The Noble Foundation has expanded its scientific programs with the addition of two new scientists, Carolyn Young, Ph.D. and Michael Udvardi, Ph.D. Each scientist leads a laboratory and supervises a team of researchers to contribute to the Noble Foundation's existing plant science programs.

Young, a native New Zealander, came to Noble's Forage Improvement Division as Assistant Professor in 2006 after serving as a postdoctoral fellow at Ohio State University, at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster. She specializes in molecular mycology/plant pathology and has 15 years of experience with plant-microbe interactions.

"What attracted me to Noble was the opportunity to work in the modern, multi-disciplinary facilities it offers. I can work with people from many different organizations and take my research all the way from the laboratory bench to the field and then to the farming community," she says. "In this way, I can aid the Noble Foundation with its mission to influence agriculture in Oklahoma and Texas - but also worldwide - by exploring and improving production agriculture techniques and advancing plant science through research and discovery."

Young's work at Noble involves two main projects.

The first examines the interactions between cool-season grasses and endophytes - naturally occurring fungi that can infect grasses such as tall fescue. Endophyte-infected tall fescue has enhanced growth, survival, drought tolerance and competitiveness, but unfortunately the endophyte is often toxic. This toxicity causes a condition known as fescue toxicosis in grazing animals that adversely affects the animals' productivity. Young's project aims to identify "novel" endophytes that benefit their host plants but are not toxic. The goal is to combine these endophytes with the Noble Foundation's collection of grass material to produce new endophyte-grass combinations particularly suited for the southern Great Plains and the southeastern United States.

Her second project addresses a disease called cotton root rot, which is caused by a fungal pathogen found in soil. This is a disease of major economic importance in Oklahoma, Texas and other parts of the Southwest. The fungus attacks the root system of approximately 2,000 different perennial species, including alfalfa - the focus of Young's research.

Young's group will screen the genetic material of alfalfa for resistance to cotton root rot. Resistant plants will enter a breeding program to enhance the alfalfa genetic pool and researchers will characterize them at the molecular level to understand how they resist the disease. As part of the Consortium for Legume Research, Young joins other researchers from Noble, Oklahoma State University and University of Oklahoma in working to understand and reduce the impact of cotton root rot in our region.

"Carolyn is an important addition to our program, and her research is critical to our mission to develop forages for the southern Great Plains," said Joe Bouton, Director of Noble's Forage Improvement Division. "Her experience in endophytic interactions will positively impact our cool season forage program, and her background gives us greater research depth across our division."

Young received her undergraduate and masters (molecular biology) degrees and Ph.D. at Massey University, Palmerston North (NZ).

Udvardi joined Noble's Plant Biology Division as full professor in 2006 after an appointment as associate professor and independent group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology in Golm, Germany. Udvardi, who is originally from Australia, says he came to the United States to be involved in the country's current dynamic scientific environment. In addition to the stable core funding, great facilities and reputable colleagues Udvardi found at Noble, he cites the unique structure of the Noble Foundation as a critical fourth factor in his decision making process to move his research programs.

"Noble has an interesting progression that takes basic plant biology through to applied aspects and ultimately use in the field. So there's a pipeline here that links basic research to end users in the field," he explains.

Research in Udvardi's lab addresses several issues in plant science related to agriculture, such as how plants obtain macronutrients, especially nitrogen, from the soil; how plants sense and respond or adapt to environmental stress such as drought and salinity; and how plants control storage metabolism during seed development. Much of Udvardi's work involves a model legume, Medicago truncatula, and ties into research being performed in other Noble Foundation labs in forage legumes. These crops, including alfalfa and clovers, represent a strong research focus at the Noble Foundation, including a program to reengineer alfalfa to serve as the "perfect" livestock forage.

"Medicago truncatula has many features that make it useful for laboratory research - it has a small genome and a well-characterized genetic system. It's the focus of genome sequencing at the moment. There are many advantages to using it as a model to study basic legume biology," Udvardi says. "In particular, I'm interested in interaction between plants and microbes that enable plants to use atmospheric nitrogen for growth."

Legumes are a major component of world agriculture and serve as a primary food source in many countries. They also provide a sustainable method of introducing nitrogen into agricultural systems.

"In the past hundred years or so, industrial sources of nitrogen have somewhat pushed aside the importance of legumes as a source of nitrogen for agriculture," Udvardi says. "However, industrial sources of nitrogen are not sustainable, in terms of energy, and in terms of their collateral effects on the environment. A better understanding of legumes and increasing the use of legumes in agricultural systems are important for sustainable agriculture."

"We welcome Michael and his research program to the Plant Biology Division," said Rick Dixon, Director of the Plant Biology Division. "As a well established senior scientist with an international reputation, he will make an immediate contribution. Michael serves an important role of not only leading a 'discovery' research program but also translating outcomes and tools from our genomics programs into useful applications that can be used by scientists at Noble and at other institutions to benefit legume science."

Udvardi received an undergraduate degree and his doctorate in botany and biochemistry from the Australian National University.

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Photos:

Carolyn Young

Michael Udvardi

Michael Udvardi

News Release Issued: August 17, 2006

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. (www.noble.org), headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a nonprofit organization conducting agricultural, forage improvement and plant biology research; assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs; and providing grants to nonprofit charitable, educational and health organizations.