Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center presentations (MU)
Permanent URI for this collection
Items in this collection represent public presentations made by Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center faculty, staff, and students, either alone or as co-authors, and which may or may not have been published in an alternate format.
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item Are there leaks in your product pipeline?(2010) Sebaugh, Jeanne L.; Hearne, Leonard B.; Flournoy, Nancy, 1947-; University of Missouri (System); Missouri Life Sciences Summit (2010: University of Missouri--Kansas City)Successful businesses move new products through the development pipeline swiftly and efficiently. An integral part of this process is the research design and execution. The field of statistics can provide knowledge and guidance that aides a successful flow through the developmental pipeline. The involvement of a professional statistician as a team member can help plug potential leaks and increase your probability of success. It pays to consider all sources of measurement variation in the design of an experiment and to account for them in the data analysis. Randomly assigning subjects to treatments reduces bias and controls for important, but unknown, factors. Various randomization strategies differ in their time and cost. More powerful analyses are possible when subjects are matched so that when different treatments are compared, other sources of variation are controlled. More powerful experiments are more sensitive at the same cost as less powerful experiments. When baseline measurements are incorporated into data analysis, treatment effects beyond baseline can be identified. Sample sizes should be large enough to detect real differences, yet small enough to be manageable and cost effective. New technology allows the measurement of many variables at many time points. The skills of a statistician can be useful in collaboration with the scientist to find the best way to transform large amounts of data into useful information. Finally, the presentation of study results needs to include the relevant statistical methods. Potential investors want to see data and be confident it has been subjected to the appropriate analysis. Meeting the requirements of regulatory agencies (FDA and EPA) will proceed more quickly if the analysis has been conducted by a professional statistician. The University of Missouri System has statisticians on several campuses. There are graduate programs at the University of Missouri, UMKC and Missouri University of Science and Technology. Graduate students are available for internships and/or summer employment. Graduate student support often leads to long term collaborations with statistics faculty.Item Constructing proteome and metabolome maps for genetic improvement of energy-related traits in soybean [abstract](2009) Valliyodan, Babu; Brechenmacher, Laurent; Cheng, Jianlin, 1972-; Xu, Dong, 1965-; Stacey, Gary, 1951-; Nguyen, Henry T.; University of Missouri (System); Missouri Energy Summit (2009 : University of Missouri--Columbia)Although the genetic blueprint of soybean is represented by the genome, its phenotype is a product of that blueprint manifested as the production of proteins and metabolites influencing growth characteristics, stress responses, seed composition, and yield. We are using various tools of genomics and molecular breeding with an aim towards development of value-added soybeans that will help United States farmers to maintain their competitiveness and expand utilization of soybean crops (e.g. functional foods, industrial uses, biodiesel, etc). Profiling soybean gene products will lay the foundation for a systems biology approach to key processes such as seed development, which will lead to the genetic improvement of yield and seed composition. Being one of the major bio-energy crops, building a comprehensive map of proteins and metabolites for soybean will help make connections between regulatory or metabolic pathways not previously characterized. Another major benefit from these studies is the discovery of energy related traits including plant productivity and seed compositional traits for the genetic improvement of soybean. It is well known that environmental cues influence developmental phenotypes in plants. Different biotic stresses such as fungal diseases and abiotic stresses, such as drought and flooding, also elicit phenotypic responses from the genome. Thus, by studying the gene products, a direct correlation between response and specific peptides/metabolites can be made. This will lead to crop improvement either through breeding or transgenic efforts. Major objectives of this study are: a) to identify key soybean seed, leaf, and root proteins involved in development and biotic and abiotic stress responses; b) to establish a comprehensive set of chemical standards for soybean metabolites moving toward construction of a metabolome map with a focus on seed and drought effects on seed development and, c) to compile a database linking proteomic and metabolite information and associate this information to value-added soybean traits and markers for assisted breeding. We are utilizing GC/MS, LC/MS, and NMR