CENTER FOR APPLIED PLANT SCIENCES JULY 2016 – JUNE 2018
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 4: Letter from the Director 5: Our Teams CMAP: Conversion of Greenhouse Gases into High Value Materials TIRE: Overcoming barriers to establishing a viable rubber crop for Ohio farmers SOYRES: Now the Soybean Center MBSA: Microbial Based Solutions for Agriculture COFFEE: Opportunity Team 10: Seed Grants 13: Translational Plant Sciences Graduate Program 18: Facilities 19: Education and Outreach 22: Inside CAPS 24: Financials 32: CAPS Administration and Committees
STAY CONNECTED! Website: caps.osu.edu Phone: 614-292-7653 Facebook: @TheCenterforAppliedPlantSciences Twitter: @CAPS_OSU Interested in joining the CAPS mailing list? Visit: caps.osu.edu/contact Center for Applied Plant Sciences | 012 Rightmire Hall | 1060 Carmack Road | Columbus, Ohio 43210
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CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING IN THE PLANT SCIENCES The Ohio State University Center for Applied Plant Sciences (CAPS) supports interdisciplinary research that spans the continuum between basic discoveries and practical solutions to challenges in four main strategic areas. CAPS taps into the incredible scientific expertise available at The Ohio State University by expanding its network of faculty and staff brought together through CAPS initiatives to increase innovative funding opportunities and collaboration. Membership to CAPS is open to individuals across campus who are interested in plant sciences. As of 2018, it is made up of individuals from 36 departments/centers and an alliance of seven different colleges: College of Arts and Sciences, College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, College of Engineering, College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, College of Veterinary Medicine, and the College of Education and Human Ecology. The departments/centers that are participating is now four times greater than in 2015 (9 up to 36). CAPS has participation from individuals at CAPS Friday Seminars, on scientific teams, seed grant awardees, through outreach activities or on committees.
STRATEGIC AREAS • • • •
Photosynthesis and Carbon Fixation Biomass and Bioproducts Crop Improvement and Functional Foods Plant-Microbe Interactions
In addition to the daily duties of CAPS business administration, the administrative team also serves the CAPS Biotechnology Support Facility and the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center (ABRC), as well as Rightmire Hall and the CAPS core labs. The team embodies the CAPS standards of excellence through engagement and personal relationship-building, integrity in work quality and facility upkeep. The CAPS staff strives to maintain state-of-the-art facilities and be engaged employees of the center’s community by working with the utmost integrity.
OUR STAFF THE CAPS ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Jay Hollick, Director David Mackey, Associate Director Andy Michel, Associate Director Jessica Weitthoff, Center Manager Courtney Price, Education & Outreach Specialist/TPS Program Coordinator David Spisak, Fiscal Associate
Front row: Courtney Price and David Spisak; Back row: David Mackey, Andy Michel, Jay Hollick, and Jessica Weitthoff
BIOTECH FACILITY AND RIGHTMIRE HALL STAFF Scott Hines, Facility Service Manager Gary Posey, Greenhouse Superintendent David Snodgrass, Greenhouse Program Manager UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS Rachel Bernthold, Erin Fenick, Emily Iott, Drita Kaili, Dana Larison, Evan Meder, & Lesley Shanahan
David Snodgrass, Scott Hines, Gary Posey
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Dear Colleagues, The Center for Applied Plant Sciences celebrates its seventh year with new leadership, new partnerships and an expanding participation of diverse affiliates. I am pleased to report herein the center’s great successes in supporting team science and advancement of research here at The Ohio State University. The Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences together with the Office of Research provide research funds to assist in efforts to use agriculture and plant-inspired science to tackle some of the grand challenges facing Ohio and the world. While the center remains committed to the founding vision of fostering and supporting interdisciplinary research, the leadership transition in March 2017 presented an opportunity to broaden both our membership and programmatic activities. I am especially grateful for the service of newly appointed Associate Directors Andy Michel (Department of Entomology) and Dave Mackey (Departments of Molecular Genetics and Horticulture and Crop Science). We were also extremely fortunate to assemble a new management team of Jessica Weitthoff (center manager) and David Spisak (fiscal associate) along with support by several fantastic Ohio State undergraduates majoring in business or communications. The 2016 year was particularly challenging for the center given budgetary uncertainties, and Courtney Price (outreach specialist for CAPS and the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center, ABRC) deserves tremendous thanks for providing the administrative and moral support to shepherd the center through this difficult transition. It’s important to recognize that the center supports a broad spectrum of research from fundamental discoveries to commercialization potentials. We work hard to establish new affiliations with Ohio State faculty who imagined their research was not truly applied. Through our CAPS biennial retreat and a nascent seed grant initiative, we recruited new colleagues from the Colleges of Engineering, of Pharmacy and of Education and Human Ecology. We continue to explore and engage the broad diversity of scientific expertise and resources available at Ohio State to build the effective networks required to catalyze both discoveries and applications of knowledge. In order to continue to uncover hidden potential, we will conduct an ideation workshop in July 2018 to grow ideas as well as grow membership in the center. Education and community outreach remain a top priority of the center. Our nascent Translational Plant Sciences (TPS) Graduate Program is reaching a new level of visibility and recognition with several students now completing their dissertations and several others garnering coveted fellowships from the USDA and United Soybean Council. The past year also saw the conferring of the first three dual degree PhDs. Kudos to Drs. Fatoretto, Izilda and Moretti for pioneering this first-ever partnership with the University of São Paulo that supports USP-OSU doctorates. We inaugurated a yearly science festival (Westfest) through a partnership the Byrd Polar Research Center, the Office of Energy and Environment and the ABRC. Thanks to funding from the American Society of Plant Biologists Plant Bloome grant, TPS fellows regularly co-facilitate interactive videoconference programs alongside professional educators from COSI. These plant science programs reach middle and high school students across the country. All of our new and ongoing activities are designed to enhance public scientific literacy and to highlight Ohio State’s leadership in plant science research and education. Most importantly, the center remained committed to ensuring its members remain among the most competitive for extramural funding opportunities. This means providing resources and opportunities to enhance skill sets in addition to helping support team science. During our 2017 retreat, we also identified bioinformatics training as our community’s most immediate need. This is a critical need for all modern biologists that the center looks forward to addressing this coming year by providing new initiatives and educational resources. Also, we hosted members of the National Alliance for Broader Impacts (NABI) for a broader impacts (BI) workshop and instituted a formal mechanism to help center members develop strong BI components to their funding proposals. The center investments are already paying grand dividends, and we expect even greater successes this year. I deeply appreciate the professionalism of the college leadership teams, the Office of Research, the new center leadership and our outstanding staff during the transition to “CAPS 2.0”. It’s a distinct pleasure to work with such a talented group dedicated to elevating our Ohio State plant sciences. Sincerely,
Jay Hollick, Director 4 | CAPS
CAPS TEAMS
The Center of Applied Plant Sciences supports interdisciplinary scientific teams (ST) that span the continuum between basic research and practical solutions to challenges in four main strategic areas. Teams are self-formed or initiated to address an important problem or critical knowledge gap. CAPS financially supported two teams (CMAP and TIRE) and had three teams move forward from CAPS financial support (SoyRes, MBSA, and Coffee).
