THE NEWSLETTER OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGISTS

III

Volume 26, Number 2

PRESIDENT'S LillER~~.....ASPP: We Serve Plant Scientists

To most ASPP members, as well as plant scien­tists who are not members, the role of the

Society is to publish research on a variety of aspectsof plant physiology and plant biology and toorganize an annual scientific meeting. Although wedo these things, we do much more to support ourmembership and foster the development of plantsCience education and research, both at a nationaland an international level. The focal point for theseactivities is the work done by members of a numberof standing committees: the Committee on PublicAffairs, the Education Committee, the Committeeon the Status of Women in Plant Physiology, andthe Minority Affairs Committee. In addition,another set of committees supports the operationsof ASPP: the Executive Committee, the Board ofTrustees, the Constitution and Bylaws Committee,the Membership Committee, the Program Commit­tee, and the Publications Committee.

Unless you attend the business meeting at ASPP'sannual conference, something which few people do(see the description of the Constitution and BylawsCommittee on page 4!), you most likely are unawareof what these committees accomplish. Thus, thepoint of this issue's president's letter is to educateyou about their ongoing activities. If you areinterested in contributing to the work of thesecommittees, I urge you to contact me or DebbyDelmer, ASPP president-elect. Although the Societyelects the Executive Committee, members of theother committees are appointed by the president­elect, with advice from the president and pastpresident. Not surprisingly, therefore, most of theappointees are ASPP members known to the

March/April 1999

president. Last year I was approached by only twopeople who expressed an interest in serving onstanding committees. So, if you have an interest inserving and experience that is appropriate to theseactivities, please let us hear from you! And now,the committees:

Public Affairs Committee, Louis Sherman, chair,Purdue University

The Public Affairs Committee was established in1993 to educate many different audiences, includ­ing the general public (especially K-12 students);scientists and students at universities and researchinstitutes; Congress; the Executive Branch; and sci­entific funding agencies such as the Departments ofEnergy and Agriculture, the National ScienceFoundation, and even the National Institutes ofHealth. In some cases, the committee works withthe Education Committee or the ASPP EducationFoundation to disseminate information on the im­portance of plants to society, how best to under­stand the nature of plant sciences, and how to es­tablish public policy relative to plant biotechnology.

During the course of a year, the committee'sgreatest effort is devoted to activities in Washing­ton, such as informing our representatives inCongress and their staff on the needs of research inplant sciences. These efforts are substantially aidedby the ASPP director of public affairs. This positionhas been key to our public affairs efforts and hasbeen filled ably by Brian Hyps since 1993. Brianrepresents a daily liaison to the representatives andcongressional staff involved with funding for theplant sciences. He also interfaces with members ofthe Executive Branch, as well as with program

continued on page 3

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~NSIDE...

T ASPP Scientists Win ARS Research AwardsT Activating Access to Online JournalsT ASPP Internship Program

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Future ASPP AnnualMeetings

2001Saturday, July 28, through

Wednesday, August 1

Providence, Rhode Island

. iiordan@aspp.arg

............... knoone@aspp.org

... gioncoll@ospp.orgInfo;-~~ii~~ ..;;;~~i~ii;i;·Perry Mosciono, ex!. 46

........... .. masciono@ospp.argMo~h" so;~lcos caa,dlnator,

Kelley Noone, ex!. 42 ..........Accounts moNablo asslstanl

Ru Yang, ext. 43 ruyong@ospp.argAJmlnlst,allvo asslstanl

Amy Vollmer, ext. 22 ovollmer@ospp.orgOlro(/or of publiC affairs, Brian M. Hyps, ext. 14

............................................................................... bhyps@aspp.orgFoundallan asslstanl, Janice Jordon, ext. 29

ASPPOFFICERS & STAFF

Exocutlvs dlroclor, John lisock, Jr., ex!. 15............................................................................... ilisock@ospp.arg

ExOCutiVB assistont, Donno Gordon, ext. 31............................................ . .. dgardan@ospp.org

Dlroclar of flnanco anJ oJmlnlstratlon,Suson K. Chomberl, ext. 11 chombers@aspp.arg

Accauntanl, 50ndro A. Gloncoll, ext. 40

Socllanal KoprosonlatlvosMIJweslern

Mork Brodl .. 309·341·7477Northeoslern

Alison Roberts .. 401·874-4098Southern

Marc A. Cohn................ .. 504-388·1464Woshington, DC

Janet P. Slavin 301-504·5629Weslern

Deon Delio Penna 702·784·6911

Headquarters Office15501 Monona Drive

Rockville, MD 20855-2768 USAPhone: 301-251-0560

Fax: 301-279-2996

DIf8c1~~"~"p~hji~~ii~~;:""""""'"Nancy A. Winchester, ext. 17

.......... .. nancyw@aspp.argPublications osslslant, Sylvia J. Broxton, ext. 33

........................................................................... sbroxtan@aspp.orgManoglng BIIllor, Planl PhysJa/oW,

(vacant) .Managing BIIilor, lIiE PlANT all,

Crispin B. Taylor, ext. 21 cloylar@aspp.argHaws anJ rovlows eJllar, THE PLANT CElL,

Horry B. Smith, ext. 19 hsmith@aspp.argProJuctlan eJllar, Planl Physiology,

Louren A. Ransome, ext. 30 lronsome@aspp.argProJuctlan oJllar, PanI Physiology,

Suzanne M. White, ext. 23 suzonne@ospp.orgProJuctlan oJilar, THE PlANT CElL,

Cotherlne A. Bologh, ext. 16 b<llogh@ospp.orgManuscrlpl managor, Annetle Kessler, ext. 20

........................................................................ okessler@ospp.orgManuscrlpl asslslanl, Kimberly A. Davis, ext. 24

........................................................................... kimdovls@aspp.orgManuscrlpl asslslanl, Stephanie M. Butlo, ext. 25

................................................................................ buna@ospp.org

ProslJonlBrion A. Larkins ....... .. ... 520·621·9958

ProslJonl-EloclDeborah Delmer .530·752·7561

ImmoJlolo Pasl PmlJonlKen Keegstra .. 517-353-2770

SarroloryDaniel R. Bush .. 217·333·6109

TroasurorTerri Lomax .. 541·737·5278

Chair, Board of TrusloosDouglas D. Randall 573·882-4847

Chair, Publlcotlons Commill"Rebecca Chason 202·628·1500

Chair, Commilloe an IhoStalus of Womsn In Plonl Physiology

Ann M. Hirsch 310·206·8673Chair, Cammlttoo on Mlnarlly Affairs

C. S. Prokosh 334·72]·8023Eloctod Mombors

Vicki l. Chandler 520·626·8725Joe Chappell 606·257·4624Notosho V. ROlkhel 517·353·3518

Contact: Nancy A. Winchester,Editor, ASPP NEWS, 15501Monona Drive, Rockville, MD20855-2768 USA; e-mailnancyw@aspp.org; telephone301-251-0560, ext. 17.

ASPP NEWS is distributed to allASPP members and is publishedsix limes annually, in odd­numbered months. It is editedand prepared by ASPP stafffrom material provided by ASPPmembers and other interestedparties.

Copy deadline is the 10th day ofthe preceding even-numberedmonth (for example, December10 for January/Februarypublication). Submif copy bye-mail whenever possible;submit all other copy by mail,not hy fax.

2000Saturday, JUly 15, through

Wednesday, July 19

San Diego, California

1999Saturday, July 24, through

Wednesday, July 28

Baltimore, MarylandASPP's 75th anniversary

meeting

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continued (rom page 1

directors at funding agencies. He contactsmembers of the Public Affairs Committeeand a nationwide electronic network of ASPP"Campus Contacts" immediately whenspeedy action is required to correct facts,provide new information, or ensure thatmany letters can be sent quickly in supportof ASPP objectives. The result has been thatreductions in funding are prevented in manyprograms and that, eventually, significantincreases in funding for specific programsthat support plant science research aregenerated. One of these efforts, the develop­ment of the Plant Genome ResearchInitiative, resulted in $40 million and $50million for plant genome research within theinitiative's first two years, respectively. Ourmajor effort was to develop a "plant" (asopposed to a "corn") genome initiative andto use "new" instead of existing funds­objectives we achieved. The involvement ofthe ASPP Public Affairs Committee in thiseffort resulted in an award from theAmerican Society of Association Execu­tives-a certificate in the single-issue federallegislative category. In turn, ASPP thankedSenator Christopher Bond (R-MO), who wasthe major congressional sponsor of thisinitiative, by providing him with the ASPPPublic Affairs Award in August 1998. In thisway, the Public Affairs Committee providedadded visibility for ASPP in the federalfunding process.

The committee also develops programs forthe ASPP annual meetirlg. Major speakersfrom funding agencies in recent years haveincluded Martha Krebs, scientific director atDOE, and Mary Clutter, NFS associatedirector, Directorate for Biological Sciences.And Rita Colwell, director of NSF, is thefeatured speaker in 1999. The presence ofthese scientific policymakers at our meetingensures meaningful two-way communicationbetween the agencies and the membership.The committee is eager to involve allinterested parties and welcomes yourcomments on existing'and new programs.We look forward to hearing from those ofyou who would like to volunteer your effortsfor public affairs.

Education Committee, John Markwell, chair,University of Nebraska

The Education Committee has evolved toview three separate clientele groups: ASPPmembers whoare engaged in education, theK-16 educational community, and thegeneral public. Many of the committee'sactivities are ongoing, although some specialprojects are completed and then replaced bynew efforts. On the whole, the nature of thecommittee's projects reflects the specificinterests of the current membership of the

committee as well as opportunities that arisefrom liaisons with the ASPP EducationFoundation.

Service to the membership is probablymost evident at the annual meeting, whereposters directed toward plant biologyeducation now share space with thetraditional research posters. The committeealso hosts an education workshop, textbookand laboratory-manual exhibits, andeducational demonstrations. Most of theseactivities take place around the Educationbooth, providing an area for members tonetwork with those of their colleagues alsointerested in education. The committee hassponsored Fast Plants workshops withsubsidized fees for ASPP members and iscurrently planning an additional workshopfor 2000.

Much of our recent activity for the K-16educational community has focused on thedevelopment of the Principles of PlantBiology: Concepts for Science Education.These principles (http://www.aspp.orgleducation/asppprin.htm) were initiated bythe ASPP Education Foundation and areintended to serve as an instrument topromote the incorporation of plant-basedmaterials and exercises into K-16 class­rooms. We have also given presentationsabout the principles to the Council of StateScience Supervisors in an initial effort tobegin to influence science educationstandards in individual states. In addition,we are organizing a "50 Most FrequentlyAsked Questions in Plant Biology" featurethat will be available through our Web sitealong with other useful educational links.

Efforts directed toward the general publicare generally carried out in close collabora­tion with the ASPP Education Foundation.Our project for 1998 was an exhibit called"Plants for the 21st Century" that ran forseveral months at Epcot and that was seen bytens of thousands of people. We are currentlyexploring new mechanisms for efficientlyexplaining the benefits of plants and plantresearch to the public.

Committee on the Status of Women in PlantPhysiology, Ann Hirsch, chair, University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles

CSWlPP is embarking on a new directionthis year. We will retain our interest inimproving opportunities for women in plantphysiology, but in addition we will beexamining careers outside academia. As partof this mission, we will be sponsoring aworkshop at Plant Biology '99 that includesspeakers from professions ranging frompatent law to regulatory affairs. The speakershold Ph.D. degrees in plant biology ormolecular biology/biochemistry and havechosen to work in alternative professions.They will address what a typical day in the

workplace is like, discuss how they gotinterested in and entered their profession,and present suggestions on how youngPh.D.s can seek out alternative careers.

Minority Affairs Committee, C. S. Prakash,chair, lUskegee University

Considering that less than 2 percent ofASPP's members are "underrepresentedminorities," the Minority Affairs Committee(MAC) clearly recognizes the need topromote ethnic diversity in the membershipand to foster greater participation ofminorities in plant sciences. Toward thisgoal, the "new" MAC builds on the vision ofits earlier members and is planning a rangeof activities. It is holding a minisymposiumon "Enhancing Ethnic Diversity in PlantSciences" at Plant Biology '99 in Baltimore,hosting a nationally relmowned speaker atthe Minority Luncheon at Plant Biology '99,and launching a minority membership drive.Further, it is planning to identify andpromote strategies for minority participationby facilitating networking, promotingmentoring, and building linkages betweenminority and mainstream institutions. TheASPP Web site will feature informativeresources such as links to minority organiza­tions, minority student databases, fundingopportunities, and mentoring resources.MAC is counting on advice and assistancefrom all members of the Society toward itsgoal of an ASPP membership that reflectsthe rich ethnic diversity of the United States.Please feel free to send your comments andsuggestions to C. S. Prakash, MAC chair, atprakash@tusk.edu.

Membership Committee, Laura Privalle,chair, Novartis Seeds, Inc.

The Membership Committee focuses onretaining current members and increasingmembership in the Society. Over the pastyear our activities and suggestions haveincluded (1) offering free membership toArabidopsis Group members who were notcurrently members of ASPp, (2) encouragingall campus representatives to identify twoprospective nonmembers and offer them freemembership in the Society, (3) increasingASPP visibility to prospective members bythe ASPP-at-a-glance calendar (the staff ofASPP put this together, and I think it turnedout great), (4) placing occasional pertinentannouncements on the Arabidopsis Groupbulletin board, and (5) reviewing newsletterformat and content suggestions. Thecommittee met twice last year-once withthen-president Ken Keegstra and once withthe ASPP Campus Contacts. The committeeconsists of representatives from each section,a representative from industry, a postdoc-

continued on page 4

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continued (rom page 3

toral fellow, and a small-college representa­tive. Ideas we are currently exploring includeexpanding membership benefits by offeringpublication reciprocity with other journalsand societies and encouraging interviews byindustry leaders at the annual meeting.Suggestions are always welcome!

Publications Committee, Rebecca Chasan,chair, American Institute of BiologicalSciences

The Publications Committee is dealingwith several important issues this year. Oneis the issue of whether to create a new ASPPjournal devoted to plant genomics. BobGoldberg was appointed to head an ad hoccommittee to report to the PublicationsCommittee about how such a journal couldbe implemented. After careful consideration,the Goldberg committee ultimately recom­mended that ASPP not start a new journal atthis time but that it instead actively seek topublish the highest-quality plant genomicsresearch and review articles in its existingjournals. The Publications Committeeagreed with this suggestion and hasdeveloped several recommendations for howthe Society can "test the waters" so that thequestion of whether a plant genomicsjournal should be started can be revisited ina couple of years.

Another issue facing the PublicationsCommittee is the need to identify a neweditor-in-chief for Plant Physiology in thewake of Maarten Chrispeels's decision to stepdown as of July 2000. Candidates will beidentified this spring (see ad on page 27),and interviews will be held this summer inBaltimore at Plant Biology '99. The Publica­tions Committee plans to make a recommen­dation to the Executive Committee at PlantBiology '99.

The committee is also working with staffto ensure the timely completion of ASPP'sfirst venture into textbook publishing,Biochemistry and Molecular Biology ofPlants, edited by Bob Buchanan, WilhelmGruissem, and Russell Jones. The ASPPCurrent Topics in Plant Physiology series hascome to an end, but the committee remainsinterested in reviewing new proposals foredited books that emerge from meetings andsymposia. For details, contact NancyWinchester, ASPP's director of publications.

Finally, the committee has worked withstaff to develop a job description for a sciencewriting and publishing intern. This three­year program will provide for one intern ayear, beginning this fall. More informationabout the internship can be found in thisnewsletter on page 7.

Constitution and Bylaws Committee, WilliamOutlaw, Jr., chair, Florida State University

The most important issue facing theConstitution and Bylaws Committee duringthis past year was a proposal that the annualbusiness meeting be eliminated. Eliminationwould require changes in both the constitu­tion and the bylaws of the Society. Poorattendance and the reactive nature of issuesbrought to the meeting were major argu­ments supporting elimination of themeeting. Maintenance of an open Societywith prominent membership representationwas the major argument against eliminatingof the meeting. The committee providedlanguage to the Executive Committee forelimination of the meeting but recom­mended against this action. Instead, thecommittee recommends changes to thebusiness meeting that would enhance itsvalue and generate interest among ASPPmembers.

