An Official Publication of the Society of Nematologists

Volume 57 December 2010 Issue 4

Officers

President:

Parwinder Grewal

President elect:

Jim lamondia

Vice President:

Brent siPes

Past-President:

russ inGham

PuBlic relations director:

accePtinG nominations

secretary:

richard daVis

editor-in-chief:

Kris lamBert

weB editor:

Byron adams

treasurer: inGa Zasada

executiVe memBers:

Billy crow

Paula aGudelo

daVid shaPiro-ilan

SON 50th ANNiverSAry

The Society of Nematologists will be celebrating its 50th anniversaryatthe2011annualmeetinginCorvallis,Oregon. Thelocalarrangementsandprogramcommitteeshavestartedplanninganextraordinarymeetingandaresoliciting ideas for specialeventsofeithera scientificor funnature (orboth!)forbefore,duringorafterthemeeting.Pleasegivesomethoughttowhatyouwouldliketohaveincludedandcontributeyourideasandsuggestionstohelpmaketheanniversarymeetingspecialandmemorable.

CommentsandsuggestionscanbesenttoJames.LaMondia@ct.gov

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NematologyNewsletterDec2010

TheNematologyNews-letter(NNL)ispublishedquarterlybytheSociety

ofNematologists,P.O.Box311,Marceline,MO64658,

USA

Addressalleditorialcorrespondenceto:

SallyStetinaUSDAARSCropGenetics

ResearchUnit,POBox345Stoneville,MS38776

Phone:(662)686-5476Fax:(662)686-5218

Email:Sally.Stetina@ars.usda.gov

NematologyNewsletterviewpointsarethoseofthecontributorsandarenotnecessarilythoseoftheSocietyofNematolo-gists,theExecutiveBoard,ortheNematologyNews-

letterEditor.

n.a. coBB foundation

Chair:RobinGiblin-DavisViceChair:PattyTimper

Secretary:PaulaAgudeloTreasurer:SteveKoenning

FindtheSONonthe

Internet!

Visitwww.nematologists.org

MeSSAge frOM the editOr

Thanks a ton to all of you who helped me out with the Nematology newsletter these last 8 years. I am especially grateful to those of you who wrote reviews, submitted articles, and provided me with feedback on content and style. The student editors, Ian King and Erik Ragsdale were terrific to work with, and the layout editors (Anna Rose Johnson, Todd Holbrook and Venkat Parkunan) were the primary drivers behind its look and presentation. Venkat has been particularly instrumental in creating the SON presence we now have on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

I apologize to those who I offended over the years. As it turns out, some of the

articles, photos and captions I thought humorous were actually deemed in poor taste, unprofessional, and not funny by more than just a few of you. I hope you all understand that it wasn’t my intention to offend, I only wanted to infuse a little life and humor into the happenings of our society. I truly apologize if you felt it came at your expense. As I take on the role of transitioning/upgrading our Society’s web page, Sally Stetina will take the reigns as your new NNL editor. Please be super nice to Sally. When she asks for a book review, lab update, student profile, news from the field, cool pictures, committee report, meeting announcements, etc., jump right on it. Don’t put it off until you’ve taken care of your next manuscript, grant proposal, class, rank advancement, committee assignment, etc. Everybody is busy. If you love your society, and its students, show your love. Be the solution. Engage.

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Sustaining Associates

BayerCropScience

Divergence

DowAgroSciences

DuPont

PasteuriaBioscience

PestPros,Inc.

Syngenta

ValentBioSciencesCorp.

NNLEditors

newsletter editor:

sallianna stetina

layout editor:

VenKatesan ParKunan

student associate editor:

ian KinG

NematologyNewsletterDec2010

TheSocietyofNematologistsishappytoannounceaPageChargeHoliday!The$80perpagefeetopub-lishintheJournalofNematologywillbewaivedfor

all society members for one manuscript submitted be-tween1October2010and30September2011.Thefirstauthor listed on the manuscript must be a member oftheSocietyofNematologistsatthetimeofsubmission.Nonmembers will continue to be charged $120/page.

Thepage-chargeholidaydoesnotincludecolorplatesoffprints,offprintpost-ageandauthoralterationscharges.

-KrisN.Lambert,Editor-in-ChiefJournalofNematology.

JON PAge ChArge hOlidAy!