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CMAP: Conversion of Greenhouse Gases into High Value Materials Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) are the two most abundant greenhouse gases, trapping thermal radiation close to the earth’s atmosphere and contributing to global warming and climate change. These two gases constituted 94 percent of all the greenhouse gas emissions in 2010. CO2 emissions are expected to increase more than 40 percent by 2035, unless major worldwide policies are soon implemented. While CH4 emissions have remained fairly stable over the past 20 years, they are expected to rise significantly in the next decades, largely as a consequence of the increased use of natural gas and hydraulic fracturing, which results in major releases of CH4 into the atmosphere. From an industrial perspective, CO2 and CH4 provide abundant sources of carbon for the synthesis of a large range of chemicals. While plants and microbes are efficient at converting CO2 into sugars and other compounds, the sophisticated chains of enzymatic reactions that usually accomplish these processes are difficult to replicate in an industrial context. Existing industrial methods to convert CH4 into methanol are also very energy consuming. Enzymes from bacteria and plants, such as ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (RubisCO) and methane monooxygenase (MMO), respectively, convert CO2 or methane into energy-rich compounds like methanol or a glucose precursor. However, the use of free or cell-based enzymes as biocatalysts for large-scale industrial processes pose significant drawbacks. Although advances have been made to genetically engineer and optimize the production of chemical products using in vivo biological systems, they pose significant drawbacks for largescale industrial processes due to their incompatibility with reaction conditions that depart from their physiological states and their diversion of energy from cells. The grand challenge of the Carbon Dioxide and Methane Activation Project Center (CMAP) is to enable the sustainable production of chemical feedstock from alternative sources, such as CO2, by constructing catalytic systems that mimic the cellular environment,
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Front Row: Justin North, Bhavik Bakshi, Jonathan Parquette, Sriram Satagopan; Row two: Kyuha Lee and Vishnu Sundaresan; Row 3: Cat Fry
but are scalable, sufficiently robust to withstand more harsh conditions and be separated from the product and use renewable energy to drive the overall fixation process. CMAP employs the broad expertise at The Ohio State University, including Dr. Jon Parquette (team lead), Dr. F. Robert Tabita, and Dr. Vishnu Sundaresan to exploit nanotechnology to develop biologyinspired, novel and scalable catalytic platforms, powered by renewable energy, that convert CO2 and methane into energy-rich compounds that can be used as biofuels or precursors of high value for the chemical industry. To ensure that catalytic systems developed by CMAP are sustainable, economically viable, and carbon negative, the entire life cycle of the processes will be evaluated by Dr. Bhavik Bakshi with respect to chemical processing, manufacturing, maintenance, distribution and final disposal.
As a measure of a part of the program’s success and the role CMAP and CAPS programmatic support has provided, Dr. F. Robert Tabita and colleagues were recently awarded a major research grant from the Department of Energy entitled “Novel Microbial Routes to Synthesize Industrially Significant Precursor Compounds.” This grant officially began on September 15, 2018 and is for three years support at the level of $1.5 million, with $1.05 million to go to Ohio State (Dr. Tabita is overall PI) and $450,000 to go to a Co-PI at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. This grant evolved from studies performed as part of the CMAP team as well as support from a CAPS seed grant. The new grant fits into the overall theme of the CMAP project as it considers novel ways by which microorganisms can convert CO2 and other waste feedstocks into industrially significant precursor compounds such as ethylene.
TIRE: Overcoming Barriers to Establishing a Viable Rubber Crop for Ohio Farmers
First Row: Ajay Shah, John Cardina, Nikita Amstutz, Katrina Cornish, Jonathan Fresnedo-Ramirez, Mingde Liu; Second Row: Tony Ren, Imed Dami, Zhenyu Li, Xiaofeng Zhuang, Kyle Benzle, David Ramirez-Cadavid
Domestic rubber production is imperative for the natural rubber security of the United States. CAPS is supporting the multidisciplinary advancement of a new rubber crop for Ohio (Buckeye Gold, Taraxacum kok-saghyz). T. kok-saghyz (TK) is a dandelion species from Kazakhstan and related to the common dandelion found in the U.S. While common dandelions are not a good source of rubber, T. kok-saghyz represents an opportunity for natural rubber production. The goal of the TIRE team is to focus on development and utilization of genetic resources and molecular breeding tools for crop domestication and rubber yield improvement. From July 2016 to June 2017, the team re-annotated the TK draft genome (Version 1.0) using TK RNAseq data (RNAseq data were published by Zinan Luo et al. 2017) and predicted 63,912 protein-coding genes. The team also produced the complete chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes (Yingxiao Zhang et al. 2017). These expansive genomic resources facilitated additional research in functional genomics, comparative genomics, quantitative trait locus mapping and marker assisted selection TK breeding.
Progress on completing the genome sequencing has continued, and, in May 2018, the team obtained a total of 45.9 Gb sequencing data, which is more than 30 times the TK genome size (1.4 Gb) with an average sequence length of 6kb. Bioinformatic analysis is ongoing to merge all the sequencing data from different platforms and to generate longer sequencing fragments. From an amino acid analysis, the team determined that all nine rubber transferase genes (HRTs, or Hevea brasiliensis putative Rubber Transferase genes) belong to the cis-IPPS super family. The sequence similarity between HRT genes from different rubber producing plants ranges from 52.04% to 82.78%. Phylogenetic analysis shows that PaRT2 from guayule and TkRT5 from rubber dandelion were classified into a same group with HRT1 and HRT2 according to their genetic distance; TkRT1 (273 aa) and TkRT2 (281 aa) exhibited 100% similarity on their matched area, indicating that they are probably gene duplicates. Further work will focus on the role of these genes for rubber production. The CAPS-supported genetic resources have helped the TIRE team successfully leverage grants in computational support and federal program, including a recently awarded $2 million project to support domestication of this rubber producing species. caps.osu.edu | 7
SOYRES: Now the Soybean Center
SoyRes was formed as a formal research team in 2012 through the Center for Applied Plant Sciences (CAPS). This team focused on understanding and utilizing resistance to biotic stressors of soybean. The Center for Applied Plant Sciences was able to bring all the soybean researchers together under one mission. In the past, there were separate projects occurring simultaneously with little teamwork. With CAPS and SoyRes, this consolidation of knowledge and resources has led to monthly meetings, more collaborative work, sharing of post-docs and other expertise. The team fostered a more interdisciplinary, team-based approach for soybean research and was honored recently with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s (OARDC) Interdisciplinary Team Award. In 2017, the SoyRes Team’s research to identify soybean genes that can naturally resist many diseases and insects led to the creation of the Ohio State Center of Soybean Research (OSC-SoyRes). A College Level Soybean Center within the College of Food, Agriculture and Enivronmental Sciences and allied with CAPS has been established to allow researchers to more effectively collaborate, serve Ohio soybean stakeholders and compete for funding with other such soybean centers in the Midwest. 8 | CAPS
In pursuit of this mission, the Soybean Center provides Midwest soybean producers with recommendations for the most sound, safe and profitable soybean production practices. Utilizing the tools of plant pathology, entomology, mycology, nematology, population genetics and molecular biology, important pathogen and insect populations causing yield losses were identified and characterized including: new pathotypes and groups of Phytophthora sojae; more than 30 Pythium species; adaptation of soybean cyst nematode to primary source of resistance (PI 88788); biotypes of soybean aphid; and the distribution of new invasive species, such as the brown marmorated stink bug, were monitored. This work has continued to the next phase for identifying solutions to these yield limitations through plant breeding, molecular genetics, genomics and bioinformatics, where resistance to many of these pathogens and pests was identified, mapped, and germplasm developed for candidate gene identification, and functional genomic studies. CAPS is thrilled to be a part of the success of the former OSC-SoyRes team.
From left: Chris Taylor, Anne Dorrance, Andy Michel, Leah McHale, Feng Qu, John Finer.
The collective mission is to integrate interdisciplinary soybean research toward developing laboratory and field-based solutions that improve Ohio soybean production and utilization, enhance soybean producers’ profitability and position Ohio State as a recognized leader in soybean research and education in the United States.
MBSA: Microbial Based Solutions for Agriculture Humanity needs to further develop environmentally sound and sustainable technologies that maintain or enhance production efficiency in the face of a changing climate. The overdependence of farming systems on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides presents economic and environmental problems, both locally (e.g. contamination of drinking water) and globally (e.g. through increased emissions of greenhouse gases). Despite such problems, it is well recognized that high-productivity systems will be needed to meet the material, energy and food demands of the coming century. One approach to reducing agricultural dependence on synthetic chemicals while maintaining high levels of productivity is to use microorganisms to provide similar services. Because of this, there has been a dramatic increase in the application of microbial bioproducts in agriculture during the past 10 years, especially in organic systems and throughout the developing world. Because commercialization of microbial bioproducts can take greater than 10 years, it is essential that effective analytical and production platforms be developed. The MBSA Team’s scientific objectives are to characterize the biochemical, genetic, physiological and ecological effects of beneficial plant-associated microbes on their crop hosts, develop novel formulation and delivery systems for microbial products onto different crops, assess the efficacy and value
of microbial products in different production systems, and define how to approach production and distribution at commercially relevant scales to facilitate technology transfer and commercial adoption of the team’s technologies. The team’s practical objectives are to secure external funding for the study of plant host responses to, and the modes of action used by, beneficial plant-associated microorganisms and their fermentation products, refine the formulation and application of biopesticide and biofertilizer products to maximize their value to growers, and develop partnerships with industry to develop such technologies into commercially adopted inputs. MBSA presents the main challenge/rationale as developing effective analytical and production platforms for microbial products. Based on the previous support from CAPS, the connections with 3Bar Biologics, other industries, and their success in acquiring USDA-SBIR grants, this major goal has been reached. MBSA has a defined path going forward with its developed pipeline/platform and focus on commercializing current products. The MBSA team represents a premier example of the collaborative science enterprise that the CAPS investments have helped foster.
