Recent Publications - Department of Biology

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Issue 24
Irving "Bill" McNulty,
82, of Salt Lake City,
passed away peacefully
November 25, 2000.
He was born January 6,
1918 in Salt Lake City to
Irving "Mac" McNulty and
Svea Lindegren. Survived
by his three children, Mike,
Marc and Michelle Savino;
six grandchildren and four
great-grandchildren.
Bill grew up in Salt Lake City, and with the help
and support of his family, especially Gene Sarnes
his "adopted" father, he worked his way through
college at the University of Utah earning a B.S.
Degree in Science in 1942. He went on to earn his
M.S. from the University of Utah in 1947, after
returning from serving his country in World War II
and spending a year in a German POW camp. He
obtained his Ph.D. in 1952 from Ohio State
University. However, his first love was the "U".
He served the U of U for 40 years and was
Chairman of the Botany Department for eight years
and instructor for Biology for over 30 years. He
retired as Professor Emeritus in Biology in 1987.
Also, through his leadership, land was set aside for
what is today Red Butte Garden and Arboretum. He
served as a Board Member for the Arboretum for
over 30 years and was instrumental in helping the
Garden and Arboretum become a success.
He was a member of the State Advisory Board
for the Nature Conservancy. Through this
membership, he assisted in the establishment of two
"national areas" in the state, Layton Marsh in
Northern Utah and the Lytle Ranch in
Southwestern Utah. He was also selected to be in
the 1975-76 edition of Community Leaders and
Noteworthy Americans Bicentennial Edition in
recognition of his achievements and outstanding
service to the community and state.
In Bill's memory, contributions may be made
to the Irving B. McNulty Memorial Scholarship
Fund established by the University of Utah
Department of Biology, 257 So. 1400 E., Salt
Lake City, UT 84112-0840.
Inside this Issue
Highlights & Faculty News..2 & 3
Biokids …………………..……….4
Halloween Bash …………..…...5
Computing News ……..….6 & 7
The Grad Pages ………..…8 & 9
Publications …………..…10 & 11
What's Happening? ………….12
December 18, 2000 at the Memorial House in Memory Grove
t's that time of year when bells are ringing, children are singing and plans are
being made for the 2000 Biology Department Holiday Gathering. Pull out your
calendars and mark the evening of Monday, December 18th as the day to celebrate
the season with your colleagues at
You can discover more about a
the Memorial House nestled in
Memory Grove.
person in an hour of play than in a
Due to the hopes for snow, it is
year of conversation. (Plato)
the perfect time to take that sleigh
ride downtown to the charming setting of the Memorial House. The evening
promises to be enchanting from the full course buffet to the soft glowing fire.
Who knows, Santa may even stop in for a visit. We hope to enjoy your bright,
cheery smiles and unforgettable laughter at this year's Holiday Gathering.
“
”
The Biology Department Science
Retreat was held on November 18,
2000 at The Grand Summit Hotel in
the Canyons ski resort.
The retreat was packed with
dynamic speakers that included a
range of distinguished faculty,
graduate students and even an
undergraduate presenter. The
presentations covered a broad
The Canyons Grand Summit Hotel
spectrum of biological interests.
The poster session, which was highlighted during an extended lunch, became a
highlight for the retreat. It was well attended with an excellent variety of posters,
generating interesting scientific discussions. One attendee reported, "It was great
to learn about the varied interests of my departmental colleagues…It was wellplanned and well- executed." Next year, the Science Retreat will be held earlier in
the Fall and should be even more exciting.
HIGHLIGHTS
Richard Koehn, Professor
Richard Koehn joined the University of Utah in 1992 as Vice
President for Research after serving as Dean of the Division
of Biological Sciences, Director of the Center for
Biotechnology, and Professor of Ecology and Evolution at the
University of Stony Brook. He also directed a large research
program in the genetics of natural populations. His studies
were concerned with the physiology and genetics of
adaptation of fish and marine organisms,
principally mussels.
As Vice President of Research, Dr.
Koehn's experience was very positive. He
describes it as "the best job at the University.
It doesn't deal with fluff and politics, it deals
with substance, creativity and innovation of
faculty." High performance computing
sparked his curiosity during his term. This is
a discipline he would never have been
introduced to if it were not for the
opportunity to serve at a high administrative
level.
The real plus of the Vice President for
Research position is to have the opportunity
to be a scientific dilettante, viewing science,
engineering and the arts on a broad perspective. Dr. Koehn
was able to see the influence on others' productivity and
creativity through initiatives that focus on research programs.
Dr. Koehn has experienced the traditional faculty
science research career, and was very successful. He was
president of the Society for the Study of Evolution, published
more than 100 papers, and was awarded many grants, awards,
and fellowships. Over the years, he has combined the
traditional science career with a career in research
administration and entrepreneurial science. One of his areas
of interests, in which he is currently writing a grant, is
research ethics. He is particularly interested
in the issue of ethical research where faculty
are involved in the commercial exploitation
of science and technology.
