May Research Report

University of Hawai'i University Relations Media & Publications Honolulu, HI 96822

(808) 956-8856 Telephone (808) 956-3441 Facsimile ur@hawaii.edu E-Mail

UH RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Contact: Cheryl Ernst, (808) 956-5941

May 16, 1997

Researchers to Test Trial Balloons and Bacteria Cocktails

Among grants accepted by the University of Hawai'i Board of Regents today are the following projects:

Including Hawai'i Women in a Major National Health Study

$1.02 million, National Institutes of Health (third year of a 10year, $10 million grant)

David J. Curb, John A. Burns School of Medicine, 5244411

The Women' s Health Initiative is a federal study that focuses research on the health of women. As part of the national study, UH is recruiting 3,500 postmenopausal women for clinical trial and observational study. Data gathered in the study will be analyzed to determine whether a lowfat diet prevents breast cancer, colon cancer and heart disease and judge the safety and efficacy of hormone treatment, in particular whether estrogen taken after menopause provides protection against heart disease and bone fractures associated with osteoporosis.

Getting to the Core of DeepWater Sampling in Kailua Bay

$22,917, U.S. Geological Survey

Michael Cruickshank, Hawai'i Natural Energy Institute, Marine Minerals Technology Center, 5225613

Coring into the earth is a longstanding technique used by scientists who want to understand geologic history or identify valuable deposits. Obtaining core samples is difficult, however, when the earth is composed of sandsize materials covered by dozens of meters of water. UH scientists, with colleagues at the University of Mississippi, have developed a drill they call VibraCore to tackle that difficult task. The shipbased instrument fluidizes sand as it penetrates the ocean bottom while skillful seamanship keeps the ship positioned above. In Kailua Bay, the VibraCore successfully drilled two meters into the sea floor in waters 50100 meters deep. Future grants will fund attempts to core even deeper, perhaps next fall. Information gained from the sampling allows the Geological Service to verify its mapping of deposits. Good news from the Kailua testing, for example, is that substantial sand deposits that could be used to restore beaches and for other uses exists off the edge of the reef where it can be recovered without affecting the coastline. The VibraCore can also be used to locate mineral deposits, identify contaminants and document changes in sea level over the eons.

Developing Smart Balloons for Atmospheric Research

$106,254, National Science Foundation (first year of a twoyear grant)

Steven Businger, UHM associate professor of meteorology, 9562569

UH scientists will release a series of second-generation smart balloons next month in the Canary Islands. Traditional weather balloons float up through the atmosphere, profiling temperature and humidity. The smart balloon was developed in a collaboration between UH and National Oceanic and Atmospheric scientists to tag an air parcel and travel along with it to study the evolution of clouds and aerosol.

The second generation of smart balloons is made of stronger materials so that they have a greater buoyancy range. This allows the balloons to rise to higher heights and to better resist the damping effect of rainfall. The new balloons are capable of two-way communication. The balloons transmit a series of data including athospheric pressure, temperature, humiditiy, GPS position, surface wetness and battery level. These data can be analyzed in real time by the scientist, who can then instruct the balloon to adjust buoyancy to rise or drop in elevation on command.

The 9foot sphere includes a leak-resistant expandable inner balloon containing helium within a hightech fabric outer balloon that is fixed volume and puncture resistant. The balloons will be deployed from ship board near the Canary Islands, where experiments to sample both pollution-carrying winds coming off the European continent and cleaner Atlantic breezes are being conducted as part of the Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE 2), a multi-national effort.

European and American scientists hope to gather information on evolution of particles in the air that are suspected to play a role in climate change. Businger also hopes to use the balloon in future investigations of hurricane structure.

Assessing Tourism Opportunities on Christmas Island

$30,000, Pacific Century Inc.

Chuck Y. Gee, dean, School of Travel Industry Management, 9567166

The UH Manoa School of Travel Industry Management will conduct a feasibility study of tourism development and marketing potential for Christmas Island, which, as part of Kiribati, is Hawai'i's nearest foreign neighbor. Sports fishing, diving and bird watching opportunities suggest ecotourism potential, according to Yee. A flat, relatively barren atoll, Christmas Island isn't likely to generate beach and resort competition for Hawai'i, he says, but will be a source for export of goods and services as well as education and training from Hawai'i. Located just a threehour plane ride to the south, Christmas Island could also become the destination for an extension of a Hawai'i vacation. The report is expected by August.

