B.S. 2010) University of Illinois School of Medicine

• Anne Wyer (B.S. 2011) University of Illinois School of Veteri-nary Medicine

• Robin Patel (B.S. 2011) Southern Illinois University School of Medicine

• Brandon Bice (B.S. 2010) Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine

• Anthony Persino (B.S. 2010) Rosalind Franklin School of Medicine

• Lauren Kuta (B.S. 2011) Rosalind Franklin School of Pharmacy

• Jacqueline Do (B.S. 2011) Pikeville School of Osteopathic Medicine

• Alex Bean (B.S. 2011) Ph.D. program in Molecular Cell Biology University of Texas – Austin

• Emily Sorenson (B.S. 2010) Illinois College of Optometry

• Rachel Moran (B.S. 2011) graduate school, Northern Illinois University

Phi Sigma | 17th Annual Research Symposium

USOAR | 17th Annual Research Symposium

Where are they going from here?

Undergraduate News | By Professor Kenneth Gasser


Degrees Earned | August 2010 - May 2011

15

UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES

August 2010

Junelle BennettJordan BlairSara FranzenMaria GalaDonnisha JohnsonThomas MagerlErin MidstemDeborah Moore-MoauroAndres OrtegaKannan PatelBrandon PereklitaNeethu PeterKent PoulsenMichael Rodgers

December 2010

Gabrielle AllenOmonike AyorindeErich BerndtJoshua BessetteJoelaki CartmanBrett CookTamar-Regine FindlayMiranda FosterLarry GibsonBrittany GrayAdam JohnsonLisa KatschkeKate KriseBrittney O’ConnorSamantha PallanschDenise PatelEmily SorensonShannon StraussKristina TaylorMallory ThompsonDenard Ward, Jr.Allison Warren

May 2011

Samuel AlbinEdward BeckSteven BirdAngela BrazzaleSean BurkeJoseph CallahanNeha ChugDavid ChwalekDavid ColsonHillary CoulombeErik CurryBinisha DesaiHenry DillonJacqueline DoJoseph EversolePaul FacchianoAlena FeltnerDebora FonAngel GamesRebecca GantScot GregersenRyan GrossNerihan HadjiJay HighlandDavid HoshawVelencia HutsonSarya KiranMatthew KispertBrandon KlintworthRyan KueblerLauren KutaPatrick LarsonSonny LeeCole LightfootDaenna LundbergCasey MalsomStephen ManahanAgyaaku Marfo, Jr.Lindsey McKinneyRachel MoranJeannette MorrisTodd Neville

Robert NewkirkStephanie NolanDanielle O’NeillErick OlteanuAngel Ortiz, Jr.Kathryn OwensBijal PatelHiren PatelRobin PatelLisa PersonetteStacie PowersKathy PyrzynskiBrent SchulmeisterMarie SchwantesRichard SeelingJennifer SkrabutenasMatt SmithShena StanleyBrandon StoffregenDonald SwibesJames TaranowskiTrisha TaylorShane TheadoAndrew ThompsonLindsey TuntlandChristopher TylerMohee UddinJay VecchietLaicole WalkerAlex WalkingtonKaylee WaltersAaron WassonAnne Wyer

GRADUATE DEGREES

August 2010

Neha Abrol (MS)Rachael Allen (Ph.D.)Rachel Baker (MS)Jennifer Cooper (MS)Jennifer Hintzsche (MS)Joel Hutson (MS)Kristin Woycheese (MS)

December 2010

Lauri Carey (MS)Kimberly Cherry Vogt (Ph.D.)Rocio Duran (MS)Katherine Harmata (MS)Pratima Shrestha (MS)

May 2011

Alexander Crabtree (MS)Erin Garza (MS)Samuel Jones (MS)Ryan Manow (MS)Jessica Olson (MS)Jennifer Rohrssen (MS)Joanna Sztuba-Solinska (Ph.D.)Jennifer Niew (MS in Human Anatomical Sciences)


by Professor Rick Johns

Neil Polans, plant geneticist, came to NIU in 1985. He is a California native: born, raised, and educated there, all the way from kindergarten through college and graduate school and even including a post-doctoral research stint. Neil and I have been teaching genetics in alternate semesters for many years. All biology majors take genetics, with its large and time-consuming Drosophila lab. No

doubt, many former students will fondly recall late nights spent counting flies, accompanied by the sweet aroma of FlyNap. Neil and I have been the Odd Couple of Genetics: he played the role of Felix while I was Oscar: his efforts to improve the lab and keep it tidy were frequently undermined by my unending slovenliness. (Sorry about that Neil! Now that you are leaving the place is really going to be a mess!)