COFFEE Opportunity Team In its final year under the sponsored research agreement, the Opportunity Team for Coffee Research (CAPS-OTCR) worked closely with J.M. Smucker Company to explore options for additional aspects of coffee processing. They performed metabolite profiling in coffee beans (green and roasted), developed protocols to analyze the compounds present in coffee beans, and use a statistical analysis to interpret data. Some of the analytical tools used from the Smucker’s project are going to be applied to the NSF Dimensions of Biodiversity funded grant project, which is focused on the compounds present in coffee leaves (not beans). The total grant was awarded for $2 million dollars, and $1.25 million dollars went to Ohio State, while the remaining $750,000 went to collaborators.
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SEED GRANTS
The CAPS seed grants seek to fund projects that provide interdisciplinary connections among Ohio State faculty, staff, students and external partners that also leverage diverse talents, expertise and resources through collaborative work. CAPS seed grants are intended to generate new research activities or novel extensions of existing activities, rather than simply providing supplementary project funding. Emphasis is placed on teams and projects that leverage interdisciplinary research and are likely to produce tangible outputs resulting in capacity building and/or extramural funding at Ohio State. The goals of the CAPS’ Seed Grant Program are to broaden center affiliation and to foster nascent CAPS teams engaged in activities that build research capacity in one or more of the center’s broadly defined strategic areas.
2017 CAPS SEED GRANT PROGRAM AWARDS After a thorough internal and external review process, the 2017 CAPS Seed Grant Program made awards totaling $568,806 for exceptionally promising and innovative research at Ohio State. The program funded 32 percent of the proposals submitted for the CAPS first annual seed grant award; nine out of a total 28. The awardees/colleges are listed here with additional information below: Bharat Bhushan (COE) / Ames (CDME) - $75,000 Richard Bruno (EHE) / Dey (EHE) / Olmstead (EHE) / Sasaki (EHE) / Vodovotz (CFAES) / Yu (CFAES) - $36,641 Jonathan Fresnedo (CFAES) / Benzle (HCS) / Cornish (CFAES) / Dobritsa (ASC) / Nemes (CFAES) - $74,834 Patrice Hamel (ASC/COM) / Dubini (NonOSU) - $53,406 David Mackey (CFAES/ASC) / Bisaro (ASC) / Bruns (ASC) / Shen (CFAES) - $69,800 Peter Piermarini (CFAES) / Rakotondraibe (COP) - $59,125 Keith Slotkin (ASC) / Reynolds (ASC) / Michel (CFAES) / Yates (ASC) - $75,000 Bob Tabita (ASC) / Parquette (ASC) / North (ASC) - $75,000 David Wood (COE) / Shafaat (ASC) / Taylor (CFAES) / Hamel (ASC) / Qu (CFAES) / McGarry (Battelle) - $50,000
Lead PI: Bharat Bhushan Team Members: Nathan Ames Title: Design and Nanofabrication Strategy for Bioinspired, Multifunctional Materials For the Collection of Water from Fog Lay Overview: Plant and animal evolution has provided mechanisms for organisms to survive in dry environments by pulling water from the air. Harnessing those mechanisms may provide a path to collect and provide safe drinking water, particularly in areas of the world where clean water is scarce. Through this transformative research, we aim to develop new nanomanufacturing techniques for the creation of bioinspired, durable materials for water collection. We plan to use such materials to calculate a water harvesting net to help improve the efficiency of existing fog-harvesting strategies and develop a portable water collection system for individual applications to establish the technique as a viable supplemental source of water for communities all over the world.
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Lead PI: Richard Bruno Team Members: Priyankar Dey, Bryan Olmstead, Geoffrey Sasaki, Yael Vodovotz, Zhongtang Yu Title: Green Tea (Camellia sinensis) for the Management of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Lay Overview: Green tea is rich in polyphenolic catechins that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Its consumption protects against disease-inducing inflammatory responses that otherwise lead to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) through a mechanism involving the gut-liver axis. This application is focused on identifying independent structure-function bioactivities of specific green tea catechins (GTCs) that alleviate gut dysbiosis, absorption of endotoxins and systemic inflammatory responses in a preclinical model of NAFLD. The successful completion of this work will help to support future biotechnology approaches that are directed at driving the biosynthesis of specific catechins in green tea. It will also guide clinical translational
research to establish an effective dietary strategy to reduce the growing burden of NAFLD that currently affects 80-100 million Americans.
Lead PI: Jonathan Fresnedo Team Members: Anna Dobritsa, Cheri Nemes, Katrina Cornish, Kyle Benzle Title: Development of a Haploidy-inducing System for Outcrossing Plant Species Through Gene-editing Lay Overview: Our team is developing a strategy to generate genetically homogenous crosspollinated plants. The implementation of our strategy, based on gene-editing and chromosome manipulation, will enable the production of plants with only one set of chromosomes, which are called haploids. The availability of haploids will then allow creation of genetically homogenous diploid plants for more efficient plant breeding and research into the genetics of many cross-pollinated crops, and also will accelerate the domestication of new crops. Lead PI: Patrice Hamel Team Members: Alexandra Dubini Title: Engineering Pathways for Biofuel Production in Microalgae Lay Overview: In the face of declining fossil fuel supplies and the world’s increasing demand for energy, there is an urgent need for alternative and economically viable energy sources. This project aims to engineer a freshwater microalga for the production of biohydrogen, a clean and renewable replacement fuel.
Lead PI: David Mackey Team Members: Mingzhe Shen, David Bisaro, Aaron Bruns Title: Defining Host and Virus Genetics Underlying the Contribution of Arabidopsis Ethylene Signaling to Resistance Against Geminivirus Infection Lay Overview: Geminiviruses, which are serious pathogens of critical staple crops (cassava, maize, beans), specialty crops (tomato, pepper), fiber crops (cotton), and potential biofuel crops (grasses) worldwide, are problematic due to a lack of resistant germplasm and the disappointing efficacy of
transgenic resistance approaches. Our long-term goal is to create knowledge that will inform strategies to develop resistant plants by breeding, transgenic or gene-editing approaches. We will test the overarching hypothesis that signaling dependent on the gaseous plant hormone, ethylene (Et), is a key component of host defense against geminiviruses. The work will test that a key geminivirus virulence factor perturbs Et-signaling and viral DNA methylation, a previously established activity, by targeting a single, central metabolic pathway in infected plant cells. Lead PI: Peter Piermarini Team Members: Liva Rakotondraibe Title: Discovery of Natural Drimane Sesquiterpene Lactones from Madagascan Medicinal Plants (Cinnamosma sp.) for Mosquito Vector Control Lay Overview: Plants produce a diverse array of secondary metabolites that deter a wide range of herbivores, including insects. Thus, they are a potential valuable source of novel insecticides and repellents for mosquito control. Our project aims to discover natural products from endemic Madagascan medicinal plants (Cinnamosma species) that kill and/or repel mosquitoes to facilitate the development of next-generation mosquito control products for limiting the spread of emerging mosquito-borne diseases, such as Zika virus.
Lead PI: Keith Slotkin Team Members: Andrew Michel, Julie Reynolds, Ashley Yates Title: Identifying the Epigenetic Mechanism of Soybean Aphid Virulence Lay Overview: The soybean aphid is the most important insect pest and is resistant to insecticides. This necessitates research into a more sustainable aphid management approach. Soybeans that are naturally resistant to the soybean aphid are available, but the ability of certain aphids to overcome this plant resistance prevents wide-scale use. Andy Michel’s laboratory has generated multiple independent discoveries demonstrating that there is an epigenetic and chromatin-level component to the aphid’s virulence. Keith Slotkin’s laboratory has specific expertise in unraveling the mechanisms of epigenetic phenomena, and the two laboratories are now utilizing their individual strengths to investigate the epigenetic regulation of aphid virulence. Our goal is to innovatively combine the field of epigenetics and plant-insect interactions to determine which gene(s) are responsible for soybean aphid virulence.