Producing a CDRom on Burmese History and Culture

$54,131, U.S. Department of Education

Michael AungThwin, associate professor, Asian Studies Program, 9565962

Little literature is available in English about the history and culture of Burma, leaving something of a gap in Southeast Asian studies in the United States. AungThwin is determined to change that. One of the country's two premodern Burma historians, he is developing a CDRom about the history and culture of Burma from the neolithic age to the British annexation in 1885. The first version, to be geared for an advanced high school and undergraduate college audience, will incorporate video, slides and a bibliography. He also plans to generate a more indepth CDRom for graduate students as well as a book. Work like AungThwin's helped win the University of Hawai'i at Manoa designation as a U.S. Department of Education National Resource Center for Southeast Asia Studies (and an accompanying threeyear, $900,000 grant) earlier this year.

Battling blight with bacteria cocktails and engineered moth genes

$10,000, state Department of Agriculture

Anne Alvarez, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, (808) 956-7764

$34,000, state Department of Agriculture

Adelheid Kuehnle, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, (808) 956-2162

Introduced in Hawai'i from England during the late 1800s, anthuriums were a hobby plant until University of Hawai'i Professor Haruyuki Kamemoto began breeding varieties for commercial development in the 1950s. The anthurium became a Hawai'i signature plant, only to be threatened by the devastating bacterial blight, which was first identified in Hawai'i in 1972 and put many growers out of business during the 1980s. Blight is difficult to battle because the bacterium that causes it resides in symptomless plants and is easily spread from plant to plant by humans who move through fields during harvesting and even by the splashing of water droplets during a rain. UH researchers are developing ways to combat the disease that threatens the state's $10-million-dollar anthurium farming industry and most valuable cut flower crop. Approaches include bio-controls, breeding and genetic engineering.

Alvarez and her colleagues, including assistant researcher Ryo Fukui, are exploring bio-controls. The research group discovered that, when applied together, four bacteria that live on anthurium leaves block the disease-causing bacterium from entering the plant and causing blight. Applying the four-bacterium "cocktail" to plants is an effective, but expensive measure, however. Instead, the researchers propose supplying plants with the nutrients that enhance the populations of the four beneficial bacteria so that they can out-compete the bad bacteria. A federally-funded greenhouse trial was successful. The state grant will support field trials; with results expected in August.

One of the techniques Alvarez developed for her work&emdash;tracking bacterial activity within the plant leaves by X-ray detection of a bioluminescent bacterium&emdash;also provides a useful tool for gauging the success of Kuehnle's efforts to develop anthurium varieties that are resistant to blight. She uses two approaches: traditional hybridization and genetic engineering. Hybridization, which is less costly, uses cross pollination to introduce desirable characteristics from two parent plants. It has resulted in two blight tolerant varieties, the red-and-green "Kalapana" (UH's first patented plant) and the bright red "Tropic Fire," released this year. Kuehnle continues to screen wild jungle anthuriums to identify additional resistant species.

The genetic engineering approach introduces into the plant a potent bacteria-killing gene that was first derived from the giant silk moth and is now synthesized for such use. Accomplishing this bit of bio-engineering requires a couple of tricks on nature. First, a soil bacterium that has been programmed with the DNA for the desirable gene is tricked into entering the anthurium plant. Then the plant is tricked into believing that the DNA is a plant gene. Greenhouse trials are underway for engineered plants from two widely-grown cultivars&emdash;the white&endash;and-green "Mauna Kea" and the pink "Marian Seefurth."

In other anthurium projects, UH scientists are developing techniques for managing nematodes and other plant pests and creating new anthuriums varieties for the market, including the introduction of new colors and enhanced fragrances. Although some anthurium varieties have a fragrance, those sold in the commercial market do not. Introduction of a gene that enhances plant smells will be explored.