Neil has done most of his research on Pisum sativum, the garden pea, the same organism that Gregor Mendel worked on. During his 26 year career at NIU, Neil and his students did much to improve the genetic linkage map for Pisum. In his early years, he developed use-ful markers from genes coding for enzymes and for ribosomal RNA, and later he moved into genetic variations in the DNA not associ-ated with genes, such as RAPDs and microsatellites. He has been using these markers to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs), which are regions of the chromosome that contain genes affecting useful ag-ronomic traits such as yield and disease resistance. Neil was also an active collaborator, working with the genetics of dahlias, goldenrods, sugar maples, and other plants of interest to his colleagues.

Neil and his wife, Sue Wong, live in DeKalb; Sue taught biology at DeKalb High School for many years. Their two children are now grown and pursuing their own careers elsewhere, and so Neil and Sue are going to take this opportunity to rejoin their families in California. I am sure they will take many fond memories with them, but I am also sure they won’t miss our hot, humid summers and cold, icy winters! It has been a pleasure and an honor to work with Neil as a colleague. I will miss him, and I wish him a long and happy time in retirement. ♦

By Professor Carl von Ende

Prof. Peter Meserve came to NIU in 1976, having been a visit-ing Assistant Professor at the University of Idaho the previous year. After finishing his Ph.D.at the University of California, Irvine, in 1972, he and his wife Jan spent two years in Chile, while Peter was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Universidad Católica de Chile, in Santiago. Peter was hired at NIU to teach Mammalogy and General Ecology, and has always been a key and valued colleague in the Ecology and Evolution group. Mammalogy and Ornithol-ogy eventually were combined into the present Birds and Mammals course, which Peter has continued to teach. Both courses were well

known for their demanding laboratory portions, in which students were expected to learn the detailed morphology and key identifying characteristics of a great variety of species. In addition, students in these courses enjoyed the opportunity to participate in occasional week-long field trips to southern U.S. ecosystems during Spring Break to observe species in their natural habitats in that region.

I doubt Peter imagined at the time of their first stay in Chile how that unique opportunity to explore many of the ecosystems of Chile would lead to a career-long research program centered at a unique research site in the thorn-scrub biome of northern Chile. Funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation since 1989, the study has been exemplary because it involved a continuous, long-term, controlled, field experiment with vertebrates, extensive collaboration with Chilean colleagues, the training of Chilean and NIU students, and finally, now enjoys joint support from NSF, Chile’s equivalent agency (FONDECYT), and the Chilean Instituto de Ecológía y Biodiversidad (IEB). Also, the research site is now a member of the Chilean Network of Long-Term Socio-Ecológical Study Sites (LTSER-Chile). Peter especially values the lasting friendships he has established through the project over the years with his students, field technicians, and Chilean colleagues. In recognition of a continuous outstanding record of research productivity, Peter was appropriately honored as a NIU Presidential Research Professor in 1999.

Peter and Jan have adapted quite well to the winters of DeKalb, in spite of also being children of the “Golden West.” They still are in the process of evaluating their final retirement destination. Although both sons, and families, currently reside in Texas, the one year in the Palouse Country of Moscow, Idaho, made a last-ing impression on Peter. But remember, they do have their VW Eurovan camper. Maybe they’ll just be “On the Road,” like Charles Kuralt…..It has been great to have Peter as a colleague for these past 35 years and we truly will miss him. ♦

2011 Retirees

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(l-r) Chris Yahnke, M.S., 1993; Ph.D., 1999; Laura Wodrich, M.S., 1979; Prof. Meserve; Diana Hubberts (Krachtus), M.S., 1980; Brian Klatt, M.S., 1979; Patty Ruback, (and daughter Saige) M.S., 2006; Donna Prain (Murray), M.S., 1986


by Professor Virginia Naples

Several years’ work was rewarded recently with my receipt of an advanced copy of the book I edited with two collaborators, Larry D. Martin, Curator of Vertebrate of Paleontology at the University of Kansas, and John Babiarz of the BIOPSI Institute of Arizona. The book is entitled “The Other Saber-tooths: Scimitar-tooth cats of the Western Hemisphere.” It is now available from Johns Hopkins University

