A UC Davis entomologist who started his career studying insects--and is now focused on human health--played a key role in newly published research that sheds new light on cystic fibrosis, a chronic, progressive and genetic disease characterized by persistent lung infections and inability to breathe normally.

That's Bruce Hammock, distinguished professor in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology who holds a joint appointment with the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center.

In research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the interdisciplinary team of scientists from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, UC Davis, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and Harvard Medical School  linked a newly discovered class of bacterial enzymes to battling cystic fibrosis.

Senior author Jennifer Bomberger of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine explained that the opportunistic bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, outcompetes other microorganisms in a cystic fibrosis patient's lungs and establishes a stronghold.

In analyzing secretions drawn from the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, the scientists discovered that the bacterium perpetuates inflammation by secreting an enzyme called Cif that sabotages the body's ability to make a key molecule called a "pro-resolving lipid mediator" and stop the inflammatory response it started.

The scientific discovery could lead to new therapies that would interrupt or correct the bacterial sabotage, Hammock and Bomberger said.

“This paper is the outcome of an exciting and interdisciplinary project,” said Hammock, who directs the UC Davis Superfund Program financed by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIH-NIEHS). “It started several years ago with the NIEHS Superfund Program funding both a group at Dartmouth and at UC Davis.  A very productive and exciting collaboration resulted in looking at how to mitigate the effects of environmental chemicals on human health.  Our collaborative work led to this joint publication which yields exciting hope for cystic fibrosis patients.”

Co-authors of the newly published research include two UC Davis researchers from the Hammock lab, Christophe Morisseau and Jun Yang.

Meanwhile, Bomberger continues to work on the biology of the system while the Dartmouth and Davis groups have developed inhibitors of the action of CIF to stabilize pro-resolving mediators, reduce inflammation, and control periodic flare ups of bacterial infections.

"It will be key to devise a way to remove P. aeruginosa's ability to capitalize on the body's natural inflammatory response, without eliminating that response," said Bomberger. "Inflammation is happening for a reason—to clear infection. We just need it to temper the response when it is not effectively doing its job or is no longer needed."

“We think that this research will lead to a very positive outcome to improve the lives of cystic fibrosis patients,” Hammock said. Some 30,000 Americans have cystic fibrosis.

Marek Borowiec, who attributes his interest in ants to E.O. Wilson's autobiography "Naturalist," has just won a major award.

It's more than major: it's an international award for his distinguished research and scholarly activity.

Borowiec, who received his doctorate in entomology in June from the University of California, Davis, studying with major professor Phil Ward, is the recipient of the coveted George C. Eickwort Student Research Award, sponsored by the North American Section of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI-NAS).

The award recognizes a graduate student for distinguished research and scholarly activity in the field of social insect biology. Borowiec received a certificate, honorarium, and a one-year subscription to Insectes Sociaux.

Borowiec is now a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of evolutionary biologist/ant specialist Christian Rabeling of Rochester, N.Y. The lab will be moving to Tempe, Ariz. in January.

“What is notable about Marek is that even as he became trained as a highly accomplished molecular phylogeneticist and computational biologist, he remained focused on organism-centered questions, driven by a deep and abiding appreciation of natural history,” said Ward.

Borowiec is the first from the Ward lab to receive the Eickwort Award.

The IUSSI-NAS Committee, chaired by Terry McGlynn and Stephen Pratt, and including members Rebecca Clark, Hongmei Li-Byarlay, Juliana Rangel, and Chris Smith, praised his work as having a significant impact on the field of social insect evolutionary biology.

They issued this statement:

“Although he has just received his PhD, Marek's work has already had a significant impact on the field of social insect evolutionary biology,” said the committee of . “His dissertation, completed under the supervision of Phil Ward at UC Davis, included a landmark revision of the genera in the diverse army ant subfamily Dorylinae. Marek produced a classification of the army ants in which morphological and molecular genetic data are fully congruent with each other, an unprecedented feat in ant taxonomy. His work showed decisively that the ‘army ant syndrome' evolved independently in the New World and Old World tropics, settling a century-old controversy.