Program Committee, Daniel Bush, chair,University of Illinois

ASPP's Program Committee organizes theSociety's annual meeting, which in recentyears has been given the name "PlantBiology." The chair of the committee is alsothe Society's secretary, and the committeeusually meets three times a year. The annualmeeting is one of ASPP's most visibleservices to members and offers unsurpassedopportunities for plant scientists from abroad range of disciplines to share theirknowledge. Because attendance at themeetings can sometimes reach 2,000,planning and logistics are often begun as faras five years in advance. When meetingvenues are recommended, the committeetakes into account factors such as conve­nient state-of-the-art meeting facilities,reasonable costs, accessible locations,transportation options, and interesting pre­post-meeting ambiance. The scientificprogram is crafted in stages so that themajor symposia are announced about a yearin advance, but the minisymposia areselected just a few months before themeeting to ensure that any "hot" topicsreceive proper coverage. Abstracts aresubmitted online through the Web, and afully searchable database is available severalmonths prior to the meeting and for yearsafterward. The meeting program andhousing and registration information arealso posted online. When appropriate, theProgram Committee coordinates joint back­to-back or side-by-side meetings with sisteror complementary organizations. Surveysare distributed to attendees at or after themeeting. The committee then analyzes thefeedback and incorporates many ideas intofuture meetings. It also recognizes theimportance of networking at the meeting

and designs workshops, committee meet­ings, extended poster sessions, and socialfunctions to facilitate this.

Board of Trustees, Douglas Randall, chair,University of Missouri

The Board of Trustees (BOT) includesthree ASPP members appointed by thepresident for three-year terms. The treasureris a fourth ex-officio member. The BOTprepares the annual budget for the ExecutiveCommittee's approval and oversees theSociety's investments. It works closely withthe treasurer to ensure the financial stabilityof the Society. Here's how the process works:The executive director prepares a draftbudget that is brought to the BOT meetingin late spring. The BOT reviews the Society'sinvestment strategy and considers theresults. It also hears, considers, and weighsthe results of the audit for presentation tothe Executive Committee. Audit recommen­dations that affect the budget and financialstability of the Society are addressed, butoperations factors are handled by theexecutive director and the OperationsSubcommittee (consisting of the president,past president, president-elect, and BOTchair). The BOT examines the draft budgeton a line-by-line basis with ongoing inputUustifications, explanations, etc.) from theexecutive director and staff. Adjustments aremade on the basis of projected income andcommitments, and the executive director isasked to prepare the budget for presentationto the Executive Committee just before theannual meeting. Although the executivedirector recommends staff salaries forapproval by the BOT as part of the draftbudget, the executive director's salary is aBOT/Operations Subcommittee decision. Thechair of the BOT submits the budgetrecommendation to the Executive Commit­tee for its final approval.

Executive Committee, Brian Larkins, chair,University of Arizona

The Executive Committee's agenda islargely the agenda of all the aforementionedcommittees. It is made up of the electedofficers, elected members and sectionalrepresentatives, the chair of the Board ofTrustees, and several of the standingcommittee chairs (the Committee on theStatus of Women in Plant Physiology, theMinority Affairs Committee, and thePublications Committee). It meets semian­nually to review the society's ongoingactivities and to make decisions on budget­ary issues. Your interests are very importantto this committee, so please don't hesitate tomake them known to its members!

Brian LarkinsUniversity of Arizona

larkins@biosci.arizona.edu

4 ___________. A_S_pp_N_EW_S _

ASPP Scientists Win ARS Resear(h Awards

Three ASPP members have receivedawards for their research from the

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of theU.S. Department of Agriculture.

Autar K. Mattoo, Katrina Cornish, andMichael J. Kasperbauer received their awardsat an ARS ceremony February 10. Each wasgiven a plaque, a cash award, and additionalresearch funding.

Dr. Mattoo, a plant physiologist andbiochemist, was named 1998 "DistinguishedSenior Research Scientist of the Year" forgroundbreaking research in plant metabo­lism that may help improve the quantity andquality of the world's food supply. He hasserved as research leader of the VegetableLaboratory at ARS's Beltsville, Maryland,Agricultural Research Center since 1997,heading the center's research in plantmolecular biology before that.

"Dr. Mattoo's research established theconcept that growth regulators calledpolyamines control some crucial planthormones. These hormones govern leafdecay and fruit ripening," explained ARSadministrator Floyd P. Horn. "Betterunderstanding of these polyamines can leadto fruits and vegetables that mature at moreconvenient times for growers." Mattoodeveloped methods to extend the shelf life oftomatoes and other crops. He designed aninnovative concept of protein regulation bylight, using a protein essential to photosyn­thesis. He also developed an ultrasensitivetest to detect residhal herbicides in soil andwater. His research has opened new areasworldwide in understanding how plantprotein function and protein expression areregulated.

Katrina Cornish received one of three ARSawards for "Outstanding Scientist of theYear." She is a plant physiologist currently atthe ARS Western Regional Research Centerin Albany, California. Dr. Cornish wasrecognized for creativity as a researcher. Herspecial studies focus on the biochemistry ofnatural rubber and the development ofhypoallergenic latex from guayule, a nativeshrub of the Southwest desert. Guayulepromises to be an alternative to the AsianHevea rubber tree, the world's primarysource of natural latex. Many people haveserious allergies to Hevea latex.

Dr. Cornish has also helped establish ascience workshop for local high schoolstudents. Scientists at the ARS WesternRegional Research Center conduct theannual, semester-long Agricultural ScienceAcademic Workshop. The dozen promisingstudents attend lectures at the center andconduct research experiments there. Theworkshop gives them an inside look atcareers in biotechnology, chemistry, foodsafety, human nutrition, and other scientificfields.

Michael 1. Kasperbauer, a plant physiolo­gist at the Coastal Plains Soil, Water andPlant Research Center, in Florence, SouthCarolina, was the recipient of the ARS "AreaSenior Research Scientist of the Year" awardfor the South Atlantic area (Florida, Georgia,North and South Carolina, Virginia, PuertoRico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands). He washonored for his work in the improvement ofthe yield of field-grown crops.

ASPP is pleased to honor these threemembers for their outstanding achievementsin plant science research.

AUlar Malaa

Kalrina Carnish

March/April 1999, Vol. 26, No.2 _--~-.:...--.:....._-----------------

5

Abbo" Laboratories Contributes to ASPP Education Foundation

Abbott Laboratories has joined with ASPPto support the efforts of the ASPP

Education Foundation to improve publicawareness of the importance of basic plantscience research in the world today.

As one of the world's leading health carecompanies, Abbott is dedicated to improvingthe lives of people through the discovery,development, manufacture, and marketing ofhealth care products and services. Innovativeproduct development is the result of theinternal research that is the primary driverof growth at Abbott. Products range frompharmaceutical, agricultural, and nutritionalto diagnostic and hospital products.

As an international company, Abbott has apresence in the United States, Latin America,Central and Eastern Europe, China, Vietnam,Korea, Taiwan, and Africa. It has 52,000

employees worldwide who extend the work ofAbbott into communities around the globe.

Investment in research and developmentwithin Abbott's own operations is augmentedby external collaborations. Abbott partneredwith the National Science Teachers Associa­tion to sponsor a comprehensive educationalscience program for high school studentsand supported a coalition for an educationaldoctoral program, the "Ph.D. Project." Inaddition, it contributes to organizationssuch as the ASPP Education Foundation thatshare its goals to improve lives throughsound scientific research.

The support of Abbott Laboratories helpsASPP and the ASPP Education Foundationstrengthen public awareness of the work ofplant scientists in research and productdevelopment.

Harmon and Chrispeels's problem with"higher plants" reminds me of the late

Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong's reply whenasked to define a "hepcat": "Man, if you gottaask, you'll never know!"

Sam WildmanEmeritus Professor

Santa Monica, CAswildman@ucla.edu

The chair of the Education (ammi"ee was incorrectly identified in aphoto in the January/February issue of the ASPP NEWS. The choir isJohn Markwell, pictured above.

6_

ASPPNEWS1-0- _

ASPP Internship Program

ASPP is developing a Scientific Writingand Publishing Internship program that

will run for three years and provide for oneintern a year, beginning in September 1999.Interns will be trained in science writing andother aspects of scientific publishing in amanner that will benefit both the studentand the Society. Students will enter the jobmarket in scientific journalism withextensive hands-on experience. In the longterm, it is hoped that the program willenhance the presence and influence of plantbiology in science journalism.

Interns will write four to six one-para­graph "Research Highlights" summarizingselected articles for each issue of Plant

New StaffA SPP is pleased to announce the follow­

ing new staff members:Donna Gordon is ASPP's new executive

assistant. She assists the executive director,John Lisack, with all functions of theexecutive office and the finance and adminis­tration department and works with boardmembers and other leaders. She alsoprovides support as needed to other Societydepartments and functions. Before comingto ASPP, Donna was employed for 15 years byFamily Services Agency; Inc. (FSAI), anonprofit mental bealth agency inGaithersburg, Maryland, where she served asexecutive administrative assistant/personnelspecialist and acting volunteer coordinator.

Amy Vollmer joined the Society inDecember 1998 as administrative assistant/receptionist. She is responsible for maintain­ing records, fulfilling member requests, anddirecting all incoming calls and is active inthe areas of customer service, data entry, andmembership renewal. Before joining ASPp,Amy worked extensively with children andfor other nonprofit organizations. She iscurrently pursuing a two-year general studydegree.

Ru Yang recently joined the Society as itsaccounts receivable specialist. Ru graduatedfrom the University of Maryland, CollegePark, in May 1995. Since her graduation shehas been working with various nonprofitorganizations. At ASPP she is responsible forposting payments to member records,invoicing, and assisting the accountant,Sondra Giancoli. She is currently workingon her CPA degree.

Physiology; write and edit several "In ThisIssue" columns for THE PLANT CELL;research and write other front-sectionarticles for THE PLANT CELL; and gainhands-on experience with peer-review andjournal production processes. They will alsogain exposure to the workings of the ASPPPublic Affairs Office and an appreciation forgeneral association management.

To qualify, candidates must have com­pleted their Ph.D. within the past year or bea senior Ph.D. candidate who has passedqualifying exams. Their thesis research mustinvolve modern plant biology, and they musthave broad appreciation for all areas of plantscience.

Donna Gordon, executive assistant

Amy Vollmer, administrative assistant

This position is salaried with healthbenefits. Interested candidates should senda cover letter, their C.V., and the names ofthree references, including their currentadviser, to the Director of Publications,American Society of Plant Physiologists,15501 Monona Drive, Rockville, MD 20855­2768. They will also need to submit (1) an"In This Issue"-type article highlighting arecent paper of their choosing from THEPLANT CELL and (2) a 150- to 200-wordparagraph summarizing a recent article inPlant Physiology.

The deadline for applications is April 30,1999. Additional details may be found on theWeb at http://aspp.orglJOBS/fell.htm.

Ru Yang, accounts receivable assistant

March/April 1999, Vol. 26, No.2 _----'---'----'--------------------- 7

Public Affairs--------------i~~•USDA Proposes 68 Percent Hike for NRI, 528 Million Increase for NRI Plant Research

The Department of Agriculture's proposedfiscal year 2000 budget provides $200

million for the USDA National ResearchInitiative, an $81 million, or 68 percent,increase over the FY99 level of $II9 million.The proposed budget provides $837 millionfor the Agricultural Research Service (ARS),compared to $786 million in 1999.

USDA is proposing an increase of $28million or 68 percent, for the NationalResearch Initiative Plant category forFY2000, which would bring support to$69 million.

NRI Natural Resources and the Environ­ment (which includes support for plantresearch) would receive $32 million, anincrease of 56 percent or $II.5 million,under the proposal.

The large increases proposed for NRI areexpected to face some obstacles in gainingapproval when considered in the appropria­tions process in Congress. Formula funds inthe president's budget are below last year'slevel. USDA budget documents note that theproposed increases for competitive projectsare offset by decreases in formula funds andnoncompetitive projects slated for reduc­tions because of constrained budgetresources. "The additional flexibilityprovided in the Research Reform Act, wherea portion of the formula funds can be used tosupport either research or extensionprojects, allows states more authority to usefederal funds in addressing their highestpriority needs," the department said.

The question of funding competitivegrants at the expense of some support forformula funds produces conflicts within theresearch community. Some land-grantinstitution administrators are expected tolead efforts to increase the appropriation forformula funds, which would require findingfunds in another account. Supporters ofincreased funding for crop insurance andother programs may seek a reallocation offunds proposed in the department's budget.

USDA budget documents said that addi­tional support is needed for the NRI to ad­dress a wide range of environmental, humanhealth, and nutrition concerns through addi­tional investments in biotechnology and ani­mal and plant genetics, global change re­search, food safety and human nutrition re­search, animal waste management, andvalue-added agricultural commodities.

The department is proposing spendingmandatory funds totaling $120 million thisyear for the Initiative for Future Agricultureand Food Systems. Competitive grants of upto five years would be awarded to supportagricultural research. Under a law passed byCongress, the Initiative for Future Agricul­ture and Food Systems would addresspriority mission areas (at least in the firstyear) in food genome, food safety, foodtechnology and human nutrition, new andalternative uses and production of agricul­tural commodities and products, agriculturalbiotechnology, and natural resourcemanagement, including precision agricul­ture. The secretary of agriculture can changeor add to the list of priority mission areas inFY2000.

The Initiative for Future Agriculture andFood Systems was not put in place last year.Instead about half the $120 million went tothe NRI, the ARS, and other researchprograms. A representative of the HouseAppropriations Committee said the commit­tee feared that USDA would not put togetheran adequate program with the initiative,considering the record of the department increating the now-defunct Fund for RuralAmerica.

The Fund for Rural America program wasunderstaffed, and a number of life scientistscited the lack of virtually any comment onrejected proposals. Some of the researchsupported related more to rural developmentthan to agriculture. If the Initiative forFuture Agriculture and Food Systems isfunded, the department may make its focusprimarily one of applied research. Some inthe research community are advocating thatthe initiative be administered by the NRI tohelp assure that it is managed effectively. Itis not known at this point if mandatoryfunds for the initiative will be spent byCongress for the initiative in FY2000.

At a House Appropriations Subcommitteeon Agriculture hearing February 10 onUSDA's FY2000, budget, Secretary DanGlickman noted that the overall increase forresearch at USDA is 8 percent this year,which is the highest proposed by thedepartment in at least a decade.

Glickman said that he sees research usingbiotechnology as a key area of concentrationto help U.S. farmers feed Americans and ahungry world while using fewer pesticides

and less fertilizer and making more efficientuse of fresh water. His comments cited thebenefits to both food production and theenvironment offered by research usingbiotechnology.

Congressman George Nethercutt (R-WA)of the subcommittee questioned whether thedepartment may be decreasing its emphasison production agriculture by seeking some$35 million for climate change research.Nethercutt said this money could go toproduction agriculture research. Glickmancommented that even slight changes intemperature can have significant effects onagricultural production. He said it is notknown whether we are heading into anaturally caused or human-caused cycle ofweather changes, but that the earth has along history of changes in temperature thatwe need to prepare for with adequateresearch.

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Plant Genome Research Up 10Percent in NSF Budget Request to $55 Million

The proposed budget for fiscal year 2000for the National Science Foundation

Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) is$408.62 million, an increase of 4.5 percentover FY99. Within the directorate there is a10 percent increase proposed for plantgenome research, which would bringspending to $55 million.

Also within the BIO directorate, theMolecular and Cellular Sciences budgetwould increase 3.3 percent to $105 million;the Integrative Biology and Neurosciencebudget would increase 4 percent to $94.26million; Environmental Biology wouldincrease 4.1 percent to $89.45 million; andBiological Infrastructure would increase 3.6percent to $64.91 million.

This year's budget request includes thelargest increase that NSF has proposed forplant genome research since the PlantGenome Research Initiative was launched inFY98. Increases in plant genome research of$40 million in FY98 and an additional $10million in FY99 were enacted by Congress inlegislation sponsored by Senator ChristopherBond (R-MO). Mary Clutter, who heads theBIO Directorate, and NSF director RitaColwell succeeded in winning increasedsupport for plant genome research in theproposed FY2000 budget. If enacted, thetotal increase in plant genome research fromFY98 to FY2000 will total $145 million.