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SEED GRANTS, CONTINUED
Lead PI: Bob Tabita Team Members: Jonathan Parquette, Justin North Title: Bioconversion of Lignocellousic and CO2 Feedstocks to Ethylene Lay Overview: Ethylene is an important plant hormone that has multiple effects and is also the most used organic precursor compound for synthesizing a myriad of important materials, including polyethylene. Ethylene production represents a nearly $300 billion annual market that continues to grow. Unfortunately, the existing chemical processes for synthesizing ethylene require huge inputs of fossil fuel energy, resulting in the emission of significant levels of CO2. Thus, there is considerable interest in developing new and innovative ways to produce the key industrial precursor compound ethylene, with bio-based methods a potential way to supplement chemicalbased processes. A new, highly productive microbial pathway to biologically produce ethylene was recently discovered in organisms that metabolize CO2 and lignocellulosic feedstocks. The current study is devoted to elucidating some of the remaining unknown steps in this novel pathway as well as developing a novel cell-free system to sequester the process in self-assembling nanoparticles to produce this valuable compound in high yields, free from competing cell metabolism.
Lead PI: David Wood Team Members: Chris Taylor, Feng Qu, Hannah Shafaat, Kevin McGarry, Patrice Hamel Title: Design and Production of a Catalytic BChE Enzyme to Treat Organo Phosphate Poisoning Lay Overview: We are working to express an engineered human protein in transgenic plants using a variety of approaches. The purpose of this protein would be to provide protection against insecticide poisoning, as a treatment, or from chemical warfare nerve agents as a preventative protectant. The protein itself is very complex, and for this reason we are working with a diverse set of collaborators with broad expertise in a variety of plants and plant-based expression systems. At this point, we have completed the construction of the DNA sequences for insertion into the plants, and we have developed significant expertise in assaying the resulting protein. Most recently, we have added the pig version of this protein to the project, since it displays some interesting properties that may provide new insights.
GRADUATE ASSISTANTSHIP COMPETITION In 2018, CAPS initiated a competition for four CAPS funded graduate assistantships in each of our four strategic areas. This competition was open to any post-candidacy PhD student whose primary advisor is a CAPS member. Awardees are expected to attend CAPS seminars and other CAPS events regularly and to present a CAPS seminar during the year of their support. Awards are for one academic year beginning autumn 2018 and include stipend, and benefits, along with tuition and fees. The four winners in 2018 are: • M. Nelly Arguello-Blanco: Horticulture and Crop Science (Advisor: Clay Sneller) • Natalie Deans: Molecular Genetics (Advisor: Jay Hollick) • Preston K. Manwill: Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy (Advisor: Harinantenaina Liva Rakotondraibe) • Elizabeth Regedanz: Molecular Genetics (Advisor: David M. Bisaro)
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TRANSLATIONAL PLANT SCIENCES (TPS) GRADUATE PROGRAM
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TPS GRADUATE PROGRAM The Translational Plant Sciences (TPS) Graduate Program is a five-year PhD program designed for motivated and independent students interested in careers outside of academia. The program, which is administered through the Center for Applied Plant Sciences, is entering into its sixth year with the start of the 2018-2019 academic calendar. With 25 interdisciplinary faculty participating in the program, TPS is led by the Graduate Studies Committee chaired by Dr. David Mackey. Members of this committee represent two campuses (Columbus and Wooster), two colleges (ASC and CFAES), and four departments (Entomology, Horticulture and Crop Science, Molecular Genetics, and Plant Pathology). Unique aspects of this graduate program include a minimal course load personalized to meet the needs of each fellow, a three-month or longer internship in each fellow’s field of interest, and opportunities for global collaboration. Throughout the past two years, TPS has supported a total of eight exceptional students. TPS fellows have completed internships at a variety of organizations both locally and across the country. Host companies for TPS internships to date include Beck’s Hybrid Practical Farm Research, 3Bar Biologics, Inc., Arcadia Biosciences, Dow AgroSciences, and the Ohio Soybean Council. Since 2016, TPS fellows have published seven journal articles and one patent, been awarded seven grants, and have received numerous awards. In addition, three of the current TPS fellows have been awarded external fellowships that provide significant support for their programs. This includes two individuals receiving the United States Department of Agriculture’s AFRI-ELI Predoctoral Fellowship, and one individual receiving a United Soybean Board Fellowship. TPS fellows regularly engage in outreach events, including an ongoing program for middle and high school students at COSI and regular involvement in smaller programs both on campus and in the community. In addition, TPS fellows publish a monthly blog, providing them useful experience writing scientific content for a general audience. Looking ahead to 2018-2019, TPS is excited to welcome our newest fellow to the program, Zachary Konkel. He will begin his program with TPS in the fall and was awarded both a University Fellowship through the Graduate School and a Director’s Associateship through the OARDC. In addition, we expect to graduate two fellows during the coming academic calendar.
KATIE D’AMICO Katie joined the TPS program in fall 2015 after earning her MS degree at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (Syracuse, NY) and working as a molecular biologist for the USDA ARS (Ithaca, NY). She completed rotations in Drs. Enrico Bonello and Josh Blakeslee’s laboratories. In fall 2017, Katie joined the lab of Dr. Jonathan Fresnedo Ramirez at the OARDC in Wooster, OH where she started a project focused on plant epigenetics and aging. Her research is centered on non-infectious bud
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2018 TPS APPLICANTS No. of Applicants Avg. GPA Avg. GRE V Avg. GRE Q Avg. GRE W
16 3.5 82 41 71
failure in almond (Prunus dulcis), a genetic disorder with links to DNA methylation and plant age, which she uses as a model to address the impacts of perennial plant aging on production. Almond, a multibillion dollar crop in the US, serves as an ideal species to explore both applied and basic scientific questions in plant genetics and breeding. Katie is currently working on analysis of whole-genome bisulfite sequencing data to identify putative differentially methylated regions associated with exhibition of non-infectious bud failure and age in almond clones. Her long-term goal is to identify biomarkers or predictors of bud failure potential in almond cultivars that can be utilized by breeders and producers to screen germplasm. As part of her doctoral program, Katie was selected to participate in the SPS Summer School in Plant Epigenetics in France and has also received funding from the Ohio State Alumni Grants for Graduate Research and Scholarship and OARDC SEEDS program.
PARKER EVANS Parker joined the TPS program in 2016 after completing his M.Sc. in plant pathology and chemical engineering at the University of Arizona. He is advised by Vishnu Sundaresan and co-advised by Katrina Cornish. Parker specializes in translating biological innovations into engineering practice. His research in the TPS program focuses on the fabrication of faradaic materials for the electronic control of biological processes. He and his advisors have demonstrated reversible changes of pH and ion concentration using a novel device known as a programmable chemical actuator (PCA). A PCA is a device that generates a chemoelectrical gradient in a controlled volume using an externally applied stimulus. The chemoelectrical gradient generated by H+ and OH– PCAs has been shown to reversibly change pH in volumes ranging from 500µL to 10mL. Parker also co-developed a PCA programming technique for targeted actuation of biologically relevant anions and cations in complex electrolytes. Recently, Parker used PCAs to demonstrate electronic control over the activity of the alkaline phosphatase enzyme from calf intestine. Parker’s project will conclude with the development of PCAs into a commercially available tool for scientific advancement. IRENE GENTZEL Irene enrolled in TPS program in August 2013 and is advised by Dr. David Mackey and co-advised by Dr. Ana Alonso. In 2017, Irene was awarded a fellowship with the USDANIFA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative program. Her research project focuses on the bacterial pathogen Pantoea stewartii that infects maize to cause Stewart’s Wilt. A characteristic symptom of this disease is leaf water-soaking, a condition where the apoplast becomes saturated with an aqueous solution. Irene is particularly interested in determining the mechanism behind water-soaking to understand how it benefits the pathogen as it colonizes in the apoplast. To study this response, she has optimized a method to extract apoplast fluid for further analysis. This method has proven useful for determining apoplast hydration, as she was able to quantify the water-soaking response in infected plants. Further, she has performed metabolite analysis on the apoplast extracts and is in the process of determining which metabolites are utilized as nutrient sources by the pathogen. Irene is interested in a career in science writing and worked as a communications intern during the summer 2018 with the Ohio Soybean Council. Her responsibilities include writing reports on farmer-funded soybean research to help keep growers informed on the latest developments in disease analysis, weed control, and new techniques to increase yield.
