Welcome to the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Blog "Roots & Shoots"!
The goal of this blog is to keep the public up to date with Danforth Center research and activities. The posts will include a mix of announcements, press releases, news articles, and stories from various Danforth Center researchers and staff.
We hope that you will enjoy reading this blog and find its information timely and useful. If you ever have any suggestions for articles or plant related questions you would like to see answered on this blog, please dont hesitate to drop us an email at info@danforthcenter.org.
Sincerely
Dr. William H. Danforth
Chairman
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Triphyophyllum peltatum is a high forest liana that grows in coastal rain forests of tropical West Africa. These root cultures are grown to develop an experimental system that will produce the pharmaceutically promising naphthylisoquinoline alkaloids.
How do researchers develop new varieties of plants that are virus resistant, drought tolerant or express a myriad of other beneficial quality enhancing traits? The process is long, but one of the major steps involved is transforming the plant cell’s DNA and culturing the cells to make new plants that have the enhanced genome.
This highly technical work takes place at the Danforth Center’s Plant Tissue Culture and Transformation Facility. In this facility, researchers and technicians insert modified DNA, or “constructs”, into a plant cell and then culture the cell(s) to form tissues or ultimately plants and test whether they express the desired traits.
“After inserting the desired DNA construct into a cell, we have to raise that single cell and try to get it to differentiate into organized tissues, organs, and then finally a whole fertile plant,” Kevin Lutke, Manager of the Plant Tissue Culture and Transformation Facility, explained. “That’s basically the cell and tissue culturing process.”
Another aspect of the tissue culture field, is the maintenance of particular cell, tissue, organ, or plant lines through time. This process decreases the need to maintain large whole plants or plants that are difficult to grow or obtain, and also preserves the genetic quality of the material due to clonal propogation.
One of the most interesting cultures being maintained in the Danforth Center’s Tissue Facility comes from Dr. Toni Kutchan’s lab. This culture involves growing root tips of a specific plant being investigated for its biopharmaceutical properties. However, when it is cultured, the way in which it grows almost makes it look like a spider, particularly a tarantula.
“When researchers want to understand the gene function, chances are they are going to have to do genetic engineering and we [here in the Tissue Culture Facility] are the ones that work to actually put those genes into the plant cells,” Lutke said. “So on a greater scale, without tissue culture and transformation, they wouldn’t be able to do so.”
Following initial research at the bench, the work conducted in the tissue culture facility is critically important. Without the ability to grow the new varieties of the plants containing the enhanced traits that the scientists have developed, the research would not progress. In addition to their highly trained technical staff, the Danforth Center’s Tissue Culture facility offers training for scientists who wish to use tissue culture and transformation systems for their research projects.
At the invitation of Congressman Russ Carnahan, Dr. William H. Danforth presented testimony about the potential for biotechnology to address global food security before a joint hearing of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight and Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health on Tuesday, July 20.
Other members of the panel included, Mr. Gerald A. Steiner, Executive Vice-President of Sustainability and Corporate Affairs, Monsanto Corporation; Ms. Evelyn Nassuna, Uganda Country Director for Lutheran World Relief; Hans Herren, Ph.D., President of the Millennium Institute; and Ms. Jennifer Smith Nazaire Country Representative for Catholic Relief Services – Rwanda.
In his five minute oral testimony, Dr Danforth gave a brief overview of the Danforth Center’s mission and vision as well as highlights of our work to enhance the nutritional value and virus resistance of cassava, a major source of calories for 700 million people worldwide, and food security crop critical to the developing world.
Click here to read Dr. Danforth’s testimony submitted for the record to the committee. Click here for video/audio transcript of the hearing.
While many view summer as a time to get away from work, the Danforth Center’s faculty and staff are busy educating the next generation of scientists and science educators. From high schoolers to graduate students and even some class room teachers, the Danforth Center is providing training programs specifically tailored to each group’s educational goals.
This summer, the Danforth Center is hosting five high school students participating in the Students and Teachers as Research Scientists (STARS) Program, sponsored by the University of Missouri – St. Louis. The program offers exemplary students the chance to work in a real laboratory research setting.
Over the course of the summer, STARS students will undertake a research project with guidance from their mentor. At the end of their program, students will write a 20 page paper about their research and give a 10 minute presentation.
The Danforth Center also is hosting 15 graduate students for an 11-week internship program. This program gives the college students the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge laboratory research with the goal of giving the students a positive insight into the research environment, as well as to teaching valuable research skills.
