Dr. Lorena Passarelli
and Dr. Jyoti Shah have each been
selected for the
We have just learned that Dr. John Blair has been selected as a University Distinguished Professor. This is the most
prestigious designation that the University can bestow on a faculty member, and
is a title that is maintained for the rest of his career. Of approximately
1,300 total faculty members at K-State, only about 30 hold the rank of
University Distinguished Professor. The addition of John to this group
means that 9 Division of Biology faculty members have been selected as
University Distinguished Professors, with 6 current (Dr. Gary Conrad, Dr. Brian
Spooner, Dr. Rob Denell, Dr.
Larry Takemoto, Dr. David Hartnett,
and Blair), and 3 others no longer active (Dr. Dick Consigli now emeritus, Dr.
Terry Johnson now deceased, and Dr. Alan Knapp now resigned).
Dr. Larry Williams
is the first recipient of a new “Putting
Students First Award,” given by KSU Institutional
Advancement, Student Life, and Student Services. The award was
presented to Larry at a ceremony held May 16 at
We have now completed the three assistant professor new
faculty member searches conducted this year. The cumulative results are
that we have hired Dr. Ted Morgan
(Ecological Genomics), Dr. Kristin Michel
(Vector Biology), and Dr. Alexander (
The Ecological Genomics
Institute is pleased to announce that seven seed grants have been awarded
funding totaling $291,290 through the Ecological Genomics Institute Targeted Excellence program.
Ecological Genomics seeks to understand the genetic mechanisms that
underlie responses of organisms to their natural environment.
The intent of the Ecological Genomics Institute is to further advance
interdisciplinary research that melds the fields of genomics and ecology to
address questions that lie at the interface of these disciplines.
Please visit our website, www.ksu.edu/ecogen,
to learn more about funding opportunities.
The Institute addresses questions such as:
What is the genetic basis for an ecological response to the environment?
What are the genetic and regulatory mechanisms involved in organismal responses to environmental changes?
What is the ecological context
necessary to understand gene expression?
The funded projects for 2005-2006 are as
follows:
Flocks of Phlox flowers and genome mapping: towards unraveling the functional significance of reproductive character position, Carolyn Ferguson (Biology), $30,000.
Environmental
and ecological controls on gene expression of root processes in prairie
plants,
Changes
in nematode community composition in response to environmental cues: a
genomic approach, Ken Jones
& Michael Herman, and
Identification of the function of mutualistic root endophytic fungi using an Arbidopsis transcriptome model system, Ari Jumpponen, $37,670.
Ecological Genomics of Eusociality in termites, Srini Kambhampati (Entomology), $42,000.
Development
of microsatellite markers for a migratory shorebird,
Ecological, physiological and genetic consequences of environmental toxins, Samantha Wisely & Sue Brown, $30,000.
Drs. Beth Montelone,
Kimberly Douglas (WESP), Ruth Dyer (Provost Office), Lisa Freeman (Vet Med), and
Jacqueline Spears (Secondary Education) received $404,324 for a project titled “Collaborative
for Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement in Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Mathematics.” This project
will be funded for three years by the Targeted
Excellence initiative of the Provost's Office, beginning July 1.
Drs. Ruth Welti,
Michael Kanost (Biochemistry), John Tomich (Biochemistry), Om
Prakash (Biochemistry), Susan Brown, Jyoti
Shah, Gary Conrad, and Eric Maatta (Chemistry) received $1,998,944
for a project titled “A Functional
Genomics Consortium: Building research productivity through education,
interaction, and full utilization of the Functional Genomics Laboratories at
Kansas State University.” This
project establishes a Functional Genomics Consortium
that will facilitate and carry out research into gene function at the protein
and metabolite levels. This
project will be funded for five years by the Targeted
Excellence initiative of the Provost's Office,
beginning July 1.
Drs. Sue Brown,
Rob Denell and Rollie Clem, in collaboration with Drs. Michael Smith and Ming Chen
(Entomology), Roman Ganta (Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology) and Michael
Kanost (Biochemistry), received a $2,000,000 award from the Targeted
Excellence initiative of the Provost's Office, for
a “Center for Genomic Studies on
Arthropods affecting Human, Animal and Plant Health.” This 5
year project will provide bioinformatics infrastructure and seed grants to
support KSU researchers in developing functional genomics approaches to
solving problems in arthropod biology related to human, plant and animal health.