STEPHANIE KARHOFF Stephanie joined TPS in January of 2015 and is advised by Dr. Leah McHale and co-advised by Dr. Anne Dorrance. She was awarded the United Soybean Board Fellowship in August of 2015, which provides $25,000 of support for four years. Stephanie passed her candidacy exam in July of 2016 and completed an internship with Beck’s Hybrids during the summer of 2017. During her internship, she collected data for 54 studies evaluating the profitability of various plant protection products as part of the Beck’s Practical Farm Research program. She was also responsible for developing customer bulletins highlighting the studies’ main findings and assisting with customer tours of research plots. She is expected to graduate May 2019 and her research focus is genetic resistance to Phytophthora root and stem rot in soybean. For her dissertation, she is characterizing a disease resistance locus and identifying the candidate gene(s) conferring resistance. Using near isogenic material, she has evaluated the effect of the disease resistance locus on yield and resistance to Phytophthora root and stem rot and other key soybean seedling diseases, as well as its isolatespecificity. She is currently confirming results from a RNA-Seq study using quantitative reverse-transcription PCR and fine mapping the locus in order to identify candidate genes associated with the disease resistance locus. This work facilitates the use of the disease resistance locus in soybean cultivar development. REBECCA KIMMELFIELD Rebecca, a TPS fellow since 2013 who is advised by Dr. Christopher Taylor and coadvised by Dr. Michelle Jones, researches the potential of the bacteria Pseudomonas as a biological control agent of the Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN). Her work is divided into three primary components: field trials, greenhouse trials, and volatile analysis. Preliminary work in field studies has demonstrated the ability of Pseudomonas to hinder SCN; indirect exposure studies have shown that nematodes can be hindered by the volatiles produced by the bacteria. There are multiple volatiles produced by these bacteria that may have an effect on hindering nematode activity. Current work is being done to determine specific volatiles involved in biocontrol, and how altering bacteria growth conditions may enhance the production of certain compounds. During her time in TPS, Rebecca has had the opportunity for external opportunities, which have contributed to her growth and development as a scholar. In summer 2016, Rebecca completed an internship at 3Bar Biologics as a Research and Development Intern. The projects she worked on at 3Bar were closely related to her primary research, and investigated the potential for Pseudomonas as an SCN control agent. In 2018, Rebecca was at the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology (LINV) in Florence, Italy, and conducted mass spectrometry studies on the volatiles produced by Pseudomonas under a variety of growth conditions. caps.osu.edu | 15
WILLIAM ROLLING Bill has been a member of the TPS program since 2014. Through the program he has been able to complete a number of research experiences including three rotations in labs focused on plant pathology, molecular biology, and plant breeding and genetics. Through the TPS program Bill has been able to partake in a number of outreach events at the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) and Franklin Park Conservatory. Recently, Bill was able to complete an internship at Arcadia Biosciences in Davis, California. This opportunity provided him with invaluable experiences using state-of-the-art techniques in the development of healthier crop products. Bill is completing his dissertation research in Dr. Leah McHale’s soybean genetics and breeding laboratory. His projects are focused on understanding the genetic architecture of disease resistance against a soybean root rotting pathogen called Phytophthora sojae. The overarching goal of his research is to better understand how to breed for resistance toward P. sojae (and other pathogens) to more safely and sustainably produce soybeans. Bill’s projects are supported through funding from OARDC-SEEDS graduate student grants, the United Soybean Board, The Ohio Soybean Council, and SoyRes Team. Support from these programs has allowed him to attend national conferences such as the Soy Molecular Research and the Crop Science Society of America conferences, annually presenting progress on his research. Bill is expected to complete his dissertation research winter 2019 and graduate the following summer. ALEX TURO Alex joined TPS in 2015 and has been able to complete a number of research experiences including three rotations. Alex is completing research in Dr. David Mackey’s lab and is focused on understanding how the plant immune system is coordinated by molecular signals that function as a network. Network analysis techniques are used to understand interactions between molecular signals, with the goal of developing a model explaining how different molecular signals affect one another in the presence of a pathogen infection. This work strives to expand the understanding of how plants defend themselves against pests and pathogens that diminish agricultural yields for farmers in Ohio and beyond. The goal of this dissertation research is to identify one or more new host plant molecular features (e.g. an unstudied protein) that pathogens target at the molecular level and use to disrupt the host’s physiology to their benefit. Identification of pathogentargeted host features enables applied experiments aiming to breed resistance into a crop by obfuscating that pathogen’s virulence mechanism. Alex’s projects have been supported for the past three years through funding from the OARDC-SEEDS 16 | CAPS
Research Enhancement Competitive Grants Program, Tech Hub Student Project Grant and the University of Washington, Institute for Statistical Genetics Scholarship. ASHLEY YATES Ashley joined Dr. Andy Michel’s laboratory in the spring of 2015, and her research focuses on the molecular interaction between the soybean aphid and aphid-resistant soybean. The soybean aphid is a significant pest of soybean, and can be managed by using hostplant resistance, which utilizes soybean cultivars with naturally occurring resistance gene(s) that provide protection against aphids. However, some aphids can overcome soybean resistance, threatening the durability of host-plant resistance in agriculture. The molecular mechanisms underlying this interaction are mostly unknown. To understand how aphids overcome soybean resistance, Ashley is studying how soybean resistance impacts aphid gene expression. Her results suggest that resistance-breaking aphids decrease gene expression of putative effector proteins, which are secreted by aphids into plants during feeding. Resistance-breaking aphids also upregulated transposable elements, which may facilitate adaptation to resistant soybean. Ashley is also working with her co-advisor, Dr. Joshua Blakeslee, to analyze the role of plant hormones in soybean resistance, as the mechanisms of soybean resistance are also not well characterized. Finally, Ashley and her co-advisors are developing a novel assay to characterize proteins secreted by aphids during feeding. Elucidating the mechanisms of aphid adaptation increases our knowledge of host-plant resistance, and helps extend its durability.
INTERNATIONAL DUAL DEGREE TPSGP is the home program for an international dual-degree program with the University of São Paulo, Brazil, since 2013. This program successfully graduated three students in 2017 who received their PhDs from both The Ohio State University’s TPS program and the University of São Paulo’s International Plant Cell and Molecular Biology program. JULIO FATORETTO Julio joined Dr. Andy Michel’s entomology lab to identify molecular mechanisms of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, resistance using transcriptomic sequencing. This insect is one of the most invasive and devastating crop pests all over the word, including Africa where it is a recent invasive and destroys thousands of corn acres, threatening food security. Transgenic corn (e.g. Bt corn) remains
the most popular tool to control fall armyworm, but this insect has evolved resistance to several Bt traits. The TPS program gave him the opportunity to improve his research aiming to identify mechanisms of fall armyworm resistance to Bt corn plants and thereby contribute to enhance resistance management platforms before further resistance arises and increases not only in South America but globally as well. This research has served as the basis for additional projects, including the development of molecular markers for fall armyworm resistance monitoring. The new project has been performed at Ohio State in partnership with Syngenta where he is currently the Insect Resistance Management Lead for Latin America. DANIELLE IZILDA Dani joined the lab of Dr. Erich Grotewold as part of a collaboration with Dr. Glaucia Souza, from the University of São Paulo (USP), where she continued her work on the “Comprehensive analysis of sugarcane (Saccharum spp) gene expression changes in response to drought and rewatering conditions” project. The thesis was defended at both universities in December of 2017. The whole project aimed to provide a comprehensive analysis of sugarcane drought responses in the physiological and molecular levels, due to the high economic and environmental importance of this crop to Brazil, known as its major producer. During her time at Ohio State, she worked on the optimization of Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Protocol for sugarcane and the use of RNA Polymerase II ChIP-Seq technique to measure transcript rates as a function of this enzyme occupancy on the genome without the influence of RNA half-life. Furthermore, she performed an experiment in which she analyzed the change in the expression of selected genes over time during drought treatment. FERNANDA MORETTI While at Ohio State, Fernanda joined Dr. Ana Paula Alonso’s lab to continue research that began in Brazil while being supervised by Dr. Luis Eduardo Aranha Camargo. She studied the interaction between sugarcane and the causal agent of ratoon stunting disease caused by the bacterium Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli. Her work in the Alonso Lab used a metabolomics approach to identify differentially synthesized metabolites by the host due to infection and to establish biomarkers that would permit a quick detection of plants with high susceptibility. Now that she’s earned her dual PhDs, she is a post-doctoral research assistant at University of North Texas, where she researches the interaction between plant metabolome and microbial endophytic communities.