NSF noted that BIO'slole in plantgenomics has been significant. Plant genomeresearch (PGR) wiU advance the understand­ing of the structure, organization, andfunction of plant genomes and build on anexisting base of genome research supportedthrough the BIO activity. NSF budgetdocuments noted that PGR is acceleratingutilization of new knowledge and innovativetechnologies to achieve a more completeunderstanding of basic biological processesin plants, with emphasis on economicallysignificant species.

NSF noted that PGR is an area of emerg­ing importance with connections to theInformation Technologies initiative. PGR willbenefit significantly from the technologicalbreakthroughs coming out of InformationTechnologies, NSF added.

NSF budget documents said the$5 million proposed increase for PGR to$55 million will-• Provide enhanced support within the PGRprogram for research on structural andfunctional genomics and for strengtheningthe research infrastructure necessary forrobust plant genomics research. As the era ofgenome sequencing matures, the advent of

"functional genomics" is at hand, NSF noted.Functional genomics relates the expressionand regulation of genes and the proteinsthey encode on a genomic scale to thefunctioning of whole organisms.• Facilitate analysis of genes of environmen­tal value, such as those that confer resistanceto diseases or allow plants to live onmarginal soils.• Develop and improve plant genomicsdatabases and develop new algorithms andother tools for searching these databases.

Three broad NSF-wide efforts in theFY2000 budget are Biocomplexity in theEnvironment, Information Technologies,and Education for the Future. Biocomplexityin the Environment (BE) includes a set ofincreasingly coordinated activities in biology,environmental science, engineering, andeducation. BIO will provide $124.33 millionfor BE, an increase of $7.43 million over theFY99 level of $116.9 million for activitiesformerly known as Life and Earth's Environ­ment. BE highlights indude-• Biodiversity and Ecosystems Dynamics(BED), for funding of $105.63 millionincluding an increment of $4.9 million thatwill-

- stimulate new approaches tounderstanding biocomplexity and itsrole in ecosystem dynamics, incorporat­ing contributions from a range ofdisciplines- accelerate a paradigm shift inecosystem science making full use ofstate-of-the-art technologies- focus on integrated ecosystemscience, information integration andtransfer, and technological innovationsto enhance the scientific informationbase needed for effective stewardship ofthe nation's natural resources.

• Environment and the Human Dimension(EHD), which will receive an increment of$2.53 million for a total of $13.9 million tosupport a new postdoctoral program inmicrobial biology and other education andresearch resource-related activities.Continued support will be provided forstudies of human-dominated ecosystemswhere long-term benchmark records ofcritical ecological processes will be devel­oped.• Global and Environmental Change, whichtotals $4.8 million in FY2000 and willmaintain support for research on theresponses of vegetation to and the impacts ofvegetation on hydrologic and energy cycles,at scales from individual plant species toecosystems.

In a related effort, NSF will fund a$50 million targeted special effort inbiocomplexity. This effort will be devoted tounderstanding the complex interdependen­cies among living organisms and theenvironments that affect, sustain, and aremodified by them. This multidisciplinarybiocomplexity initiative will apply the latesttools and insights developed across all fieldsof science and engineering to the study ofenvironmental systems. The FY2000competition will emphasize enhancing ouranalytical and predictive capabilities byintegrating knowledge across disciplines.Observational capabilities will be expandedand upgraded to support such integratedefforts. An NSF official acknowledged that alldisciplines, including plant research, have abasis for seeking to participate in this$50 million effort in biocomplexity.

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March/April 1999, Vol. 26, No.2 _------'---------------------- 9

DOE Energy Biosciences Seeks $31.2 Million in FY2000,Announces Program on Research in Carbon Management

The Department of Energy Division ofEnergy Biosciences would receive

$31.226 million in its Basic Energy Sciencesbudget for fiscal year 2000, compared to$29.862 million in FY99, under thedepartment's proposed budget.

The division supports basic plant andmicrobial research. Amajor initiative for thesecond straight year is its carbon manage­ment program. The division took part in arecent DOE program announcement thatincludes support of fundamental plantresearch in carbon management. Plantscientists conducting research related to thisarea were encouraged to contact the Office ofEnergy Biosciences and submit a pre­application by February 16, 1999. The

program announcement can be found on theASPP homepage at http://aspp.org in thepublic affairs section. The announcementwas sent bye-mail to ASPP CampusContacts. The formal application deadline isApril 1, 1999.

ASPp, in discussions with DOE Office ofScience (formerly the Office of EnergyResearch) Director Martha Krebs, urgedDOE support for basic plant research incarbon management. Dr. Krebs discussedcarbon management during a presentationat ASPP's annual meeting in Vancouver inAugust 1997. Greg Dilworth and Jim Tavares,of the Division of Energy Biosciences,worked within DOE to seek inclusion in thecarbon management program.

Carbon management funds and otherfunds for the Division of Energy Bioscienceswere endangered by a typographical error inthe Senate appropriations subcommitteereport for FY99 that ASPP public affai rs staffsucceeded in getting corrected. ASPPCampus Contacts also beat back a$2.5 million earmark that would have takenfunds from the Division of Energy Bio­sciences in the FY99 budget.

USDA·CSREES, ASPP Coordinate Science Societies Research Stakeholder Forum u.s. Rice Genome Sequencing Research

M ore than a dozen scientific societiesmade presentations on priority areas of

research to USDA officials within theCooperative State Research, Education, andExtension Service (CSREES) March 12 aspart of a stakeholder forum that ASPP helpedcoordinate. ASPP president Brian Larkins,ASPP Committee on Public Affairs chair LouSherman, and ASPP Committee on PublicAffairs member Jim Cook (also past presidentof the American Phytopathological Society),sent out the letters of invitation.

Presentation of each society's prioritiesprovided helpful input from the researchcommunity for use by CSREES officialsincluding National Research Initiative (NRI)program officers, Natural Resources and theEnvironment program officers, CSREESHigher Education Program staff, and others.

The Scientific Society Stakeholder InputMeeting was held near NRI offices in theAerospace Building in Washington, DC. Eachsociety's representative was given 20 minutesto discuss research priorities with CSREESstaff.

Outreach efforts of ASPP members Dr.Anne Datko, who directs the NaturalResources and the Environment Divisionand the Enhancing Value and Use ofAgriculture and Forest Products Division,Dr. Ed Kaleikau, director of the PlantDivision and Markets, Trade and RuralDevelopment Division, and Liang-Shiou Lin,director of Plant Genetic Mechanisms, made

this opportunity for stakeholder input by theresearch community possible.

The meeting included presentations froma number of USDA officials. Sally Rockey,Deputy Administrator, Competitive ResearchGrants and Awards Management, chaired themeeting and offered opening remarks and apresentation on the National ResearchInitiative Competitive Grants Program;Robin Huettel spoke on Plant and AnimalSystems; Boyd Post on Natural Resourcesand Environment; Jeff Gilmore on Scienceand Education Resource Development;Henry Bahn on Economic and CommunitySystems; and Charles Cleland on SmallBusiness Innovation Research.

Participating societies included ASPp, theEntomological Society of America, C-FARE,the/American Society of HorticulturalSCience, the Society for Range Management,the Society of Nematologists, the AmericanSociety for Nutritional Science, the Ecologi­cal Society of America, the Rural SociologySociety, the Tri-Societies (Agronomy, Crop,and Soil Sciences), and the Weed ScienceSociety. The American PhytopathologicalSociety was not present but made a writtensubmission.

The stakeholder forum offered eachparticipating society equal participationrights with the opportunity to develop itsown priorities and have its own societyrepresentative present the priorities directlyto key USDA officials.

An interagency request for proposals forrice genome sequencing research was

published February 3 in the Federal Register.The full text of the program announcementwas placed on the ASPP homepage at http://aspp.org in the public affairs section.

As a collaborative, interagency effort, theCooperative State Research, Education, andExtension Service (CSREES) of the Depart­ment of Agriculture, the National ScienceFoundation, and the Department of Energyis soliciting proposals for the U.S. RiceGenome Sequencing projects. Proposals aredue May 4, 1999. The purpose of thisinteragency program announcement is tosolicit proposals to initiate systematicsequencing of the rice genome in the UnitedStates as part of an international effort thatincludes the Rice Genome Program of Japan.

The ultimate goal of this project is tosequence the entire rice genome as a modelmonocot (grass) species. The target date forcompletion is before 2008. Initially, it isanticipated that up to three 3-year awardswill be made through this program in fiscalyear 1999 contingent on the quality ofproposals received and the availability offunds.

10 ______________________A_S_pp_N_EW_S _

Plant Research May Improve Iron Content of Crops to Benefit Hliman Health

ARS Increases Support for Plant Genome Research with New Gene Data Center andGene-Analyzing Machines

A news release from the AgriculturalResearch Service reports that plant

scientist and ASPP member Michael Grusakis attempting to improve the iron content ofstaple crops such as rice. This endeavorwould especially benefit people in developingcountries, who eat mostly vegetarian diets.Only 5 percent of the iron in plants isbioavailable (usable by the body as anutrient). By contrast, 30 percent to 50percent of the iron in meat is usable.

Plants hoard iron, using the proteinferritin to store it in seeds and leaves. Butferritin also binds iron, making it hard forthe body to use. Rice has only six parts permillion (ppm) iron after milling.

Most pea seeds have 60 ppm iron, so thatpound for pound, peas yield more iron than

The u.s. Department of Agricultureannounced that it will establish a new

gene data research center at CornellUniversity in Ithaca, New York. It also willacquire eight new automated machines tospeed analyses of plant, animal, andmicrobial genes. •

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS)will operate the new Center forBioinformatics and Comparative Genomicsat sites in Ithaca and Geneva, New York,where ARS already has research labs.

The USDA-funded center will aid research­ers around the world in their quest todiscover all the genes in grains like corn,wheat, and rice and in plants of the familythat includes tomatoes, potatoes, andpeppers.

The ARS labs receivIng the new DNAanalyzers are located in Albany, California;Ft. Pierce, Florida; Athens, Georgia; Ames,Iowa; Beltsville, Maryland; Clay Center,Nebraska; Orient Point, New York; andWyndmoor, Pennsylvania. In Albany,California, biotechnologists will use one ofthe instruments at the ARS WesternRegional Research Center and the Plant

rice. Diggle peas have a whopping 250 ppmto 280 ppm iron. In fact, the plant ships somuch iron to its leaves and seeds that iteventually poisons itself.

Plants move iron to seeds with a specialbiochemical. Grusak's hypothesis is thatDiggle peas employ a different transportchemical. If Diggle's trait is genetic andtransferable to other crops, the idea wouldbe to turn it "on" when a crop is makingseeds, but keep it "off' at other times so theplant doesn't overdose on iron. Grusak'sresearch provides one of a number ofexamples of plant research that can addresshuman health problems.

Gene Expression Center operated by ARS andthe University of California, Berkeley. Thescientists will examine genetic material frommicrobes as well as from rice, wheat, andArabidopsis thaliana. The new DNA analyzersshould enhance USDA's contribution tointernational projects to sequence all thegenes in Arabidopsis and rice, ARS said.

ARS research on plant genomes is animportant federal component in support ofthe National Plant Genome Initiative.Through research in the public and privatesectors, the initiative aims to improve plantsto address regional, national, and globalproblems. These include problems of foodsupply, human nutrition and health,environmental quality, agricultural andforestry resource supply and quality, energysupply, and rural economies. The initiative iscoordinated by an interagency workinggroup of the cabinet-level National Scienceand Technology Council. Federal competitivegrant funds in support of the initiative comelargely from NSF, USDA, the Department ofEnergy, and the National Institutes ofHealth.

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March/April 1999, Vol. 26, No.2 _--~---------------------

11

_TU~RN=ING=-PO_IN_T_~~T

The Path from Ni'trogen Assimilo'lion to Brossinosteroids

Kenneth A. FeldmannAssociate ProfessorUniversity of Arizona andDirector of Plant Genomic TechnologiesCeres, Inc.

I was first introduced to Arabidopsis 22years ago when I chose to pursue a

master's degree with Jean Amos at theUniversity of Northern Iowa. I characterizedthe level of chromosomal instability in agingcallus from various explants on differentcallus-inducing media (CIM). This researchshowed that long-term exposure to tradi­tional CIM would make it very difficult toregenerate whole fertile plants. In additionto the low frequency of regenerated plants,the regenerants were often abnormal inmorphology. These results would influencemy later approach to gene tagging.

I went on to Ohio State University topursue a Ph.D. with Randy Scholl. Icontinued to work on various approaches toregenerating plants from Arabidopsis tissuecultures and developed a variety of screeningprotocols for the isolation of biochemicalmutants. I decided to focus my Ph.D.research program on a collection of nitrogenuptake and metabolism mutants that I hadisolated from EMS-generated populations ofArabidopsis. Mutants in nitrogen uptake andreduction were readily isolated because oftheir resistance to chlorate. Althoughgenetic, physiological, and biochemicalanalyses were possible with these mutants,gene isolation was not feasible at the time. Abetter mutagen was needed.

In 1985, I moved to Zoecon, Inc., in PaloAlto, California, to embark on a postdoctoralfellowship with Michael Christianson.Zoecon was interested in Arabidopsis bothfor the isolation of herbicide-resistantmutants and as a model system for transfor­mation. I was interested in developing agene-tagging system for Arabidopsis, andMichael was very supportive of this approach.Remember that it was just two years earlierthat the first transgenic plants weregenerated (Zambryski et aI., 1983), and itwould be yet another year before the firstsuccessful Agrobacterium-mediatedtransformation of Arabidopsis was reported(Lloyd et aI., 1986). There was very littleinformation pertaining to the number ofindependent insertion sites in these earlytransformants, but reconstruction analyses

with the T-DNA as probe indicated that thenumber of T-DNAs per plant could be high.As such, Michael and I hoped that it wouldbe possible to establish a transformationprotocol that would result in transformantswith an increased number of independent T­DNA insertions. We used the sulfur locus inNicotiana as a model system for this strategy.This locus is an interesting one in thatwildtypes, homozygotes, and heterozygotescan be distinguished from each other bychanging the light conditions. Nicotiana wasused because it was so easy to regenerateplants. We were not successful in increasingthe number of independent insertion sitesper transformant, but what was critical forme was the lesson that wounding was notnecessary for transformation and thatvarious types of tissues could be trans­formed.

Along with the work on tobacco, Icontinued to work on transformation ofArabidopsis with M. David Marks. Our goalwas to minimize the amount of time that thetissues had to be in culture before regenera­tion. Applying a regeneration regime thatChristianson and Warnick (1984) haddeveloped for Convulvulis arvensis, thecommon field bindweed, we were able toproduce regenerated shoots fromArabidopsis explants in less than two weeks.Explants of leaves or stems were harvested,transferred to a CIM for five to seven days,and then transferred to a shoot-inducingmedium (SIM) until small plants formed.After a short exposure to a root-inducingmedium, the plants could be transferred tosoil and three to five weeks later seeds couldbe harvested (Feldmann and Marks, 1986).However, when David and I used thisprocedure for Agrobacterium-mediatedtransformation, we found that the tissueshad to remain on the CIM and SIM forlonger periods of time and that there was aconcomitant increase in somaclonalvariation in the resulting transformed plants.As we found a better way to transformArabidopsis we abandoned this approach.Nonetheless, this strategy has been used byseveral laboratories to develop transgenicArabidopsis plants (e.g., Valvekens, 1988). [nfact, Csaba Koncz made several thousandtransformants utilizing this strategy and hasbeen able to sort through the putativesomaclonal variants to isolate several genesdue to T-DNA insertion (Koncz et aI., 1992;

Szekeres et aI., 1996). It remains a valuableapproach because expression constructs canbe visualized in the primary regenerants.

