MAES News
May 1, 2009
- U.S. Shorts Critical Animal Research, MAES Scientists Say at Cattle Genome Milestone
- New Obesity-Cancer Risk Link Discovered by MAES Scientists
- MAES Researcher Helps Lead International Carbon Assessment Project
- MAES Scientist's Creation Replaces Added Salt in New Heinz Ketchup
- ‘Green Chemistry’ Could Ease Manufacture, Boost Usefulness of Cancer Drug
- Project GREEEN Announces $2 Million in New Plant Agriculture Research Grants
- MAES Expert Joins International Policy Group on Climate Change and Trade
- Horticulture Department Chair Named
- New Faculty Member
The landmark sequencing of the domestic cattle genome, reported in the March 24 issue of the journal Science, could lead to important new findings about health and nutrition, a participating Michigan State University researcher said. But inadequate federal funding jeopardizes important farm animal and biomedical research, said other MAES scientists quoted in a paper published in the same issue.
Theresa Casey, research assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science, joined 300 colleagues around the world in a six-year project to complete, annotate and analyze the bovine genome sequence. Now researchers can conclude that the human genome is closer to the 22,000-gene bovine sequence than to those of mice or rats, which are by far the more common research subjects.
The new data is especially important given the economic and nutritional importance of cattle to humans, said Casey, whose specialty is study of lactation and mammary gland biology. She also co-authored a related report appearing in the journal Genome Biology discussing how the bovine lactation genome sheds light on the evolution of mammalian milk.
"We believe that milk evolved primarily as an immune function," she said, in part because of cow milk's antimicrobial properties.
"Hopefully, we get the point across in the articles that, by doing agricultural research, we can understand much more about the world -- trying to feed the world as well as keeping ourselves healthy," she said.
But funding for such research is nowhere near adequate, said a group of researchers.
Only $32 million of the $88 billion 2007 U.S. Department of Agriculture budget went toward competitive research grants for farm animals, wrote MAES animal science researchers James Ireland, George Smith, Jose Cibelli and five colleagues from other institutions. The proportion of the National Institutes of Health budget for extramural support of human health research is more than 900 times larger, they said, even though U.S. livestock and poultry sales exceed $132 billion annually.
With dwindling state and federal support, animal science programs are withering at American institutions, the scientists said. Not only are certain farm animal species themselves facing threats -- poultry, in particular, faces loss of breed genetic diversity -- but human health studies also might suffer from lack of funding for large-animal research.
Though more difficult and costly to maintain, farm animals are often better research subjects than rats and mice, and size often does matter, Ireland said. Chickens contract hard-to-detect ovarian cancer as humans do, for example, and pigs are highly suitable for obesity, cardiovascular and alcohol consumption research.
"The cow is an excellent model for studies on reproduction in the human," Ireland explained, "because it's one of the few species that actually has follicular growth dynamics very similar to what takes place in humans."
Ireland and colleagues want increased federal consideration for large-animal models in grant awards and for establishment of dedicated research centers. Agriculture and veterinary schools also should recruit "nontraditional faculty members" prepared to interact with the broader lifesciences community, they wrote, to seek National Institutes of Health funding and help break barriers that isolate agricultural programs.
New Obesity-Cancer Risk Link Discovered by MAES Scientists
A new link between body fat and colon cancer identified by MAES researchers underscores the need to fight obesity and could lead to new cancer treatment and prevention strategies.
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Jenifer Fenton |
The research is the first to show that higher levels of leptin, a hormone that regulates body energy, induces precancerous colon cells to produce more of a growth factor that can increase blood supply to early cancer cells and promote tumor growth and progression. Obese people have higher levels of leptin. The study was published in the April 30 issue of Carcinogenesis.
"Adipose tissue, or fat, is recognized as a significant risk factor for diabetes and heart disease, but the role of adipose tissue in cancer risk is less understood," said Jenifer Fenton, MAES food science and human nutrition researcher and lead author of the study. "Abdominal fat in particular seems to be associated with the greatest risk for cancer. As your waist-to-hip ratio increases, so does your risk for cancer, especially breast, colon and endometrial cancers."
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Julia Busik |
MAES physiology scientist Julia Busik and Fay Hansen-Smith, of Oakland University, also collaborated on the research.
Some 149,000 Americans will be diagnosed with colon cancer and 50,000 will die from it this year, according to the American Cancer Society. By 2006, more than a million people in the United States had been diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer according to a National Cancer Institute report.
The scientists focused on colon cancer because it affects both genders equally, giving the research broader reach and a larger impact on cancer prevention.
"Trying to address the problem when someone already has a late-stage tumor is not primary prevention," Fenton explained. "Our goal is to understand the active signals and mechanisms involved so we can create opportunities to prevent or interrupt cancer progression early in the process."