For more information about the Translational Plant Science Program, please visit: tpsgp.osu.edu
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FACILITIES GREENHOUSE The Biotech Support Facility (BSF) consists of 7,000 square feet of glass greenhouse space and 15 controlled environment growth chambers, eight reach-in chambers and seven walk-in chambers. The facility serves numerous departments and groups across campus as well as external industry researchers. The greenhouse occupancy rates vary throughout the year. It has an 80-90 percent occupancy rate from September through May. Because much of the research at the Biotech greenhouse is Arabidopsis related (a cool season crop) the occupancy rates drop to approximately 40 percent from May through August. Various users/groups associated with the facility use it to host workshops such as AERGC (Association of Education and Research Greenhouse Curators) and Functional Genomic Workshops. The staff also participate in community outreach via tours for K-12 students of area schools and have hosted the Breakfast of Science Champions (a high school program for students interested in science). The Biotech facility staff was able to leverage CAPS funding to develop software solution integrating management tools for plant growth facilities. The package, Trellis Greenhouse Management, facilitates recordkeeping by collecting data and centralizing information necessary for optimizing management in greenhouse, growth chamber and similarly controlled environment spaces. Trellis replaces multiple spreadsheets, charts, forms, binders of information, and handwritten labels and notes that can become illegible when exposed to water and light. There is also an interdepartmental oversight committee co-chaired by Steve Hovick (EEOB) and Anna Dobritsa (Molecular Genetics) who meet quarterly to discuss the facility’s needs and future goals. The committee strives to provide the best possible user and teaching experiences and research outcomes for all facility users within the BSF.
ARABIDOPSIS BIOLOGICAL RESOURCE CENTER (ABRC) The ABRC was established in 1991, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), in response to community needs and with a goal to represent a central repository for Arabidopsis research resources. The ABRC is associated with the Center for Applied Plant Sciences and is located in Rightmire Hall. ABRC’s mission is to acquire resources developed by leaders in the field, to propagate and maintain those resources using best practices and to make them available to researchers and educators around the world. The ABRC is also involved in educational initiatives which complement its community service mission. The ABRC serves a dynamic community of plant researchers with a common goal to understand the basic processes of flowering plants, as well as to apply this understanding to further crop improvement. The activity of the ABRC is essential towards fulfilling the community goal of having multiple mutant alleles for every one of the Arabidopsis ~27,000 genes. Approximately 10,000 registered users from diverse disciplines utilize the ABRC by ordering close to 100,000 stocks annually. During 2017, interim Director Keith Slotkin brought new initiatives and NSF funding to the ABRC and in early 2018, Dr. Dave Somers, a professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics, assumed the ABRC directorship.
TARGETED METABOLOMICS LABORATORY (TML) The mission of the TML is to serve research through the detection and quantification of small molecules from biological sources. The TML is a cost-recovery unit that has many standard protocols and encourages the development of new techniques to quantify additional compounds. The facility provides access to state-of-the-art chromatographic and mass spectrometric instrumentation. The methods are designed to take advantage of a high throughput liquid chromatography (Agilent UHPLC 1290) coupled to a highly sensitive mass spectrometer (AB Sciex QTRAP 5500) and a gas chromatography coupled mass spectrometer (ThermoFisher GC-MS). Moreover, the laboratory has a High Pressure Liquid Chromatography-Photodiode Array Detector (Waters Alliance HPLC/PDA system) to separate and monitor metabolites that have UV-Vis absorption. The TML also offers expertise in experimental design, extraction methods and data interpretation. As of November 2017, the TML suspended operations due to the scientific director and research associate leaving the university. Ongoing discussions and negotiations are aimed at revitalizing this important facility to serve the plant metabolomics needs of both Ohio State faculty and industry partners. 18 | CAPS
EDUCATION AND OUTREACH
The Center for Applied Plant Sciences (CAPS) supports a variety of education and outreach initiatives each year. The goal of these activities is to raise awareness about the important role plants play in our lives, and to promote plant science in K-12 education and throughout the community. These efforts bring together faculty, staff and graduate students to facilitate programs throughout Central Ohio and beyond. The number of people reached by our education efforts, and the variety of schools and organizations with which we partner continues to grow on an annual basis.
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FY17 AND FY18 OUTREACH SUMMARY
The CAPS education and outreach programs increased from 3,900 people to over 4,000 from FY17 to FY18. This included 3,400 members of the community, 53 teachers, and 612 K-12 students. Throughout the year, CAPS provided programming to six different school districts across Ohio, partnered with community organizations such as Center of Science and Industry (COSI) and the Franklin Park Conservatory, and reached students in New Jersey and Canada. CAPS shared education resources with researchers at the International Conference on Arabidopsis Research and with educators at the National Science Teachers Association regional conference. In addition to taking education programs to local schools and community events, CAPS participated in a number of initiatives on campus including Breakfast of Science Champions, Science of Agriculture, and the Engagement Forum.
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COSI (CENTER OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY) The partnership between CAPS and COSI continues to grow. Funding from the American Society of Plant Biologists’ Plant BLOOME grant (PI: Dr. Erich Grotewold) supported the development of a new interactive videoconference program called Plant Solutions for Global Problems at COSI focused on plant sciences. This one-hour, hands-on program is cofacilitated by a PhD graduate student from the Translational Plant Sciences graduate program and a COSI educator. It was developed, piloted and refined in 2017 and made available through COSI’s education programs in 2018. The program virtually connects middle and high school students from across the country to the studio at COSI. In addition to this new program, CAPS and TPS helped to co-develop new plantthemed signage that was installed in five locations throughout the science center. This project was funded by The Columbus Foundation’s Green Funds and provided a unique opportunity to highlight the important role plants play in our daily lives by tying into the themes of COSI’s existing exhibits.
FRANKLIN PARK CONSERVATORY PARTNERSHIP Support from the NSF-funded Building with Biology project laid the foundation for the development on an ongoing partnership between CAPS and the Franklin Park Conservatory. This partnership kicked off in 2016, when the two organizations came together to co-host a public forum exploring the applications and impacts of gene editing technology. Since that initial event, CAPS continues to be active at the Conservatory, participating in the annual Pollinator Palooza event, and serving as a program partner for a new after school program for girls in STEM.
WESTFEST May 2018 marked the second year for “WestFest,” Ohio State’s West Campus Sustainability and Outreach Festival. CAPS continued to serve a lead role in the planning and implementation of the event alongside the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center and the Office of Energy and Environment. These organizations came together to organize this festival to engage the community in STEM learning while showcasing scientific research and innovations in technology across campus and throughout the community. Participation in this year’s event skyrocketed to more than 20 Ohio State and community organizations each featuring hands-on activities, demonstrations and facilities for the general public.
BROADER IMPACTS WORKSHOP CAPS co-sponsored a Broader Impacts Workshop with the Office of Outreach and Engagement. Trainers from the National Alliance for Broader Impacts facilitated the day-long workshop, which was attended by 33 faculty, staff, postdocs and graduate students. This marked the kick-off of a targeted effort by CAPS to support its members in the development of robust broader impacts plans. New broader impacts support initiatives will be implemented in FY19.
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INSIDE CAPS 2017 CAPS RETREAT AT SALT FORK STATE PARK LODGE AND CONFERENCE CENTER Fifty CAPS members or affiliates spent a working weekend in October away from campus to focus on research, networking, collaborations, and learning at Salt Fork State Park Lodge and Conference Center. Representation was present from the departments of Animal Sciences, BioHio, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Entomology, Evolution Ecology & Organismal Biology, Food Innovation Center, Food Science & Technology, Horticulture & Crop Sciences, InFACT, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Microbiology, Molecular Genetics, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Office of Research, Plant Pathology, and Translational Plant Sciences Fellows. Every member that attended provided a three-minute “flash talk� presentation on their background, their current work, and what they are looking for in collaboration with other researchers. This was a catalysis for great networking opportunities following the presentations which identified shared/common interests for future collaborations. Scientific teams (past and present) discussed their research and how they were able to leverage CAPS investments for the success of the team. We heard updates from the TIRE, CMAP, MBSA, and SoyRes teams. Faculty discussed topics related to their own research, funding, bottlenecks of research, and connectivity barriers between Wooster and Columbus. We then discussed potential solutions to those problems. Bioinformatics was identified as an area in which resources are broadly needed. CAPS is excited to create a bioinformatics position to help CAPS members for the next fiscal year. Dean Christopher Hadad along with Andrea Ward-Ross presented about what the colleges could provide for support as well as the importance of collaborating with peers in other departments. Also, the Grant Support and Development Unit (GDSU) presented to inform researchers of available funding sources and of the services GDSU provides in helping with proposal development and grant submission or related questions. The TPS Students displayed posters of their current research. This opportunity gave a chance for students to show their hard work, and field questions from the faculty members from other departments and colleges. The weekend retreat showcased the success of CAPS teams, provided an overview of resources available to CAPS members, and facilitated interactions across colleges and disciplines. CAPS members concluded the retreat by discussing the visions for the future of CAPS by helping to identify key areas to improve the success of the center.
