Collaborative research possibilities with scientists at Cook College -

Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA – a university with natural products,

agricultural, and environmental programs

by Dr. Lena Struwe

Rutgers University

• Premier public research university in NJ; Excellence in research, teaching, and public service

• 12 undergraduate schools, 11 graduate schools

• Over 50,000 students• About 2,500 fulltime faculty• 2002: $242 million in research

grants

Location• Rutgers University, State

University of New Jersey• on the East Coast of USA in

New Brunswick, NJ, close to New York City.

• Campuses in 3 cities

USANJ

Seasons

Seasons on Cook College campus

Cook College• part of Rutgers University • Research in Agricultural,

Environmental, and Natural Product Sciences.

• Includes NJ Agricultural Experiment Station –outreach in local communities

• 3,200 undergraduates, 450 graduate students

• 300 faculty

Research at Cook College

Research centers:e.g., Biotechnology, Advanced Food Technology, Remote Sensing, Marine and Coastal Sciences.

Selman Waksman (right) discovered streptomycin at Rutgers and got the Nobel Prize in 1952. This was the first effective antibiotic against tuberculosis.

Departmentsof Cook College

• Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics• Animal Sciences• Biochemistry and Microbiology• Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources• Entomology• Environmental Sciences• Food Science• Human Ecology • Landscape Architecture• Marine and Coastal Sciences• Nutritional Sciences• Plant Biology and Pathology

Facilities

• Research Farms (animals, agriculture) and Research Stations

• DNA sequencing facility• Library• Greenhouses• Scanning Electron

Microscopy• Computing

Tachia - an anti-malarial plant from Amazonas

• herbal against malaria• Member of Gentianaceae• Many gentians have anti-inflammatory,

anti-fungal, and anti-fever properties; used worldwide.

• Other gentians used in South America: Chelonanthus (Irlbachia) alata and Potalia.

• Which Tachia species is it and which is the active compound?

Tachiaproject

• Objectives: Pharmaceutical potential of Tachia, taxonomy, cultivation, distribution, and evolution. Tri-lingual manual, information on the internet, scientific papers.

• Results: the Tachia plant around Manaus is a different species than reported earlier.

• Currently supported by funding from Brazil and US: CNPq, BioAmazonia/BASA/FEPAD, National Science Foundation, and Rutgers Research Council

Dr. Adrian Pohlit, INPA: pharmacological properties Dr. Lena Struwe, Rutgers:taxonomic expertise.5 years collaboration

Collaborations with INPA?• Researchers at Cook College are

interested in collaborations with INPA.• Rutgers already has an agreement

with University of São Paulo (USP) –research, student exchange and biotechnology

• INPA already has an agreement with USP

INPA

USP

Rutgers

Possibilities

A formal agreement could facilitate:• Mutual research interests - many research areas,

interdisciplinary and international collaboration• International graduate student exchange• Competitive collaborative grant proposals• Exchange of technology and research results• Training in new techniques• Bilateral access to expensive equipment, biological

materials, and information resources

Interested Cook College faculty• Thomas Gianfagna - plant pathology• Colleen Hatfield – ecology, remote sensing• Daniel Hoffman – nutrition, human health• Karl Kjer - entomology, systematics• Tom Montville - food safety, microbiology• Ilya Raskin - plant biotechnology, pharmacology• Peter Smouse - plant genetics, plant evolution• Lena Struwe - plant evolution, conservation• Ted Stiles - evolutionary biology• Mike Suhkdeo - parasitology, ecology• Jim White - mycology, plant pathology• Gladis Zinati – horticulture, nursery management• Gerben Zyljstra - microbiology, biotechnology (as of July 2003)

Dr. Thomas GianfagnaPlant Biology Department

Witches Broom disease in Cacao

• plant defense responses to pathogens and insects

• Collaborative work in Brazil and Puerto Rico

Induction of Caffeine Synthesis –A Possible Defense Response to Pathogen Infection in Cocoa