These interns are matched with a Principal Investigator and work with a senior researcher at the Danforth Center. Interns and mentors collaborate to design a project to be completed during the 11-week program. At the end of the term, each intern submits a written report in scientific journal format and gives an oral presentation during the Intern Symposium in the Center’s AT&T auditorium before an audience of scientific peers. This allows students the opportunity to experience all stages of modern scientific research, from planning to implementation to reporting.
Also during the summer months, teachers and science coordinators will be on-site at the Danforth Plant Science Center to tour the facility, speak with scientists, and garner new ideas for science curriculum enrichment. Additionally, these educators will receive training for participation in Tech Trunks, a high school equipment loan program designed to enhance biotechnology learning in the classroom.
This summer will also mark the development of a new a traveling trunk that supports student learning in the area of photosynthesis and green energy. This new Tech Truck will be fine-tuned through the joint efforts of a group of teachers and Center scientists in preparation for its first-time release in the Fall of 2010.
To read more about the Danforth Center’s summer educational programs, click here
On June 17, 2010, Hugh Grant spoke at the inaugural “Seeds of Change” event at the Danforth Center. Seeds of Change will be an annual program that will feature an influential thought leader who will discuss some of the assets this region can utilize to develop solutions to pressing challenges on a world scale.
Grant, the Chief Executive Officer of the Monsanto Company, focused on some of the agricultural problems our world faces and how partnerships can lead to concrete solutions.
He pointed out that no one group will have all the solutions to the problems that our nation and the world face with regards to agriculture. However, by working together, we will ultimately be able to overcome them.
Grant believes that the St. Louis region has a great potential to become a world leader in agricultural technology. In order to do this, though, there comes a price. Grant highlighted that in order “to compete at the global level, you have to fund at the global level.”
To watch Hugh Grant’s entire speech, please check out the video below or click here for a High Quality version (Full screen viewing only available in High Quality version):
Tracer-labeled phloem content in the stem of a pumpkin leaf
Researchers from the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, UC Davis, and Imperial College London have addressed a longstanding mystery which has confused scientists for more than a century.
The research team demonstrated that cucurbits – a plant family including melons, gourds, cucumbers, squash, and pumpkin – actually have two functionally distinct phloem systems as opposed to one. In vascular plants, phloem systems distribute nutrients, including trillions of tons of sugars produced in leaves each year, to all parts of the plant such as the seeds, wood, and fruit as needed.
With the primary assumption regarding the phloem system in cucurbits proving wrong, many questions have been raised regarding conclusions made in the past, as the vast majority of research in phloem transport studies use cucurbits as model species utilizing the old (and now proven false) assumptions.
This new discovery shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise since scientists have long been puzzled as to why the contents in phloem of cucurbits are so different from what was predicted. The well-known phloem structural proteins that are supposed to block extensive bleeding from phloem tissue after wounding do not seem to work in cucurbits, whereas these proteins act as a rapid sealing mechanism to block phloem bleeding instantaneously in other plant species, thus preventing sap sampling.
This new discovery showed that the commonly sampled content of cucurbit phloem are actually from the extrafascicular phloem system, which is peripheral to the usual fascicular phloem (sugar transporting phloem located in vascular tissue) that is blocked immediately upon wounding. This means that phloem content in the past has been mistakenly assigned to originate from both systems, and particularly to the fascicular system.
This research was conducted by Danforth Center scientists, Drs. Baichen Zhang and Leslie Hicks.
“This new discovery will catalyze an exciting start to a new era in phloem transport research using cucurbits as model species, particularly in combination with the recently released cucumber genome information,” said Hicks, director of the Proteomics & Mass Spectrometry Facility at the Danforth Plant Science Center.
Dr. Danforth and his daughter Maebelle Reed with Cardinal’s mascot “Fredbird“
Did you know that St. Louis is one of the top regions in the country for BioScience research and was named the “King of Algal Energy” in a 2009 poll by Biofuels Digest?
On Sunday, September 19th, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and the St. Louis Cardinals will be celebrating our area’s continued scientific success with “BioScience Day at the Ballpark.” Come join us for a pre-game expo highlighting this area’s leading plant and life science companies and organizations representing our tremendous scientific strength in the region and our potential to positively change the landscape of St. Louis and the world.
After attending the expo, please help us cheer on the Cardinals as they play the San Diego Padres, a team hailing from one of our top rival cities in the BioScience research field.
The St. Louis Cardinals have set aside 3,000 tickets at discounted prices with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the Danforth Center’s World Food Day commemoration on Oct. 15 & 16.