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CAPS FRIDAY SEMINAR Now in its fifth year, the CAPS Seminar Series features one-hour-long scientific presentations by CAPS faculty, staff and students, as well as invited guests from other departments, universities and organizations. An average of 40 people attend weekly at the Rightmire Hall location, and nearly 10 more join us from the Wooster campus via live stream. Attendees learn about exciting research projects covering diverse topics including the intricate shape of plant viroids, breakthroughs in soybean resistance to common diseases, complexities of gene regulatory networks, and the details of pollen shape and development. This past year, CAPS invited several distinguished speakers from around the United States and the world: Dr. Shou-Wei Ding, University of California, Riverside Dr. Tamara Gigolashvili, University of Cologne (Germany) Dr. Ping He, Texas A&M University Dr. Wenbo Ma, University of California, Riverside Dr. Juan Camilo Moreno Beltran, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology Dr. Carine Rizzolatti, Senior Scientist (Syngenta, France) More information can be found at caps.osu.edu/research-education.
As of 2018, a speaker committee was created. The CAPS Speaker Committee fields suggestions from CAPS members for guest speakers and independently searches for guest speakers. The goal is to find individuals who deliver diverse messages while serving the best interest of CAPS members. The CAPS Seminar Series welcomes anyone to join on Fridays from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in Rightmire Hall in Columbus or Selby Hall in Wooster!
TRIPARTITE MEETING The Tripartite is an academic partnership between The Ohio State University, University of São Paulo (USP) and Rutgers University (RU).
SCIENCE SUNDAYS Science Sundays are a free lecture series open to the public and provide a wide range of current and emerging topics and issues in science that touch our everyday lives. Presented by the College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio State, speakers are nominated by different departments and centers for their expertise in their fields from on campus and around the world with experience in making their topics interesting and accessible for audiences of all ages, with or without a science background. On September 10, 2017, CAPS hosted Dr. Frederic Bertley, president and CEO of the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) to speak at Ohio State Science Sundays. Bertley has experience working in the area of preventive medicine in Haiti, Sudan, and the Canadian Arctic. Despite an ever-growing dependency on science and technology, we are seeing a decline in scientific literacy. In his lecture titled, Paying Attention to the Importance of the Scientific Revolution Amid Cluelessness, Bertley discussed this duality and challenged us to become advocates for science. Highlighting wide-ranging technological advances, he emphasized the necessity of basic scientific literacy and appreciation for the scientific process, whatever our career paths.
In the early 2000s, a unique tripartite research and educational collaborative initiative was developed, aimed at further fostering research collaboration, as well as joint international graduate degree programs in cooperation with all three universities. One of the premiere outcomes of the collaboration has been the creation of a dual degree program, whereby students can obtain simultaneous PhD degrees from Ohio State/USP or Rutgers/USP. In 2016, CAPS faculty and students traveled to Brazil for the 9th biennial Tripartite meeting. The meeting was held in picturesque Maresias, on the Atlantic coast of São Paulo State. During the course of three days, presentations and posters were offered in diverse areas of ongoing and prospective cooperation among Ohio State, USP and RU. In addition, time was set aside for meaningful networking among faculty, postdocs and students. For example, Dr. Enrico Bonello (Ohio State) solidified a collaborative project on rapid phenotyping of sugarcane resistance to a bacterial pathogen that causes significant losses in Brazil with Prof. Luis Camargo, (USP). Those conversations resulted in one Brazilian PhD student spending two months in Bonello’s lab in 2018, a collaboration that will likely produce at least one paper in the near future. Many other collaborations were also solidified or initiated among the participants, demonstrating the usefulness of the biennial Tripartite meetings, held in rotation among the three universities. The 2018 meeting was held in Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 25-28.
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FINANCIALS: FY17 FY17 Total Expenditures $1,111,928
FY17 Staff Administration
Greehouse Facilities
2 x 1.0 FTE
1 x 0.75 FTE
1 x 1.0 FTE (ABRC)
1 x 0.15 FTE
2 students Rightmire Hall
Directors
1 x 1.0 FTE
1.25 x 1.0 FTE
1 student
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FY17 CAPS Expenditures $495,225
FY17 Scientific Team Expenditures $209,721
CAPS supports the Scientific Teams (ST) with a variety of resources including hiring personnel (postdoctoral researchers, undergraduate students, GRA tuition and fees, visiting scholars), training expenses, research supplies, travel accommodations, and various other expenditures.
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FINANCIALS: FY17
FY17 TPS Expenditures $254,443
FY17 TML
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FINANCIALS: FY18 FY18 Total Expenditures $1,565,624
FY18 Staff Administration
Greehouse Facilities
2.5 x 1.0 FTE
1 x 0.75 FTE
1.1 x 1.0 FTE (ABRC)
1 x 0.15 FTE
2 students Rightmire Hall
Directors
1 x 1.0 FTE
1 Director
1 student
2 Associate Directors
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FINANCIALS: FY18 FY18 CAPS Expenditures $1,029,853
FY18 TPS Expenditures $213,703
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FY18 Scientific Team Expenditures $225,579
CAPS supports the Scientific Teams (ST) with a variety of resources including hiring personnel (postdoctoral researchers, undergraduate students, GRA tuition and fees, visiting scholars), training expenses, research supplies, travel accommodations, and various other expenditures.
FY18 TML
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FINANCIALS: BSF & RIGHTMIRE
FY17 Biotechnology Support Facility (BSF) and Rightmire $175,688
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FY18 Biotechnology Support Facility (BSF) and Rightmire $219,316
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CAPS ADMINISTRATION AND COMMITTEES CAPS COMMITTEES GREENHOUSE COMMITTEE Co-Chair - Dr. Anna Dobritsa (MolGen) Co-Chair - Dr. Steve Hovick (EEOB) Dr. Jelena Brkljacic (Associate Director of ABRC) Dr. Caroline Breitenberger (CLSE) Dr. Jay Hollick (MolGen) Dr. Iris Meier (MolGen) Gary Posey (ABRC/CAPS) David Snodgrass (MolGen/CAPS) Dr. David Somers (MolGen) Dr. Harald Vaessin (MolGen) Emily Yoders-Horn (Molgen)
SPEAKER COMMITTEE Chair - Patrice Hamel (ASC) Bharat Bhushan (Engineering) Dana Larison (CAPS) Feng Qu (CFAES) David Spisak (CAPS) Alex Turo (TPS)
TRANSLATIONAL PLANT SCIENCES GRADUATE PROGRAM Current TPS GSC Members Chair - Dr. David Mackey (ASC & CFAES) - June 2013-present Dr. Anna Dobritsa (ASC) - May 2017-present Dr. Patrice Hamel (ASC) - December 2017-present Dr. Jay Hollick (ASC) - January 2014-present Dr. Andy Michel (CFAES) - February 2017-present Dr. Guo-Liang Wang (CFAES) - December 2017-present Recent TPS GSC Members Dr. Anne Dorrance (CFAES) - 2014-2017 Dr. Thomas Mitchell (CFAES) - 2013-2017
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OHIO STATE COLLEGES AND DEPARTMENTS WITH FACULTY WHO PARTICIPATE IN CAPS COLLEGES • • • •
College of Arts and Sciences (ASC) College of Education and Human Ecology (EHE) College of Engineering (COE) College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) • College of Medicine (COM) • College of Pharmacy (COP) • College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM)
