Abstracts

CBS Researcher Discovers HIV Search and Destroy Protein

A human protein that mutates the AIDS virus (HIV) and holds potential for keeping the disease at bay has been discovered and its function described by a team led by Reuben Harris, assistant professor of biochemistry, molecular biology, and biophysics.

Reuben Harris

The new protein, called APOBEC3F, and one described previously called APOBEC3G can directly mutate HIV. Such proteins, called retroviral restrictors, may contribute to HIV resistance in some people. Harris and colleagues at the university reported the discovery in the June 24 issue of the journal Current Biology.

HIV mounts its own defense against proteins in the APOBEC family. But APOBEC3F seems especially adept at getting around this defense. "APOBECs are a "search and destroy" defense," Harris explains. "It"s different from the defense found in some HIV-resistant people, in which the outer surfaces of their cells no longer offer footholds for the virus to attach and begin the process of infection."

Leaders Named to Steer Renewable Energy Initiative

The University of Minnesota"s Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (IREE), funded with $20 million from the state and Xcel Energy, has named 24 leaders from the business, nonprofit, government, and higher education sectors to serve as its advisery council.

The advisery council will determine strategy and priorities for developing renewable fuel sources-such as biomass, hydrogen, wind, and solar energy-based on Minnesota"s resources and needs.

"They are a very diverse group of individuals who bring different perspectives on renewable energy to the table," said Robert Elde, IREE chair and dean of the College of Biological Sciences. "They share a commitment to helping us bring renewable energy to Minnesota and to sustaining IREE for the long haul." Members of the advisery council range from 3M and Cargill executives to heads of large state growers" associations to leaders of smaller rural and environmental organizations.

IREE was created to address the urgent need to reduce dependence on nonrenewable, fossil fuel-based energy sources, and to sustain global ecosystems. For details about the advisery council, research projects, and other information about IREE, go to www1.umn.edu/iree/.

Tilman Presents New Theory of Species Diversity

David Tilman, Regents Professor and McKnight Presidential Chair in Ecology, presented a new theory of species diversity and abundance within ecosystems in the July 27 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The theory was inspired, in part, by data he gathered over the past two decades at the Cedar Creek Natural History Area.

Through his new stochastic niche theory, Tilman offers an explanation for the patterns seen during the assembly of species into ecosystems, including what controls the number of species and their abundances, and why some ecosystems are more readily invaded by exotic species than others.

The article suggests that stochastic niche theory offers a resolution to the controversy between whether it is "neutral" or "niche" processes that determine the diversity and composition of ecosystems. A biography of Tilman was published in the same issue. The two articles recognize his inauguration into the National Academy of Sciences.

U Explores Partnership with Norway

"The Environmental Impact of Agriculture and Energy Use" was the focus of a research and technology seminar connecting the University of Minnesota and the Agricultural University of Norway. It took place in Staur, Norway, in August. The conference was the first in a joint effort to find the ways in which the U.S. and Norway can capitalize on the each other"s strengths, specifically in the areas of genomics and biomass/bioenergy.

Bob Elde and Kate VandenBosch represented the College of Biological Sciences. Faculty from the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, the Institute of Technology, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the College of Natural Resources, and the Medical School also attended.

Meet the new faculty

Mark Borello

Mark Borrello, (Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior) is a historian of biology with a particular interest in evolutionary theory, genetics, behavior, and the environment. His work explores the varied interpretations and applications of evolutionary theory from the late 19th century to the present.

Helen Muller-Landau

Helene Muller- Landau (Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior) has research interests that include plant community ecology, especially of tropical forests; ecological and evolutionary theory; and anthropogenic influences on plant community structure and dynamics.

Daniel Bond

Daniel Bond, (Microbiology and Biotechnology Institute) focuses his research on renewable energy. He helped create a battery that uses common bacteria to turn organic matter from the ocean floor into electricity.

RESEARCH GRANTS & AWARDS

Steve Gantt (Plant Biology) and colleagues Kate VandenBosch (Plant Biology), Carroll Vance (Agronomy and Plant Genetics), Ernie Retzel (Microbiology), Debby Samac (Plant Pathology) at the University of Minnesota and Maria Harrison at the Boyce Thompson Institute in New York have received $2.1 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Plant Genome program for a four-year study entitled "Use of Interfering RNAs to Identify Gene Function in Medicago truncatula." They will silence the expression of about 1,500 individual genes in transgenic roots and examine the roots for altered development and symbiotic associations.

Fumi Katagiri (Plant Biology) received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Natural Resources Institute for a project entitled "Efficient Discovery of Plant Regulatory Genes by Exploitation of Natural Variation." The project, which was funded for three years for a total award of $400,000, has longterm implications for crop improvement, Katagiri says, "Naturally occurring genetic variation is a great genetic resource for crop improvement."

Jeff Simon (Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development) received $1.2 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for a four-year continuation of an ongoing project entitled "Transcriptional Repression by Polycomb Group Products." The project aims to study chromatin mechanisms that control gene expression and development in Drosophila. One rationale for the research is to better understand basic molecular mechanisms that contribute to prostate and breast cancers.

Steve Ekker (Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development) received renewed funding from NIH for his research, "Systematic Vertebrate Functional Genomics." This grant supports a collaborative effort at several universities with Ekker as the principal investigator.

Carolyn Silflow (Plant Biology) has obtained a four-year, $730,000 award from NSF for a project entitled "Segregation and Positioning of Basal Bodies." This is a "gene discovery" project to identify and elucidate the function of genes involved in positioning of basal bodies in Chlamydomonas.

Kate VandenBosch (Plant Biology) received a three-year $360,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The project is entitled "Nodulation Genes of Medicago truncatula Governing Early Responses to Rhizobia." This project complements genomic analysis projects in Medicago by focusing on particular genetic loci.

Akhouri A. Sinha (Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development) received $471,421 from the U.S. Department of Defense for "Prediction of Aggressive Human Prostate Cancer by Cathespin B."

Nathan Springer (Plant Biology) received $327,757 from NSF for "Assessment of the Use of Oligonucleotide Microarrays for Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Mutation Detection in Maize."