Drs. Wayne Nafziger (Economics), Emizet Ksangani (Political
Science), and David Hartnett (Biology) were awarded $253,726 from the Targeted
Excellence initiative of the Provost's Office for
a project titled “Africa in the Global
Context: The Political Economy of Agriculture, the Environment, and Human
Health.” This award will establish an
Madhav Nepal,
Ph.D. student with Dr. Carolyn Ferguson
and Dr. Mark Mayfield, was awarded
the Manhattan Kansas Rotary Club
International Graduate Student Scholarship. This award is given to
outstanding international students engaged in graduate study at Kansas State
University and is based upon criteria of academic accomplishment and the benefit
of their graduate training to their country when they return.
Dr. Brett Sandercock
has accepted an invitation to serve as an Associate
Editor for the Journal of Animal
Ecology.
Dr. Brett Sandercock was awarded
$20,581 by the
Dr. Brett Sandercock and Dr.
Samantha Wisely were awarded $630,100 by the National
Wind Coordinating Committee for research titled “Impacts of wind power development on the demography and population
genetics of the Greater Prairie-chicken.”
Dr. Brett Sandercock and Jackie
Nooker were awarded $11,940 by the National
Science Foundation - Division of Environmental Biology for research titled “Dissertation research: Testosterone-mediated life history tradeoffs
in a lek-mating bird: an integrated approach using path analysis and
experimental implants.”
Dr. Brett Sandercock and Dr.
Gail Wilson were awarded $199,183 by the National
Science Foundation - Division of Biological Infrastructure for research
titled “Research experiences for
undergraduates site: Ecology and evolutionary biology of a temperate
grassland.”
Page Klug (Ph.D. student in the
lab of Dr. Kimberly With) has been awarded nearly $5000 in funding, from
a Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research
($800) and a Frances M. Peacock
Scholarship from the Garden Club of America ($4000), to support her research
on developing a landscape ecology of predator-prey interactions involving snakes
and grassland birds in the tallgrass prairie.
Dr. Craig Paukert
received the Science To Achieve Results
(STAR) award from the US Geological Survey for outstanding performance in
the Cooperative Research Units program.
Andy Makinster,
graduate student under
Dr. Joanna Whittier
team-taught two workshops on Basic and Advanced GIS Techniques for Fisheries
Biologists at the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting in Anchorage, AK,
September 2005. She also taught a
similar short course at the Kansas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society
Annual Meeting in Hays, KS, February 10-11.
Dr. Craig Paukert
and Dr. Joanna Whittier were awarded $314,703 by the
Dr.
Craig Paukert
was awarded $163,976 by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks for
research titled “Population dynamics of
Dr. Craig Paukert
was awarded $103,684 by the US
Geological Survey, Science Support Program for research titled “Evaluation
of Sampling Protocols Used to Determine the Status and Trends of Rare and
Endangered Missouri River Fishes.”
Dr. Ruth Welti
received two awards from the
Dr. Ratnesh Chaturvedi,
post doctoral fellow in Shah lab received a $500 Travel fellowship from the American
Society of Plant Biologists to travel to the annual ASPB meeting in
July-August in
Dr. Venkatramana Pegadaraju recent PhD graduate from the Shah
lab is currently working for Monsanto in
Dr. Sanjay Kumar
arrived in March and is a visiting scientist from
Dr. Jyoti Shah
and Dr. Harold Trick were awarded $122,966 by the
Harmony Dalgleish (Major
Professor D. Hartnett) was awarded a $11,260 Doctoral
Dissertation Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
The project titled “Belowground
Bud Bank Populations as Regulators of Vegetation Responses to Ecosystem Drivers
in African Grasslands” will allow Harmony to expand her current
dissertation research on North American grasslands to include comparative
studies of plant demographic processes regulating grassland dynamics and
diversity in northern
Chanitchote Detvisitsakun (Am),
a graduate student in the laboratory of Dr.
Lorena Passarelli, was the 2006
recipient of the Sarachek
Predoctoral Honors Fellowship.
This fellowship established
by Alvin and RosaLee Sarachek includes a $15,000 award for Ph.D. candidate
students employing molecular biology techniques.