-UH-




University of Hawai'i University Relations Media & Publications Honolulu, HI 96822	(808) 956-8856 Telephone (808) 956-3441 Facsimile ur@hawaii.edu E-Mail

UH RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS Contact: Cheryl Ernst, (808) 956-5941		May 16, 1997

Researchers to Test Trial Balloons and Bacteria Cocktails Among grants accepted by the University of Hawai'i Board of Regents today are the following projects: Including Hawai'i Women in a Major National Health Study $1.02 million, National Institutes of Health (third year of a 10year, $10 million grant) David J. Curb, John A. Burns School of Medicine, 5244411 The Women' s Health Initiative is a federal study that focuses research on the health of women. As part of the national study, UH is recruiting 3,500 postmenopausal women for clinical trial and observational study. Data gathered in the study will be analyzed to determine whether a lowfat diet prevents breast cancer, colon cancer and heart disease and judge the safety and efficacy of hormone treatment, in particular whether estrogen taken after menopause provides protection against heart disease and bone fractures associated with osteoporosis. Getting to the Core of DeepWater Sampling in Kailua Bay $22,917, U.S. Geological Survey Michael Cruickshank, Hawai'i Natural Energy Institute, Marine Minerals Technology Center, 5225613 Coring into the earth is a longstanding technique used by scientists who want to understand geologic history or identify valuable deposits. Obtaining core samples is difficult, however, when the earth is composed of sandsize materials covered by dozens of meters of water. UH scientists, with colleagues at the University of Mississippi, have developed a drill they call VibraCore to tackle that difficult task. The shipbased instrument fluidizes sand as it penetrates the ocean bottom while skillful seamanship keeps the ship positioned above. In Kailua Bay, the VibraCore successfully drilled two meters into the sea floor in waters 50100 meters deep. Future grants will fund attempts to core even deeper, perhaps next fall. Information gained from the sampling allows the Geological Service to verify its mapping of deposits. Good news from the Kailua testing, for example, is that substantial sand deposits that could be used to restore beaches and for other uses exists off the edge of the reef where it can be recovered without affecting the coastline. The VibraCore can also be used to locate mineral deposits, identify contaminants and document changes in sea level over the eons. Developing Smart Balloons for Atmospheric Research $106,254, National Science Foundation (first year of a twoyear grant) Steven Businger, UHM associate professor of meteorology, 9562569 UH scientists will release a series of second-generation smart balloons next month in the Canary Islands. Traditional weather balloons float up through the atmosphere, profiling temperature and humidity. The smart balloon was developed in a collaboration between UH and National Oceanic and Atmospheric scientists to tag an air parcel and travel along with it to study the evolution of clouds and aerosol. The second generation of smart balloons is made of stronger materials so that they have a greater buoyancy range. This allows the balloons to rise to higher heights and to better resist the damping effect of rainfall. The new balloons are capable of two-way communication. The balloons transmit a series of data including athospheric pressure, temperature, humiditiy, GPS position, surface wetness and battery level. These data can be analyzed in real time by the scientist, who can then instruct the balloon to adjust buoyancy to rise or drop in elevation on command. The 9foot sphere includes a leak-resistant expandable inner balloon containing helium within a hightech fabric outer balloon that is fixed volume and puncture resistant. The balloons will be deployed from ship board near the Canary Islands, where experiments to sample both pollution-carrying winds coming off the European continent and cleaner Atlantic breezes are being conducted as part of the Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE 2), a multi-national effort. European and American scientists hope to gather information on evolution of particles in the air that are suspected to play a role in climate change. Businger also hopes to use the balloon in future investigations of hurricane structure. Assessing Tourism Opportunities on Christmas Island $30,000, Pacific Century Inc. Chuck Y. Gee, dean, School of Travel Industry Management, 9567166 The UH Manoa School of Travel Industry Management will conduct a feasibility study of tourism development and marketing potential for Christmas Island, which, as part of Kiribati, is Hawai'i's nearest foreign neighbor. Sports fishing, diving and bird watching opportunities suggest ecotourism potential, according to Yee. A flat, relatively barren atoll, Christmas Island isn't likely to generate beach