W2186 NeMAtOlOgy grOuP

Photo on the left is theW2186 nematology

group. W2186 RegionalCommitteemetinNashville,TN Nov 4 & 5, 2010 at theUniversity of TennesseeEllington Ag Center todiscuss their project“Variability,Adaptation,andManagementofNematodesImpacting Crop ProductionandTrade”.Thoseattending

wereBackrow:VincentKlink(MS),HaddishMelakeberhan(MI),PhilRoberts(CA),BobRobbins(AR),Frontrow:KathyLawrence(AL),PatDonald(TN),RussIngham(OR),BrentSipes(HI)andTomPowers(NE).Notpictured,GaryLawrence(MS).PatDonald,Ph.D.ResearchPlantPathologistUSDAARS605AirwaysBlvdJackson,TN38301

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NematologyNewsletterDec2010

TheNathanA.CobbNematologyFoundationispleasedtocall fornominationsforTheJohnM.WebsterOutstandingStudentAwardfor2011.Thisawardistorecognizeagraduatestudentwhohasdemonstrated

outstandingaccomplishmentsinhis/herthesisresearchinNematologyaswellasotherskillsnecessarytobeawell-roundedscholar.

StudentsintheirfinalyearofaMaster’sorPh.D.degreeshallbeeligibleforthisawardandshallbenominatedbyamentororpeer.Thenominationwill includea letterfromthenominator,andaone-pagedescriptionofhis/herresearchwrittenbythestudent.Thenominationlettershoulddescribethestudent’seducationalbackground,grade-pointaverage,contributionsandmerit.

Therecipientoftheawardwillreceiveaplaqueandwillmakea30-minuteoralpresentationoftheirresearchineitherasymposiumorregularsessionatthe50thAnnualMeetingoftheSocietyofNematologistsinCorvallis,Oregon(July17-21,2011).ThepresentationwillbedesignatedintheProgramandAbstractsbookastheJohnWebsterOutstandingStudentPresentation.TherecipientmayalsopresentadifferentaspectoftheirresearchintheStudentPaperorPosterCompetition.

Pleasesendnominationsviae-mailto:Dr.Koon-HuiWangViceChair,N.A.CobbFoundationkoonhui@hawaii.eduPhoneno.808-956-2455

DeadlineforreceivingnominationsisFebruary15,2011.

the JOhN M. WebSter OutStANdiNg StudeNt AWArd

Christmas cartoon from Edward C.

McGawley, Nema-tologist & Professor Department of Plant

Pathology & Crop Physiology, 302 Life Sciences Bldg.; Loui-siana State Univer-sity Baton Rouge,

LA 70803

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NematologyNewsletterDec2010

In December 2010 two graduate studentsfinished theirgraduatestudies in Nematol-

ogyattheUniversityofFloridainBillyCrow’slab.

Wenjing Pang finished her PhD dissertation“Responses of Bermudagrass and SeashorePaspalumtoStingandSpiralNematodes.”

YunZhangfinishedhisM.S.thesis“Evaluationof Amino Acids Against Belonolaimus longi-caudatus.”

Photo:The2010CrowLab,Left,fronttoback:TomBean(AgriculturalAssistant),NickSeko-ra (PhD student), Yun Zhang (MS Graduate).

Right, fronttoback:WenjingPang(PhDGraduate),EricLuc(Post-Doc),JayCeeTurner(BiologicalScientist),BillyCrow.

NeWS frOM CrOW’S lAb, uNiverSity Of flOridA

NeWS frOM the byu NeMAtOde evOlutiON lAb

Last August the BYU Nematode Evolution Lab suffered a major brain drain when it graduated BishwoAdhikariandScottPeat,twoexemplarystudentswhowillbesorelymissed.

Scott’sdissertationwastitled,“UtilizationofPhylogeneticSystematics,MolecularEvolution,andComparativeTranscriptomicstoAddressAspectsofNematodeandBacterialEvolution”. Scott’sdissertationproduced7peerreviewedpapers,abookchapter,and2manuscriptspendingsubmission.ScottiscurrentlyinatenuretrackpositionatMojaveCommunityCollegeinKingmanArizona.

Bishwo’s dissertation work was titled, “Genomic Analyses of Nematode-Environment Interactions”. Hisdissertationproduced6peerreviewedmanuscripts,abookchapter,andamanuscriptpendingsubmission.BishwoiscurrentlyapostdocfellowinRobinBuell’slabatMichiganStateUniversity.