Press. This book contains many illustrations, reconstructions of fossil saber-tooths by several fine paleoartists, as well as many color plates to give readers an excellent idea of the animals’ appearance, habits and habitats. This is the first book to be written on this group of saber-tooths. These cats have coarsely-serrated and slightly shorter sabers than the most famous of sabercats, Smilodon fatalis, from the Rancho La Brea fauna in Los Angeles, California. We describe two new genera in detail, Xenosmilus hodsonae, the cookie-cutter cat (a new category of saber-tooth based on the arrangement of the incisors, canine teeth and premolars) and Homotherium ischyrus, a scimitar-tooth cat discovered in Idaho, and the subject of a Ph. D. dissertation by a student working with Larry Martin at the University of Kansas.

In addition to descriptions of these animals and reconstruction of their appearance and habits, this book also includes experimental re-sults that distinguish how each of these top predators killed the large prey that formed their diets. These experiments, using a mechanical saber-tooth “Robocat” modeled after a specimen of Smilodon fatalis, at the Page Museum of Natural History in Los Angeles, which was mounted on a Bobcat to provide hydraulic power, demonstrated how that sabercat killed large prey. These experiments were featured in a Discovery Channel program a decade ago, but still often shown in reruns. Based on these experiments it was possible to model the scimitar-tooth bite of Homotherium and more specifically, the cookie-cutter bite of Xenosmilus.

Another contributor to the book shows how these saber-tooths suf-fered from injury and disease just as do modern animals. The kinds of injuries they exhibit demonstrate that saber-tooth cats lived dan-gerous and active lives, as their prey were likely well able to defend themselves. In some cases, these cats probably came away from such encounters bearing worse injuries than their potential prey.

A contribution I most enjoyed making to the book was the recon-struction of the head and limb musculature of Xenosmilus which accompanied my study of the biting and locomotor capabilities of this cat. Xenosmilus has very robust limbs and clearly exhibited great strength in capturing and controlling prey, even though it could probably not run very fast or for long distances. Therefore, it was probably an ambush predator that hid in brush or used the cover of trees to pounce upon animals such as those belonging to a large spe-

cies of peccary, a pig-like animal whose bones were found in the cave with the only known two skeletons of this cat.

In this book we also discuss the evolutionary history of scimitar-tooth cats, including the origin of early relatives of the scimitar-tooths from Europe and Asia, present hypotheses of where they evolved and the paths their descendants took to North America. This volume is the first featuring the scimitar-tooth cats and we hope it will interest reader as well as did the earlier, 1932 volume, The Felidae of Rancho las Brea that described in detail Smilodon fatalis and the American lion, Panthera atrox.

The publication of this book is not the end of my interest in saber-tooths. At present, I am pursuing a similar analysis and reconstruc-tion of the anatomy of both Smilodon and Panthera atrox. These studies require me to spend time at the Page Museum of Natural History in Los Angeles where I have visited twice in the last year. Two graduate students, Lindsey Koper and Burcu Carlon, and another biology professor, Chris Hubbard also share in the studies of these animals. We anticipate further expansion of this work and happily anticipate returning to California in the near future. ♦

The Other Saber-tooths

17


Faculty

Professor Jozef Bujarski - Presented/Abstracts.1. J. Sztuba-Solińska, A. Dzianott and J.J. Bujarski. 5’ Subgenom-

ic RNA3a Recombines with Genomic Rna3 of Brome Mosaic Bromovirus In Vitro and In Vivo. 4th Euroepan Congress of Virology 7 11 April 2010. Cernobbio, Italy.

2. J. Sztuba-Solińska, A. Dzianott and J.J. Bujarski. Recombina-tion of 5’ Subgenomic RNA3a with Genomic RNA3 of Brome Mosaic Bromovirus in Barley Protoplasts. 9th International Symposium on Positive Strand RNA Viruses. Atlanta, GA May 17 21, 2010.

3. J. Sztuba-Solińska, A. Dzianott and J.J. Bujarski. 5’ Subgenomic RNA3a Recombines with Genomic RNA3 of Brome Mosaic Bromovirus In Vitro and In Vivo. Annual meeting of the Amer. Soc. For Virology 2011.