In my first year at Zoecon, I also isolated anumber of mutants in Arabidopsis that wereresistant to two herbicides, norflurazon andchlorsulfuron. Michael insisted that I presentthese results at an annual meeting of theWeed Science Society, which, in 1986, was inHouston, Texas. Suffice it to say that 12­minute talks on nozzle sprayer size andherbicide biochemistry did not hold myattention very long, and I spent most of mytime in the bar reading. [ had with me the1985 issue of the Arabidopsis InformationService, which contained an article byLedoux and colleagues (1985) describingtransformation of imbibing seeds ofArabidopsis with human DNA. This articlereally piqued my curiosity. In retrospect, thisseries of events defined my turning point.

As I thought about the results of ourexperiments with Nicotiana; the recentreport that an exogenously suppliedchemical, acetosyringone, could induce T­DNA transfer (Stachel et aI., 1985); and thecharacteristics of a seed and embryo inArabidopsis, I began to think that it might bepossible to transform imbibing seeds withAgrobacterium. It seemed like it should bepossible for Agrobacterium to enter themicropyle, swim to the shoot meristem, andmove through the thin-walled expandingcells of the epidermis to the cells that wouldeventually give rise to the gametes. When Ireturned to Palo Alto, I set up an experimentin which I imbibed seeds for varying lengthsof times at room temperature and at 4°Cbefore adding Agrobacterium. After a 24­hour cocultivation, the seeds were sown onsoil and grown to maturity. The progenywere collected and plated on agar platescontaining selective media (kanamycin). Inmid-May of 1986, David and I identified ourfirst whole plant-derived transformants.

Molecular and genetic analyses of thesetransformants gave us our first indicationthat each of the transformants appeared tobe unique (Feldmann and Marks, 1987;Feldmann, 1991). This finding surprised us,because we had anticipated thatAgrobacterium would transform a sporog­enous cell in the embryo or an epidermal cellfrom layer 1 that would replace a sporog­enous cell in layer 2. Fortuitously, it becameclear that Agrobacterium was somehow

12 ______________________A_S_pp_N_EW_S _

carried along as the infected plant developedand that in the flower the Agrobacteriumwas induced to transfer the T-DNA to a cellthat leads to a single zygote.

David and I realized that we had beenlucky with this initial experiment, becausewe were not able to achieve the same high­transformation frequency in subsequentexperiments. However, we did come tounderstand that there was a window ofopportunity during imbibition and that theenvironmental regime in which the infectedplants were grown was important. Still, fromthe first 500 transformants, we identifiedseveral interesting mutants for which wewere able to use the T-DNA tag as a vehiclefor isolating the disrupted gene. Three ofthese initial mutants (gll-43, dwfl-1 anddwf5-1) would serve to launch David into 12years of research in trichome developmentand me into brassinosteroid biosynthesis. By1987, it had become clear that T-DNAinsertion mutagenesis was going to be apowerful approach to gene tagging inArabidopsis.

David moved to a faculty position at theUniversity of Nebraska to work on trichomedevelopment, and I moved to DuPont towork with Ralph Quatrano on two dwarfmutants that we had identified in the T-DNApopulation. Our work on one of these dwarfs,dwfl, was published in Science; it was thefirst mutant shown to cosegregate with a T­DNA insertion (Feldmann et aI., 1989).However, physiological studies on the twodwarfs and the gene sequence of own gaveus no clues about whicH pathway might beaffected. When I a~sumed a senior scientistposition AT DUPONT, I turned my attentionto trying to understand the unpredictablenature of the seed transformation process togenerate a much larger population oftransformants. By conducting large numbersof transformation experiments, we were ableto generate another 8,000 transformed lines.Many of these lines were distributed toacademic collaborators.

In the hope that I could help move scienceforward more expeditibusly, I loaded up thedwarfs and moved to a faculty position at theUniversity of Arizona late in 1990. In my firstyear there, my colleagues and I generatedanother 6,000 transformed lines and, withthe help of numerous associates, screenedthese for mutant phenotypes. These lineswere widely disseminated through theArabidopsis Biological Resource Center atOhio State University. They have provenuseful to the isolation of genes in manybiochemical and developmental pathways.The excitement of this approach led othersto develop more reliable whole planttransformation systems (Chang et al.,1994;Bechtold, Ellis, and Pelletier,1993).

Further exploiting T-DNA insertionmutagenesis, Rich Meagher and I collabo­rated to develop a PCR-based reversegenetics system for the T-DNA population wehad generated (McKinney and Meagher,1995). This endeavor worked out as wepredicted, and my lab went on to set up ahigh-throughput strategy with P450 genesin collaboration with Rene Feyereisen andDavid Galbraith (Winkler et aI., 1998).

The mutants identified in the transformedpopulations served to launch studies in anumber of biochemical and developmentalpathways, including our work onbrassinosteroid (BR) biosynthesis. Inaddition to dwfl-l. we identified 13 otherdwarf mutants from the transformedpopulation that mapped to six additionalcomplementation groups. We have shownthat all these dwarfs were defective in BRbiosynthesis or perception. Although all themutants were not due to a functional T-DNAinsert, theT-DNA tags in dwfl-l and dwf4-1 gave us abig push into the BR field. In fact, the wild­type genes have now been identified for allseven original loci [Choe et aI., 1998 (dwf4),1999a (dwf7/ste1), 1999b (dwfl); Szekeres etaI., 1996 (cpd/dwf3); Li et aI., 1996 (det2/dwf6), Li and Chory, 1997 (bri/dwf2); Choe etaI., unpublished results (dwf5)]. In addition,we have identified seven new loci in BRbiosynthesis and perception (dwf8-dwfl4; S.Choe, F. Tax, A Tanaka, A Ross, B. Gregory,and K. A. Feldmann, unpublished results).The continued characterization of BRbiosynthesis and its role in regulating plantgrowth and development will keep us busyfor many years to come!

In closing, I wish to thank my manyfriends, mentors, colleagues, postdocs,technicians, graduate and undergraduatestudents, and funding agencies, withoutwhose support this research could not havebeen accomplished. Specialacknowledgement is given to MichaelChristianson and M. David Marks, withoutwhose guidance and friendship this turningpoint would not have been reached.

References

Bechtold, N., Ellis, J., and Pelletier, G.(1993). In planta Agrobacterium mediatedgene transfer by infiltration of adultArabidopsis thaliana plants. C.R. Acad.Sci., Paris 316, 1188-1193.

Chang, S.-S., Park, S.-K., Kim, B. C., Kang,B. J., Kim, D. U., and Nam, H.-G. (1995).Stable genetic transformation ofArabidopsis thaliana by Agrobacteriuminoculation in planta. Plant J. 5, 551-558.

Choe, S., Dilkes, B. P., Fujioka, S., Takatsuto,S., Sakurai, A., and Feldmann, K. A.

.. '..

Kenneth A. Feldmann

(1998). Arabidopsis DWF4 encodes acytochrome P-450 that mediates multiplesteps of 22a-hydroxylation in brassino­steroid biosynthesis. Plant Cell 10,231-243.

Choe, S., Dilkes, B. P., Gregory, B. D., Ross,A. S., Yuan, H., Noguchi, T., Fujioka, S.,Takatsuto, S., Tanaka, A, Yoshida, S., Tax,F. E., and Feldmann, K. A. (1999a).Arabidopsis dwfl is defective in theconversion of 24-methylenecholesterol tocampesterol in brassinosteroid biosynthe­sis. Plant Physiol. 119,897-907.

Choe, S., Noguchi, T., Fujioka, S., Takatsuto,S., Tanaka, A, Yoshida, S., Tax, F. E., andFeldmann, K. A. (1999b). The Arabidopsisdwf7 (stel-2) mutant is defective in the/17 sterol C-5 desaturation step leading tobrassinosteroid biosynthesis. Plant Cell11, 207-221.

Christianson, M. L. and Warnick, D. A.(1984). Phenocritical times in the processof in vitro shoot organogenesis. Dev. BioI.101, 382-390.

Feldmann, K. A (1991). T-DNA insertionmutagenesis in Arabidopsis: mutationalspectrum. Plant J. 1,71-83.

Feldmann, K. A, and Marks, M. D. (1986).Rapid and efficient regeneration of plantsfrom explants of Arabidopsis thaliana.Plant Science 47, 63-69.

Feldmann, K. A., and Marks, M. D. (1987).Agrobacterium-mediated transformationof germinating seeds of Arabidopsisthaliana: A non-tissue culture approach.Molec. Gen. Genet. 208, 1-9.

continued on page 14

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continued {rom"page 13

Feldmann, K. A., and Marks, M. D.,Christianson, M. 1., and Quatrano, R S.(1989). Adwarf mutant of Arabidopsisgenerated by T-DNA insertion mutagen­esis. Science 243, 1351-1354.

Koncz, C., Nemeth K., Redei, G. E, andSchell, J. (1992). T-DNA insertionalmutagenesis in Arabidopsis. Plant Mol.BioI. 20, 963-976.

Ledoux, 1., Diels, 1., Thiry, M. E., Hoohge,R., Maluszynska, Y., Merckaert, C., Pi ron,J. M., Ryngaert, A. M., and Remy, J. (1985).Transfer of bacterial and human clones togerminating Arabidopsis thaliana. Arab.lnf. Servo 22,1-11.

Li, J., Nagpal, E, Vi tart, v., McMorris, T. C.,and Chory, J. (1996). Arole forbrassinosteroids in light-dependentdevelopment of Arabidopsis. Science 272,398-401.

Li, J., and Chory, J. 1997. Aputative leucine­rich repeat receptor kinase involved inbrassinosteroid signal transduction. Cell90, 929-938.

Lloyd, A. M., Barnason, A. R., Rogers, S. G.,Byrne, M. C., Fraley, R T., and Horsch,R B. (1986). Transformation of Arabi­dopsis thaliana with Agrobacteriumtumefaciens. Science 234, 464-466.

McKinney E. C., and Meagher, R B. (1995).Members of the Arabidopsis actin genefamily are widely dispersed in the genome.Genetics 149, 663-675.

Stachel, S. E., Messens, E., Van Montagu, M.,and Zambryski, P. (1985). Identification ofthe signal molecules produced bywounded plant cells that activate T-DNAtransfer in Agrobacterium tumefaciens.Nature 318, 624-629.

Szekeres, M., Nemeth, K., Koncz-Kalman, Z.,Mathur, 1., Kauschmann, A., Altmann, T,Redei, G. E, Nagy, E, Schell, J., and Koncz,C. (1996). Brassinosteroids rescue thedeficiency of CYP90, a cytochrome P450,controlling cell elongation and de­etiolation in Arabidopsis. Cell 85,171-182.

Valvekens, D., Van Montagu, M., andLijsebettens, M. (1988). Agrobacteriumtumefaciens-mediated transformation ofArabidopsis root explants using kanamycinselection. Proc. Nat!. Acad. Sci. USA 85,5536-5540.

Winkler, R, Frank, M., Galbraith, D. w.,Feyereisen, R, and Feldmann, K. A.(1998). Systematic reverse genetics of theP450 superfamily in Arabidopsis. PlantPhysiol. 118, 743-750.

Zambryski, E, Joos, 1., Genetello, C.,Leeman, J., Van Montagu, M., and Schell,J. (1983). Ti-plasmid vector for theintroduction of DNA into plant cellswithout alteration of their normalregeneration capacity. EMBO J. 2,2143-2150.

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by JUNE 21 to be

counted.

14 _I- A_SP_P_N_EW_S _

ASPP Education Forunl----------~~~

T

Helping to Shape the Future forPlant Biology Education

These are exciting times for plant biology.Interest in and funding for plant

research is increasing. The words "plantbiology" are heard in the halls of Congress,appear on the front pages of the New YorkTimes and the Washington Post, and havebecome a topic on television specials. Severalplant genomes will soon be mapped, andsome are nearing complete sequencing.

These are exciting times as well for scienceeducation. Interest has been fueled by somecontroversy-over the national sciencestandards; over the quality of scienceeducation in the United States; and over thebest mechanisms for evaluating students,courses, and program effectiveness. Interesthas also been fueled by some emergingresources in science education-newresearch findings and techniques excitepublic interest in science; new technologiesenable faculty to create new ways to teachand ignite students' interest in theirdiscipline; research on how people learnscience is being translated into betterclassroom practices; funding agencies areoffering support for faculty efforts to addressproblems in science education; and profes­sional societies and jou(J1als are beginningto acknowledge the importance of educationto their discipline.lIn response, establishedresearchers are putting their energy andcreative thought into designing new classesthat more fully engage students and lead todeeper learning.

Against this busy background, it is good tosee societies such as ASPP at the forefront ofadvancing science education within thediscipline of plant biology. ASPP has beenone of the societies most active in keeping itsmembership current "Yith what is importantin discipline-related education and inalerting the general public to the importanceof its discipline. This spring marks alandmark for ASPP. An article by NancyArtus and Kenneth Nadler describinginnovations in plant biology education willappear in the April issue of Plant Physiology,the first education-related article to be

The views expressed are those of the authorand do not necessarily reflect the views ofthe Division of Undergraduate Education,the Directorate for Education and HumanResources, or the National ScienceFoundation.

published in that journal. Thoughtful andwell-documented articles on plant biologyeducation will lead to others that can helpfaculty adopt the new tools available to themand respond to the needs of a changingpopulation of students.

If you are concerned about the nextgeneration of scientists, the competency ofthe technicians of tomorrow, and anintelligent approach to science policy fromthe citizens of tomorrow, take some timetoday to consider how you can contribute toadvancing knowledge about plant scienceand browse through the sources listed belowfor help. The aim is a generation of under­graduate science majors who becomecreative, skilled graduate students, ageneration of K-12 teachers who producescience-literate students, and a generation ofcitizens who are knowledgeable aboutscience. As the article in Plant Physiologyillustrates, attention to course designresults in increased student interest andachievement.

Listed below is a set of Web sites withinformation on new ways of teaching andpossible sources of support for educationinitiatives. Also listed is a set of education­related initiatives and funding opportunitiesat NSF, the identification numbers of theirprogram announcements (given in parenthe­ses), and the Web site where additionalinformation can be found. None of these listsis exhaustive, but each provides a start for amore thorough search. Other agencies witheducation-related initiatives that may be ofinterest to plant scientists include the U.S.Department of Agriculture and the HowardHughes Medical Institute.

Useful Web sitesASPP Plant Biology Education Linkshttp://www.aspp.orgleducation/edlink.htm

Beyond Bio 101: A Report from the HowardHughes Medical Institutehttp://www.hhmi.orglBeyondBiol01/

BioQUEST, Beloit Collegehttp://bioquest.orgi

Botanical Society of Americahttp://www.botany.org

Coalition for Education in the Life Sciences(CELS)http://www.wisc.edu/cels/

NSF ColJaboratives for Excellence in TeacherPreparation-Biologyhttp://www.montana.edu/-wwwse/cetpbiology/

Howard Hughes Medical Institutehttp://www.hhmi.orgl

National Institute for Science Education(NISE) College Level Onehttp://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/About NISEINISE_Brochure/College_LeveI_One.html

Search for projects on NSF Division of Under­graduate Education Web sitehttp://www.ehr.nsf.gov/PIRstarti

U.S. Department of Agriculturehttp://www.reeusda.gov/1700/fundinglfunding.htm

Workshop Biology, University of Oregonhttp://bioJogy.uOl·egon.edu/Biology_www/workshop_biol/wb.html

Suggested Initiatives (acronyms of related NSFprograms are given in parentheses):

Course revisions, upgrading studentlaboratories• Revise courses and programs or developmaterials to enable students to experience theprocess of science and develop an under­standing of basic concepts in plant biology, aswell as learn the current "facts." (CCLI, ATE)• Inform students preparing to be teachers ofthe necessity of including plant science intheir curriculum. (CCLI, CETP)

Engage all students in research experiencesand plant biology students in educationalexperiences• Provide research opportunities for under­graduates, both majors and nonmajors, withparticular attention to those students prepar­ing to be teachers. (REU, UMEB)• Encourage majors and graduate students tointeract with K-12 schools and learn how tohelp others learn about plant science. (GK­12,IGERT)

Increase plant science offerings in K-12schools• Produce materials for use by K-12 teach­ers. (IMD)• Enhance K-12 teachers' understanding ofplant science. (TE)• Produce material for museums and otherpublic facilities. (ISE)

Revise programs and faculty career plans toacknowledge the importance of education asa department and faculty responsibility.(IGERT, CAREER, POWRE)

continued Oil page 16

March/April 1999, Vol. 26, No.2 _--~-:..----:...;";,,.--------------- 15

continued {rom ~age 15

Bob Wise Bids Adieu to Education Forum

Benjamin E. Volcani

_O_B-=ITU=AR::--IE_S--1~~.....