Richard Koehn has diverse interests
and roles. He plays racquetball several times
a week. He loves and collects art. His
favorite pastimes are listening to classical
music and cooking. He is a very serious and
creative chef. In fact, he would rather read a
cookbook than almost anything else. He
grew up in a small town in Michigan as an
only child in a very small family. His wife,
Sherry Scott, is a Neurobiology professor at
the University of Utah. He has three children
(Rachel, 27, who worked in David
Goldenberg’s lab for two years, and is now a genetic
counselor in Chicago; Chris, 15, and Kate, 14, are both at
Highland High), a dog and some cats. He describes it all as "a
truly magical existence."
Martin Horvath, Assistant Professor
Martin Horvath, Assistant Professor, recently joined the
University of Utah's Biology Department. He came here
from the University of Colorado where he solved, with Dr.
Steve Schultz, the crystal structure of the
Oxytricha nova telomere end binding protein
complexed with single strand DNA. The
structure is the first of its kind in many
respects, providing a detailed look at a
nucleoprotein complex, which composes the
very end of a chromosome.
Dr. Horvath received his Bachelor's
degree from Brown University and his
Doctor of Philosophy degree from the
University of Chicago. He got his jump-start
into Crystallography when he joined
Schultz's team in Colorado. "There were
several exciting structural projects in the
laboratory at the time, and the people were
fantastic," Martin remembers.
His current research interests focus on understanding
the structural basis for macromolecular recognition and
especially how evolution plays a role in creating recognition
surfaces. He'd like to use evolution-based experiments to
study these subjects.
What he loved about Utah was the opportunity to teach
The Reading Frame
as well as conduct research. His philosophy is that teaching
offers an opportunity to refocus current research in a positive
way, by returning to the fundamental questions that are
important in biology.
Dr. Horvath is the father of three
children, and is happily married to Susan
Horvath. They are expecting their fourth
child, a girl, at the end of March. The oldest
child, Mei Ling, is in first grade at Rowland
Hall with her brother Noah, age five, who is
in preschool. Linnea is two years old. Susan
is an obstetrician and hopes to join a private
practice next fall.
Dr. Horvath is always amazed at the
richness of biology, and "what a gift it is that
we can think about these problems while
they are happening at light speed. A million
times a second, chemical reactions are being
catalyzed, DNA is being replicated, RNA is
transcribed. Delving into science offers a chance to marvel at
nature and appreciate what God has created. Each discovery
shows how little we really know about any one particular
thing; it’s a chance to be humbled by this creation that we
see around us." Martin is really glad to be part of the
department, and we are happy to have him here.
Page 2
Bramble to Present
Seminar
Utah Native Plant Society and
Red Butte Garden
Dr. Dennis M. Bramble
Department of Biology
University of Utah
Native Plant Recovery on an
Old Homestead in
Southern Utah
Thursday, February 8, 2001
7:00 p.m.
Cottam Visitor Center
Red Butte Garden
Free Admission
Biology
Seminar Series
The Biology Seminar Series has seen
great success so far this year. We
have had many distinguished
researchers from all over the world.
We would like to thank those who
have hosted these exceptional
speakers.
The Spring Semester schedule
will be just as dynamic with the
following seminar speakers:
• Russell Regnery (1/11)
• Wolfhart Almers (1/25)
• Spencer Barrett (2/1)
• Rob Jackson (2/8)
• James Brown (2/15)
• Anne Sylvester (2/22)
• E.B. Keverne (2/27)
• Tim Nelson (3/1)
• N. Michele Holbrook (3/8)
• Emilia Martins (4/19)
• Nadrian Seeman (4/26)
There are still a few available
seminar dates. Take advantage of the
incredible opportunity to be a host!
Check out our website at:
http://seminars.biology.utah.edu
Beckerle Awarded
Fellowship
Mary Beckerle was awarded a
Guggenheim fellowship and
returned in August from a year's
sabbatical in Paris at the Curie
Institute.
She has also been named the
Ralph E. and Willia T. Main
Presidential Endowed Chairholder in
Cancer Research.
Who Wants to be a
Millionaire?
"For $125,000, what famous
cartoonist has a species of lice
named after him?" If you can answer
this question, you will know that the
answer is Gary Larsen, the infamous
Farside cartoonist. Sorry, you won't
get the money for this question,
unless you were on "Who Wants to
be a Millionaire?"
Dale Clayton's naming a species
of lice after Gary Larson has received
a lot of attention. It is currently a
Trivial Pursuit question and has been
used on Jeopardy. Most currently, this
question was used on "Who Wants to
be a Millionaire?"
Congratulations
Villu & Monica
Villu Maricq & Monica Vetter have
welcomed a new addition to their
family. Ella Louise was born on
October 12, 2000 and weighed 7 lbs.
14 oz. Congratulations!
Congratulations
Dave & Ann
Dave Gard and Ann Boulet are the
proud parents of Christina Michelle
Boulet Gard. Christina was born on
December 4, 2000 at 8:00 p.m. and
weighed 7.77 lbs. Congratulations!
Page 3
NABS Award Presented
to
George F. Edmunds Jr.,
Professor Emeritus
The Award of Excellence
Committee is pleased to announce
that Dr. George F. Edmunds, Jr.,
Professor Emeritus, has received
the NABS (North American
Benthological Society) Award of
Excellence in Benthic Science.