4. J. Sztuba-Solińska, A. Dzianott and J.J. Bujarski 5’ Subgenomic RNA3a Recombines with Genomic RNA3 of Brome Mosaic Bromovirus In Vitro and In Vivo. International Congress of Virology, 2011. Sapporo, Japan.

Invitations: Professor Jozef Bujarski was invited to organize an RNA recom-bination session at the International Congress of Virology, 2011. Sapporo, Japan.

Professor Bethia King attended the joint meeting of the Interna-tional Ethological Conference and the Animal Behavior Society at Indiana University in July 2011 to present “Should he stay or should he go? The function of male attendance in a parasitic wasp.” B.H. King and K. A. Kuban.

Professor Ana Calvo• XXVI International Fungal Genetics Conference. Role of flavo-

hemoglobin homologous genes and nitri oxide in Aspergillus ni-dulans morphogenesis and mycotoxin production. Pacific Grove, California March 15-20, 2011.

• XXVI International Fungal Genetics Conference. Role of the zinc transcription factors CrzA and SltA in morphogenesis and sterig-matocystin biosynthesis in the fungus Aspergillus nidulans. Pacific Grove, California March 15-20, 2011

• XXVI International Fungal Genetics Conference Identification and characterization of genetic regulatory elements downstream of veA controlling mycotoxin biosynthesis in Aspergillus nidulans. . Pacific Grove, California March 15-20, 2011

• AS AN INVITED SPEAKER The VeA protein complex and its role in secondary metabolism. Society for General Microbiology. Nottingham UK. September 2010

• Hydrolysis of plant polymers is veA-dependent in Aspergillus flavus. Americal Society for Microbiology General Conference. May 2010 San Diego, California

• Transcriptional regulation of secondary metabolism, development and virulence in Aspergillus flavus. The 9th International Myco-logical Congress. Edinburgh UK August 2010

W. Scott Grayburn: I am continuing collaborative projects that study gene expression in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. This is made possible by using quantitative real-time PCR instrumentation in the molecular core lab.

I am also working on a project to use algae grown in wastewater for biofuel. I have cultured a number of microbes that are capable of degrading cellulose that was purified from filamentous (hair-like) algae. As expected, these organisms can also degrade synthetic mi-crocrystalline cellulose. Cellulose makes up about one third of plant material and is the most abundant organic compound on earth. If cellulose can be broken apart into its simple sugar building blocks, these sugars can be used for fermentation. Fermentation can produce alcohols such as ethanol, which can be used for fuel. A bacterium that I isolated from decaying algae is now in pure culture. I am us-ing the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing to obtain information about its identity. This information will help to study genes that may be involved in the processing of cellulose. Un-like land plants, algae do not contain lignin, which is very difficult to break down. This makes it easier to convert algae biomass to fuel.

Another aspect of the algae for biofuel project is a collaboration with the technology department to investigate the use of algae to prepare diesel fuel. I am isolating pure cultures of unicellular algae from Il-linois for DNA analysis. By using PCR to amplify diagnostic regions of DNA I have determined that at least one of the strains being used for diesel production differs from other isolates of algae listed in international databases.

Graduate Students:

From the Richard King Lab: Collin Jaeger (Ph.D. candidate, R. King lab) presented a poster at the joint meetings of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in July, 2011, co-authored by Professor Richard King, Professor Melvin Duvall, Jesse Ray (M.S. 2010, King Lab), and Jace Robinson (M.S. 2005, R. King Lab). This research measured the amount of genetic variation in Kirtland’s Snake (Clonophis kirtlandii), a secretive snake with a fragmented distribution in the Midwest. When compared to several other closely-related snakes with more continuous distribu-tions, Kirtland’s Snake was markedly less variable. We are currently exploring the potential causes and implications these findings may have on the management of this Midwestern endemic species.

Peter Jones (Ph.D. candidate, R. King lab) recently presented a talk titled “Rangewide Analysis of Eastern Massasauga Survivorship” at the joint meetings of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. The talk was co-authored by Professor Rich King and a large group of collaborators who provided me with eastern massasauga, a rattle-snake of conservation concern found throughout the Great Lakes region, radiotelemetry datasets. The research involved using these radiotelemetry datasets to estimate the survival of the populations studied. We were able to get a relatively large amount of datasets from throughout the eastern massasauga’s range. This allowed us to look for a pattern in the variation of survival rate estimates on a geographic scale. We found that survival increased as you moved northeast across the massasauga’s range. This pattern may be caused by differences in climate throughout the range. Because of the pat-tern in survival, it is likely that management actions will need to be

Departmental News

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NIU ◆ Department of Biological Sciences 19

tailor made for individual eastern massasauga populations.

