Gary Strobel

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Gary A. Strobel (born September 23, 1938) is an American microbiologist and naturalist. He was co-contributor to the discovery that somaclonal variation occurs in plants and can be used for plant improvement. The discovery of the Ri plasmid in Agrobacterium rhizogenes also originated in his laboratory. He examined endophytic fungi and bacteria for their novel bioactive compounds and their unique biology. Forbes magazine called him the "Indiana Jones of fungus hunters" for his expeditions, collections, and research into fungi. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Strobel was born and raised in Massillon, Ohio. He completed a B.S. degree at Colorado State University in 1960, and a PhD at the University of California, Davis in 1963. [2]

Academic career

He has been on the faculty of Montana State University - Bozeman since 1970, earning the title of professor emeritus of plant pathology on September 30, 2005. [3] His research and academic interests have centered on microbe – higher plant relationships. His work on the modification of tree microflora to preclude plant disease received major national attention in his efforts to biologically control Dutch elm disease. [4]

Strobel has lectured at over 350 institutes and universities worldwide and published over 350 articles in scientific journals and holds nearly 50 USA and International patents. From 1979 to 2000 he was chief of the Montana NSF Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program [5] [6] [7] which encourages and promotes science at all levels of society.

Endophytes

Strobel has embarked on collection trips and research into the use of endophytes for various applications. [1] He has licensed more than 20 specimens to pharmaceutical and chemical companies, and his discoveries have included a specimen that grows on the Yew tree that produces taxol, one that produces a fumigant, and another that produces volatile gases (hydrocarbons). [1] The amount of gas produced relative to the food inputs is much lower for the endophyte than other biodiesel production methods, but research into bioengineering the biodiesel production traits into fast reproducing yeast is ongoing. [1]

Controversy

Strobel was reprimanded by the EPA in 1987 for injecting genetically altered bacteria into American elms. At that time it became known that, three years previously, he had developed and released another genetically engineered microbe into the wild without requesting permission from the government, a "clear violation of Federal guidelines in effect at the time." [8]

Awards and memberships

Personal life

His son, Scott Strobel, is a professor at Yale University.

See also

The standard author abbreviation Strobel is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Endosymbiont</span> Organism that lives within the body or cells of another organism

An endosymbiont or endobiont is any organism that lives within the body or cells of another organism most often, though not always, in a mutualistic relationship. (The term endosymbiosis is from the Greek: ἔνδον endon "within", σύν syn "together" and βίωσις biosis "living".) Examples are nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which live in the root nodules of legumes, single-cell algae inside reef-building corals and bacterial endosymbionts that provide essential nutrients to insects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microorganism</span> Microscopic living organism

A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic size, which may exist in its single-celled form or as a colony of cells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mycology</span> Branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi

Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as well as their dangers, such as toxicity or infection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lycopodiopsida</span> Class of vascular plants

Lycopodiopsida is a class of vascular plants known as lycopods, lycophytes or other terms including the component lyco-. Members of the class are also called clubmosses, firmosses, spikemosses and quillworts. They have dichotomously branching stems bearing simple leaves called microphylls and reproduce by means of spores borne in sporangia on the sides of the stems at the bases of the leaves. Although living species are small, during the Carboniferous, extinct tree-like forms (Lepidodendrales) formed huge forests that dominated the landscape and contributed to coal deposits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biodiesel</span> Fuel made from vegetable oils or animal fats

Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat (tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil with an alcohol, producing a methyl, ethyl or propyl ester by the process of transesterification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Endophyte</span>

An endophyte is an endosymbiont, often a bacterium or fungus, that lives within a plant for at least part of its life cycle without causing apparent disease. Endophytes are ubiquitous and have been found in all species of plants studied to date; however, most of the endophyte/plant relationships are not well understood. Some endophytes may enhance host growth, nutrient acquisition and improve the plant's ability to tolerate abiotic stresses, such as drought and decrease biotic stresses by enhancing plant resistance to insects, pathogens and herbivores. Although endophytic bacteria and fungi are frequently studied, endophytic archaea are increasingly being considered for their role in plant growth promotion as part of the core microbiome of a plant.