Benthic Science concerns the study
of organisms that live on the bottom
of lakes, rivers and oceans. The
award was presented at the annual
meeting in June 2000 at Keystone,
Colorado.
Dr. Edmunds was selected on
the basis of his life-long
contributions to the taxonomy,
evolution and biogeography of the
Ephemeroptera. Among the many
publications that he has authored or
co-authored are one book, 95
monographs and journal articles,
two major review articles, and eight
book chapters. Edmunds has 35
genera and 79 species (in whole or
in part) attributed to him.
In addition to his research
contributions, George Edmunds is
widely acknowledged for his skills
in teaching and mentoring of
students. His broad knowledge of
natural history and his many
personal experiences brought a
unique excitement to his courses.
Edmunds has mentored 19 graduate
students and three post-doctoral
associates. Many of his students
carryon his legacy of excellence in
taxonomy and biogeography. The
North American Benthological
Society is forever indebted to
George F. Edmunds, Jr., for his
many extraordinary contributions to
our knowledge of benthic science.
December 2000
S eventeen months after BioKIDS opened,
parents in other University departments,
sightings of happy children taking walks near including math, physics, child and family
development, engineering, psychology, and
the biology buildings and playing in the
the technology transfer office. Other parents
surrounding green space has become
from Biology, with children in Biokids, are
commonplace. But inside the walls of
postdocs, students, and staff.
Building 44, BioKIDS has been going
One factor in BioKIDS' success is the
through a growth spurt of its own.
involvement of parents. BioKIDS is run as a
The most obvious sign of BioKIDS'
growth is the newly enlarged playground. On cooperative, with a modest requirement for
contributions of time and effort. A range of
the south side of Building 44, a recently
parental activities, such as playground
expanded fenced area now contains a
supervision, dance classes, and running
sandbox and playhouse/slide. These playfundraisers, helps to bring a higher level of
ground expansions were made possible, in
quality to our
part, by a
BioKIDS
generous
programs. In
donation from
addition,
the scientific
BioKIDS is
supply
grateful for
company VWR.
contributions
Less obvious
from others,
is the growth on
including bird
the inside. Our
watching
new director,
fieldtrips
Anexora
around campus,
Fidone, has
tours of labs
increased the
and facilities,
infant
and
enrollment of
demonstrations
BioKIDS to
Biokid organizers: Denise Dearing, Marissa Diener,
of musical
eight, and
Kendal Broadie, Leslie Sieburth, Don Feener, Sylvia
instruments.
brought the
Torti, Emma Rushton Not pictured: Dave Gard
As our
number of
toddlers to its target of fourteen children. The BioBABIES grow, we appreciate the
nurturing and fun environment provided by
toddlers now enjoy organized preschool
BioKIDS, and many thanks are due to the
activities in two separate age categories. A
Biology Department, Sandy Parkinson, the
computer provided by Larry Okun offers
University, and our corporate sponsors for
opportunities for learning using educational
making BioKIDS a great success.
software.
Who are the BioKIDS? Half of the
Written by Leslie Sieburth, Assistant
children currently enrolled have parents in
Professor for the Department of Biology.
the biology department. Seven more have
The Reading Frame
Page 4
The second (potentially annual) Biology
Department Halloween Party was held on
October 29, 2000 at the home of Patricia
Slev and Wayne Potts.
David Witherspoon’s brain won first
prize in the “best costume” category (and
some argue first prize for “most out of
character” category). David took home the
latest edition of “Tales of Terror and the
Supernatural.”
First prize for scariest food went to Libby
McGrane (Erin McClelland’s roommate) for
her horrifically scrumptious cockroach tartar
with xenopus stuffing. Libby will enjoy
eating lunch packed into her new sumo
wrestler novelty lunchbox. Second prize for
costume, an authentic Nepalese mask, went
to Brent Helliker, who looked divine in a
form fitting duct tape suit (stay away girls,
he’s sticky!).
Leslie Sieberth won second scariest food
prize for her disgustingly delicious stuffed
squash recipe (what was in that stuffing
Leslie?). She took home a plastic transformer
figurine with tooth breaking candy filling.
Attendees were also treated to the world
premiere of the musical Best Side Story, a
spoof on Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story
and our own Biology Department. The action
is set in the post-genomic era as two warring
clans emerge within the UU Biology Dept. the Duck Clan (short for reDUCKtionists)
and the Eek clan (short for EEKologists).
Each clan claims to be the BEST SIDE,
threatening to tear this venerable institution
asunder. Eric Jorgensen was brilliant in his
starring role as Top Duck and it was a
poignant moment as he reflected on his
“bring’n upke” to his Chairman, singing the
following lines:
Our mentors were all junkies, Our advisors
were all drunks, Golly Moses natcherly
we’re punks”
Dale Clayton was stunning in his
starring role as Top Eek, and brought the
house down as he went over Chairman
Page 5
Sandy’s head and sang/bellered the
following lines to the Dean:
“My department treats me ruff, They don’t
got much resources, And they won't give me
enough.”