Benjamin E. Volcani, who discovered lifein the Dead Sea and pioneered biological

silicon research at the University of Califor­nia San Diego (UCSD), died February 6,1999, in La Jolla, California, from complica­tions related to kidney failure. He was 84years old and was an active scientist until theyear before his death.

Ben was born in 1915 in Ben-Shemen, inwhat is now Israel. He received his Ph.D.degree in microbiology from the HebrewUniversity of Jerusalem in 1941. His was thefirst science dissertation to be written inHebrew, and Ben made up the Hebrew wordsas he went along in his research. He foundthat the Dead Sea contained life after all andsupports a number of species of halophyticarchaebacteria. He cultured these bacteria,and this discovery was the focal point of hisPh.D. dissertation and subsequent research.His first paper, entitled "Life in the DeadSea," was published in Nature in 1936. Fornearly 20 years, from 1939 to 1958, heserved on the staff of the Weizmann Instituteof Science in Rehovoth, Israel, where hebecame head of the Section of Microbiology.During this period he spent time in theUnited States (UC-Berkeley, Hopkins MarineStation, and CalTech) and in France(Pasteur). In 1959, he was appointedprofessor of microbiology at the ScrippsInstitution of Oceanography (now part ofUCSD), where he remained for the next 40years.

Ben had an engaging and charmingpersonality and was loved by those who knewhim. Always a twinkle in his eye, he exudedwarmth and humanity. He read avidly,spending every Saturday in the library, andwas passionate not only about his own work,but also about that of his colleagues. Becausehe was so knowledgeable in many fields,those of us at UCSD often invited him to siton the Ph.D. committees of our students inplant biology.

Ben was especially passionate aboutdiatoms and their beautiful siliceousexoskeletons. In 1969, he discovered thatsilicon not only has a structural role, butalso is needed for important biochemical andcellular processes. These findings launched a30-year discovery of the biological roles ofsilicon. For this research, the Dow CorningCorporation presented him with a specialaward in 1996, "in recognition of a lifetimeof dedication to unraveling the secrets ofsilicon." When it first became evident thatsilicon may cause cancer, Ben was sought

at http://aspp.org/

the online directory

members.htm

coming soon! See

(PRINT EDITION)

member_services/

1999 Membership

REU Research Experiences for Under­graduates, wgordon@nsf.gov(NSF96-102)

Terry S. WoodinProgram Director

Division of Undergraduate EducationNational Science Foundation

Directory

Cross-Cutting Programs (http://www.nsf.gov)CAREER Faculty Early Career Development

Program NSF98-103 http://www.nsf.gov/home/crssprgm/career/start.htm

IGERT Integrative Graduate Educationand ResearchTraining Program(NSF97-112) http://www.nsf.gov/home/crsspgrm/igerUstart.htm

POWRE Professional Opportunities forWomen in Research and Education(NSF98-160)

GK-12 NSF Graduate Teaching Fellows inK-12 Education (NSF99-75)

Course, Curriculum and Labora­tory Improvement, levitan@nsf.govNSF Collaboratives for Excellencein Teacher Preparation,twoodi n@nsf.govAdvanced Technological Education,geuno@nsf.gov

CETP

Biology DirectorateUMEB Undergraduate Mentoring in

Environmental Biology,wgordon@nsf.gov

Related NSF ProgramsDivision of Undergraduate Education (NSF99-53)CCLl

ATE

Division ofElementary, Secondary andInformal Education (NSF 98-4)IMD Instructional Materials Develop­

ment, gsalinger@nsf.govTE Teacher Enhancement,

ssnyder@nsf.govISE Informal Science Education,

hfield@nsf.gov

With this issue, Bob Wise steps down aseditor of the ASPP Education Forum. Bobhas served ably as editor since January 1995,turning out interesting, informativecolumns issue after issue. The ASPP NEWSstaff particularly want to thank Bob for hisconsistent diligence in meeting deadlines!

16_

ASPPNEWSL- _

out by the National Institutes of Healthbecause he was just about the only scientistin the country working on the biological roleof silicon. One of his last papers appeared inNature in 1997. This short note, co-authoredby his research associate Mark Hildebrandand Julian Schroeder (also from UCSD),reported the existence of a silicon trans­porter in diatoms. Toward the end of Ben'scareer, he and Hildebrand, always keeping upwith new technologies, were cloning andidentifying silicon-induced genes to try tounderstand how this element, long thoughtto be inert, turns on genes. Some importantcrops such as rice take up large amounts ofsilicon, and silicon may have importantbiological roles in these crops as well.

Emanuel Epstein (from UC-Davis) hasbeen urging us for several years to look moreclosely at the importance of silicon in plants.Maybe Ben Volcani's passing will spur one ofthe young molecular geneticists looking fora research project to investigate thebiological role of silicon in plants. Thiswould be a marvelous sequel to the out­standing career of Ben Volcani. The tall manwith the flowing white hair, who always hadtime for a brief chat about a colleague's orstudent's work, will be missed by all thosewho cherished him.

Maarten J. ChrispeelsDepartment of Biology

University of California San Diego

Noburo Komiyo

ASPP headquarters was recently informedof the death of Noburo Kamiya, a

corresponding member from Takarazuka,Japan.

A. Polijakoff-Moyber

" SPP headquarters was recently informed.L-\ihat emeritus member A. Polijakoff­Mayber recently passed away. He wasprofessor emeritus at Hebrew University inIsrael.

Kenneth £Skins

Kenneth Eskins, 58, died January 31,1999. Dr. Eskins was born in 1941 in

Beckley, West Virginia. He obtained a B.S.degree in chemistry from Wheaton College,Wheaton, Illinois, in 1962 and a Ph.D.degree in organic chemistry from SouthernIllinois University, Carbondale in 1966. Aftera year as a postdoctoral associate at theRosewell Park Memorial Institute in Buffalo,New York, he joined the Northern RegionalResearch Center (now the National Centerfor Agricultural Utilization Research),Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Depart­ment of Agriculture, Peoria, Illinois.

Ken served in various research andmanagerial positions in the USDA ResearchCenter for 31 years. During this time heconducted exploratory research in a widevariety of areas, including (1) the photo­chemistry of proteins, amino acids, andcellulose; (2) temperature regulation of geneexpression in plants; (3) reactive oxygen invitamin E; (4) the effect of light quality onplant development; and (5) the developmentof Fantesk,TM a novel class of starch-oilcomposite. Fantesk ™ is currently one ofonly two trademarks held by the USDA. Thesuccess and growth of this technology is oneof the greatest tributes to Ken's technicalcareer.

During his scientific career, Ken publishedmore than 50 scientific publications and wasan invited speaker at many internationalmeetings. He served as the Research Leaderof the Seed Biosynthesis and, later, Bio­materials Processing Research Units at theUSDA National Center for AgriculturalUtilization Research. He received numerousawards during his career, including the 1996USDA Technology Transfer Award, the 1997USDA Midwest Scientist of the Year Award,the 1997 Federal Laboratory ConsortiumAward for Excellence in Technology Transfer,and the 1998 Secretary of Agriculture'sHonor Award for Superior Service.

Make your hotel

reservations and

register NOW

for Plant

Biology'99

See the

registration and

housing forms

on our World

Wide Web site

http://aspp.org

March/April 1999, Vol. 26, No.2 ___-.:...- ----l 17

_Ga_th_er_in_gs ~~....The ASPP NEWS publishes dates, titles, locations, and contact names and adqresses for meetings, courses, seminars, and the likethat are of interest to ASPP members. Submit announcements via e-mail to sbraxton@aspp.org or mail to Sylvia J. Braxton, ASPPNEWS, 15501 Monona Drive, Rockville, MD 20855-2768 USA. Faxed transmissions are not accepted.

1999

APRIL

April 14-17Plant Hormones: Signaling and Gene ExpressionUniversity of Missouri, ColumbiaFor information contact Douglas Randall at fax573-882-5635, e-mail randalld@missouri.edu.Visit the Web site at http://www.agnic.orglmtgl1999/phsge.html.

April 21-23IV European Symposium on Plant IsoprenoidsUniversitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, SpainOrganizing Committee: Albert Boronat, NarcisoCampos, Albert Ferrer, and Santiago Imperial. Fordetails, please contact Dr. Albert Boronat,Departament de Bioquimica i Biologia Molecular,Facultat de Quimica, Marti i Franques 1, 08028­Barcelona, Spain; telephone +34-93-4021194, fax+34-93-4021219, e-mail isoprenoid@sun.bq.ub.es.Web site http://www.bq.ub.es/terpnet.

April 22-25Plant Biochemistry and MolecularBiology ConferencesMetabolic Networking in PlantsScheman Building, Ames, IowaFor more information see our Web site at http://molebio.iastate.edul-gfsUphomepg.htm.

April 28-May 216th World Orchid ConferenceVancouver Trade and Convention CentreVancouver, CanadaCheck our Web site for detailed information athttp://www.hedgerows.comIWOC99/index.htm.E-mail inquiries should be directed tocongress@venuewest.com.

MAY

May 2-5INFORMS Cincinnati Spring 1999Omni Netherland PlazaCincinnati, OhioGeneral Chair: David F: Rogers, University ofCincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0130; telephone513-556-7143.

May 16--206th Symposium on Stand Establishmentand the Seed Working Group of theInternational Society for Horticultural ScienceRoanoke, VirginiaContact Greg Welbaum, Department of Horticul­ture, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0327;telephone 540-231-5801, fax 540-231-3083,e-mail welbaum@Vt.edu. Visit our symposiumWeb site at http://www.conted.vt.edulstand!establishment.htm.

May 18-20The Second Symposium of The Institute ofMolecular Genetics of Tel-Aviv University onPlant GenomicsMaagan Holiday Village, IsraelFor information, contact InTour-Travel Agency,

Mrs. Margalit Zur, PO Box 9095, Ramat-Gan52190, Israel; telephone +972-3-6355038, +972-3­6352833, fax +972-3-5351103, e-mailmrgzur@ibm.net.

May 26--29Sixth Annual WorkshopTeaching Research EthicsIndiana University, BloomingtonFor information, contact Kenneth D. Pimple,"Teaching Research Ethics," Project Director,Poynter Center, Indiana University, 618 East ThirdStreet, Bloomington, IN 47405; telephone 812­855-0261, fax 812-855-3315, e-mailpimple@indiana.edu, Web site http://www.indiana.edu/-poynter/index.html.

JUNE

June 5--91999 Congress on In Vitro BiologyThe Radisson Hotel, New Orleans, LouisianaContact Tiffany McMillan; telephone 301-324­5054, fax 301-324-5057. For meeting registrationrates and updated program information, visit Website at http://www.sivb.org.

June 8-18"Advanced Plant Biochemistry: SignalTransduction and Metabolic Engineering"ASPP-Cosponsored WorkshopWuhan, ChinaFor information, contact Qifa Zhang(qifazh@public.wh.hb.cn) in China or XueminWang (wans@ksu.edu) in the United States.

June 19-23Plant Biology Canada '99(Annual Meeting: Canadian Society ofPlant Physiologists)Delta Bessborough HotelSaskatoon, SaskatchewanConference Web site: http://www.usask.ca/biology/cspp. Contact Rosemarie Gallays, NRC/PBI, fax306-975-5571, e-mail rgallays@pbi.nrc.ca.

June 21-July 221st Annual Summer Postharvest TechnologyShort CourseUniversity ExtensionUniversity of California, DavisFor information or to enroll, call 800-752-0881.

JULY

July 4-August 13Summer Course: Exploration of Plant ScienceNorthern Illinois University at OxfordOriel College, Oxford, United KingdomFor information, please see the Oxford Program

18 _'-- A_S_pp_N_EW_S _

Web site at http://www.niu.edu/niuabroadJbritIi99.html, or contact Dr. Gabriel Holbrook,Plant Molecular Biology Center, Northern IllinoisUniversity, DeKalb, IL 60115; telephone 815-753­3199, e-mail gholbrook@niu.edu.

July 10-13Annual Meeting of the Phytochemical Society ofNorth AmericaMontreal, CanadaSymposium lectures on "Evolution of PlantMetabolic Pathways," a minisymposium on"Brassinosteroids," and oral and poster sessionson all aspects of phytochemistry. For moreinformation, please contact V. De Luca atvince.deluca@seeds.novartis.com, R. Ibrahim atragibra@Vax2.concordia.ca, or L. Varin atvarinl@clone.concordia.ca.

July 10-1527th Annual Meeting of the AmericanSociety for PhotobiologyGrand Hyatt Washington, Washington, DCFor more information, contact Dr. SherwoodReichard, Secretariat, 1021 15th Street, Suite 9,Augusta, GA 30901; telephone 706-722-7511, fax706-722-7515, e-mail maps@csranet.com.

July 10-241999 Plant Biochemistry Summer CourseWashington State University, PullmanFor information and registration forms, contactKaren Maertens at telephone 509-335-5496, fax509-335-7643, e-mail maertens@Wsu.edu.

July 11-14The 26th Annual Meeting of the PlantGrowth Regulation Society of America (PGRSA)Costa Mesa, CaliforniaFor information, check the PGRSA Web site athttp://www.griffin.peachnet.edu/pgrsa/.

July 11-16 \Forest Biotechnology '99Ajoint meeting incorporating the 3rd Interna­tional Wood Biotechnology Symposium and theIUFRO Working Party for the Molecular Geneticsof Trees (S.04-06)Oxford, United KingdomContact Malcolm M. Campbell, Department ofPlant Sciences, University of Oxford, South ParksRd., Oxford OXI 3RB, UK; telephone +44­1865-275135, fax +44-1865-275074, e-mailforest.biotech99@plants.ox.ac.uk, Web site http://www.plants.ox.ac.uk/top..htm.

July 11-24Plant Biochemistry Training CourseWashington State University, PullmanFor information contact Karen Maertens,telephone 509-335-5496, fax 509-335-7643,e-mail maertens@Wsu.edu.

July 17-21International Symposium on Plant PeroxidasesColumbus, OhioFor more information, please contact Dr. L. MarkLagrimini, Department of Horticulture and CropScience, Ohio State University, 2001 Fyffe Ct.,Columbus, OH 43210-1096; e-mail lagrimini.l@osu.edu, Web site http://www.hcs.ohio-state.edu/podJpod.htm.

July 19-232nd International Symposium onPlant DormancyAngers, FranceFor information and registration forms, contactDr. 1. D. Viemont, Universite d'Angers, Faculte desSciences, 2 Boulevard Lavoisier, F-49045 Angers,Cedex, France; fax +33-241-73-53-52, e-mail jean­daniel.viemont@univ.angers.fr.

July 20-23The 13th John Innes SymposiumAttack & Defence in Plant DiseaseNorfolk, United KingdomContact Symposium Secretary, John Innes Centre,Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich,Norfolk, NR4 7UH, United Kingdom; telephone+44-1603-452571, fax +44-1603-456844, e-mailjennifer. fox@bbsrc.ac.uk.

July 24-28Plant Biology '99Baltimore, MarylandThe 1999 ASPP Annual Meeting will celebrate the75th Anniversary of the American Society of PlantPhysiologists. Contact Susan Chambers, 15501Monona Drive, Rockville, MD 20855-2768;telephone 301-251-0560, ext. 11, fax 301-279­2996, e-mail chambers@aspp.org or on the WorldWide Web see URL http://aspp.orglmeetings/meetings.htm.

July 26-30International SymposiumAuxins and Cytokinins in Plant DevelopmentPrague, Czech RepublicDetailed information about the symposium and apreliminary registration form can be found athttp://www.ueb.cas.cz/acpd. Other contacts: MirekKaminek or Eva Zazimalova, Institute ofExperimental Botany, Rozvojova 135, CZ 16502Prague 6, Czech Republic; (Kaminek) telephone+420-2-20390-445, fax +420-2·20390-446,(Zazimalova) telephone +420-2-20390 429, fax+420-2-20390474. Symposium e-mailacpd@ueb.cas.cz.