Erica L. Hutfless, an
undergraduate in the laboratory of Dr.
Lorena Passarelli, was awarded two national competitive fellowships.
She was the recipient of the Latino
Institute Program Fellowship, awarded to only 100 students in the
The Biology Graduate Student Association (BGSA) elected new officers for the 2006-2007 year: Joe Coolon (President), Madhav Nepal (Vice-President), Alison Fedrow (Treasurer), Robb Kaler (Secretary), Jayne Jonas (GAC Representative), and Caroline Delandre (Assistant Webmaster).
The BGSA Travel Grant Committee awarded Spring Travel Grants to Madhav Nepal and Tracey Johnson.
Division of Biology Graduate Student Awards (2005-2006)
Jackie Nooker
received the H. Henley Haymaker Award for Research Excellence in Graduate
Research, presented for outstanding research by a graduate student with more
than 2 years in the Division of Biology. A student must also give a research
presentation at the Division of Biology Graduate Research Forum to qualify for
this award.
Anisha Gupte
received the James Ackert Scientific Award, presented for outstanding
research by a graduate student with less than 2 years in the Division of
Biology. A student must also give a research presentation at the Division of
Biology Graduate Research Forum to qualify for this award.
Katie Betrand
received the Chris Edler Memorial Scholarship, presented to a graduate
student that works on Konza who has demonstrated strong research, teaching and
service to Konza Prairie. A student must also give a research presentation at
the Division of Biology Graduate Research Forum to qualify for this award.
Jackie Nooker
received the Michael Scott Watkins Award, presented for outstanding
teaching in the Division of Biology.
Keerthi Mandyam
received the John C. Frazier Memorial Botanical Award, presented for
outstanding research by a graduate student from the Division of Biology in Plant
Science. A student must also give a research presentation at the Division of
Biology Graduate Research Forum to qualify for this award.
Chanitchote Detvisitaskun received
the L. Evans Roth Biology Award, presented for outstanding research by a
graduate student from the Division of Biology in Molecular, Cellular and
Developmental Biology. A student
must also give a research presentation at the Division of Biology Graduate
Research Forum to qualify for this award.
A reception to honor awardees was
held March 31 in Ackert Hall. Also
at the reception, the BGSA presented Dr.
Lorena Passarelli with the Outstanding
Graduate Faculty Award.
Division of Biology Undergraduate Student Awards
(2005-2006)
The H. Henley Haymaker Award for Excellence in Biology was presented to
the outstanding graduating senior in Biology. This year, dual recipients were Phillip
Brinkley (Fisheries Biology/Wildlife major) and Caleb
Knepper (Biology/Microbiology major).
Nine students received Most
Promising Student Awards, presented to outstanding undergraduate students.
These awards were entirely funded by faculty contributions and chosen on the
criteria of academic performance, activities (including research), letters of
recommendation, and performance in an interview by a faculty panel. This
year’s recipients were:
Zach Brown, JR, Biology/Pre Medicine
Scott Chew, SR, Biology
Meg Fasulo, SR, Microbiology/Chemistry/Biochemistry
Wade Greening, JR, Microbiology
Michelle LeCluyse, SO, Biology, Nat. Res. & Env. Sciences
Sara Mueting, SR, Biology
Aleece Preston, SO, Biology/Education
Amy Twite, JR, Microbiology/Chemistry
Stephanie Yeager, SR, Biology/Pre MedicineA luncheon to honor awardees was held on April 22 in the Kansas State University Student Union.
The K-State Student
Chapter of The Wildlife Society held their Annual Spring Banquet on April 8.
At the banquet the following undergraduate awards were presented:
Phillip Brinkley received the Mark
Enloe Memorial Scholarship for Conservation Education, an endowed
scholarship in Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation.
Tanner Dixson and Kevin
Blecha were awarded Tri County Rod
and Gun Club Conservation Scholarships.
Derek Moon and Carissa
Fredrickson were awarded Quail
Unlimited Conservation Scholarships.
PRESENTATIONS
Jesse
Fischer and Dr. Craig Paukert
presented “Environmental influences of
stream fish in the
Dr.
Craig Paukert, and J.H. Petersen presented
“Simulated effects of temperature warming on rainbow trout and humpback chub
in the Colorado River, Grand Canyon” and Dr.