Sandy Parkinson distinguished himself
by keeping a straight face while playing
three roles (Chairman Sandy, The Dean and
Narrator); he was the only voice of reason
throughout the entire night. He was also the
primary target of ridicule by all other cast
members, which is the normal role of
rational thought around here.
There was a moment of truthful
introspection as the entire cast sang:
“Chairman Sandy, you’ve done it again, This
department don’t need splittin', it needs a
year in the pen, It ain’t just a question of
misunderstood, Deep down inside us we’re
no good.”
But this brief introspective moment was
quickly dashed as mindless tribalism took
over. The taboo love affair of the starcrossed
lovers, Duck 5 (Michael Bastiani) and Eek 3
(Denise Dearing), ignite clan warfare leading
to the bloody deaths of Top Duck and Top
Eek, followed quickly by the Romeo and
Juliet-style suicides of Michael and Denise.
The haunting rendition of, “Make of
these clans, one clan”, sung stirringly by
Kristin Clayton, brought a moment of
healing, which quickly collapsed as the stars
and the cast (Leslie Sieburth, Martin
Horvath, David Blair, Michael Bastiani,
Mary Beckerle, Jon Seger, Denise Dearing,
Dustin Penn, Kate McColluh, Kristin
Clayton, Janet Richmond, Emma Rushton)
taunted each other during the curtain calls.
With choreography by Lara Carroll,
lyrics and stageplay by Wayne Potts,
direction by Denise Dearing and a special
dance number by the wannabe Ph.D. dancers
(Andy Pacejka, Erin McClelland, Bret
Moyer, Brad Demarest, Lora Richardson,
Tania Brenes), Best Side Story is a must see,
all thumbs up musical.
Written by the
Pott's Lab.
December 2000
• Acrobat, WordPerfect
updated in BioMicro Lab:
Stations in the Bio-Micro Lab, on which
an 'Authoring' folder is installed, now have
version 4.05a of the full Acrobat software
for creation of files in the Portable
Document Format (PDF). All stations in
the Bio-Micro Lab and laboratory
classrooms (data-acquisition labs) have a
4.0 version of the free Acrobat Reader.
Acrobat licensing in the Lab permits five
simultaneous users of the software.
• Networks upgraded in Life
Sciences, South Biology,
and Talmage: The new Ethernet
'switching' hardware described in the last
issue of the Frame has been installed in
these three buildings. As noted in the
earlier description, the new hardware is the
same as that used in the Skaggs building
(10/100Mbps switches, linked by a 1Gbps
fiber backbone in buildings with more than
one). The hardware provides higher
communication speeds (for newer
computers), increased effective bandwidth
(less competition among users), and
improved security.
Those ports which were reported as
being in use, as requested in the last
Frame, and in an e-mail posting last
spring, are being transferred to the new
hardware.
New Campus hardware providing faster,
100Mbps, connections to the Campus
network is also being installed in all these
buildings and in Building 44. This new
hardware will provide the same type of
higher-performance, switched Ethernet
connections described above for Building
44, completing the upgrade of Biology's
networks.
• Skaggs bridge and
classroom ports activated :
The Ethernet ports on the study bridge
joining ASB and South Biology buildings
and those at all student seats in the two
large ASB classrooms are being activated.
With special funding from a University
grant, an entirely separate chain of
10/100Mbps switches, linked by a 1Gbps
fiber backbone, has been installed in ASB
for this purpose. Network use via these
'quasi-public' ports is controlled by the
new University 'ANA' (Authenticated
Network Access) system; only the TCP/IP
The Reading Frame
(Internet) protocol is supported, not
AppleTalk or IPX, and users are required
to have a campus-network identification.
The ANA system is described at the new
Website, http://www.ana.utah.edu/, and
campus-net IDs can be obtained via
Website http://www.
cc.utah.edu/Accounts/.
Briefly, once a campus-net ID has been
obtained, use of the system involves
connecting a computer to one of the ANAsupported Ethernet ports, configuring the
connected computer to get IP information
from a 'DHCP' server (often the default
TCP/IP configuration), launching a Web
browser, and attempting to connect to any
Web site. The Web-based ANA login
screen will appear by default, presenting a
simple and quick login procedure.
The bridge ports have been in use during
fall semester; the classroom ones should be
ready for use during the spring semester.
• WordPerfect updated on
student stations:
The WordPerfect 3.5 installed on
BioMicroLab and lab-classroom stations
has also been updated, to the current, and
final Mac version '3.5 enhanced.' Corel
has now made that version free; it can be
downloaded via the Web from the page at
URL: http://www.corel.com/products/
macintosh/wpmac35/index.htm
• Full C. elegans sequence
on biosrv updated: A new
version of the C. elegans database
application 'ACEDB' and updated
complete sequence data for C. elegans
(data distributions of September, 2000),
have been installed on the Department's
UNIX Alpha Station, biosrv.biology.utah.
edu. The application provides a graphical
user interface, via X-windows, for access
to the database.
Page 6
• PowerPoint Viewer added
to student stations: The free
'Microsoft PowerPoint 98 Viewer' has
been installed on BioMicroLab and labclassroom stations. It enables display of
PowerPoint presentation files on systems
without a licensed copy of the PowerPoint
application itself.