July 27-30Rendez-vous BioAtiantech 1999Farm, Forests & Fish Genomics Technologies­Mapping Tomorrow's ResourcesFredericton, New Brunswick, CanadaContact PO Box 636, Stn AFredericton, NewBrunswick E3B 5A6; telephone 506-444-2444, fax506-444-5662, e-mail jgartley@fundy.net. Website http://www.bioatlantech.nb.ca.

AUGUST

August 3-76th International Congress on Amino AcidsBonn, GermanyContact Bijay K. Singh, American CyanamidCompany, PO Box 400, Princeton, NJ 08543-0400;telephone 609-716-2066, fax 609-275-5216,e-mail singhb@pt.cyanamid.com.

August 28-September 1Cellular Responses to Oxidative and OsmoticStress, Sensing, Signalling and Gene ExpressionEgmond aan Zee, NetherlandsMeeting registration deadline is April 2, 1999. For

information contact Dr. Pim Mager, telephone+31-20-444-7569, e-mail mager@chem.vu.nl. andfor more details visit our Web site at http://www.chem.vu.nl/STAR99/index.html.

SEPTEMBER

September 3-8Tetrapyrrole Photoreceptors inPhotosynthetic OrganismsCastelvecchio Pascoli, ItalyDeadline for applications: May 3, 1999. Chairman:Roberto Bassi, ViceChairman: Samuel I. Beale.For information and application forms, contactthe Head of the Euresco Unit: Dr. JosipHendekovic, European Science Foundation, 1quai Lezay-Marnesia, 67080 Strasbourg Cedex,France; telephone +33-3-88-76-71-35, fax +33-3­88-36-69-87, e-mail euresco@esf.org, Web sitehttp://www.esf.orgleuresco.

September 12-17C02·Fixation and Metabolism in Green PlantsGordon Research Conference, Queen's CollegeOxford, United KingdomOrganizers: H. J. Bohnert, R. Chollet, C. Foyer.Contact H. J. Bohnert, fax 520-621-1697, e-mailbohnerth@u.arizona.edu. ror a tentativeprogram, see http://www.grc.uri.edu/programs/1999/C02.htm.

OCTOBER

October 10-13The 9th Gatlinburg SymposiumUniversity of Tennessee, KnoxvilleFor information on the scientific program,contact Dr. Barry D. Bruce at 423-974-4082 orbbruce@utk.edu. For conference details andregistration information, contact Ms. Susan Davis,212 Conference Center Bldg., Henley Street,University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996;telephone 423-974-0280, e-mailsusandavis@utk.edu.

2000

MARCH

March 26-29, 2000The 5th International Conference on "PlasmaMembrane Redox Systems and Their Role inBiological Stress and Disease"Hamburg, GermanyDetailed information about the conference and aform to receive the first circular can be found athttp://www.rrz.uni-hamburg.de/biologie/ialb/redox2000/redox.htm. You can also contact theorganizers by sending e-mail to REDOX2000@botanik.uni-hamburg.de or contact M. Bottger, O.Doring, and S. Llithje, Institut flir AllgemeineBotanik, Ohnhorststr. 18, 0-22609 Hamburg,Germany, telephone +49-40-82282-345 1348, fax+49-40-82282-254.

March/April 1999, Vol. 26, No.2 _----.,;.....:..--....:..._..:..--_---------------- 19

ASPP Placement Service

This form may be used only by members of the American Society of Plant Physiologists.Please print or type your placement information on this form (curriculum vitae will not be accepted) and send it to

Donna Gordon, ASPP Headquarters, 15501 Monona Drive, Rockville, MD 20855-2768

LAST NAME

STREET ADDRESS

CITY

TELEPHONE

STATE

FAX

TITLE

ZIP

FIRST NAME

COUNTRY

E-MAIL

INITIAL

Date available: _

I am seeking the following position (check all that apply):[ 1Permanent [ 1Temporary[ 1Academic [ 1Government

us citizen? [ 1Yes [ 1 No

[ 1Postdoctoral[ 1USA only

] Industrial] Outside USA

Fields of interest, specialties, and publications titles: _

Thesis, dissertation topics, professor: _

Professional societies and honors: _

Degree/year Major Minor College/university and its location

Postdoctoral study (specialty and with whom, where, when): _

Employer and location From To Position, Title, Duties

References (names, addresses, telephone numbers):

A_S_PP_Jo_b_P_la_ce_m_e_nt_S_er_v_ice_~~.....I. Registering with the ASPP Placement Service and Obtaining Placement FilesASPP headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, operates a placement service in which are kept active two files of resumes of individuals whoare seeking employment. Employers are urged to survey the resume files for those seeking permanent positions and those seekingpostdoctoral or similar positions. The files cost $25 each and may be ordered from Donna Gordon, ASPP Placement Service, 15501Monona Drive, Rockville, MD 20855-2768 USA. Those seeking employment should complete the Placement Service Form on the facingpage to be included in the service.

II. Placing a Position Ad in ASPP NEWS and on the ASPP World Wide Web HomepageSubmit all ads by e-mail toSylviaJ.Braxtonatsbraxton@aspp.org(orbymailtoSylviaJ.Braxton.15501MononaDrive.Rockville.MD20855-2768; FAXED ADS ARE NOT ACCEPTED). A fee of $150 for print, Web, or both is charged for all academic/government/industrypermanent positions and for all positions, regardless of rank, posted by private companies (private nonprofit companies are not chargeda fee). If a fee is charged for your ad, please include billing information at the time the ad is submitted.• AcademidGovernmentiindustry Permanent Positions (Ph.D.): Limited to 200 words; ad will run 12 weeks on the Web and appear

in one issue of ASPP NEWS. (If the ad runs only on the Web, the word limit is waived.)• Postdoctoral Positions and Researchffechnical Positions (non-Ph.D.): At universities and government installations, limited to 100

words; at private companies, limited to 200 words. Ad will run 12 weeks on the Web and appear in one issue of ASPP NEWS. (If thead runs only on the Web, the word limits are waived.)

• Assistantships, Fellowships, Internships, etc.: Announcements of programs and fellowships or internships for students seekingadvanced degrees run at no charge and without a word limit. They will run two times in ASPP NEWS: the first time, they will run atfull length; the second time, they will include location, contact name, and address, with a reference to the original posting. Theseannouncements will run on the ASPP World Wide Web homepage for 12 weeks from the date of posting.

ACADEMIC/GOVERNMENT!lNDUSTRY PERMANENT POSITIONS(Ph.D.)

Assistant ProfessorUniversity of Missouri, Columbia(Received 01/07)The Department of Plant Pathology at theUniversity of Missouri inviti!s applications for anll-month, tenure-track faculty position at thelevel of assistant prof~ssor with a starting date ofJanuary 1, 2000. We seek an individual withcontemporary molecular expertise in an area ofresearch involving plant responses during plant­pathogen or plant-symbiont interactions.Interactions may include those between viral,prokaryotic, or eukaryotic pathogens/symbiontsand their plant hosts. Individuals studyingmembrane biology or signaling systems areparticularly encouraged to apply. The successfulcandidate is expected to develop a creative,externally funded researcl;t program that includestraining of graduate students and to participate inteaching courses in his or her area of expertise.The appointment will be 80% research, 20%teaching. APh.D. in an appropriate field isrequired, and postdoctoral experience is desirable.Submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, a one-totwo-page statement of research and teachinginterests, copies of no more than three publica­tions, and a list of names and contact information(including e-mail addresses) for three individualswho would be willing to send letters of recom­mendation. Although applications will beaccepted until a successful candidate is identified,

applications received by August 13, 1999, will begiven priority. Applications should be sent toChair, Plant Pathology Search Committee, 205Curtis Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO65211. For more information, contact Dr. J. D.Mihail at mihailj@missouri.edu. The University ofMissouri is an equal opportunity/ADA institution.

Plant Molecular GeneticistPurdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana(Received 01/13)Atenure-track position is available at theassistant professor level. The successfulapplicant will pursue a vigorous, extramurallyfunded research program using genomics toenhance understanding of plant biology.Research area is open but could includestudies on complex traits such as the quality,composition, and end use of crop plants orthe tolerance of plants to abiotic and bioticstress. Scientists using contemporaryapproaches such as reverse genetics,insertional mutagenesis, and microarraytechnologies are encouraged to apply. Theapplicant will participate in the undergradu­ate and graduate teaching programs of thedepartment, including development of acourse in plant genomics. There are ampleopportunities for cooperative research bothwithin the Department of Horticulture andLandscape Architecture and with othermembers of the strong plant biologycommunity at Purdue University. Qualifica-

tions: Ph.D. in plant genetics, plant molecularbiology, or related areas; postdoctoralresearch experience is highly desirable.Salary: Commensurate with training andprofessional experience. Excellent fringebenefit package that includes TlAA-CREFretirement program, medical, life anddisability insurance, and sabbatical leaveprogram. Application: The position isavailable beginning August 1999. Screeningof applicants will begin March 1, 1999;however, applications will be accepted untilposition is filled. Qualified persons arerequested to submit a letter of applicationthat includes a statement of professional goalsand description of research interests; acomplete curriculum vitae with publicationlist; transcripts of all college courses; and thenames, addresses, and telephone numbers offour references to Dr. Ray A. Bressan, SearchCommittee Chair, Department of Horticultureand Landscape Architecture, PurdueUniversity, 1165 Horticulture Building, WestLafayette, IN 47907-1165; telephone 765-494­1336, fax 765-494-0391, e-mail bressan@hort.purdue.edu. Visit our Web site at http://www.hort.purdue.edul. The Department ofHorticulture and Landscape Architecturevalues ethnic and gender diversity. Therefore,women and minority candidates are encour­aged to apply. Purdue University is an equalopportunity/affirmative action employer.

March/April 1999, Vol. 26, No.2 _--~---------------------

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Assistant ProfessorUniversity of Illinois at Urbana--Champaign(Received 02/03)Anine-month tenure track position with anopportunity for summer appointment position isavailable for an assistant professor of weedphysiology in Department of Crop Sciences at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Theweed physiologist position has an emphasis onresearch and teaching of physiological, biochemi­cal and molecular principles of weed science.Responsibilities are 70% research, 30% teaching.APh.D. in weed science, plant physiology,agronomy, or related discipline is required.Postdoctoral experience is desired along withexcellent interpersonal and communication skills,demonstrated ability to conduct independentresearch, and clear ability and desire to excel inclassroom teaching. The salary is commensuratewith training and experience. The starting date isAugust 21, 1999, or when filled. For fullconsideration, applications are accepted untilApril 30, 1999. Submit an application packetconsisting of an introductory cover letter,curriculum vitae, and statement of teaching andresearch goals. Send a full set of certifieduniversity transcripts, three letters of reference,and the packet to Professor G. H. Heichel, Head,Department of Crop Sciences, University ofIllinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1102 SouthGoodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801; telephone217-333-9480. For additional information and fulljob announcement, contact Dr. Edward W. Stoller,Search Committee Chair, at telephone 217-333­9654, fax 217-333-5299, e-mail gotobuttonbm_l_ estoller@uiuc.edu. Affirmative action!equal opportunity employer. Cite announcementnumber 01/99B-6425 when applying.

POSTooaORAl POSITIONS

Assistant ResearcherUniversity of California, Berkeley(Received 12/22)The Department of Plant and Microbial Biology ofthe University of California at Berkeley invitesapplications for a non-tenure-track wetlandecologist position at the assistant research rank.Responsibilities include conducting research onphytoremediation of trace elements contaminatedsoils and waters and supervising other researchersin a phytoremediation laboratory. Candidatesshould have a Ph.D. in plant ecologylphysiologylbiochemistry plus several years of postdoctoralexperience in phytoremediation research and anexcellent publication record. Must have experi­ence working in a multidisciplinary environmentand be able to use multidisciplinary approaches tosolve physiological problems. Application deadlineis March 31, 1999. Variable Position available at75%-100% time for one year with possibility ofrenewal. Annual Salary is $50,000 (full-time rate),depending on qualifications. Send curriculumvitae and three letters of recommendation toProfessor Norman Terry, Department of Plant andMicrobial Biology, 111 Koshland Hall, Universityof California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3102; e-mailnterry@nature.berkeley.edu. University ofCalifornia is an EOE/M employer.

Postdoctoral PositionUniversity of Minnesota, St. Paul(Received 01105)Apostdoctoral position is available beginningApril 1999 to study molecular and biochemicalevents controlling root and nodule function inalfalfa and other legumes. The successfulcandidate will use a combination of moleculargenetic and biochemical approaches to dissectdevelopmental events controlling lateral rootformation in lupin andlor metabolic regulation ofnitrogen and carbon metabolism in alfalfa. Theultimate goal is to improve nutrient acquisitionand adaptation to stress. Astrong background inmolecular biology and plant biochemistry isrequired. The position has at least two years ofguaranteed funding with a starting salary of$31,000-$33,000 plus medical and vacationbenefits. Applicants please send a letter ofapplication, curriculum vitae, and names andaddresses for three references to Carroll Vance,Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University ofMinnesota, 1991 Upper Buford Circle, St. Paul,MN 55108; telephone 612-625-5715, e-mailvance004@tc.umn.edu.

Postdoctoral PositionsUniversity of Delaware, Newark or Lewes(Received 01/06)The Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at theUniversity of Delaware invites applicants with aPh.D. degree to join our group conductingresearch on gene functions in maize, particularlycarbon flow and oil content. There will beinteractions with researchers at DuPont and otherplant biotechnology companies under theauspices of our coordinated maize genomeprogram funded by NSF in collaboration withProfessor H. M. Goodman at the MassachusettsGeneral Hospital and Professors John Dudley andTorbert Rocheford at the University of Illinois.Please contact us directly if you are interested inthis work. Applications to our graduate programcan be made online at http://www.udel.edu/admissions/appinfo.html. Dr. Bertrand Lemieux,Dr. Jim Hawk, and Dr. John Boyer, Department ofPlant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware,149 Townsend Hall, Newark, DE 19711. Lemieuxcan be contacted at 302-83 I-1390 or e-mai Iblemieux@udel.edu. Hawk can be contacted attelephone 302-831-1379 or e-mail20715@udel.edu. Boyer can be contacted attelephone 302-645-4014 or e-mailboyer@udel.edu.

Postdoctoral PositionUniversity of Nevada, Reno(Received 01106)Apostdoctoral position is available to join ourinvestigations on the molecular mechanismsassociated with the division of plastids in higherplants. The successful candidate will extend ourwork on the function of F'ts2 genes in Arabidopsis(see Plant Cell 10. 1991-2004; 1998; Curro Opin.Plant BioI. 1,475-479; 1998) into monocotsystems. Applicants with experience in wheat orrice molecular genetics are particularly welcome,but all qualified applicants will be considered. APh.D. and strong background in molecular

biology are required. Send or e-mail a curriculumvitae, brief description of previous researchexperience, and names of three references to Dr.Katherine Osteryoung, Department of Biologyl314, University of Nevada, Reno, NY 89557; fax775-784-1650, e-mail oster_k@med.unr.edu.

Postdoctoral PositionUniversity of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium(Received 01/07)Apostdoctoral position is available immediately inthe laboratory of plant physiology at theUniversity of Antwerp (RUCA). The objective ofthe project is the functional characterization oftwo new Arabidopsis genes to gain knowledgeabout the physiological function of these genes.We are looking forward to applications fromcandidates who have demonstrated expertise andaccomplishments in the following areas:recombinant DNA technology, DNA and RNAanalysis techniques, in vitro and in vivo culturetechniques, plant transformation, and regenera­tion. Remuneration is commensurate withacademic level and experience. Candidates areinvited to send a letter of interest with curriculumvitae and names of at least two references to Dr.Han Asard, Department of Biology, University ofAntwerp (RUCA), Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020Antwerp, Belgium; fax +32-3-218-04-17, e-mailhanasard@ruca.ua.ac.be.