Dr. Tom GianfagnaResearch Project

• Young flush leaves produce caffeine in response to infection

• Salicylic acid is the caffeine inducing hormone

• Leaves 3-4 cm appear to be maximally responsive to induction

• Induction of caffeine synthesis is systemic within the flush leaves

• Resistant types derived from SCA 06 produce caffeine in response to WB infection, sensitive types do not

Dr. Colleen HatfieldDept. of Ecology, Evolution

& Natural Resources

Faculty in Center for Remote Sensing & Spatial Analysis

• Riparian and Wetland Ecology• Invasion Ecology

– Life history pf plants– Spatial distribution

Model system – river networks

How do landscape geography influence the distribution of species?

Spatial analysis of resource distribution and ecological implications

Dr. Colleen Hatfield Research Project

River network

Stream in New Jersey

Dr. Daniel HoffmanDept. of Nutritional Science

• Human health, diabetes, obesity, body composition

• Nutrition in children• Food sources, influence of

supermarkets• Organized a clinical nutrition

research center in São Paulo, Brazil, to study the metabolism and food intake of children living in the favelas.

Nutrition among children and how it affects health later in life

Dr. Daniel Hoffman Research Project

• Does undernutrition during childhood increase the risk for obesity and diabetes?

• Do children who are undernourished early in life distribute fat in unhealthy patterns compared to healthy children?

• Is the influx of supermarkets in transitional economies improving diet or promoting excess caloric intake?

© USDA

Dr. Karl KjerDept. of Ecology, Evolution

and Natural Resources

• Entomology (insects)• Molecular evolution, RNA

structure, phylogeny• Systematics of Odonata

and Trichopteraworldwide (dragonflies and caddisflies)

Systematics and evolution of Odonata and Trichoptera

Dr. Karl KjerResearch Project

• Dragonfly and caddisflyevolution and biodiversity -evolution of morphological and moelcular characters

• Molecular systematics - using DNA data for phylogeny

• Secondary structure of DNA sequences (ribosomal)

Dr. Thomas MontvilleDept. of Food Science

Microbiological Food Safety:• Listeria monocytogenes and

Clostridium botulinum• Natural protein anti-microbials

(bacteriocins)• Bioenergetics, membrane fluidity &

permeability• Works with colleagues at USP,

mentor of many Brazilian students

Source: USDA

• How do bacteriocins (natural anti-bacterials) work? How do they kill the toxic bacteria in food?

• How do bacteria become resistant to bacteriocins and other antimicrobials?

• How does membrane fluidity influence inhibitor efficacy?Structure of a bacteriocin,

Pediocin PA 1

Mechanisms of anti-microbial action & resistance

Dr. Thomas Montville Research Project

Dr. Ilya RaskinDept. of Plant Biology

• Faculty in Center for Biotechnology• nutraceuticals (food that contain

compounds with health benefits)• Discovery and manufacturing of

new drugs and other compounds from plants

• Phytoremediation (clean up toxic waste through the use of plants)

• Discovering novel pharma-ceuticals from plants for diabetes, obesity, cancer, arthritis

• Botanical nutraceuticals and functional foods

• Production of recombinant proteins in plants (i.e. therapeutic human antibodies)

• Mechanisms of gene amplification in plants

Dr. Ilya Raskin Research projects

Dr. Peter SmouseDept. Ecology, Evolution,

& Natural Resources

• Evolution, Plant Biology, Forestry

• Pollen Flow in Natural Forests

• Spatial Genetic Pattern Analysis

• Parentage Analysis in Forest Trees

• Phylogeographic Analysis

• International work in Costa Rica, France.

Guanacaste tree fruit, Enterolobium (legume)

Sample mothers across the landscape

Dr. Peter SmouseResearch Project

• How far does pollen from trees move ?

• How many fathers contribute pollen to a mother ?

• How genetically connected are forest populations ?

• How does forest disruption change the answers ?

