Headlines
A dynamic ecosystem—aphids, viruses, soybeans and people
The Plant Sciences Institute-supported Virus Insect Interactions (VII) group is developing solutions to reduce the impact of insects and viruses on food security for sustainable production of vegetables, fruits and farmed shrimp.
There are aliens among us. Every summer they descend from far-away lands into Iowa,
swelling to hundreds of thousands. Compared to humans, their body plan is
horrifying—hearts on their backs and a spinal cord that runs down their chest.
Disturbing? Oh my yes! They wear their skeletons on the outside—an alien suit of
armor. With six legs and wings they quickly move across the landscape, forming
colonies that can double in size within 48 hours. These aliens are feeding machines
with one goal in mind; MUST FIND SOYBEAN... Protecting Iowans and their soybeans
from these aliens is the job for a small, elite cadre of scientists based at Iowa
State University. Their goal is to secure our food from these aliens known as
aphids. Meet VII in Black.
Virus Insect Interactions scientists; Bryony Bonning (center), Matt O'Neal
(left) and Allen Miller (right) give a nod to MIB3. Photo Illustration by Bob
Elbert.
POCI is here well before those Angel Investors appear
"Into the valley of death rode the six hundred." So ends the first stanza of British poet Alfred Tennyson’s ever-popular narrative, The Charge of the Light Brigade. While the 'valley of death' term has a long history of application outside Tennyson's poetic prose, it remains alive and well and currently in use at Iowa State University, describing the first obstacle researchers must clear in any attempt to successfully move leading edge innovations from the ivory tower into the marketplace.
A new resource called the Iowa Innovation Proof of Concept Initiative (POCI), developed in and administrated by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, aims to provide the necessary support to help Iowa State faculty navigate safe passage through this first valley. Be it novel software or fresh approaches to plant pest control, the initiative serves to clear the path to entrepreneurship—streamlining the transfer of technology out of the research arena and into the creation of new products and businesses.
Mother and a daughter aphid feeding on a soybean leaf.
Soybean Aphid Suppression of Plant Defenses and Interactions with Other Pests
Presenting the latest from the PSI-sponsored 'Approaching Crops as EcoSystems Research project', Gustavo Macintosh tells a cautionary and intriguing tale as he attempts to explain what initially looks like a simple biological phenomenon (insect eating plant) that quickly reveals a very complicated relationship with far-reaching consequences, especially to agriculture. Guest blogger Matt O'Neal, associate professor of entomology reports the juicy details for PSciBlog.
Superheroes and Science — A teaching connection
Once a year the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS to most of us and yes, they are the publishers of the journal Science) convenes a massive meeting. It is a showcase for the diversity of scientific discovery and geared for sharing information with the media and policy makers more than scientists. Of particular note this year is the debut of a character—one who in the past would have been immediately shown the door because of his ridiculous image. Who you ask?
A single Arabidopsis seed can be placed in a single controlled chamber for studying root and shoot emergence under different conditions using Microfluidic chip technology.
A sky walk between academic silos
A plant lab on a chip. This topic, presented by Liang Dong, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, kicked-off a new talk/discussion series sponsored by the Plant Sciences Institute. The weekly lunch time gathering is designed to unite plant scientists, engineers and physical scientists, kindling fresh cross-disciplinary research collaborations where these fields intersect.
Of paramount interest is the emerging discipline of Phenomics, a blended study of genotype with phenotype. It is this blending that is expected to give plant breeders a major boost for breeding the best traits to contribute to plant-based solutions for sustainable energy, food, chemical, pharmaceutical and other industries.
Potentially valuable phenotypes such as those seen in the production and accumulation of compounds that determine height, grain amount/size/nutrient content, disease and insect resistance, moisture, carbon dioxide, salt and a host of other tolerances are controlled by the plant's genotype. And understanding the many genotypes in many environments and how these environments affect these genotypes (the interaction of genotype with environment) the genetic variation that controls them is the plant breeder's grail.
"Ultimately we want to understand the whole process at the molecular level because some plants do better in certain environments than others; a single environment's interactions on many genotypes, and a single genotype interaction in many environments," says Pat Schnable, Baker Professor of agronomy, who co-organizes this series along with colleagues Thomas Lübberstedt, Kenneth J. Frey Endowed Chair and professor of agronomy and John McClelland, Senior Physicist, Ames Laboratory-USDOE.
But to succeed in this data-rich discipline, biologists need a solution-boost from the engineering and physical sciences.
Thursdays in 3140 Hach Hall, 12-1 pm
Super Scientist Powers...Activate!
PSI Extreme announces
The Plant Sciences Institute Extreme Team Challenge 2012
Are you a high school student? Then grab your favorite science teacher and a
few friends (even if they hate science) and tune in to this site for special
double top-secret instructions and let your creative instinct be your
guide.
"As scientists we are trained to present things as
though they are finished products, rather than as works in
progress. Our published manuscripts are the best examples.
Unfortunately, the truth of the process is not transparent.
Open source software developers do their best, but at some
point decide to put their code onto an OS web-site and let
other software developers improve upon the initial work. The
original developers are lauded for breaking new ground and
for their willingness to let others improve upon it."
William Beavis, Editor-in-chief, PSI Extreme
PSI introduces the first open source model for science
writing...details coming soon.
First row: Erik Vollbrecht, Bryony Bonning, Reuben Peters. Second row: Patrick Schnable and Adam Bogdanove. Congratulations to our champions of plant science prose and pictures.
Gathering Laurels (Word DOCX)
The thrill is undeniable. A new journal issue arrives, its fresh cover image activating all senses—sight, sound, scent, touch and yes, even taste, in the aesthetic realm.
Publishing scientific papers is an academic researcher's bread and butter so publishing work in top peer-reviewed and widely read scientific journals is a laurel leaf for success. Having your article selected as 'the' story of the issue is the laurel wreath crown.
In a spate of recent months an astonishing number of our plant sciences researchers have been bestowed with this honor. Erik Vollbrecht, Bryony Bonning, Reuben Peters, Patrick Schnable and Adam Bogdanove have been awarded covers in Nature, The Plant Cell, Virology, Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), Nature Genetics, Science and Science, respectively. Full story coming soon.
Adam Bossard with sorghum seedlings.
Sweet Jobs
"...the smoke blacked out the sun and it rained ash for three days after," says Iowa State University doctoral student and Plant Sciences Institute Fellow, Adam Bossard. He is describing a pivotal teenage experience that continues to shape his career decisions.
The Radcliffe, Iowa native grew up steeped in the influence of his grandparent's farm. At age 17 Bossard was recruited through a church group to help establish a sustainable farming program on four and a half acres near Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies.
"I thought from my experiences in Iowa growing lush gardens with my grandfather that this wouldn't be a problem, but it was," says Bossard.