DEPARTMENTS/CENTERS • Agriculture, Environmental and Development Economics (AEDE) • Animal Sciences • Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center (ABRC) • Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology • Biomedical Engineering • Biomedical Informatics • Cancer Biology & Genetics • Center for Applied Plant Sciences • Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence (CDME) • Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering • Chemistry and Biochemistry • Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering • Computer Science and Engineering • Design • Earth Sciences • Entomology • Environmental and Natural Resources (ENR) • Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology (EEOB) • Food, Agriculture and Biological Engineering (FABE) • Food Science and Technology • Horticulture and Crop Science (HCS) • Human Sciences • Materials Science Engineering • Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering • Medicinal Chemistry & Pharmacognosy • Microbiology • Molecular Cellular Imaging Center • Molecular Genetics (MG) • Office of Research • Ophthalmology • Pharmacy College Business Office • Plant Pathology • Public Health • Radiation Oncology • Radiology • Veterinary Clinical Sciences
MEMBERS & AFFILIATES Besma Abbaoui - Food Science and Technology Sharon Amacher - Molecular Genetics, Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology Nate Ames - CDME, Materials Science Engineering, Design Nikita Amstutz - OARDC HCS M. Nelly Arguello-Blanco - HCS Jovica Badjic - Chemistry and Biochemistry Bhavik Bakshi - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Maria Soledad Benitez Ponce - Plant Pathology Alison Bennett - EEOB Kyle Benzle - HCS Bharat Bhushan - Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering David Bisaro - Molecular Genetics, Plant Pathology, SBS Cancer Biology & Genetics Joshua Blakeslee - HCS Srimathi Bogamuwa - ABRC Gil Bohrer - Civil, Environmental & Geodetic Engineering Enrico Bonello - Plant Pathology Jelena Brkljacic - ABRC, HCS Shauna Brummet - Campus and Farms Administration, Animal Sciences Richard Bruno - Human Sciences Administration, Food Science and Technology Aaron Bruns - Molecular Genetics Jun-Kyu Byun - Chemistry and Biochemistry Chris Calhoun - ABRC John Cardina - HCS Bryan Carstens - EEOB Mariola Castrejon - ABRC, ENR Laura Chapin - HCS
Jessica Cooperstone - HCS Katrina Cornish - HCS James Cowan - Chemistry and Biochemistry Debbie Crist - ABRC Peter Curtis - EEOB, ENR, Earth Sciences Imed Dami - HCS Katie D'Amico - TPS - GP Jeff Daniels - Earth Sciences Gauri Datta - ABRC Natalie Deans - Molecular Genetics Priyankar Dey - Human Sciences Administration Anna Dobritsa - Molecular Genetics Anne Dorrance - HCS Dana Driver - Pharmacy College of Business Office Prabir Dutta - Chemistry and Biochemistry Parker Evans - TPS - GP Thaddeus Ezeji - Animal Sciences Julio Fatoretto - International Dual Degree John Finer - OARDC HCS David Francis - HCS Jonathan Fresnedo - HCS John Freudenstein - EEOB Tim Frey - Plant Pathology Cathleen Fry - Chemistry and Biochemistry Thomas Gallagher - Molecular Genetics Irene Gentzel - TPS - GP Caroline Georskey - ABRC Paul Gilmore - Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Karen Goodell - EEOB Venkat Gopalan - Chemistry and Biochemistry Andrea Gschwend - HCS caps.osu.edu | 33
Patrice Hamel - Molecular Genetics, SBS - Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology Francesca Hand - Plant Pathology Patrick Haren - Dentistry Emmanuel Hatzakis - Food Science and Technology Kyla Hilton - ABRC Scott Hines - CAPS Jay Hollick - Molecular Genetics, CAPS Steve Hovick - EEOB Nan Hu - Civil, Environmental & Geodetic Engineering Aman Husbands - Molecular Genetics Mike Ibba - Microbiology Emily Iott - CAPS Elena Irwin - Agriculture, Environmental and Development Economics Richard Islam - ENR Danielle Izilda - International Dual Degree Jonathan Jacobs - Plant Pathology Appaso Jadhav - HCS JC Jang - HCS Christopher Jaroniec - Chemistry and Biochemistry Jason Johnson - ASC Technology Michelle Jones - HCS Pablo Jourdan - HCS Kou-San Ju - Microbiology, Pharmacy College Business Office, SBS - Biological Chemistry & Pharmacology Stephanie Karhoff - TPS - GP Lori Kaser - CFAES Grant Development Yeonjeong Kim - Molecular Genetics Rebecca Kimmelfield - TPS - GP Andrew Kirkpatrick - Molecular Genetics Matt Kleinhenz - HCS Michael Knopp - Radiology Gabriella Kratzer - Alum Robyn Kroeger - OR - IDI 34 | CAPS
Dana Larison - CAPS Byung Ha Lee - Molecular Genetics Kyuha Lee - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Zhiquan Lei - Chemistry and Biochemistry James Li - Alum Yiyun Lin - HCS Benson Lindsey - OES Analysis & Reporting Mingde Liu - FABE David Mackey - HCS, Molecular Genetics, Plant Pathology Laurence Madden - Plant Pathology Tom Magliery - Chemistry and Biochemistry Farnaz Maleky - Food Science and Technology James Mann - ABRC Preston Manwill - Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy Kevin McGarry - Battelle Leah McHale - HCS Evan Meder - CAPS Iris Meier - Molecular Genetics Kristin Mercer - HCS Jim Metzger - HCS Tea Meulia - Plant Pathology, OARDC MCIC Rouf Mian - HCS, OARDC Entomology Andy Michel - CAPS, OARDC Entomology Sally Miller - Plant Pathology Julie Miller - ABRC Golnaz Mirfenderesgi - Civil Engineering Maria Miriti - EEOB Thomas Mitchell - Plant Pathology Sizo Mlotshwa - Plant Pathology Fernanda Moretti - International Dual Degree Eva Nagy - ABRC Cheri Nemes - HCS Terry Niblack - CFAES VP Operating Kimberly Nolletti - HCS
Justin North - Microbiology Administration Bryan Olmstead - Human Sciences Administration Wilbur Ouma - MCIC, Molecular Genetics John Parquette - Chemistry and Biochemistry Deborah Parris - SBS - Cancer Biology & Genetics Melvin Pascall - Food Science and Technology Peter Piermarini - Entomology Gary Posey - CAPS, ABRC Courtney Price - CAPS, ABRC Feng Qu - Plant Pathology T.V. Rajanbabu - Chemistry and Biochemistry Shobhana Rajasenan - Molecular Genetics Liva Rakotondraibe - Pharmacy College Business Office David Ramirez-Cadavid - FABE Galan Rask - Molecular Genetics Sarah Reeder - Molecular Genetics Elizabeth Regedanz - Molecular Genetics Yulin Ren - Pharmacy College Business Office Julie Reynolds - EEOB Danielle Rodrigues da Silva - TPS - GP Bill Rolling - TPS - GP Natividad Ruiz - Microbiology Administration Geoffrey Sasaki - Human Sciences Administration Sriram Satagopan - Microbiology Admininistration Joseph Scheerens - HCS Pam Schlege - CFAES Grant Development Randy Scholl - Molecular Genetics Hannah Shafaat - Chemistry and Biochemistry Ajay Shah - FABE Scott Shearer - FABE Mingzhe Shen - HCS Haiyan Shi - HCS Jason Slot - Plant Pathology Keith Slotkin - Molecular Genetics Clay Sneller - OARDC HCS
David Snodgrass - Molecular Genetics Brian Snyder - OR Industry Liaison Office David Somers - Molecular Genetics David Spisak - CAPS Anna Stasko - Plant Pathology Lucy Stewart - Plant Pathology Eric Stockinger - HCS Vishwanath Subramaniam - Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Vishnu Sundaresan - Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Bob Tabita - Microbiology Administration, ENR Jared Talbot - Molecular Genetics Christopher Taylor - Plant Pathology Emile Thaler - Graduate School Administration, Plant Pathology Nancy Tian - Medicine Thomas Tietz - Molecular Genetics Ollie Tuovinen - Microbiology Admin Alex Turo - TPS - GP Laura VanArsdale - Food Science and Technology Deshpal Verma - Molecular Genetics, Plant Pathology Yael Vodovotz - Food Science and Technology Rui Wang - Molecular Genetics Zachary Weber - SBS - Biomedical Informatics, Molecular Genetics, Public Health Jessica Weitthoff - CAPS Shelley Whitworth - Campus and Farms Administration Tyler Wilson - Pharmacy College Business Office Scott Wolfe - EEOB David Wood - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Tom Wu - Molecular Genetics Ye Xia - Plant Pathology Ashley Yates - TPS - GP Zhongtang Yu - Animal Sciences Yi Zhao - Biomedical Engineering, Ophthalmology Xiaofeng Zhuang - HCS caps.osu.edu | 35