<i>Festuca arundinacea</i> Species of flowering plant

Festuca arundinacea (syn., Schedonorus arundinaceus and Lolium arundinaceum) is a species of grass commonly known as tall fescue. It is a cool-season perennial C3 species of bunchgrass native to Europe. It is an important forage grass throughout Europe, and many cultivars have been used in agriculture. It is also an ornamental grass in gardens, and a phytoremediation plant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loline alkaloid</span> Class of chemical compounds

A loline alkaloid is a member of the 1-aminopyrrolizidines, which are bioactive natural products with several distinct biological and chemical features. The lolines are insecticidal and insect-deterrent compounds that are produced in grasses infected by endophytic fungal symbionts of the genus Epichloë. Lolines increase resistance of endophyte-infected grasses to insect herbivores, and may also protect the infected plants from environmental stresses such as drought and spatial competition. They are alkaloids, organic compounds containing basic nitrogen atoms. The basic chemical structure of the lolines comprises a saturated pyrrolizidine ring, a primary amine at the C-1 carbon, and an internal ether bridge—a hallmark feature of the lolines, which is uncommon in organic compounds—joining two distant ring carbons. Different substituents at the C-1 amine, such as methyl, formyl, and acetyl groups, yield loline species that have variable bioactivity against insects. Besides endophyte–grass symbionts, loline alkaloids have also been identified in some other plant species; namely, Adenocarpus species and Argyreia mollis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plant use of endophytic fungi in defense</span>

Plant use of endophytic fungi in defense occurs when endophytic fungi, which live symbiotically with the majority of plants by entering their cells, are utilized as an indirect defense against herbivores. In exchange for carbohydrate energy resources, the fungus provides benefits to the plant which can include increased water or nutrient uptake and protection from phytophagous insects, birds or mammals. Once associated, the fungi alter nutrient content of the plant and enhance or begin production of secondary metabolites. The change in chemical composition acts to deter herbivory by insects, grazing by ungulates and/or oviposition by adult insects. Endophyte-mediated defense can also be effective against pathogens and non-herbivory damage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altechromone A</span> Chemical compound

Altechromone A is a chromone derivative. To date, it has been isolated from plant families such as Polygonaceae, Lamiaceae, Fabaceae, and Hypericaceae.

Scott A. Strobel is the provost, Henry Ford II professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry, and a professor of chemistry at Yale University. He was the vice provost for Science Initiatives and vice president for West Campus Planning & Program Development. An educator and researcher, he has led a number of Yale initiatives over the past two decades. Strobel was appointed as Yale's provost in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Root microbiome</span>

The root microbiome is the dynamic community of microorganisms associated with plant roots. Because they are rich in a variety of carbon compounds, plant roots provide unique environments for a diverse assemblage of soil microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi and archaea. The microbial communities inside the root and in the rhizosphere are distinct from each other, and from the microbial communities of bulk soil, although there is some overlap in species composition.

Muscodor roseus is an anamorphic fungus in the family Xylariaceae. It is an endophyte that colonizes the inner bark, sapwood and outer xylem of the plants Grevillea pteridifolia and Erythrophleum chlorostachys, found in the Northern Territory of Australia. It grows as a pinkish, felt-like mycelium on several media, and produces a mixture of volatile antibiotics. Cultures tend to have a musty odour. The specific epithet roseus means "pink".

Jane Glazebrook is an American botanist known for her work on understanding plant defenses against pathogens and increasing crop yields. She received her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1991 and is now a Professor of Plant Biology at the University of Minnesota. She was the editor-in-chief of the journal Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions. She is married to Fumiaki Katagiri, who also works at the University of Minnesota as a Professor of Plant Biology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Graduate School at Montana State University</span> University in the United States

The Graduate School provides leadership in graduate education at Montana State University (MSU), a public land-grant university located in Bozeman, Montana.

