An ecologically, economically healthy Lake Erie

For centuries, Lake Erie's benefits were seen as either environmental--providing recreational opportunities--or economic--providing industry and agriculture with necessary resources. Now, along with the transition from an industrial to a service economy, those lines are being blurred, said Elena Irwin, agricultural economist and researcher with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.

"We're in an age where individuals and companies are free to locate almost anywhere they want, and quality of life is a major criteria," Irwin said. "Lake Erie acts as an attractor of people and of firms. A resource like this can generate significant growth."

For several years, Irwin and colleagues have examined amenity values of an ecologically sound Lake Erie and the ripple effects of changing urban land use. In early April, she presented findings at "Green Recovery," a seminar sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. So far, research has revealed "interesting interactions between population and the ecological health of the lake," Irwin said.

In one study, Irwin and former graduate student Shihomi Ara estimated the amenity value of a clean Lake Erie by comparing sale prices of homes around the lake with measurements of the lake's water clarity and fecal coliform counts at the nearest access point to the lake from the home's location. When accounting for the size of the house and lot, and number of bedrooms and bathrooms, they found a direct correlation between water quality and the home's sale price.

"When those two water quality indicators are good, housing prices go up," and the area is seen as an attractive location for development, she said. But ironically, as development occurs, "water quality is negatively impacted by construction and the runoff that results."

Helping policy-makers see the big picture and unintended consequences of their decision-making is one goal of her research.

For more information, see these articles in Ohio Sea Grant's Twineline magazine: "Biocomplexity: Uncovering Lake Erie's Physical, Biological, and Economic Connections," Spring/Summer 2009, and "Hot Commodity: Cleaner Water Increases Lake Erie Waterfront Property Values," Summer/Fall 2006, available online at http://ohioseagrant.osu.edu/publications/twineline.

--By Martha Filipic

Unique research, unique outreach

OARDC and ATI partners in $3.8 million NSF grant

OARDC and several collaborators--including Ohio State ATI--have landed a $3.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to further innovative research seeking to decipher the molecular mechanisms that regulate fruit shape.

The project is led by Esther van der Knaap, a geneticist in OARDC's Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, who utilizes tomato as a model to analyze fruit shape variations. Her work has received previous NSF support and has been featured on the cover of the prestigious journal Science (http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/tomshape.htm).

"Our focus is to discover genes and networks that regulate tomato fruit morphology and learn how these genes affect fruit shape," van der Knaap said. "The knowledge about fruit morphology genes allows us to investigate whether the tremendous diversity in tomato fruit shape and size is controlled by these genes, and how these genes can be employed by breeders in their efforts to develop new varieties with distinct features."

But the four-year NSF grant has another dimension. The project will involve undergraduate and high school students in field and laboratory activities, with the goal of increasing their knowledge and appreciation of plant science and crop diversity.

For example, students from The College of Wooster and ATI will be engaged in various studies related to fruit morphology, improvement of the Tomato Analyzer software (which is used to more accurately and automatically measure the effects on fruit shape and size of different regions of the tomato genome), and training in bioinformatics skills.

Additionally, Carri Gerber--an assistant professor at ATI--will facilitate the participation of high school students in workshops held at Ohio State facilities. Experiments will also be conducted at high schools with the help of "traveling laboratories" that will be purchased thanks to the grant.

Other grant partners include Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) on Cornell University's Ithaca, New York, campus; as well as natural sciences research institute RIKEN and Chiba University, both in Japan.

More information at http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/vanderknaap.

--By Mauricio Espinoza

Entomologists studying the negative impacts of invasive species

Ohio State University entomologists are looking to Ohioans for help in identifying an exotic invasive shrub in their communities that has ties to a chain of undesirable insects.

Mary Gardiner with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center has launched Buckthorn Watch--a science-citizen program where residents volunteer to not only identify buckthorn establishments in their area, but also collect data on soybean aphids and the multi-colored Asian ladybeetle.

Gardiner and colleague Andy Michel are collaborating with Michigan State University and Iowa State University on a three-year research project to determine the distribution of buckthorn throughout Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, and Iowa.

By determining how much buckthorn is spread across the four states, researchers hope to learn more about how buckthorn influences aphid dispersal and populations of the multi-colored Asian ladybeetle. The goal, ultimately, is to identify best management practices for buckthorn to best control both insects.

"For example, if we determine that aphids in soybean fields are originating from local buckthorn establishments, then we can manage the aphid by eradicating the buckthorn within the local area," said Gardiner. "If we determine that aphids are migrating from more northern locations, then we can conclude that intensive buckthorn management in Ohio may not be as effective for soybean aphid control."

The research demonstrates how buckthorn can have a cascading damaging effect on natural flora and fauna, agriculture, and public health.

For more information, contact Mary Gardiner at 330-263-3643 or e-mail buckthornwatch@osu.edu.

--By Candace Pollock

The Matrix is all around you

The extracellular matrix, that is. It might hold the key to helping people and poultry live stronger.

The average person loses more than a quarter of their muscle mass by the time they're 70. OARDC's Sandy Velleman, a professor of animal sciences, wants to know what something called the extracellular matrix has to do with it--science that may someday help people agemore successfully.

The extracellular matrix is secreted by cells, surrounds them, and fills the spaces between them; consists of protein fibers and more; provides structural support to the cells; and regulates--by regulating the expression of certain genes in the cells--the function of certain tissues. Consider it the packing material around cells, the glue that connects them, and a chemical brew that sparks them.

Velleman, for her part, is studying the extracellular matrix of human skeletal muscle fibers and their accompanying satellite cells. Satellite cells repair and rebuild muscle fibers, and their presence and ability decline as a person gets older.

She's zeroing in on proteins called proteoglycans, which jump-start the actions of certain growth factors--specifically, growth factors that control how many satellite cells there are and what they do. She hopes to understand how the expression of proteoglycans in the extracellular matrix changes as a person ages, and what that means to the satellite cells.

"If I'm successful in determining differences between young and old muscle satellite cells, this will eventually lead to the development of gene therapy approaches to reduce age-mediated sarcopenia," she said. Sarcopenia is the technical term for muscle loss in the elderly.

Velleman works on OARDC's Wooster campus, where she studies the extracellular matrix in poultry as well. One of her main efforts looks at how genetically selecting turkeys and chickens to grow faster affects the formation of their muscles, the makeup and function of the extracellular matrix in those muscles, and the quality of meat that results. She's an international expert in the field and has been honored for her achievements, including by the international Poultry Science Association. Her findings help the U.S. poultry industry, which provides 360,000 jobs and earns $25 billion a year from broilers and turkeys alone, to be even more successful.

The Massachusetts native was a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow with the University of Pennsylvania's Medical School Connective Tissue Research Institute and an assistant professor in the University of Connecticut's Department of Animal Sciences before coming to OARDC in 1995.

Read more about her research at http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/velleman.

--By Kurt Knebusch