Dr. Edmund StilesDept. of Ecology, Evolution,

and Natural Resources

• Plant-animal interactions• Fruit-eating birds• Evolutionary biology• Conservation of habitats

and species• International work in

South America• NGO organizations

The Evolution of Neotropical Fruit-

Frugivore Interactions

Dr. Edmund Stiles Research Project

How do biochemistry and morphology of fleshy fruits influence the evolution of animals feeding habits?

How do the availability and preferences of animals influence the evolution of fruit morphology and chemistry?

What are the phylogenetic constraints on the relationships among fleshy-fruited plants and the animals that disperse their seeds?

Dr. Lena StruweDept. of Ecology, Evolution,

& Natural Resources• Plant evolution, phylogeny,

molecular systematics, taxonomy

• Evolution of Gentianaceae• South American biogeography

and conservationof biodiversity

• Ethnobotany

Dr. Lena Struwe Research Project

Biogeography of gentians in South America

98

ancestor

PotaliaPao de cobraDistribution of 8 species

• How have the diversity of gentians evolved in South America?

• Do white-sand areas inthe Amazonas harbor the oldest species?

• How have biogeography patterns been shaped in South America?

Dr. Mike SukhdeoEcology, Evolution & Natural

Resources• Evolution, parasitology• Ecology of parasites in

mammals• How do parasites select

their host? • How have they changed

hosts?• How do paraisites select

their habitat?

Trematode life cycle

S. edentatusS. vulgarisS. equinusT. brevicaudaT. serratusC. elongatusO. dentatum

O. volvulus

A. ceylanicumA. caninum

H. contortusO. circumcincta

T. axeiT. colubriformis

H. polygyrus

N. brasiliensis

C. mephitidisA. cantonensisD. viviparusS. stercoralisD. immitis

O. quadrispinulatum

*

• How do parasites infect and spread within the body and between hosts?

• How have parasite behavior evolved?

Skin

Oral-migrationOral-non-migration

Free-living

Dr. Mike SukhdeoResearch Project

Dr. Jim WhiteDept. of Plant Biology

and Pathology

• mycology, systematics, parasitic fungi

• Fungi as pests on plants, plant pathology

• Are these fungi new sources of pharmaceuticals?

• What are the ecological impacts on hosts from fungal infections?

Evolution of Clavicipitaceae– parasites on plants, insects and other fungi

Dr. Jim White Research Project

• How have endophytes, epibionts, and pathogens evolved?

• What came first? Insect or plant pathogens?

• What are the perfect and imperfect forms?

• DNA sequences to link sexual and asexual states

Dr. Gladis ZinatiDept. of Plant Biology and

Pathology

• Nursery management• Water management• Sustainable practices in

agriculture • Pest management• Recycling of water in

nurseries and greenhouses

Monitoring Phytophthorain capture and recycle

water systems

Dr. Gladis ZinatiResearch Project

• The plant pathogen Phytophtorais monitored in recycle water systems by using fruit baits. This fungus is waterborne and creates a lot of damage in green houses. Chlorination of water for decontamination when needed.

Dr. Gerben ZyljstraDept. of Microbiologyphoto

• Molecular biology, microbiology , biochemistry

• Isolation of novel genes from environmental samples – what genes are there and which are active?

• Finding oxygenases in novel strains –rapid cloning, predict function (genomics)

Photoorganism (Bacteria)

Dr. Gerben ZyljstraResearch Project

Molecular Approaches to Exploiting Microbial Oxygenases

DNA and RNA

TheEnvironment

Direct Extraction

IsolationCultivation

Gene CloningEnzyme IsolationGenes and

Enzymes

Gene ProbesPCR PrimersClone Libraries

Pure CulturesTraditional

Modern

More information

• Rutgers website: http://www.rutgers.edu• Cook College website: http://www.cook.rutgers.edu

• Dr. Lena Struwe, e-mail: struwe@aesop.rutgers.edu

• Dr. Adrian Martin Pohlit, INPA, ampohlit@inpa.gov.br