2010wasgoodtous:WelandedanNSFfundedprojectthattookusdeepintotheTransantarcticMountainstostudysoilanimalcommunitystructureandphylogeography.WehadatotalblastattheSONmeetingsinBoise(Garr,Matey!).WepresentedourideasinFlorida,Colorado,MarylandandBuenosAires,Argentina.ButthehighlightoftheyearwastheannuallabHalloweenparty,wherewebobbedforapples,hadafoosballtournamentandfinishedofftheeveningplayingsciencekaraoke(woot!…getasmallsampleofthisfromourpartyonthenemawebyoutubeportal[http://www.youtube.com/nemaweb#p/a/u/0/tJQ318jM33k].

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NematologyNewsletterDec2010

(videocaption):ScienceKaraokeatthe2010BYUNematodeEvolutionLabHalloweenparty.ToplaythegameyousimplyhookupaprojectortoyourlaptopandrandomlyassembleabunchofPowerPointslides(fromoldpresentationsandlectures).Withnopriorknowledgeoftheslidesortheircontent,contestantsaredrawnatrandomfromtheaudienceandtaskedwithgivinga‘scientificpresentation’oftheslidesthatappearonthescreen.

We’ve responded to Scott and Bishwo’s graduationbymatriculatingtwonewgraduatestudents,CamillePorterandDanaBlackburn. Dana isaPhDstudentworking on the evolution of trait deterioration inthe Photorhabdus-Heterorhabditis system. Camillecomes to us with a degree in bioinformatics and isinterested in nematode phylogenomics. They’veboth had previous experience in the lab (youmight remember Dana’s presentations at the SONmeetings in Hawaii and San Diego, or Camille’spresentation at the meetings in Vermont). Givenample foreknowledge of how things roll in Byron’sLab, although highly intelligent, we suspect theymustalsobealittlebitcrazy.

PictureCaptions:

Picture#1(Scott,ByronandBishwo): Theshouldersofgenius:Byronflankedbythebrainsofhisoperationforthelast5years,ScottPeat(L)andBishwoAdhikari(R).

Picture #2 (bobbing for apples): Costumed revelersbobforapplesattheannuallabHalloweenparty.

Picture #3 (B-321 project photo): Byron andcolleagues Uffe Nielsen, Ian Hogg and Diana Wallclimb down from Ebony Ridge to their ride off theBeardmoreGlacier,Antarctica.

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NematologyNewsletterDec2010

Call for Award Nominations for

2012

The SON recognizes individuals for scientific excellence and contributions to the science of

nematology through several awards. A member of the society may nominate one candidate per year for each award. It is important that nominations provide a critical analysis of the nominee’s contributions. The Honors and Awards Committee encourages members of the Society to actively seek candidates with outstanding records and nominate them for an appropriate award for the year of 2012. One or more candidates are chosen for each award.

Honorary Member Award is the highest honor bestowed by the Society. It is awarded for meritorious and superlative contributions to the science of nematology. The number of living persons in this category should not exceed 2% of the regular and emeritus membership and the award is limited to one person per year.

Fellow of the Society is granted by the Society to a member in recognition of distinguished contributions to the science of nematology. No more than 0.4% of the living membership may be elected Fellow in any given year. This honor is bestowed upon a member who has excelled in areas of significant research, teaching, extension, administration, or through contributions in service to the Society of Nematologists or the science of nematology above and beyond that of most of its members.

The Syngenta Crop Protection Award is presented by Syngenta, Greensboro, NC, to a person who has made contributions in nematology, not previously recognized, which has led to significant advancement in agriculture. The contributions should have been made within the last 5 years and the nominee should be within 15 years of receiving a Ph.D. degree at the time of the award.

NomiNatioN iNstructioNs:

The nomination packet must be submitted by March 31, 2011. Any member of the Society may submit nominations and the nomination process is performed in confidence. Each nomination packet should include the following:

1. Statement. This should include the nominee’s name, educational background, current and previous positions, and contributions to nematology and agriculture in the scope of the particular award. The statement must also explain and document the significance of these contributions. Each statement must be double-spaced and no more than 4 pages long.

2. List of publications. A listing of publications separated if possible into the following categories: a) peer-reviewed journal publications, b) book chapters or reviews, and c) other publications such as bulletins, laboratory manuals, extension publications, etc. The publication list must be single-spaced.

3. Letters of endorsement. Besides a cover letter, each nomination should also include two letter of endorsement. The letters should be addressed to Pat Donald, Chair of the Honors and Awards Committee.

Electronic submissions are preferred. Send Word, WordPerfect, or PDF documents to: Pat.Donald@ars.usda.gov

NomiNatioNs must be received by march 31, 2011

To ensure that duplicate nominations are not made or if you need further information, contact Pat Donald, Chair, SON Honors and Awards Committee at Pat.Donald@ars.usda.gov or 731 425 4739.