NSF-Funded PositionsUniversity of Carolina, Chapel Hill(Received 01/11)NSF funded positions are available forpostdoctoral fellows and Ph.D. students to studythe evolution of sex chromosomes in higherplants. Our research team is investigating theevolution of sexual dimorphism in plants bycytogenetic comparison of the organization ofchromosomes in species with diverse sexdetermination mechanisms. We are using thegenus Silene as our model because it includesspecies that are true hermaphrodites,gynodioecious (hermaphroditic and femaleindividuals coexist) or dioecious (males andfemales coexist). Because all SUene species havethe same number of chromosomes, the sexchromosomes must have evolved from anautosome pair. We are using in situ hybridization(FISH) to compare the structure of the sexchromosomes in dioecious SUene to relatedchromosomes in hermaphroditic Silene species.Candidates with experience in molecular biologyand cytogenetics are strongy encouraged to apply.Postdoc applicants please contact Sarah Grant atDepartment of Biology CB#3280, University ofNorth Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC27599; telephone 919-962-1625, fax 919-962­1625, e-mail sgrant@email.unc.edu.Ph.D.candidates must apply to the doctoral program ofthe Department of Biology at the University ofNorth Carolina at Chapel Hill.

22_

ASPPNEWS1- _

Postdoctoral PositionsThe Kumho Life & EnvironmentalScience LaboratoryKwangju, Korea(Received 01111)The Kumho Life & Environmental ScienceLaboratory (KLESL) has several postdoctoralopenings in plant molecular biology andbiotechnology. Positions available at $28,000­$30,000 per year. Rent-free apartment includingmeal subsidies, moving expenses up to $5,000,and economy airfares for the candidate and his/her spouse. The postdoctoral fellowship isrenewable after the first two years. Candidateswithout regard to nationality are welcome toapply. Send curriculum vitae and arrange to sendthree letters of reference to KLESL, 572 Ssang­Am-Dong, Kwangju 506-712, Korea; fax +82-62­972-5085, e-mail jcchung@ksc.kumho.co.kr.

Postdoctoral PositionPurdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana(Received 01111)Apostdoctoral position is available, beginningJanuary 1, 1999, to lead a team investigatingmutants of Arabidopsis and maize with alteredcell wall structure and architecture. Investigationsrange from chemical characterization ofstructural and architectural defects of the cellwalls to mapping and positional cloning of theaffected genes. Knowledge of plant cell wallbiochemistry is desirable, but experience in allmolecular biological techniques is absolutelyrequired. Asuccessful candidate will also possessgood written and oral communication skills andbe able to lead a team investigating severalaspects of cell-wall biology. The position is for twoyears minimum, with extension possible. Acompetitive salary will depend on the researchand leadership experience 6f the candidate.Applicants are reques,ted to send a curriculumvitae, including reprihts of principal works, andthe names of three references who may be askedto supply letters of recommendation. NickCarpita, Department of Botany & Plant Pathology,Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1155;telephone 765-494-4653, fax 765-494-0363,e-mail carpita@btny.purdue.edu.

Postdoctoral PositionsSamuel Roberts Noble FoundationArdmore, Oklahoma(Received 01/11)Several postdoctoral positions will be available bymid-1999 in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Dixon,Director of the Plant Biology Division. The areasof research are regulation of phenylalanineammonia-lyase at the transcriptional and post­transcriptional levels, signal transductionpathways for the oxidative burst andphenylpropanoid-based defenses, and biochemicaland functional genomics approaches to ligninmodification in the forage legume Medicagotrullcatula. Applicants must have demonstratedresearch productivity in biochemistry and/ormolecular genetics. Send a cover letter statingareas of interest, a full curriculum vitae and threeletters of reference to Ms. Jane Nance, HumanResources, The Samuel Roberts Noble Founda­tion, 2510 Sam Noble Parkway, Ardmore, OK

73401. Further details can be obtained from Dr.Dixon at 580-223-5810. The Noble Foundation isan equal opportunity employer.

Postdoctoral PositionUniversity of Nebraska, Lincoln(Received 01/12)An NSF-funded research position is available,starting Winter/Spring 1999, to study theregulatory phosphorylation of leaf and/or legumeroot nodule carbon-metabolizing enzymes. Theemphasis will be (1) to continue our ongoingbiochemical and molecular/cellular analyses ofthe protein-Ser/Thr kinase, phosphatase(s), andthe requisite signal transduction chains thattarget PEP carboxylase (see TIPS 2, 230, 1997;Archives Biochem. Biophys. 343,260, 1997; PlantPhysiol. 118, 191, 1998; or (2) to furtherinvestigate the possible function(s) of thephosphorylation of sucrose synthase near its Nterminus (e.g., FEBS Lett. 410, 126, 1997; PlantPhysiol. 115, 1729, 1997). Advanced researchexperience in protein chemistry and reversibleprotein phosphorylation (preferred), and/orrelated molecular/cellular biology techniquesrequired. Please send curriculum vitae andnames, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers oftwo references to Dr. Raymond Chollet, Depart­ment of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska,Lincoln, NE 68588-0664; telephone 402-472­2936, fax 402-472-7842, e-mailrchollet@unlinfo.unl.edu.

Postdoctoral ResearcherIowa State University, Ames(Received 01/12)Apostdoctoral position is immediately available tostudy the molecular biology of lipid biosynthesisin plants. We are looking for a broadly trainedmolecular biologist interested in metabolicengineering. The specific research involvesuntangling the metabolic contributions ofmultiple pathways of acetyl CoA synthesis. Thegoals of this project are to create plants withaltered capabilities for lipid synthesis and tounderstand how the relative contribution of thedifferent pathways is regulated. The successfulcandidate needs strong molecular skills.Experience in plant molecular biology,Arabidopsis genetics, plant transformation,microarray analyses, and gene expression studieswould be ideal. Please contact David J. Oliver,Department of Botany, 353 Bessey Hall, IowaState University, Ames, IA 50011; fax 515-294­1337, e-mail doliver@iastate.edu.

Postdoctoral PositionsThe Land Institute, Salina, Kansas(Received 01121)Two immediate openings to work on thedevelopment of new perennial crops are available.One position includes making interspecificcrosses in two genera of perennial composites.The second position includes evaluating sorghumfamilies obtained from crosses with wild perennialspecies. Experience in plant genetics or breedingdesired. Interest in agro-ecology and commitmentto the development of sustainable agriculturalsystems important. Submit curriculum vitae and

three references to Dr. David Van Tassel, The LandInstitute, 2440 East Water Well Road, Salina, KS67401; telephone 785-823-5376, e-mailtheland@midkan.com.

Postdoctoral PositionOklahoma State University, Stillwater(Received 01/27)A three-year postdoctoral position is availableimmediately to investigate the genetic andmolecular genetic aspects of Crassulacean acidmetabolism (Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol.BioI. 50, 305-332) in the common ice plant (M.crystal/inurn). Send letter outlining researchexperience and interests and curriculum vitae,and arrange to have three letters of recommenda­tion sent to Dr. John C. Cushman, Department ofBiochemistry and Molecular Biology, OklahomaState University, Stillwater, OK 74078; telephone405-744-6207, fax 405-744-7799, e-mailjcushman@biochem.okstate.edu. Oklahoma StateUniversity is an affirmative action/equalopportunity employer.

Postdoctoral PositionsChildren's Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas(Received 01127)Two postdoctoral positions are available at theChildren's Nutrition Research Center (CNRC),Baylor College of Medicine. The successfulcandidates will define molecular and biochemicalmechanism of ion homeostasis in yeast and plants(PNAS 93, 8782-8786). Qualifications: Ph.D. inplant science, molecular biology, or related area.The positions are for one year with extensions ofup to four years possible. Please send a letter ofinterest, curriculum vitae, and a list of threereferences to Dr. Kendal Hirschi, Department ofPediatrics, CNRC 11004, Baylor College ofMedicine, Houston, TX 77030; fax 713-798-7078,e-mail stanciap@bcm.tmc.edu.

Postdoctoral PositionUniversity of Florida, Gainesville(Received 01/27)Apostdoctoral position is available in metabolicengineering of plant one-carbon and sulfurmetabolism, including synthesis ofosmoprotectants (Plant J. 16,487-496, 1998;Nature 387, 891-894, 1997). Astrong backgroundin biochemistry (preferably including enzymepurification) is required; cDNA cloning and planttransformation experience is essential. Applicantsmust have good scientific writing skills and beable to work independently. Please sendcurriculum vitae, cover letter describing researchinterests and experience, and names of threereferences to Andrew Hanson, University ofFlorida, Horticultural Sciences Department,Gainesville, FL 32611-0690; telephone 352-392­1928 ext. 334, e-mail adha@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu.

March/April 1999, Vol. 26, No.2 _-_---:...-_~~------------------

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Postdoctoral PositionMichigan Technological University, Houghton(Received 01/28)A postdoctoral position is available immediately tostudy floral development in aspen trees and/or thedevelopment of the secondary vascular system inaspen trees. Applicants should have extensiveexperience in molecular biology. Expertise in thefollowing areas is highly desirable: PCR, northernhybridizations, in situ hybridization, plant tissueculture, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.This is a two-year position with a competitivesalary and excellent benefits. Interested applicantsshould send a curriculum vitae (including adescription of research experience) and the namesof three references to Dr. Gopi K. Podila,Department of Biological Sciences, MichiganTechnological University, Houghton, MI 49931;fax 906-487-3167, e-mail gkpodila@mtu.edu.

Postdoctoral PositionUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor(Received 02/01)A postdoctoral position is available immediately toconduct research on the structure and function ofthe photosystem II Manganese Stabilizing Protein(MSP). The project utilizes bacterial overex­pression/mutagenesis of MSP and reconstitutionof MSP-depleted photosystem II with recombinantproteins. See Biochemistry 37, 14230, 1998; and38, 404, 1999, for recent results from thisapproach. A background in molecular biology/protein overexpression or in photosynthesiswould be useful. Send an application letter, curri­culum vitae, and the names of three references toDr. Charles F. Yocum, Biology Department,University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109­48103; e-mail cyocum@umich.edu.

Postdoctoral PositionsUSDA/ARS, Aberdeen, Idaho(Received 02/09)Two postdoctoral positions are available to studythe genetics and comparative genomics of phyticacid and inositol phosphate pathways in maize,barley, and rice. The positions are at the USDA/ARS National Small Grains Cermplasm ResearchFacility, Aberdeen, Idaho. Salaries begin at$39,960/ year. Applicants must show proof ofPh.D. and training in contemporary genetics.Applicants should send a curriculum vitae andnames of three references to Victor Raboy, USDAIARS, PO Box 307, Aberdeen, ID 83210; e-mailvraboy@uidaho.edu. USDAIARS is an equalopportunity employer. Women and minorities areencouraged to apply.

Postdoctoral PositionOhio State University, Columbus(Received 02/10)A postdoctoral position opening will be availablein our group in the next four to nine months. Theposition will focus on metabolic engineering ofstarch synthesis in the tropical root crop cassava.Persons with experience in cassava tissue cultureand regeneration, Ti-plasmid transformation, and/or molecular biology of starch metabolism areencouraged to apply. The position is for aminimum of two years and renewable. A

competitive salary and benefits package isavailable. Interested persons should send aresume bye-mail to Richard T. Sayre atsayre.2@osu.edu. Please include names and e-mailaddresses of three references. Our laboratory Website will provide you with information on the lab'sactivities (http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/-rsayre).

Postdoctoral FellowSamuel Roberts Noble FoundationArdmore, Oklahoma(Received 02/11)A postdoctoral scientist is sought to fill a positionat The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, to joina team of scientists studying the molecularmechanisms of viral evolution using members ofthe plant Cucumovirus genus. For moreinformation please check our Web site at http://www.noble.org. Requirements: A Ph.D. degree invirology, molecular biology, or related area.Experience in virology or molecular evolutionhelpful. The base salary is $26,000/year plusbenefits, increasing with experience. NobleFoundation fellowships are for a period of threeyears, providing satisfactory progress is made. Thestarting date is May 1, 1999. Please send acomplete curriculum vitae, with the names,addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addressesof at least three references to Dr. Marilyn J.Roossinck, Plant Biology Division, The SamuelRoberts Noble Foundation, PO Box 2180,Ardmore, OK 73402; telephone 580-223-5810, fax580-221-7380, e-mail mroossinck@noble.org.

Postdoctoral PositionUniversity of Calgary, Alberta, Canada(Received 02/12)A postdoctoral position is available to carry outresearch in the area of the hormonal controls, andthe effects of stress, on root growth and develop­ment. The position requires a knowledge of thefollowing techniques: analysis and quantificationof plant hormones, basic biochemical andmolecular biological methods. The successfulapplicant will also be expected to participate in alimited amount of teaching, which may includeup to, but not more than, 12 lectures per year, inthe general area of plant physiology or relatedtopics such as general botany. Thus, fluency inspoken English is essential. Initial funding is inplace for two years with possible extension. Pleaseapply, with a curriculum vitae and names of threereferences, to Dr. David M. Reid, Department ofBiological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary,Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4; e-maildmreid@ucalgary.ca.

Postdoctoral Research PositionMichigan State University, East Lansing(Received 02/15)A postdoctoral research position is available toinvestigate the molecular basis of plant defenseagainst herbivores. The successful candidate willjoin ongoing projects to study mutations thataffect induced resistance of tomato to insects,with emphasis on identifying components of thesignaling pathway (http://creator.ns.msu.edu/prl/howe.html). Highly motivated candidates with

demonstrated experience in plant moleculargenetics are encouraged to apply. Compensationwill be competitive, depending on experience, andwill include a comprehensive benefits package.Send a letter of application outlining researchexperience and interests, a curriculum vitae, andthe names and addresses of three references toGregg Howe, MSU-DOE Plant Research Labora­tory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI48824; e-mail howeg@pilot.msu.edu. MSU is anequal opportunity employer.

Postdoctoral Research AssociateMichigan State University, East Lansing(Received 02/17)A postdoctoral research associate is sought toparticipate in a broadly based research project onthe photoperiodic control of flowering. Currently,this team effort involves postdoctoral researchassociates and faculty members from the PlantResearch Laboratory and the Department ofBiochemistry. The new research associate is, inparticular, expected to have extensive experiencein the isolation and characterization of RNA andreverse-transcription PCR for the analysis of novelRNAs involved in floral induction. Please sendapplications to Hans Kende, MSU-DOE PlantResearch Laboratory, Michigan State University,East Lansing, MI 48824-1312; e-mailhkende@pilot.msu.edu.

Postdoctoral Research PositionSamuel Roberts Noble FoundationArdmore, Oklahoma(Received 02/18)Apostdoctoral position is available to join a groupinvestigating the processes involved in thedevelopment and regulation of the arbuscularmycorrhizal symbiosis. We are using a modellegume, Medicago truncatula, as the plant partnerfor these studies, and the project will focus on thecharacterization of a number of mutants ofMedicago truncatula, which are unable to form acomplete arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. Ninemutants are available currently, and initial geneticanalyses have been completed. The project issupported by the Noble Foundation, and theposition is initially available for two years with thepossibility of renewal for an additional year.Applicants should have a strong background ingenetics and plant physiology or cell biology. Toapply, send a letter outlining research interests, acurriculum vitae, and names of three referencesto Dr. Maria 1. Harrison, Plant Biology Division,Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, 2510 SamNoble Parkway, Ardmore, OK 73401; telephone580-223-5810, fax 580-221-7380, e-mailmjharrison@noble.org.

24 _'--- ....,;,.A...,:.S,;",.;"pp....,;,.N;,::EW.=..:;5 _

RESEARCHJrECHNICAL POSmONS(Non-Ph.D.l

Seed Metabolism Research Scientist(Job #98424C)Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.Johnston, Iowa(Received 01/07)The successful candidate will be part of the FeedImprovement group at Pioneer Hi-Bred Interna­tional, Inc., a dynamic, industry-leading researchcollaboration with DuPont Agricultural Productsto improve grain for feed. This position willdevelop novel transgene-based strategies to alterthe metabolism of developing seed. Requirementsinclude at least two years of postdoctoralexperience in the biological sciences with a strongbackground in metabolism, molecular biology,genetics and biochemistry. Research experience inseed-related research is a plus. The ability tofunction effectively as part of a team is essential.Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., offers state­of-the-art genomics, expression analysis, andanalytical facilities to support gene discoveryresearch. Please submit your curriculum vitae inscannable format, along with references to,Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., ATTN:Human Resources-Research Uob #98424C), POBox 1004, Johnston, IA 50131-1004; e-mailjobsresearch@phibred.com. For more informationon these positions, visit our Web site at http://www.pioneer.com.

