Iowa State study shows zinc’s potential to fight antimicrobial resistance

A research team at Iowa State University working in the lab of Melha Mellata, associate professor of molecular microbiology, has found that zinc supplements may be an inexpensive, effective antidote to the growing health threat of antimicrobial resistance, potentially extending the effectiveness of today’s antibiotic arsenal against disease. Their findings, published this month in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, are spurring widespread interest. 

Health agency awards $4 million to project led by Iowa State scientists to further zebrafish genetics research

Maura McGrail, a professor of genetics, development and cell biology, is leading a new NIH project, working with her long-time partner in the lab and in life, Jeffrey Essner, a professor in the same department. The scientific duo have developed a state-of-the-art zebrafish discovery platform to research the genetics of health and disease. With the new funding, they plan to build on their past work to better understand enzymes inside cells that help regulate the function of the genome and explore the biology of metabolic diseases. Partners on the new project include Iddo Friedberg, associate professor in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine at Iowa State.

Two Iowa State faculty named global Top Agri-food Pioneers for work to fight hunger, make agriculture more resilient

Walter Suza and Lisa Schulte Moore have been named Top Agri-Food Pioneers by the World Food Prize Foundation. The two Iowa State University faculty are among 38 global innovators selected for their transformative food systems work in recognition of the World Food Prize Foundation’s 38th anniversary. These TAP trailblazers driving change in agriculture and global food security form the first TAP cohort, according to the World Food Prize Foundation. They will be recognized at the 2024 Borlaug Dialogue in Des Moines, Oct. 29-31. 

ISRC funds three new soybean research projects, holds research day

The Iowa Soybean Research Center’s Industry Advisory Council met in September for its annual meeting to consider proposed soybean research ideas and to offer guidance on how to best invest  available new funding. 

Based on the council’s recommendations, the ISRC funded three new soybean research projects at Iowa State University, each for two years. 

- Using Soybean Microbes as Protectants from Stress, led by Gwyn Beattie, professor of plant pathology, entomology and microbiology.

- Cyst Nematode Single-Cell Omics, led by Thomas Baum, professor of plant pathology, entomology and microbiology. 

- Investigating the Specific Role of Sterols in Soybean Growth and Development, led by Walter Suza, George Washington Carver Endowed Chair and adjunct associate professor of agronomy

Iowa State leads 'dream' project to catalog livestock DNA regulatory regions outside genes

“This effort is a culmination of many years of dreaming about such an opportunity and finally getting access to the data and funding to make it happen,” said James E. Koltes, associate professor of animal science at Iowa State University. 

Koltes is referring to a new USDA-supported project he is leading with colleagues at Iowa State and several partner institutions to create a systematic catalog, or encyclopedia, of the DNA netherworld scientists call “genetic regulatory regions” for livestock species. The research sets the stage for important discoveries by identifying regulatory DNA variation that could be useful in breeding for improved animal efficiency and health.