approaches to identify key molecules for further characterization.Item Molecular mechanisms of effector-triggered immunity in plants [abstract](2009) Kim, Sang Hee, 1975-; Gao, Fei; Bhattacharjee, Saikat; Gassmann, Walter, 1964-; University of Missouri (System); Missouri Energy Summit (2009 : University of Missouri--Columbia)Like other organisms, plants are continuously exposed to potential pathogens. Yet most plants are resistant to most pathogens because of multi-layered defenses. The most potent forms of plant defenses are triggered when the plant perceives pathogen-derived molecules. This innate immune system is a very valuable trait: when harnessed for agriculture, the innate ability of plants to resist pathogens lessens the need for energetically and environmentally costly pesticides. However, these strong inducible defenses also have the potential to adversely affect the plant if not properly kept in check. Plants with constitutively activated defenses display a severe reduction in biomass and viability. Using complementary biochemical, cell biological and genetic approaches, my lab is studying the machinery that positively or negatively controls the activation of pathogen defenses in the reference plant Arabidopsis thaliana. A proper balance between plant immune system activation and suppression will maximize biomass production. Principles worked out with Arabidopsis are very relevant for crop plants. The Arabidopsis genes we are studying are conserved throughout the plant kingdom. Currently we are applying our knowledge of the plant immune system gained with Arabidopsis to grapevine. We study the difference in fungal disease susceptibility between Cabernet sauvignon and Norton, a North American grapevine species and the State Grape of Missouri, and find genes that are well known from Arabidopsis work to respond differently in the two species.Item Enhancement of plant vision to increase drought tolerance and bioproduction [abstract](2009) Holland, Jennifer J.; Celaya, R. Brandon, 1979-; Leuchtman, Daniel; Juenger, Thomas; Galen, Candace Elizabeth; Liscum, Emmanuel; University of Missouri (System); Missouri Energy Summit (2009 : University of Missouri--Columbia)Energy needs of the worlds growing population have become central issues to policy and science discussion over the past few years. Not only are our non-renewable sources of energy being depleted at alarming rates, their consumption is also a major contributor to the accumulation of atmospheric greenhouse gases. It is clear that new solutions to old problems must be found, and in this context the production and harnessing of biofuel products holds great promise. Plant-based bioproduction has the great advantage that biofuel production can be creatively couple with food production, another pressing 21st Century issue. Water availability represents the major limitation to increased plant-based production, both in the U.S. and around the world. Therefore development of plants that are better able to access and utilize this limiting resource is paramount. Our studies in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana have shown that mutants lacking the key photoreceptor protein, phototropin 1 (phot1), that mediates a plants response to directional blue light fail to orient their root growth properly and thus exhibit increased drought susceptibility (Galen et al. 2004, 2007). Conversely, mutations in phot1 that confer increased responsiveness to blue light appear to increase drought tolerance. We are now exploring ways to recapitulate this exciting phenotype through the generation of GMOs, both in this model species and in crop plants. This approach holds great potential as even minor increases in drought tolerance in plants can result in dramatic increases in bioproduction, the ultimate goal of a plant-based biofuels industry.Item From plant to the pump : how plant genome research at MU is helping to achieve bioenergy goals(2009) Walker, John C.; University of Missouri (System); Missouri Energy Summit (2009 : University of Missouri--Columbia)Part of America's answer to the current energy crisis could be fuels made from plants. Fuel made from plant materials, such as cellulose or corn kernels, not only holds promise of reducing our nation's dependence on foreign sources of energy, but also offers a 'green' alternative to traditional petroleum-based fuels. Researchers are investigating a number of different plants as possible sources of biofuels, with corn, soybean, switchgrass, algae, and sugar cane, being the most popular. No matter the source, the process of converting plant material into fuel will require fundamental knowledge of plant development and growth in response to changing environments. For example, production of cellulosic ethanol requires a genetic understanding of how plants control the composition and structure of their cell walls. A number of faculty in the Interdisciplinary Plant Group at the University of Missouri are working on projects that could help scientists and engineers develop new energy crops. Plant sciences at MU could also lead to other improvements in energy crops, including maximizing their productivity, increasing their resistance to pests and drought, and reducing the need for fertilizers.