• Computer Professional
hired for Biology: Biology at last
has some full-time computer-support help.
Clay Tycksen, whom many of you will
have already met, has been hired to
manage the computers in Biology's openaccess student lab (the BioMicroLab), its
four data-acquisition teaching labs, the
new HHMI teaching lab, and the projectorequipped classrooms, as well as to provide
general help to users. User help for simple
tasks will be provided 'free,' on a timepermitting basis. Longer jobs, when Clay
can manage them, will involve some
charge-back sharing of expenses, in the
way Vinnie's projects do. Requests for
either kind of help should be sent to the
new e-mail address
'[email protected].' Clay comes with
strong experience managing computers for
the entire Humanities College and is well
versed in both Macintosh
and Windows operating systems. He is a
very welcome addition!
• MacClade 4.0 installed in
BioMicroLab: The recently
announced new version of MacClade,
an application for construction and
manipulation of phylogenetic trees,
will soon be installed on stations in the
BioMicroLab and those in Biology's
computer-equipped teaching labs. It
will replace version 3.01, now on
those stations, and the new license will
increase the permitted number of
simultaneous users from 2 to 10 under
a classroom site-license agreement.
Two additional licenses were
purchased, under the same agreement,
for use by instructors while they are
teaching a course employing
MacClade. Cooperation will be
required in use of these two licenses
so that the signed contract with the
publisher will not be violated.
• New BioMicroLab and
BioScience Servers
installed, accessible via
TCP/IP: The new servers, also described
in the last issue of the Frame, have been
installed. With recent versions of the Mac
Chooser, they are accessible via TCP/IP
(and thus via the new ANA-controlled
public ports of the ASB bridge and
classrooms). With Chooser versions
providing a 'Server IP Address...' button
during AppleShare connections, the names
'biomicrolab.biology.utah.edu' (or
'bmlsrvr.biology.utah.edu') and
'biosci.biology.utah.edu' (or
'bioscisrvr.biology.utah.edu') can be
entered, respectively, for TCP/IP
connections to the new BioMicroLab
Server/IP or BioScience Server/IP.
Windows systems can also connect to
these servers via TCP/IP. Instructions for
such connections to BioMicroLab
Server/IP are on that server, in a folder
named 'Connections from Home' on
volume 'BioCourses Volume 1.'
Biology Course folders have been
transferred to the new BioMicroLab/IP
server, so instructors using those folders
will need to request new passwords for
student and instructor accounts.
'Classic' QuickMail service continues to
be provided by the old 'BioScience Server.'
The new QuickMail service, when installed
later this year, will be on the new
'BioScience Server/IP.'
• GCG use now free to
Biology users: Biology's
subscription to updates of the GCG
(Genetics Computer Group) geneticssequence-analysis software and related
databases has ended. The publishers have
terminated support for the VMS operating
system (the one for which GCG was
originally written and the one we use), and
support from campus labs for continuing
the subscription has been waning, making
continuation of the subscription an
unattractive proposition in terms of both
effort that would be required for an
operating system conversion and rising
costs to individual labs supporting it.
We are nonetheless entitled to continue
using our current version of the software,
version 10.1, still GCG's most recent
release, and the last database set of July,
2000 (GenBank v.118, et al.). While the
databases will become obsolete, GCG's
complement of software for sequence
analysis remains very powerful and of
continuing value. The Biology Computer
Advisory Committee and labs previously
supporting the software subscription have
voted to make use of the package available
free to other Biology users after expiration
of the current subscription, Sept. 30, 2000.
Those wishing to use the software should
request an account on Biology's 'biocom'
server, which hosts it.
• New Biology Course Web
Server: Clay Tycksen will be setting
up a new Departmental Web server,
initially intended to provide student access
to information associated with Biology
courses. It is hoped that the server will be
ready for use by spring semester courses.
Instructors wishing to put course materials
on this new server should contact Clay
([email protected]).
• New Biology QuickMail Pro
Server now under test: The
new QuickMail Pro software was installed
at the end of October and has been under
initial test by a few users. Present plans
are to move all users of the old, 'classic'
BioScience QuickMail system to the new
one sometime during the spring semester.
As previously noted, the new QuickMail
Pro is designed as a POP3 client/server
system. Thus, the new server will interact
with any standard POP3 client, for
example Eudora, Microsoft Outlook
Express, or the one in some versions of the
Netscape Web browser. (Correspondingly,
the QuickMail Pro client can be used with
any POP3 server, and some in Biology
have been using independently purchased
Page 7
copies of it with the 'biology.utah.edu'
server.) The new QuickMail Pro client has
many more features and options than the
old one (among them ability to send and
receive MIME-encoded attachments as
well as BinHex-encoded ones) and, when
used in conjunction with the QM Pro
server, offers additional, proprietary
features, such as server-based automated
handling of incoming messages similar to
that possible with the old, classic QM, but
not, in general, with other POP3 systems.
If you are a current user of the
BioScience QuickMail system and would
like to try QuickMail Pro during the test
period, send an e-mail note to Larry Okun's
address on the existing BioScience QM
system.
• Possible charges for
printing in BioMicroLab:
Since the BioMicroLab was opened around
14 years ago, the Department has
subsidized free printing for all users of it.