Barbara Jane Howlett is an Australian fungal plant pathologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lolitrem B</span> Chemical compound

Lolitrem B is one of many toxins produced by a fungus called Epichloë festucae var. lolii), which grows in Lolium perenne. The fungus is symbiotic with the ryegrass; it doesn't harm the plant, and the toxins it produces kill insects that feed on ryegrass. Lolitrem B is one of these toxins, but it is also harmful to mammals. The shoots and flowers of infected ryegrass have especially high concentrations of lolitrem B, and when livestock eat too much of them, they get perennial ryegrass staggers. At low doses the animals have tremors, and at higher doses they stagger, and at higher yet doses the animals become paralyzed and die. The blood pressure of the animals also goes up. The effect of the lolitrem B comes on slowly and fades out slowly, as it is stored in fat after the ryegrass is eaten. The condition is especially common in New Zealand and Australia, and plant breeders there have been trying to develop strains of fungus that produce toxins only harmful to pests, and not to mammals.

Nature's Fynd is a company that develops microbe-based proteins for meat substitutes and dairy substitutes. The protein is produced by a fungus first identified in geothermal springs in Yellowstone National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mucoromycota</span> A phylum within kingdom fungi

Mucoromycota is a division within the kingdom fungi. It includes a diverse group of various molds, including the common bread molds Mucor and Rhizopus. It is a sister phylum to Dikarya.

Gnomoniopsis castaneae is a fungus of the order Diaporthales that is the most important cause of brown chestnut rot, an emerging disease that damages the fruit of chestnuts. It also causes cankers and necrosis on leaves and on chestnut galls caused by the gall wasp, Dryocosmus kuriphilus. Additionally, it can cause cankers on hazelnut trees, less severe damage to some nut trees, and lives as an endophyte on other nut trees. The disease has been reported in Europe, Oceania, and has recently been found in North America; for this reason, the fungus is considered a potential threat to the reintroduction of the American chestnut.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Christopher Helman The Indiana Jones of Fungus Hunters; Bio-prospector Gary Strobel's latest find: a fungus from Patagonia that produces diesel May 25, 2009 page 36, 38 Forbes
  2. http://plantsciences.montana.edu/facultyorstaff/faculty/strobel/vitae.html Curriculum Vitae
  3. "Authorization to Confer the Title of Professor Emeritus of Plant Pathology upon Gary Strobel". Montana University System. September 21–23, 2005. ITEM 128-2001-R0905.
  4. Schneider, Keith (January 13, 1988). "One Agency Clears Scientist Of Breaking Genetics Rules". The New York Times . Retrieved March 12, 2008.
  5. Strobel, Gary (May 31, 1996). "Lessons from the EPSCoR States". Science . 272 (5266): 1245–0. doi: 10.1126/science.272.5266.1245 .
  6. "UM & MSU Minutes" (PDF). Montana NSF EPSCoR: 7. December 3, 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 1, 2006. Retrieved March 12, 2008.
  7. "Montana EPSCoR Staff". Montana State University. Archived from the original on September 13, 2006. Retrieved March 12, 2008.
  8. Schneider, Keith; Times, Special To the New York (1987-09-02). "Gene Scientist Freed Germs In 1984 Tests". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-04-27.
  9. "Publications". The Explorers Club. 2002. Archived from the original on March 11, 2008. Retrieved March 12, 2008.
  10. Stone, Richard (May 31, 2002). "Gary Strobel profile: Biologist Gets Under the Skin of Plants--And Peers". Science . 296 (5573): 1597–99. doi:10.1126/science.296.5573.1597. PMID   12040161. S2CID   42045987 . Retrieved March 12, 2008.
  11. International Plant Names Index.  Strobel.