This week, members of the Danforth Plant Science Center’s Leadership Council will host a new event, titled “Seeds of Change,” featuring Hugh Grant, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Monsanto Company on Thursday, June 17, 7:30 – 9:00 a.m. at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. Since seating is limited, a FREE registration will be required for all those wishing to attend. To attend, please RSVP to http://danforthcenterseedsofchange.eventbrite.com
“Seeds of Change” is presented by the Danforth Leadership Council, a unique group of regional leaders, and will be held annually and feature an influential thought leader.
“Seeds of Change is designed to give engaged people living in the region an opportunity to connect with others who think passionately about our community and we are grateful that Hugh Grant has agreed to be our inaugural speaker,” said Jim Johnson, chair, Danforth Leadership Council. “We hope that this new event will provide a reminder that our region, while not without challenges, has world class assets – science art, music, educational institutions, philanthropic citizens, and more – which can be leveraged to make us all stronger.”
Grant leads Monsanto, a global agricultural company focused on applying innovation and technology to help farmers increase yields while conserving natural resources, such as water, soil and energy. Monsanto, based in St. Louis, was named Forbes Magazine’s “Company of the Year” for 2009. Under Grant’s leadership, Monsanto has increasingly relied on building partnerships to achieve commercial, environmental, and social humanitarian goals. Monsanto and Grant have been recognized by numerous groups for innovation, contributions to green practices and sustainable agriculture, corporate responsibility and employment practices, and business leadership and performance.
The first Green Revolution, beginning in the mid 1940s and continuing until the late 1980s, was credited with saving more than one billion lives. Fears of agriculture being unable to keep up with the world’s growing population led many to predict mass starvation by the end of the 20th Century. Thankfully, advances in farming practices and the development of high-yield, disease-resistant crops were able to avert the catastrophe. But what was the price of this “Revolution,” and what will differentiate the second revolution from the first?
Dr. Norman Borlaug, who many credit as the “father of the Green Revolution,” worked to develop dwarf-varieties of wheat and shared them with countries around the world. His research paved the way for many similar advances in other staple crops such as rice and maize.
During this period, cereal production more than doubled in developing nations, and yields of rice, maize, and wheat increased steadily. In this time, world grain production increased by 250 percent.
According to Center Chairman Dr. William Danforth, Borlaug’s “ability to see how planting high-yield crop hybrids, implementing fertilizers and pesticides, and utilizing improved irrigation would dramatically improve the lives of people was revolutionary… Today, it is the foundation upon which plant science is building future innovation.”
But the increase in yield around the world came at a price. Dr. Roger Beachy, founding president of the Danforth Center and current head of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, spoke of the downside of the Revolution. “It was heavily reliant on resources that are not sustainable. It utilized large amounts of fertilizer, water, and agricultural chemicals to control the diseases and pests that come as a product of large acreages of corn or soybeans or wheat or rice.” Fertilizers are often created with fossil fuels, which have environmental and sustainability problems of their own.
“What we need now,” said Beachy, “is a second wave of crop production to increase yields with less inputs, less fertilizer, less water. With better genetics, better control of fertilizers and better breeding strategies in general, we can create a system of agriculture that will create high yields without as much input.”
The Danforth Center now finds itself at the forefront of the movement to encourage developing countries to play their own parts in this second Revolution. “Part of the strategy of the Danforth Center has been to ask the question: ‘how can we use our knowledge and how can we leverage what we already have, to enhance food production in developing countries?’” said Beachy. “We will do a far greater good for world security if we are a part of this second Green Revolution by helping people acquire knowledge that they can implement themselves, in order that they don’t rely on us as much in 20 years as they do now.”
The Danforth Center recently received a $100,000 Grand Challenges Exploration grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation . The grant will support an innovative global health research project to engineer microalgae that specifically targets and kills only mosquito larvae that transmit malaria. The research is being led by Dr. Richard Sayre, member and principal investigator at the Danforth Center and his team of researchers, including Center graduate student Anil Kumar and Dr. Brenda Beerntsen from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Sayre and his colleagues at the Danforth Center have proposed a novel strategy to kill mosquitoes that transmit malaria at the larval stage, before they mature into adult (blood-sucking) mosquitoes. This will be achieved by inoculating the ponds where mosquito larvae grow with algae that have been engineered to destroy them. “Our strategy selectively eradicates only those mosquito species that transmit malaria and so is anticipated to have limited environmental impact,” said Sayre.
Malaria is a leading cause of death and morbidity worldwide. As many as 600 million people are infected with malaria each year, resulting in more than one million deaths. Approximately 90 percent of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, primarily among children. Unfortunately, the number of malarial cases is increasing due to the development of insecticide-resistant mosquitoes and drug-resistant parasites.