Kristin Stanford (Ph.D. candidate, R. King lab) The annual LEWS census (aka Nerodio) was a success with approximately 1600 snakes captured and processed and over 50 volunteers participating. We are anticipating the announcement of the official federal delisting any day now!

I recently (June 21st) filmed a segment for Quest, a production company working out of San Fransisco, who is producing some short 3 min segments on invasive species impacts for PBS stations across the country. They are highlighting some of the recent interac-tions between the Lake Erie Watersnake and Round Goby. Another production company, Great Lakes Media, will be coming at the end of the month to film some similar stuff for incorporation into a longer documentary on invasive impacts in the great lakes.

I was invited by Ohio DNR to present “Lessons learned in the recov-ery of the Lake Erie Watersnake” at the Association for Conservation Information conference in Cincinnati, July 19, as an example of one of Ohio’s success stories. From the website: ACI is “a non-profit association of information and education professionals represent-ing state, federal and Canadian agencies and private conservation organizations.”

Recently, the Lake Erie Watersnake and its recovery was featured as the top spot on the SWG (State Wildlife Grant) fact sheet that is given to all members of congress and their aids by the USFWS and the AFWA (Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies).

And finally, I officially accepted a half-time position with Ohio State University’s Stone Laboratory as the Outreach and Education Man-ager, replacing John Hageman, who is retiring at the end of August. This position is half time so I can focus on finishing my dissertation and fulfilling my contract with NIU.

Eric Hileman (Ph.D. student, R. King lab) (from the blog entry he wrote for Eastern Massasgauga Rattlesnake Species Survival Plan website):

Are We Finding More EMR or More Ticks?” Tick, mosquito, and fly populations are booming. Ticks, however, have been, by far, the worst. On average, I find 4-5 ticks on my body per day. I am strongly considering charging them rent. It is only June and despite the unusual weather (or because of it?) we are experiencing a record year for eastern massasauga rattlesnake captures here at the Edward Lowe Foundation. Thus far, we have amassed 115 captures representing 67 new, individually marked or PIT tagged snakes. That represents 36% of the total number of unique individuals (N=185) and 44% of the total captures (N=263) recorded since 2006!

I am happy to report that we recaptured three of the 47 massasauga neonates marked in 2010 (they were marked with medical cautery units rather than PIT tags due to their diminutive size), and I expect additional recaptures from this cohort later this year. Including neonates in this study gives us the ability to estimate neonate sur-vivorship, an important population parameter currently lacking in population viability analysis (PVA) models.

From a population-modeling standpoint, our data are shaping up nicely. Preliminary analyses have yielded plausible estimates. And as our dataset continues to grow, so does the likelihood that we will be able develop biologically realistic models capable of detecting important survivorship and capture probability differences between sexes and age classes, as well as our ability to more robustly estimate population growth, size, and structure.

That’s it for now. My field assistant Jay and I are becoming a bit fe-ral. Consequently, we are taking a week off so that we can smoothly transition back into society.

Samantha Melton (currently a BIOS senior) is a summer intern with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency in Rockford.

From the von Ende Lab: Jeni Eggers and Andres Ortega (M.S. students, von Ende lab) taught an “Introduction to Insects” class for 6-12 year olds at the Byron Public Library in July 2011. Last summer Jeni and Andres volunteered at the first annual Bug Fest in Aurora, IL, which is a day-long event held by the Fox Valley Park District. They helped children catch and identify insects in ter-restrial and aquatic environments. They volunteered for the event again at the 2nd annual Bug Fest on August 27, 2011.

Janaka Edirisinghe (Meganathan Lab) presented his research on Oct 5th Mathematics and Computer Science Division, Argonne National Labs in their seminar series

Alumni

Joanna Sztuba-Solinska (Ph.D. 2011, Bujarski lab) has taken a postdoctoral position at National Institute of Health. (See page 12).