Joanna Whittier, Dr. Craig Paukert,
and Dr. Keith Gido presented “Development
of an aquatic GAP for the Lower Colorado River Basin” at the Arizona/New
Mexico American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting, Flagstaff, AZ, February 3-4.
The
following presentations were made at the 31st Kansas Chapter of the
American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting, February
10-11: Eitzmann, J., A. Makinster,
and C.P. Paukert, “Population
dynamics of blue suckers in the Kansas River, Kansas” ;
Brinkley, P., J. Fischer, and C.P.
Paukert, “Effect of fixative on total length of small-bodied stream fish” (awarded
best student poster); Fischer, J.,
and C.P. Paukert, “Fish
habitat relationships in South Central Kansas”; and
Makinster, A., and C.P.
Paukert, “Population dynamics of
flathead catfish in the Kansas River, Kansas.”
Dr. Jyoti Shah, Dr.
Ragiba Makandar, V. Nalam and H.N. Trick gave an invited lecture titled “Engineering
Scab Resistance in Wheat with Plant Defense Signaling Genes” at the
Proceedings of the 2005 National Fusarium Head Blight Forum,
Several members of the
Dr. Jyoti Shah lab and Dr.
Ruth Welti lab attended the Great Plains Plant Lipidomics Consortium Retreat
at the
Dr. Jyoti Shah, Dr. Ratnesh Chaturvedi, Kartikeya Krothapalli, Jessica Morton, Dr. Venkatramana Pegadaraju, Dr. Ashis Nandi, Mary Roth, Alexis Sparks and Dr. Ruth Welti - Lipid biosynthesis and metabolizing enzymes in plant defense response.
Jessica Morton, Mary Roth, Alexis Sparks, Dr. Ruth Welti and Dr. Jyoti Shah - Lipases in Plant Defense and Death.
Mary Roth - The Lipidomics Process and Helping Each Other to Get the Most from Your Samples.
Dr. Ruth Welti - Promising strategies for identifying the function of lipid metabolic genes and for discovery of new lipids.
Pam Tamura - Accumulation of glycerolipids containing oxophytodienoic acid, dinor-oxophytodienoic acid, and other oxylipin metabolites in Arabidopsis leaves in response to wounding.
Dr. Richard Jeannotte - Statistical Approaches in Lipidomics.
Dr. Giorgis
Isaac - Integrating acyl chain and head group scans for the analysis of many
species of mono- and di-galactosyldiacylglycerol: The MGDG and DGDG
Template.
Dr.
Sanjay Kumar, Tyler Suelter, Dr. Aparna G. Patankar, Dr. Loretta C. Johnson
and Dr. Jyoti Shah presented “Environmental
Influences on Root Development and Productivity in Tall Grass Prairie: Genomic
and Molecular Approaches” at the Ecological Genomics Workshop, Kansas
State University, Manhattan, KS, May 6.
The following presentations were given at the Kansas
Lipidomics Research Center 2006 Annual Meeting, Kansas State University Student
Union,
Dr. Jyoti Shah,
Dr. John C. Reese, and Dr. Ruth Welti
presented “Arabidopsis-green peach aphid interaction” at the USDA Annual
Project Directors Meeting,
Jessica
Morton,
Dr. Ruth Welti and Dr.
Jyoti Shah presented “Lipases in
plant defense and death” at the K-INBRE Annual Symposium, Kansas State
University Student,
Dr.
Ruth Welti, C. Buseman, S. Maatta, R. Jeannotte, G. Isaac, P. Tamura, M. Roth,
A. Sparks,
and S.W. Esch presented “Lipidomic
Analysis of Physiological Responses in Arabidopsis” at the American Oil
Chemists Society Annual Meeting,
Dr. Kimberly With, W.E. Jensen, and A.W. King presented a poster
titled “A regional assessment of
population viability in grassland birds in a managed grassland: the Flint Hills
of Kansas and Oklahoma,” at the annual meeting of the U.S. Regional
Chapter of International Association for Landscape Ecology, San Diego, CA, March
29.