Plant Physiological EcologistAnticipated Research Associate 3Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge

The Wetland Biogeochemistry Institute invitesapplications for a one-year (with possibleextension) non-tenure research associate.Required Qualifications: M.S. with three years'experience or a Ph.D.idegree and training in plantphysiology or similar field. Desired Qualifications:Experience in the measurement of plant responseto environmental stressors. Responsibilities:conduct laboratory greenhouse and fieldexperiments investigating flood tolerance ofwetland vegetation, which includes measurementsof anatomical and physiological responses torooting, hypoxia, design and execution ofexperiments, data analysis, and manuscriptpreparation. Salary range is $23,247-$29,059annually. Application deadline: Until candidate isselected. Submit letter of'application and resumeto Dr. Irv Mendelssohn, Wetland BiogeochemistryInstitute, Louisiana State University, Ref: Log#674, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-7511. LouisianaState University is an equal opportunity/equalaccess employer.

Research Assistant ProfessorUniversity of Missouri, Columbia(Received 02/10)The Department of Biochemistry, College ofAgriculture, Food and Natural Resources of theUniversity of Missouri seeks applicants for aresearch assistant professor of biochemistry tostudy tRNA gene expression and utilization oftRNAs for plant crop improvement. Innovativeapproaches including use of bioinformatics and

genomics are required. Salary is provided by agrant. Qualifications should include at least threeyears' postdoctoral training in plant molecularbiology with experience in protein and RNApurification and analysis, and in plant transforma­tion procedures. Please send a curriculum vitaeand references to Dr. William Folk, BiochemistryDepartment, 117 Schweitzer Hall, University ofMissouri, Columbia, MO 65211 by May 1, 1999.Missouri University is an equal opportunity/ADAinstitution.

ASSISTANTSHIPS, FELLOWSHIPS, IKTERNSHIPS, ETC.

Graduate AssistantshipsUniversity of Delaware, Newark or Lewes(Received 01/06)The Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at theUniversity of Delaware invites applicants withB.Sc. or M.Sc. degrees in plant biology, plantbreeding, biochemistry, molecular biology, orgenetics to enter a Ph.D. program in plantbiology. Students will conduct research on genefunctions in maize, particularly carbon flow andoil content. There will be interactions withresearchers at DuPont and other plant biotechnol­ogy companies under the auspices of ourcoordinated maize genome program funded byNSF in collaboration with Professor H. M.Goodman at the Massachusetts General Hospitaland Professors John Dudley and TorbertRocheford at the University of Illinois. Pleasecontact us directly if you are interested in thiswork. Applications to our graduate program canbe made online at http://www.udel.edu/admis­sions/appinfo.html. Dr. Bertrand Lemieux, Dr. JimHawk, and Dr. John Boyer, Department of Plantand Soil Sciences, University of Delaware, 149Townsend Hall, Newark, DE 19711. Lemieux canbe reached at 302-831-1390 orblemieux@udel.edu. Hawk can be reached at 302­831-1379 or 20715@udel.edu. Boyer can bereached at 302-645-4014 or boyer@udel.edu.

Graduate AssistantshipsUniversity of Florida, Gainesville(Received 01/25)Research/teaching assistantships are available forstudies leading to an M.S. or a Ph.D. degree.Program areas include plant production andnutrition, postharvest physiology and technology,biochemistry, molecular biology, seed physiology,and plant breeding and genetics. Stipends rangefrom $14,000 to $15,000 plus a tuition waiver.The diverse cl imatic conditions and cui turalpractices in Florida offer research opportunitieswith temperate, subtropical, and tropicalcommodities. For further information, contact Dr.D. J. Huber, Graduate Coordinator, HorticulturalSciences Department, PO Box 110690, Universityof Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-0690; telephone352-392-1928 ext. 216, e-mail rego@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu. Please refer to position number 1115. TheUniversity of Florida is an equal opportunityemployer.

NSF-Funded Graduate Fellowships inMolecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of Arkansas, Fayetteville(Received 01/26)Applications are now being accepted for graduatefellowships to begin in the fall of 1999. Support isguaranteed for four years, with the Ph.D. degreeto be awarded at the end of a four-year researchprogram. The stipend starts at $15,000 per year,plus tuition. Candidates should have a strongbackground in molecular biology, genetics,biochemistry, or related fields. Positions areavailable in the laboratory of Dr. Rogene Schnell(http://comp.uark.edu/-rschnell) to studymechanisms of gene regulation. Using theunicellular green alga Chlamydomonas as a modelorganism, molecular and genetic approaches areunder way to isolate and characterize the proteinsthat regulate nitrate assimilation genes. Priorexperience with gene cloning, library screening,PCR, enzyme assays, or in vitro DNA-bindingassays would be beneficial. Interested studentsshould send a letter immediately, outlininginterests and qualifications, to Dr. RogeneSchnell, Department of Biological Sciences, SCEN629, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR,72701; telephone 501-575-6346, e-mailrschnell@comp.uark.edu. Additional informationabout the Biological Sciences Department and thegraduate program can be found at http://comp.uark.edu/-bioinfo/bisc.html.

Graduate AssistantshipsUniversity of Florida, Gainesville(Received 02/15)Research/teaching assistantships are available forstudies leading to an M.S. or a Ph.D. programareas include plant production and nutrition,postharvest physiology and technology, biochem­istry, molecular biology, seed physiology, andplant breeding and genetics. Stipends range from$14,000 to $15,000 plus a tuition waiver. Thediverse climatic conditions and cultural practicesin Florida offer research opportunities withtemperate, subtropical, and tropical commodities.For further information, contact Dr. D. J. Huber,Graduate Coordinator, Horticultural SciencesDepartment, PO Box 110690, University ofFlorida, Gainesville, FL 32611-0690; telephone352-392-1928 ext. 216, e-mail rego@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu. Please refer to position number 1116. TheUniversity of Florida is an equal opportunityemployer.

Ph.D. PositionUniversity of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada(Received 02/16)Astudentship is available to study the effect ofcontainer types on conifer seedling growth anddevelopment as it relates to root physiology/biochemistry and mycorrhizal associations.Approaches will include carbohydrate analysis,enzymology, microscopy, molecular biology, andstress physiology, in addition to field work. Thestudent will be registered at the University ofAlberta in the Department of Agricultural, Foodand Nutritional Sciences and will be co-supervisedby Dr. Melanie Jones at Okanagan UniversityCollege and Dr. Anne Johnson-Flanagan atUniversity of Alberta. This position is funded by

March/April 1999, Vol. 26, No.2 _------------------------ 25

Forest Renewal British Columbia and commencesin September, 1999. Please send a currentcurriculum vitae and the names of threereferences to both Dr. Jones(mjones@okanagan.bc.ca) and Dr. Johnson­Flanagan (aflanaga@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca) by March22, 1999.

Graduate Research AssistantVirginia Tech, Blacksburg(Received 02/18)Agraduate research assistant position is availableleading to an M.S. or a Ph.D. degree at VirginiaTech. The position is available immediately withan annual salary of $14,000 (tuition waived). Thestudent will conduct research investigating thephysiology and molecular biology of theinteraction between the parasitic weed, broom­rape (Orobanche sp.), and its host plant Researchwill characterize the expression of host genes inresponse to parasitism, with the objective ofdeveloping the knowledge base necessary forunderstanding mechanisms of host resistance tothe parasite. Applicant should have a solidunderstanding of plant physiology and preferablysome experience with molecular techniques. Theapplicant should also be a careful and conscien­tious worker with good planning and organiza­tional skills. For initial contact and furtherinformation, please contact Dr. James Westwood,Virginia Tech, Department of Plant Pathology,Physiology, and Weed Science (see http://www.ppws.vtedu), 410 Price Hall (0331),Blacksburg, VA 24061; telephone 540-231-7519,e-mail westwood@Vtedu. Application informationfor the Virginia Tech Graduate School is availableat http://www.vtedu/vt98/admissions/gradadmissions.htm I.

Science Writing & Publishing InternAmerican Society of Plant PhysiologistsRockville, Maryland(Received 02/24)The American Society of Plant Physiologists seeksa science writing and publishing intern for aperiod of 9-12 months to gain extensive hands-onexperience in science writing, journal production,and scholarly publishing. ASPP publishes PlantPhysiology and THE PLANT CELL. The intern willwrite four to six one-paragraph "ResearchHighlights" summarizing selected articles foreach issue of Plant Physiology; write and editseveral "[n This [ssue" columns for THE PLANTCELL; research and write other front-sectionarticles for THE PLANT CELL; and gain hands-onexperience with peer-review and journalproduction processes. Qualifications: Within oneyear of having completed Ph.D., or a senior Ph.D.candidate who has passed quali1)iing exams; thesisresearch must involve modern plant biology, andcandidate must have broad appreciation for allareas of plant science. Strong writing skills;ability to gain a rapid and detailed understandingof unfamiliar research areas; ability to work underconstant deadline pressure and on several taskssimultaneously. ASPP membership required(dues: students-$30; postdocs-$50). Salary:$25,000 per calendar year plus health insurance;vacation/sick leave. ASPP will partially subsidize

moving expenses. Send cover letter, C.Y., andnames of three references, including currentadviser, to Publications Director, ASPp, 15501Monona Drive, Rockville, MD 20855-2768.Submit (1) an "In This [ssue"-type articlehighlighting a recent paper of the applicant'schoosing from THE PLANT CELL and (2) a ISO­to 200-word paragraph summarizing a recentarticle in Plant Physiology. Application deadline:April 30, 1999. Start date: September 1999.

FellowshipMichigan Technological UniversityHoughton, Michigan(Repeat)Contact Dr. G. K. Podila, Department of BiologicalSciences, Michigan Technological University,Houghton, M[ 49931; e-mail gkpodila@mtu.eduor Dr. D. F. Karnosky, School of Forestry,Michigan Technological University, Houghton, M[49931; e-mail karnosky@mtu.edu. (DetailsJanuary/February 1999 ASPP NEWS)

Graduate Research AssistantshipsUniversity of Florida, GainesvilleUniversity of Arizona, 'fucsonPurdue University, West LafayetteMichigan State University, East LansingNew Mexico State University, Las Cruces(Repeat)To apply, contact any of the group members(specialties in parentheses): Andrew Hanson(biochemistry, molecular biology), University ofFlorida, Horticultural Science Department,Gainesville, FL 32611-0690, telephone 352-392­1928, e-mail adha@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu; Hans Bohnert(biochemistry, molecular biology, DNA arrays),University of Arizona, Department of Biochemis­try, Tucson, AZ 85722-3308; telephone 520-621­7961, e-mail bohnerth@u.arizona.edu; DavidRhodes (biochemistry, computer modeling ofmetabolism), Purdue University, HorticultureDepartment, West Lafayette, IN 49707; telephone765-494-1312, e-mail rhodes@hort.purdue.edu;Douglas Gage (protein biochemistry, massspectrometry), Michigan State University,Department of Biochemistry, East Lansing, MI48824-1312; telephone 517-353-4620, e-mailgage@pilot.msu.edu; Yair Shachar-Hill (metabo­lism, NMR), New Mexico State University,Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, LasCruces, NM 88003; telephone 505-646-3218,e-mail yairhill@nmsu.edu. (Details January/February 1999 ASPP NEWS)

Graduate Research AssistantshipsLouisiana State University, Baton Rouge(Repeat)Contact Dr. Norimoto Murai, Department of PlantPathology and Crop Physiology, Louisiana StateUniversity and LSU Agricultural Center, BatonRouge, LA 70803-1720; telephone 225-388-1380,fax 225-388-1415, e-mail nmurai@lsu.edu.(Details JanuarylFebruary 1999 ASPP NEWS)

Graduate Research AssistantshipWest Virginia University, Morgantown(Repeat)Contact Dr. Rajeev Arora, Division of Plant andSoil Sciences, PO Box 6108, Morgantown, WV26506-6108; telephone 304-293-6023, fax 304­293-2960, e-mail rarora@WVu.edu, or the divisionoffice at 304-293-4817. (Details JanuarylFebruary1999 ASPP NEWS)

Ph.D. Research AssistantshipOklahoma State University, Stillwater(Repeat)Contact C. M. Taliaferro via e-mail atcmt@soilwater.agr.okstate.edu. This informationmust include a GRE score and, for internationalstudents, a TOEFL test score. (Details January/February 1999 ASPP NEWS)

Graduate Research AssistantshipsUniversity of Florida, Gainesville(Repeat)Contact Dr. L. Curt Hannah, Graduate Coordina­tor, PMCB Program, clo Horticultural SciencesDepartment, PO Box 110690, University ofFlorida, Gainesville, FL 32611-0690; telephone352-392-1928 ext. 315, e-mailpmcb@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu, Web sitehttp://www.ifas.un.edu/-PMCB/index.htm.(Details JanuarylFebruary 1999 ASPP NEWS)

26 _______________________A_SP_P_N_EW_S _

Editor-in-Chief, Plant Physiology

The American Society of Plant Physiologists is seeking a plant biologist to as­

sume the duties and responsibilities of editor-in-chief of the journal Plant Physiol­ogyeffective July 1, 2000. The individual who takes the position must be able to

make at least a five-year commitment to the journal.

Plant Physiology is an international journal devoted to diverse aspects of plant

biology, including development, cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, physiol­

ogy, and the interactions of plants with their abiotic and biotic environments. The

editor-in-chief must possess a broad knowledge of these areas and of the new

directions in whicl1 plant biology is moving; provide a vision for the future direc­

tion of the journal; set journal editorial policy; select associate and monitoring

editors; serve as arbiter when pUblication decisions are in dispute; and work pro­

ductively with the managing editor and the production staff.

To effect a smooth editorial transition, we plan to name a successor to the current

editor-in-chief later in 1999. Individuals interested in either applying for the posi­

tion or nominating a qualified individual are invited to do so in writing to the chair

of the Publications Committee by June 1, 1999. Applicants should ascertain that

their institutions will permit them to assume the duties and responsibilities of this

positron. Letters of nomination must indicate that the nominee is aware of and

has approved his or her nomination. In both cases, the applicant or nominee

must be prepared to begin the transition process no later than January 2000.

Applications and nominations will be evaluated by members of the Publications

Committee, and the committee will recommend a candidate to the Executive

Committee. It is planned that the Publications Committee will be able to make a

recommendation at Plant Biology '99 in July in Baltimore, and that the Executive

Committee will announce the name of the new editor-in-chief either at the meet­ing or shortly thereafter.

Submit letters of application or nominations for editor-in-chief of Plant Physiologyby June 1, 1999, to Rebecca Chasan, Chair, ASPP Publications Committee, Ameri­

can Institute of Biological Sciences, 1444 Eye St., NW, Suite 200, Washington,

DC 20005.

ASPP Headquarters Telephone Extensions and E-Mail Directory

·Subscrlptlons, inslltutional: Sunbelt Fulfillment Service, Brentwood, Tennessee, 877·575-9641

\

For your convenience, keep this listing of extension num·bers and e-mail addresses handy when you contact ASPPheadquarters so that you can reach the personbest able toassist you.

Our office telephone number is301-251-0560

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American Society of Plant Physiologists15501 Monona DriveRockville, MD 20855-2768 USA

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PERIODICALS

ASPPHEMliSSN 0279-9936) is published bimonlhly by the American Society of Plan! Physiologists, 15501 Monono Drive, Rockville, MO 20855·2768 USA, telephone 301-251·0560,fax 301-279-2996. Members' dues include asubscription price of $2 peryearl0 ASPP HEM. Substription price 10 nonmembers is $30 per year. Periodicals postage paid al Rackville,MO, and at add~ianal mailing offices.. Postmaster: Please send address changes 10 ASPP HEWS, 15501 Monona Drive, Rockville, MD 20855·2768 USA.