Costs of this service have risen
dramatically recently, driven largely by
increased posting of course information on
the Web and the understandable inclination
of many students to produce hard copy
from that. It appears that our 'open-access'
lab is the only one on Campus providing
free printing to all students, and it is likely
that the Department will be financially
unable to continue supporting this service.
A system that would permit charging for
printing on the BioMicroLab printers is
therefore under review and may be
implemented as early as spring semester.
The system would make the Lab printers
available for network use only to users
with password-protected accounts on a
specific Biology server. (BioMicroLab
managers would have such accounts and
could thus act as 'toll-gateways' for
students printing in the Lab.) If the system
is adopted, members of the Biology
Department wishing to use the Lab printers
would have to obtain appropriate server
accounts. Those may be assigned by
faculty-lab or research-account groups, and
may also involve charges, but decisions
about those possibilities also remain to be
made.
Computing News is written
for the Biology Department by
Larry Okun, Professor.
December 2000
U P D A T E S
Post-docs, Susanne Kloeker
Greg Hermann was a
and Kathleen Clark, have
biology department graduate
student in Janet Shaw's lab
and is currently a DamonRunyon postdoctoral fellow
in Jim Priess' group at the
Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Institute (Seattle,
WA). Greg's most recent
paper describing the role of a
signaling pathway in
determining organ left-right
asymmetry during worm
development (Development,
2000, v.127, p.3429) was
highlighted in the Editors'
Choice section of Science
(August 11, 2000, v.289,
p.833).
been awarded NIH fellowships
to study the role of TRIP6 in
p130cas cell signaling and
motility.
Mary Anne Karren,
Tania Bre nes
(Coley/kursar
Lab)
Fud e Huang
(Broadie Lab)
undergraduate in the Shaw lab,
was awarded a Beckman
Undergraduate Fellowship. She
will be presenting a poster on
her work at the American
Society for Cell Biology
Meeting in San Francisco,
December of 2000.
Jinseong Yi, Beckerle lab,
defended his thesis on
September 29, 2000.
Mark
Pal freyma n
(Jorgensen
Lab)
Jos eph
Penrod
(Roth Lab)
✖ ✤ ✌ ✴ ✌ ✬
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•
Jai me
VanNorman
(Sieburth
Lab)
The Reading Frame
Xia ohui
Wang
(Bastiani
Lab)
•
•
•
Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.
A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
"Dreamt" is the only word in the English language that ends in
"mt".
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
In most advertisements, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10.
The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named
after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's
"It's A Wonderful Life."
"Typewriter" is the longest word you can type using only the top
shelf of the keyboard.
Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
There are more plastic flamingos in the US than real.
Page 8
&
A W A R D S
Caroline McKeown, of
Brent Helliker received
the Beckerle lab, was
granted a fellowship on the
Genetics Training Grant,
which started on July 1, 2000
and will continue for three
years. This grant will support
her work on the role of the
cytoskeleton in stabilizing
the muscle contractile
apparatus in C. elegans.
the Billings Award for best
student presentation at the
2000 Ecological Society of
America annual meeting.
NIH NRSA awarded to Jim
Richards (postdoc in the
Shaw lab) to study the "Role
of Mgm1p in Mitochondrial
Dynamics" for three years.
Dr. Yong Q. Zhang, of
the Broadie lab, was
awarded a fellowship to
study neurological functions
of fragile X gene in the
Drosophila genetic model
system. Fragile X syndrome
is one of the most common
inheritable mental
retardation diseases, second
only to Down syndrome. The
patients show synaptic
defects in the brain. The
award is for one year, but
renewable for a second year.
✚ ✤ ✌ ✷ ✰ ✔ ✆ ✰
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A Russian woman gave birth to 69 children from 1725 to
1765 (there were 16 pairs of twins, 7 sets of triplets, and 4
sets of quadruplets).
Blue is the favorite color of 80% of Americans.
A giraffe cleans its ears with its 21-inch tongue.
The largest chocolate chip cookie ever made contained 2.8
tons of chocolate.
The only word in the English language with all vowels in
reverse order is "subcontinental."
Donald Duck comics were once banned in Finland because
Donald doesn't wear pants.
There are more telephones than people in Washington, D.C.
The "sixth sick sheik sheep's sick" is said to be the hardest
tongue twister in the English language.
A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.
Page 9
Carrie Mai r
(Gard Lab)
Larissa
Mar tin
(Shaw Lab)
Mark Smith
Broadie Lab
Lora
Ric hards
(Coley/
kursar Lab)
Ell iot
Wil kinson
(Feener Lab)
Mark Smith
(Broadie Lab)
Heng Xie
(Golic Lab)
December 2000
R ecen t P ublications
Alder TB, Rose GJ. (2000). Integration and recovery processes contribute to the temporal selectivity of neurons
in the northern leopard frog, Rana pipiens. J. Comp. Physiol. In press.
Atkins JF, Gesteland RF. (2000). The twenty-first amino acid. Nature. 407(6803):463, 465.
Becker BE, Gard DL. (2000). Multiple isoforms of the high molecular weight microtubule associated
protein XMAP215 are expressed during development in Xenopus. Cell Motil. Cytoskeleton 47: (in press).