Jennifer Cooper (M.S. 2010, B. King lab) began teaching at Henry Ford Community College, Dearborn, MI

Alex Chesney (B. King lab) received a research assistantship from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Molecular and Environmen-tal Toxicology program

William (Billy) Nichols, Jr (M.S. 2009, B. King lab) was hired by US Fish and Wildlife Service to work on salmonids in the Great Lakes region.

Debbie Olbrich, DVM (M.S. 2002, B. King lab) was hired as a veterinary liaison for Abbott Animal Health.

Mary Crowe (Ph.D. 1994, B. King lab) was elected president of the Council on Undergraduate Research, a national not-for-profit educational organization.

Melanie Napoleon (M.S. 1998, B. King lab) was hired as network coordinator and advisor for the Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions.

Patrick Larson (B.S. 2011) is doing an internship with the Bureau of Land Management in Carlsbad, New Mexico through the Chi-cago Botanic Gardens.

Jay Vecchiet (B.S. 2010) is working as a field assistant with Eric Hileman this summer at their study site in SW Michigan. ♦


By Professor Melvin Duvall

In early July I joined 14 other botanists on a week-long field trip to the French colony of New Caledonia. Group members were from Austria, Canada, Ohio, Finland, Australia, Taiwan, and New York plus a French guide, but our common professional interests in plants quickly overcame cultural and language differences.

New Caledonia is a tiny island isolated by over 900 miles of Pacific waters from mainland Australia. The island has a complex geologic past enriching it with nickel, cobalt, iron, and other metals that are generally toxic to plants. There is so much nickel on New Caledonia that 20% of the global supply is mined here, on an island about the same size as New Jersey. The French equate nickel with good fortune, and may respond to the query, “Comment ça va?” (“How’s it going?”) with “Nickel!” (meaning, “perfect!”).

New Caledonia is a biologically benign place. The venomous sea snakes are timid with tiny mouths too small to bite a fingertip. There are minute fire ants and wasps that are a little trouble to hikers during the summer. Mosquitoes are few and mostly a nuisance, although they rarely carry yellow fever. The only native mammal is a harmless flying fox. Like other Pacific islands, the flora of New Caledonia is challenged by invasives. Deer and pigs are trouble-some—we ate barbecued sausages and venison one day by way of revenge! But its isolated location and toxic soils have minimized the impact of introduced species.

Plants have responded to this environment with unique adaptations. A tree called the “nickel tree” oozes bluish, nickel-colored sap from broken leaves and up to 20% of its weight is nickel. The hilly New Caledonian landscapes are covered with shrublands, dry forests, and even rain forests. There are over 3,300 native plant species, about 2,500 of which are found only here. This unique flora is dominated by myrtles, proteas, and sedges, springing out of the rusty-colored, rocky slopes. On our hikes we saw tree ferns, cycads, ebony trees, and figs hung with lianas and epiphytic orchids. Most conspicuous are the towering endemic conifers—not pines, but araucarias—thrusting out of the canopy and dotting the distant ridge tops. With nearly 1000 photos my botany and plant systematics students will see more southern hemisphere plants this fall!

Later on this trip I saw platypuses in Sydney, the Royal Botanic Gardens of Melbourne, and plant collections at three international herbaria, but those are stories for another time. Ça va? Nickel! ♦

20

GiftsPlease use my gift of $ _______________ (checks payable to the NIU Foundation) for:n Department of Biological Sciencesn Plant Molecular Biology Center Endowed Scholarships:

n Alumni Scholarship in Biological Sciencesn Harvey A. Feyerherm Awardn August M. Gorenz Scholarshipn David R. Layman Scholarship Fundn Sonya Conway Memorial Scholarship in Biologyn Sidney Mittler Awardn Charles E. Montgomery Awardn George L. Terwilliger Memorial Scholarship Fundn Jerrold H. Zar Endowed Scholarship in Biologyn Jerrold H. Zar Endowed Scholarship in Science Ed.

For more information see: www.bios.niu.edu/about_us/giving.shtml

Name (as you wish it to appear)

NIU Degree (if any) and Year

Address

City State Zip Code

Will your employer match? n Yes n No n Don’t know

Mail to: NIU FoundationDepartment of Biological SciencesNorthern Illinois University1425 W. Lincoln HwyDeKalb , IL 60115-2828

A Unique Botanical Excursion

Documents

Northern Biologist Newsletter 2011