Subject: NSF Press Release
From: Dot Baker <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 92 08:33 EST

Paul,
  Please post to the NIH Listserver as:
    NSFMARINE.920330
                    Thanks.
 ---------------------------- Text of forwarded message -----------------------
Title       : NSF AWARDS FELLOWSHIPS IN MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY
NSF Contact : OLPA
Type        : Press Release
Date        : December 5, 1991

 

Cheryl Dybas                                          IMMEDIATE
(202) 357-9498                                 December 5, 1991
                                                  NSF PR 91-107
 
                NSF AWARDS FELLOWSHIPS IN MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY
 
      Biological invasions, Purple bacteria, and polycheate worms
are among topics that will be studied by ten recipients of the
National Science Foundation's (NSF) Fellowships in Marine
Biotechnology.
      The fellowships encourage biological oceanographers and
marine ecologists to learn the concepts and techniques of
molecular biology, biochemistry, cellular biology, and analytical
chemistry and to apply them to problems in ocean sciences.  They
also foster the entry of scientists from other disciplines into
marine ecology and provide opportunities for them to focus their
expertise on current oceanographic problems.
      "We hope that these fellowships will foster the development
and use of cutting-edge research methods and bring new expertise
to scientific efforts to understand and predict basic ecological
processes in the world's oceans," says M. Grant Gross, director
of NSF's division of ocean sciences.
      The fellowships are designed so that recipients can choose
the research and training environment most beneficial to their
scientific development. Applicants submit a research and training
plan that in most cases requires a change of institution from
their doctoral and/or current home institution.  Fellows are
selected through a review process on the basis of the merit of
the research proposed and its potential to advance marine
ecology.
                                    -more-
 
                                      -2-
 
      FY 1991 research projects include:
 
o     Since marine biological invasions are becoming
      widespread, an understanding of the processes and
      mechanisms of invasions is important to our ability to
      manage and conserve marine resources.  Biological
      invasions are large-scale experiments in ecology and
      evolution, providing unique opportunities to study
      basic ecological and genetic processes in the world's
      oceans.  Jonathan Geller's project at the Stanford
      University Hopkins Marine Station will examine the
      temporal and spatial pattern of the spread of an
      introduced mussel, and the extent of its genetic
      assimilation into populations of native mussels.
 
o     In temperate ecosystems, most benthic communities
      exhibit between-year variability in the seasonal
      appearance and abundance of their members.  It seems
      likely that the life-history strategies of these
      organisms directly regulate their growth and
      reproduction.  This may result from annual differences
      in the availability of dietary micronutrients.
      Opportunistic, deposit-feeding polychaetes face a
      unique nutritional constraint: their small body size
      limits the amount of food they can store.  Adam Marsh's
      project at the University of Maryland Center for Marine
      Biotechnology will assess the potential for two
      micronutrients to stimulate cell division in the
      polycheate worm, Streblospio benedicti.
 
o     Marine bacteria are essential links in marine
      productivity and biogeochemical cycles.  Although the
      species composition of marine bacteria is largely
      unknown, evidence suggests that most marine bacteria
      are members of the Purple bacteria phylum of the
      Eubacterial kingdom.  Many members are capable of
      processing nitrogen and sulfur, elements which are
      extremely important in the marine environment.  Lee
      Kerkhof will conduct research at the University of
      California at Irvine to see if a general relationship
      between RNA/DNA ratios and growth rate exists for the
      Purple bacteria.  New evidence from one marine Purple
      bacterium indicates that the relationship between
      RNA/DNA ratio and growth rate extends to the low growth
      rates believed to occur in the ocean.
 
                                     -end-
 
Attachment: 1991 Awardees, Fellowships in Marine Biotechnology
 
      The National Science Foundation is an independent agency of
the federal government established in 1950 to promote and advance
scientific progress in the United States.  NSF accomplishes its
mission primarily by competitively awarding grants to educational
institutions for research and education in the sciences,
mathematics, and engineering.

 
                        RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS IN MARINE
BIOTECHNOLOGY
                         AND THE OCEAN SCIENCES 1991
 
FELLOW/RESEARCH PROJECT TITLE/HOST INSTITUTE
 
      Armbrust, Virginia
      Proteins Required for Zygotic Nuclear Fusion in Diatoms
      Washington University
      St. Louis, Missouri
 
      Brazeau, Daniel
      Molecular and Genetic Analysis of Hybrid Breakdown Hyperosmotic
      Stress in a Copepod
      University of Houston,
      Houston, Texas
 
      Bucklin, Ann
      Population Genetics of Oceanic Copepods
      Marine Biological Laboratory
      Woods Hole, Massachusetts
 
      Dichristiana, Tom
      Molecular Probes for Studies of Bacterial Iron Reduction
      Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
      Woods Hole, Massachusetts
 
      Dietz, Tom
      Heat Shock Gene Expression in Marine Organisms
      Oregon State University
      Corvallis, Oregon
 
      Geller, Jonathan
      Biological Invasion of Exotic Mussels: Molecular Approaches
      Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University
      Monterey, California
 
      Kerkhof, Lee
      Ribosomal RNA Regulation in Marine Bacteria
      University of California at Irvine
      Irvine, California
 
      Marsh, Adam
      Dietary Regulation of Gene Expression During Opportunistic Growth in
      Polychaetes
      University of Maryland Center for Marine Biotechnology
      Baltimore, Maryland

                                    -more-
 
                                      -2-
 
      Proctor, Leta
      Gene Transduction Among Marine Microbes
      University of California at Los Angeles
      Los Angeles, California
 
      Yentsch, Clarise
      Flourescence in Individual Cells of Marine Microalgae
      Jackson Laboratory
      Bar Harbor, Maine
 
..expires December 31, 1992
 
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