Branscomb A, Seger J, White RL. (2000). Evolution of odorant receptors expressed in mammalian testes.
Genetics. 156(2):785-97.
Capecchi MR. (2000). Choose your target. Nat Genet. 26(2):159-161.
Deyholos MK, Sieburth LE. (2000). Separable whorl-specific expression and negative regulation by enhancer elements
within the AGAMOUS second intron. Plant Cell. 2000 Oct;12(10):1799-1810.
Deyholos MK, Cordner G, Beebe D, Sieburth LE. (2000). The SCARFACE gene is required for cotyledon and
leaf vein patterning. Development. 127(15):3205-13.
Drees B, Friederich E, Fradelizi J, Louvard D, Beckerle MC, Golsteyn RM. (2000). Characterization of the
interaction between zyxin and Ena/VASP family of proteins: Implications for actin cytoskeleton organization.
J. Biol. Chem. 275:22503-22511.
Emerson SB, Inger RF, Iskandar D. (2000). Molecular systematics and biogeography of the fanged frogs of
Southeast Asia. Mol Phylogenet Evol. 16(1):131-42.
Farmer CG, Hicks JW. (2000). Circulatory impairment induced by exercise in the lizard iguana. J
Exp Biol. 203 Pt 17:2691-7.
Fortune ES, Rose GJ. (2000). Short-term synaptic plasticity contributes to the temporal filtering of
electrosensory information. J Neurosci. 15;20(18):7122-30.
Guideri F, Capecchi PL, Lazzerini PE, Pasini FL. (2000) Effects of dipyridamole and adenosine on
vasoactive peptides calcitonin gene-related peptide and atrial natriuretic peptide in humans: role
of sympathetic activation. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 27(9):676-9.
Harper BD, Beckerle MC, Pomies P. (2000). Fine mapping of the a-actinin binding site within cysteinerich protein. Biochem. J. 350:269-274.
Helliker BR, Ehleringer JR. (2000). Establishing a grassland signature in veins: 18O in the leaf water of
C3 and C4 grasses. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 97: 7894-7898.
Herr AJ, Gesteland RF, Atkins JF. (2000). One protein from two open reading frames: mechanism of a 50 nt translational
bypass. EMBO J. 19(11):2671-80.
Herr AJ, Atkins JF, Gesteland RF. (2000). Coupling of open reading frames by translational bypassing. Annu Rev Biochem.
69:343-72.
Howard MT, Shirts BH, Petros LM, Flanigan KM, Gesteland RF, Atkins JF. (2000). Sequence specificity of
aminoglycoside-induced stop condon readthrough: potential implications for treatment of Duchenne muscular
dystrophy. Ann Neurol. 48(2):164-9.
Ivanov IP, Gesteland RF, Atkins JF. (2000). Survey and Summary: antizyme expression: a subversion of triplet
decoding, which is remarkably conserved by evolution, is a sensor for an autoregulatory circuit. Nucleic Acids
Res. 28(17):3185-96.
Jacobsen RB, Koch ED, Lange-Malecki B, Stocker M, Verhey J, Van Wagoner RM, Vyazovkina A, Olivera
BM, Terlau H. (2000). Single amino acid substitutions in kappa-conotoxin PVIIA disrupt interaction with
the shaker K+ channel. J Biol Chem. 275(32):24639-44.
Jones RM, Bulaj G. (2000). Conotoxins - new vistas for peptide therapeutics. Curr Pharm Des. 6(12):1249-85.
Review.
The Reading Frame
Page 10
R ecen t P ublications
King EJ. (2000). Evaluation of intect test strips for detecting adulteration of urine specimens used for drugs-ofabuse testing. J Anal Toxicol. 24(6):456.
Li J, Gao X, Joss L, Rechsteiner M. (2000). The proteasome activator 11 S REG or PA28: chimeras implicate
carboxyl-terminal sequences in oligomerization and proteasome binding but not in the activation of
specific proteasome catalytic subunits. J Mol Biol. 299(3):641-54.
Matveeva OV, Tsodikov AD, Giddings M, Freier SM, Wyatt JR, Spiridonov AN, Shabalina SA, Gesteland
RF, Atkins JF. (2000). Identification of sequence motifs in oligonucleotides whose presence is correlated
with antisense activity. Nucleic Acids Res. 28(15):2862-5.
McIntosh JM, Corpuz GO, Layer RT, Garrett JE, Wagstaff JD, Bulaj G, Vyazovkina A, Yoshikami D,
Cruz LJ, Olivera BM. (2000). Isolation and characterization of a novel conus peptide with apparent
antinociceptive activity. J Biol Chem. 275(42):32391-32397
Moore B, Nelson CC, Persson BC, Gesteland RF, Atkins JF. (2000). Decoding of tandem quadruplets by adjacent tRNAs
with eight-base anticodon loops. Nucleic Acids Res. 28(18):3615-24.
Mozdy AD, McCaffery JM, Shaw JM. (2000). Dnm1p GTPase-mediated mitochondrial fission Is a multi-step process
requiring the novel integral membrane component Fis1p. J Cell Biol. 151(2):367-380.