Fenton said that while weight loss is the ideal prevention strategy for reducing obesity as a risk factor for colon cancer, 95 percent of all people who lose weight will regain those pounds -- and often more -- within a year.
"So behavior modification as a prevention strategy is difficult and challenging," she said. "For this reason, continuing research also will include the identification of dietary compounds that may prevent or reduce colon cancer risk associated with obesity in the absence of weight loss."
The abstract of the study "Novel Mechanism for Obesity-induced Colon Cancer Progression" is available online.
Besides the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, the research also is supported by the National Cancer Institute.
MAES Researcher Helps Lead International Carbon Assessment Project
An MAES forestry scientist is working with top international organizations to determine how best to foster development in poor regions while protecting the environment.
The World Wildlife Fund selected MSU to partner in a $5 million, 18-month project to develop systems to measure, monitor and manage carbon in landscapes worldwide. The tools developed under that tight deadline will help growers around the world better protect their land, improve productivity and fight global climate change.
"This is funding our carbon-to-markets model," explained David Skole, MAES researcher, who studies global change science. "We're looking at the carbon stocks on the land. In trees and vegetation, 50 percent by weight is carbon in some form. That’s why you can turn trees into fuel."
Carbon dioxide is an increasingly prevalent greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere. Trees and other vegetation trap, or sequester, that carbon, and in a world market where carbon emissions or captures are tallied and assigned value, growers in poor nations could profit from their land use choices.
Skole and his colleagues conceived the project two years ago and have worked with the funder, the Global Environment Facility, since then to bring it to fruition. They anticipate about $1.2 million as their share of funding for the brief pilot phase, and they expect another, follow-on phase to widen the scope to perhaps 10 countries.
Their role now will be to help develop methods to establish carbon baselines and outcomes from land use activities in three developing countries in Africa and Asia. The MSU group is specifically charged with developing remote satellite imaging systems to measure terrestrial carbon-sequestering activities in a variety of landscapes. Such methods then could be adopted by development programs worldwide to help assess their environmental impacts, Skole said.
Researchers aim to monitor forestry and crop activities in remote villages and calculate the value of carbon sequestration that local growers provide. Ultimately, Skole said, that could allow even the remotest populations to participate in worldwide carbon markets such as the Chicago Climate Exchange, in which MSU participates.
The Carbon Benefits Project is funded by the Global Environment Facility, which joins 178 nations with international agencies, institutions and the private sector to fund sustainable development initiatives in developing and transitioning countries. The GEF has put $8.3 billion of direct funding into such projects since 1991 and now aims to promote environmental sustainability as well as economic development, Skole said.
"What they need is a tool to assess their carbon and climate impacts, both positive and negative," he explained.
MSU's technical work partner in the project is the World Agroforestry Center in Nairobi, Kenya, which will do site analysis on the ground. The Center for International Forestry Research, headquartered in Bogor Barat, Indonesia, is another project participant. The project is administered for the independent GEF and the United Nations Environment Programme by the World Wildlife Fund.
MAES Scientist's Creation Replaces Added Salt in New Heinz Ketchup
A salt substitute patented by Michigan State University is being used in an improved version of Heinz no-salt-added ketchup that's hitting store shelves just in time for the first barbecues of spring.
Created by Kris Berglund, university distinguished professor and MAES forestry and chemical engineering and materials science researcher, and Hasan Alizadeh, former MSU research associate, the product -- sold commercially as AlsoSalt -- was patented in 1999 and is produced by Diversified Natural Products (DNP) in Scottville, Mich.
"There's no sodium in AlsoSalt," Berglund explained. "It's made from lysine, which is fermented from corn starch. It's an example of the other bioproducts that can be made from some of the same processes that produce ethanol."
The Corn Marketing Program of Michigan, funded by Michigan corn growers, was an early supporter of the research to develop AlsoSalt.
"We're excited to see a large company such as Heinz get behind the product and use it in ketchup," said Jody Pollok-Newsom, executive director.
Joan Watsabaugh, whose company markets and distributes AlsoSalt, was responsible for working with the research and development team at Heinz. She characterized the flavor of the new ketchup as excellent.
"We are proud to be co-branding with Heinz to make ketchup that has only 5 milligrams of sodium per serving. Using AlsoSalt, Heinz removed the added salt while retaining the delicious flavor people expect from Heinz ketchup," she said.
"We did a lot of ketchup tasting, and you can't tell the difference between the no-salt-added ketchup and the original version," said Debbie Dell, DNP assistant plant manager, who has worked on AlsoSalt since its inception. To meet the new demand, Dell said DNP had increased its production of AlsoSalt.