The Division of Biology 32nd
Annual Graduate Student Research Forum was held on March 11 in the Big 12
Room of the K-State Union. Dr. Keith Chapes served as moderator and 23 students
made the following presentations:
On
April 20, an Undergraduate Research Scholars’ Forum, sponsored by the Division
of Biology, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Biological Sciences
Education grant, and the K-INBRE (
PUBLICATIONS
Berretta, M.F., M.
Deshpande, E.A., Crouch, and
A.L. Passarelli. 2006. Functional
characterization of Bombyx mori
nucleopolyhedrovirus late gene transcription and genome replication factors in
the non-permissive insect cell line SF-21. Virology 348: 175-189.
Crouch, E.A. and
A.L. Passarelli. 2005. Effects
of baculovirus transactivators IE-1 and IE-2 on the Drosophila heat shock
promoter in two insect cell lines. Arch. Virol. 150: 1563-1578.
Dalgleish, H.J. and D.C. Hartnett. 2006. Belowground
bud banks increase along a precipitation gradient of the North American Great
Plains: a test of the meristem limitation hypothesis. New Phytologist, in press.
Detvisitsakun, C.,
E.L. Hutfless, M.F. Berretta, and A.L.
Passarelli. 2006. Analysis
of a baculovirus lacking a functional viral fibroblast growth factor homolog.
Virology 346: 258-265.
Gupte, A.
and S. Mora.
2006. Activation
of the Cbl insulin signaling pathway in cardiac muscle; Dysregulation in obesity
and diabetes. Biochemical
Biophysical Research Communications 342: 751-757.
Li, M., C. Qin, R.
Welti, and X. Wang. 2006. Double
knockouts of phospholipases Dzeta1 and Dzeta2 in Arabidopsis affect root
elongation during phosphate-limited growth but do not affect root hair
patterning. Plant Physiol. 140:
761-770.
Makandar, R.,
J.S. Essig, M.A. Schapaugh, H.N. Trick, and J.
Shah. 2006. Genetically
engineered resistance to Fusarium head blight in wheat by expression of Arabidopsis
NPR1. Mol. Plant-Microbe Interact.
19: 123-129.
Paukert, C.P.,
L.G. Coggins, and C.F. Flaccus. 2006.
Distribution
and movement of humpback chub in the
Pegadaraju, V., C. Knepper,
J. Reese, and J. Shah.
2005. Premature
leaf senescence modulated by the Arabidopsis
thaliana PAD4 gene is associated with defense against the phloem-feeding
green peach aphid. Plant
Physiol. 139: 1927-1934.
Petersen, J.H., D.L.
DeAngelis, and C.P. Paukert.
2006. Developing
bioenergetics and life history models for rare and endangered species.
Transactions of the American
Fisheries Society, in press.
Villarreal, M., R.C. Cochran, D.E. Johnson, E.G. Towne,
G.W.T.
Wang, L.
and S.J. Brown. 2006.
BindN: a web-based tool for efficient prediction of DNA and RNA binding
sites in amino acid sequences. Nucleic
Acids Research, in press (including the cover figure of the Web Server
issue).
Wang, L. and M.J. Roossinck.
2006. Comparative analysis of
expressed sequences reveals a conserved pattern of optimal codon usage in
plants. Plant Molecular Biology, in
press.
Wang, X., S.P. Devaiah, W. Zhang, and R. Welti. 2006. Signaling
functions of phosphatidic acid. Prog.
Lipid Res. 45: 250-278.
Wang
Y., E.M. Perchellet, M.M. Ward,
K. Lou, H. Zhao, S.K. Battina, B. Wiredu, D.H. Hua, and J.P. Perchellet.
2006. Antitumor
triptycene analogs induce a rapid collapse of mitochondrial transmembrane
potential in HL-60 cells and isolated mitochondria.
International Journal of Oncology
28: 161-172.
With, K.A.,
G.R. Schrott, and A.W. King. 2006. The
implications of metalandscape connectivity for population viability in migratory
songbirds. Landscape Ecology 21: 157-167.
Young, J.E., X. Zhao, E.E. Carey, R. Welti, S.S. Yang, and W. Wang. 2005. Phytochemical phenolics in organically grown vegetables. Mol. Nutr. Food Res. 49: 1136-1142.
UPCOMING EVENTS
4th
Annual Ecological Genomics Symposium, November 3-5, 2006, Sheraton
Overland Park Hotel at the Convention Center, Overland Park, KS.