and resort competition for Hawai'i, he says, but will be a source for export of goods and services as well as education and training from Hawai'i. Located just a threehour plane ride to the south, Christmas Island could also become the destination for an extension of a Hawai'i vacation. The report is expected by August. Producing a CDRom on Burmese History and Culture $54,131, U.S. Department of Education Michael AungThwin, associate professor, Asian Studies Program, 9565962 Little literature is available in English about the history and culture of Burma, leaving something of a gap in Southeast Asian studies in the United States. AungThwin is determined to change that. One of the country's two premodern Burma historians, he is developing a CDRom about the history and culture of Burma from the neolithic age to the British annexation in 1885. The first version, to be geared for an advanced high school and undergraduate college audience, will incorporate video, slides and a bibliography. He also plans to generate a more indepth CDRom for graduate students as well as a book. Work like AungThwin's helped win the University of Hawai'i at Manoa designation as a U.S. Department of Education National Resource Center for Southeast Asia Studies (and an accompanying threeyear, $900,000 grant) earlier this year. Battling blight with bacteria cocktails and engineered moth genes $10,000, state Department of Agriculture Anne Alvarez, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, (808) 956-7764 $34,000, state Department of Agriculture Adelheid Kuehnle, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, (808) 956-2162 Introduced in Hawai'i from England during the late 1800s, anthuriums were a hobby plant until University of Hawai'i Professor Haruyuki Kamemoto began breeding varieties for commercial development in the 1950s. The anthurium became a Hawai'i signature plant, only to be threatened by the devastating bacterial blight, which was first identified in Hawai'i in 1972 and put many growers out of business during the 1980s. Blight is difficult to battle because the bacterium that causes it resides in symptomless plants and is easily spread from plant to plant by humans who move through fields during harvesting and even by the splashing of water droplets during a rain. UH researchers are developing ways to combat the disease that threatens the state's $10-million-dollar anthurium farming industry and most valuable cut flower crop. Approaches include bio-controls, breeding and genetic engineering. Alvarez and her colleagues, including assistant researcher Ryo Fukui, are exploring bio-controls. The research group discovered that, when applied together, four bacteria that live on anthurium leaves block the disease-causing bacterium from entering the plant and causing blight. Applying the four-bacterium "cocktail" to plants is an effective, but expensive measure, however. Instead, the researchers propose supplying plants with the nutrients that enhance the populations of the four beneficial bacteria so that they can out-compete the bad bacteria. A federally-funded greenhouse trial was successful. The state grant will support field trials; with results expected in August. One of the techniques Alvarez developed for her work&emdash;tracking bacterial activity within the plant leaves by X-ray detection of a bioluminescent bacterium&emdash;also provides a useful tool for gauging the success of Kuehnle's efforts to develop anthurium varieties that are resistant to blight. She uses two approaches: traditional hybridization and genetic engineering. Hybridization, which is less costly, uses cross pollination to introduce desirable characteristics from two parent plants. It has resulted in two blight tolerant varieties, the red-and-green "Kalapana" (UH's first patented plant) and the bright red "Tropic Fire," released this year. Kuehnle continues to screen wild jungle anthuriums to identify additional resistant species. The genetic engineering approach introduces into the plant a potent bacteria-killing gene that was first derived from the giant silk moth and is now synthesized for such use. Accomplishing this bit of bio-engineering requires a couple of tricks on nature. First, a soil bacterium that has been programmed with the DNA for the desirable gene is tricked into entering the anthurium plant. Then the plant is tricked into believing that the DNA is a plant gene. Greenhouse trials are underway for engineered plants from two widely-grown cultivars&emdash;the white&endash;and-green "Mauna Kea" and the pink "Marian Seefurth." In other anthurium projects, UH scientists are developing techniques for managing nematodes and other plant pests and creating new anthuriums varieties for the market, including the introduction of new colors and enhanced fragrances. Although some anthurium varieties have a fragrance, those sold in the commercial market do not. Introduction of a gene that enhances plant smells will be explored.