Berglund noted that the 10-year period between patent date and new product isn't unusual.
"It takes time to successfully commercialize a product," he said.
AlsoSalt is just one of a number of bioproducts that have resulted from Berglund's research. His work has spawned enterprises in Michigan, Sweden and France. Working Bugs, LLC, an East Lansing-based company, and its Swedish counterpart, Working Bugs AB, co-founded by Berglund, identify microbes that could be used in fermentation processes to make products from renewable resources, as well as intermediate chemicals that are used to make other biobased products.
"AlsoSalt production is another example of biorefining that can produce a full complement of biobased chemicals, fuels and other products," Berglund said. "This approach creates a diversified operation that isn't subject to the ups and downs of a single market or product."
"Green Chemistry" Could Ease Manufacture, Boost Usefulness of Cancer Drug
Research by MAES chemist Kevin
Walker is paving the way for potentially cleaner, more efficient production of cancer-fighting paclitaxel -- better known as the blockbuster drug Taxol.
First isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew in 1967, paclitaxel has since been made by synthetically modifying an intermediate substance isolated from yew needles using toxic solvents or by fermenting cell cultures.
Walker’s method employs natural enzymes instead.
"Pharmaceutical companies could reduce the steps involved in making Taxol," he said, "while cutting chemical byproducts."
Walker studies enzymes that assemble the Taxol molecule in Taxus plants.
"This process is like painting from a palette," Walker said. "We can add select colors to the palette from which the enzyme chooses, so the molecule can be crafted in a variety of ways. The enzyme does all the work.
"A plant enzyme can do in one step what traditional synthetic construction does in multiple steps," Walker continued. "Under our process, the construction of Taxol uses a biological assembly line where each enzyme does its job to create the final product. Particular enzymes on the assembly line can attach slightly different components on the molecular frame to create new-generation Taxol molecules. This can lead to more effective drug variants and eventually better healthcare treatment."
Taxol "is definitely a frontline drug and is used to treat many cancers," including those of the breast, lung, head and neck, said Barbara Conley, chief of the MSU Department of Medicine’s hematology and oncology division.
The world bulk paclitaxel market generated revenues of $195 million in 1997. Potential new uses for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and tuberculosis are expected to help boost the world market by 10 percent by 2012, according to Global Industry Analysts Inc.
"The science and technology of plants and natural systems are becoming increasingly relevant in human medicine as scientists look for greater efficiencies and 'greener' ways of manufacturing drugs and other healthcare products," said MAES director Steve Pueppke. "Engaging in research that leads to improvements in human and animal health is a large and important part of the MAES mission."
Assisting Walker in the research were graduate students Danielle Nevarez, Yemane Mengistu and Irosha Nawarathne. The findings were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society in April.
Project GREEEN Announces $2 Million in New Plant Agriculture Research Grants
MSU researchers have been awarded more than $2 million for research and outreach projects to continue growing Michigan’s $71.3 billion agri-food and agri-energy industries.
Eighty-eight plant agriculture research projects will receive $2.08 million in grant funding from Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs), Michigan’s plant agriculture initiative at MSU, for fiscal year 2009.
Doug Buhler, MAES associate director and Project GREEEN coordinator, said this year’s cycle was the most competitive in GREEEN's 12 years of funding projects and programs to meet plant agriculture industry challenges.
"Our review panels worked harder than ever to make sure every dollar of Project GREEEN money is well-spent," Buhler said. "So though our funding acceptance rate was at a historic low of 40 percent, I am confident that we have a historically high-quality pool of projects."
Project GREEEN is a cooperative effort between plant-based commodities and businesses together with the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, MSU Extension and the Michigan Department of Agriculture to advance Michigan's economy through its plant-based agriculture.
"These grants provide Michigan's budding agribusiness entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals opportunities to build upon the growth trend in the state's second largest economic driver," said Don Koivisto, Michigan Department of Agriculture director. "It's this type of teamwork between business, government and universities that will be critical to diversifying Michigan's economy while addressing the needs and challenges of the modern agriculture industry."
A total of 101 new project proposals requesting more than $3 million were received for consideration in this year's selection process. Fifty-two continuation proposals seeking $1.2 million were received for projects begun in 2007 or 2008.
New projects were funded across the spectrum of Michigan’s plant agriculture industries, on topics ranging from a comprehensive fruitworm management program for Michigan blueberries and optimal storage of Honeycrisp apples to developing sustainable water management guidelines for Fraser fir Christmas trees to demonstrating how to improve Michigan wine quality and developing business plans for hoop houses.
"GREEEN is uniquely positioned to stay at the forefront of plant agricultural research and Extension by surveying the industry about its challenges and identifying projects that will address them," Buhler said. "The research and outreach projects selected for Project GREEEN funding address industry-identified priorities and have met the rigors of scientific peer review."