Pallaghy PK, He W, Jimenez EC, Olivera BM, Norton RS. (2000). Structures of the contryphan family of
cyclic peptides. role of electrostatic interactions in cis-trans isomerism. Biochemistry. 39(42):1284512852.
Pockman WT, Sperry JS. (2000). Vulnerability to xylem cavitation and the distribution of Sonoran Desert
vegetation. Am J Bot. 87(9):1287-1299.
Pont-Kingdon G, Vassort CG, Warrior R, Okimoto R, Beagley CT, Wolstenholme DR. (2000). Mitochondrial DNA of
Hydra attenuata (Cnidaria): A sequence that includes an end of one linear molecule and the genes for l-rRNA,
tRNA(f-Met), tRNA(Trp), COII, and ATPase8. J Mol Evol. 51(4):404-415.
Rong YS, Golic KG. (2000). Gene targeting by homologous recombination in Drosophila. Science.
288(5473):2013-8.
Rohrbough J, Grotewiel MS, Davis RL, Broadie K. (2000). Integrin-mediated regulation of synaptic
morphology, transmission, and plasticity. Journal of Neuroscience 20:6868-6878.
Singer JM, Hermann GJ, Shaw JM. (2000). Suppressors of mdm20 in yeast identify new alleles of ACT1 and
TPM1 predicted to enhance actin-tropomyosin interactions. Genetics. 156(2):523-34.
Warren JW, Walker JR, Roth JR, Altman E. (2000). Construction and characterization of a highly regulable
expression vector, pLAC11, and its multipurpose derivatives, pLAC22 and pLAC33. Plasmid. 44(2):13851.
Wedekind C, Penn D. (2000). MHC genes, body odours, and odour preferences. Nephrol Dial Transplant.
15(9):1269-71.
Whiteaker P, Jimenez M, McIntosh JM, Collins AC, Marks MJ. (2000). Identification of a novel nicotinic
binding site in mouse brain using [(125)I]-epibatidine. Br J Pharmacol. 131(4):729-739.
Wong ED, Wagner JA, Gorsich SW, McCaffery JM, Shaw JM, Nunnari J. (2000). The dynamin-related GTPase,
Mgm1p, is an intermembrane space protein required for maintenance of fusion competent mitochondria. J Cell
Biol. 151(2):341-352.
Page 11
December 2000
Congratulations!
Vinnie & E'lise
Stefany Nielsen,
Chris Bernau is a do-
Executive Secretary,
came here from DSI
(Petroleum Equipment
Distributor), where she
was an office manager.
She is married and has
two children. She enjoys
fine restaurants and
seeing a good movie.
304 ASB, 1-2130
it-all man working with
Jose. He is a Biology
major and plans to pursue
a Ph.D. in Genetic
Research. He enjoys
soccer, chess and Magic
the Gathering. When 21,
he plans to make millions
playing Poker in Vegas.
201 SB, 1-6517
James Cefalo works in
Rick Bingham is the
accounting. He is a junior
in Environmental
Engineering. He enjoys
the guitar, hiking,
climbing, choir, camping,
soccer. Motto: "Livin' it
to live," life should be
taken one day at a time &
every day an adventure.
202 SB, 1-8107
new Teaching Labs
Support Specialist and
Program Coordinator. He
has a B.S. in Microbiology
with a minor in Chemistry.
In his free time, he camps,
climbs, mtn. bikes and skis,
but skiing takes priority.
204 JTB, 1-4853
Kristi Larsen,
Clayton Tycksen,
Executive Secretary,
came here from working
with IACUC. She has two
boys ages 5 and 11, a cat
and a dog. She likes to
play with her kids, read,
camp, fish. She and her
husband have been
married for 15 years.
408 ASB, 5-7677
Trish Anderson works
in the Main Office and
ASB after coming here
from Financial Aid. She is
graduating in May in
Exercise & Sport Science
and will be moving to Las
Vegas with her husband.
She likes to cook, travel,
play sports and sleep.
210 SB, 1-6517
Elizabeth Madison Collins
was born October 13th at
5:17 pm to Vinnie and
E'lise Collins. Madison
weighed in at 9 lbs. and
was 21 inches long. Mom
and Dad are overjoyed to
have her in the family,
although she does keep
E'lise up 24 hours a day
and eats every 20 minutes.
Computer Professional
with Larry Okun, is a
computer science major.
From the planet Zarbon, his
family are: Krillin, Gokuh
and Vegeta. He likes to
save the planet Earth from
destruction. 110 LS, 1-4587,
[email protected]
Scott Boyd works
with Jose as a do-it-all
man. He came to Utah
after growing up in
Alaska and Oklahoma.
He is a student at the U.
He enjoys spending his
time skiing, hiking,
camping and playing
the drums.
201 SB, 1-6517
Jacci Cefalo works
in the Main Office. She
is a junior studying
Exercise and Sport
Science. She is from
Brigham City. In her
spare time, she enjoys
sports, singing, and
dancing.
201 SB, 1-6517
The Reading Frame is published each semester by the Department of Biology.
For suggestions & information, please contact: [email protected]
The Reading Frame
December 2000