A complete listing of 2009 newly funded and continuing Project GREEEN research and Extension projects is available online.
MAES Expert Joins International Policy Group on Climate Change and Trade
MAES scientist Bruce
Dale is internationally known for his biofuel research. Now the world is looking to him for advice on how biofuels will affect agricultural production, climate change and trade policies.
The Geneva-based International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) has invited Dale to be a member of the group's steering committee as it creates a series of white papers on climate change, agriculture and trade. Accredited by the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, the ICTSD consults for and participates in many conferences and other activities sponsored by those organizations.
"I'm the only technical person on the steering committee," said Dale, MAES chemical engineering and materials science researcher, who also serves as associate director of the MSU Office of Biobased Technologies. "It's a very diverse, very international group. The ICTSD invited me to be a member because of my expertise in second-generation biofuels, biofuel life cycle analysis and the carbon consequences of new agricultural practices to produce biofuel raw materials."
Other steering committee members include Adrian Macey, ambassador of climate change negotiations for New Zealand, and Raul Montemayor, vice president of the Federation of Free Farmers Cooperatives/International Federation of Agricultural Producers, from the Philippines.
Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz, chief executive of the ICTSD, said the steering committee will examine and recommend agriculture and trade policy options intended to promote climate change mitigation and adaption while strengthening food security and contributing to economic development. In 2009, the group will focus on the implications of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations on agriculture and trade.
"I'm looking forward to participating," Dale said. "It gives me a chance to share MSU research with the world and show how MSU's biofuel research has global implications."
Horticulture Department Chair Named
William
Vance Baird, alumni distinguished professor of molecular genetics and interim chair of the Department of Horticulture at Clemson University, has been named chairperson of the MSU Department of Horticulture. His appointment was approved by the MSU Board of Trustees at its Feb. 13 meeting and becomes effective July 1.
Baird succeeds Randy Beaudry, who has served as acting chairperson of the department since July 2007, and Ron Perry, who chaired the department from 2002 to 2007.
"Vance Baird has a strong background in outreach, teaching and research that affect the profitability and sustainability of a wide range of horticultural enterprises," said Jeffrey D. Armstrong, dean of the MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. "Through his leadership, the department will continue to build upon its nation-leading reputation of excellence and innovation that serves the needs of its constituents."
Baird has been a member of the Clemson faculty since 1989. He has taught a broad range of courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels and has engaged stakeholders in numerous research and demonstration projects, most notably on environmental stress of horticultural crops as diverse as peaches and turfgrass. His research on genetic analysis of agricultural crops focuses on nuclear genome organization and the molecular basis for tolerating drought, salinity and low temperatures. He has been an invited speaker at numerous symposia in the United States and abroad, and he has authored or co-authored seven book chapters and more than 50 peer-reviewed publications.
Baird has received numerous honors for his research and teaching during his more than 20-year career at Clemson, including being named an alumni distinguished professor in 2006 and receiving the Award for Faculty Excellence from the Clemson University Board of Trustees in 2004, 2007 and 2008. He has also received the Margaret Menzel award from the Botanical Society of America, the Ulysses P. Hedrick award from the American Pomological Society and the Outstanding Graduate Educator award from the American Society for Horticultural Science.
"The MSU Department of Horticulture has a rich history of significant accomplishments that have been of great benefit to the horticulture industry of Michigan and the nation," Baird said. "I am very excited by the opportunity to work with the outstanding faculty, staff and students as we continue to grow the department and its contributions to the research, instructional and outreach missions of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources."
Baird received his doctorate in biology from the University of Virginia in 1983 and conducted postdoctoral research in genetics at the University of Georgia in 1988. He received a master's degree in botany from Miami University in 1978 and a bachelor’s degree in botany and plant pathology from Oregon State University in 1976.
New Faculty Member
The MAES is pleased to welcome a new faculty member with an MAES appointment.
Jason Rowntree was named assistant professor of animal science in May. His research focuses on using forage-based systems for sustainable beef production. He also studies how selenium deficiency affects a weaned calf's ability to cope with bovine respiratory disease.
Before coming to MSU, Rowntree had been an assistant professor of animal science at Louisiana State University since 2004.He also served as the LSU AgCenter beef Extension coordinator and chairperson of the Louisiana Beef Advisory Council.
A member of many professional associations, including the American Association of Animal Science, Rowntree also has served as a referee and official at a number of national intercollegiate and 4-H livestock judging contests.
Rowntree received his doctoral degree in animal nutrition from MSU in 2003, his master's degree in animal nutrition from Mississippi State University in 1998 and his bachelor's degree in animal science from Texas A&M University in 1994.