“Besides his army ant work, Marek also contributed to phylogenomic research demonstrating that ants are the sister group of the bees and spheciform wasps, and he was first author of an important paper showing that Ctenophora, the comb jellies, is the sister group to all other metazoans, thus resolving one of the earliest phylogenetic bifurcations in the animal kingdom. Marek's strengths in taxonomy and phylogenetics are supported by his accomplishments in bioinformatics, which include developing and publishing a novel tool to manipulate DNA sequence alignments of genomic datasets.

 “Marek's recommenders praise him as a well-rounded biologist with a deep appreciation of natural history. “He doesn't just excel in ant taxonomy, or phylogenetics, or bioinformatics. He excels in all of these disciplines. It is his love for ants and his curiosity about the natural world that motivates his studies.

"Marek is also a good scientific citizen, actively serving the systematics community as a subject editor for ZooKeys and Biodiversity Data Journal and as a frequent contributor to online systematics resources and databases. His research and scholarly achievements make Marek Borowiec a very deserving winner of this year's George C. Eickwort Student Research Award.”

Borowiec's research interests include phylogeny, taxonomy, biogeography, and natural history of ants. Before enrolling at UC Davis, Borowiec received his master's degree in 2009 from the Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Taxonomy, University of Wroclaw, Poland.

"My focus has been primarily on ant diversity and evolution and in my research I combine field work, morphology, molecular phylogenetics, and comparative methods," Borowiec said. "I am also interested in computing and phylogeny estimation from next-generation sequencing data."

Marek was just a college freshman when he read "Naturalist" by biologist-researcher-theorist-naturalist-author (and 1979 Pulitzer-Prize winner) E. O. Wilson, whose work and observations on ants drew him in.

Now, with a doctorate in hand, and with a postdoc position in New York (soon to move to Arizona), Dr. Marek Borowiec continues to follow his dream.

Bugs: they're what's for dinner!

Well, at some dinners. In. Many. Parts. Of. The. World.

Distinguished professor Bruce Hammock of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center just shared with us "Bugs: They're What's for Dinner!" (not the bugs, the news story).

The gist of the piece, appearing in a recent edition of the Chemical and Engineering News: Gladys O. Latunde-Dada of King's College, London, found that if you eat crickets, you'll get almost as much iron as eating a sirloin steak. She and her research team studied four common food insects: grasshoppers (Sphenarium purpurascens), crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus), mealworms (Tenebrio molitor), and buffalo worms (Alphitobius diaperinus), a type of beetle larvae. Of the four insects, crickets scored highest for the total iron content--a whopping 12.91 mg/100 g. just shy of  beef sirloin's 15-47 mg/100g.

Yum? Double yum?

Hold on!

Crickets and grasshoppers also make for an award-winning cookie. Think "Chocolate Chirp Cookies," the top winner in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's holiday cookie contest. They were the work of graduate student Heather Baker, who studies malaria mosquitoes in the lab of molecular biologist Shirley Luckhart.

Oddly enough, no one attending the social mentioned anything about the iron content in the "Chocolate Chirp Cookie."

Or how delicious they were.

Baker's cookie, made with cricket flour and topped with a grasshopper, won the "Most Innovative" category. She received a chef's hat, a $25 gift certificate to UC Davis Stores, and "The Golden Teaspoon Award."

Baker said she based her entry on a Pioneer Woman recipe but added cricket flour instead of "regular" flour. The grasshoppers? "I ordered them through Amazon," she said.

Meet cookie baker/skeeter researcher Heather Baker. Hometown: Tacoma, Wash. She's pursuing a master's degree in entomology, with an emphasis in vector-borne disease. "I'm what my friend jokingly calls a fake entomologist--I only really study insects that spread disease," she said. "My current research is in modifying MAP kinase activation in Anopheles stephensi to develop a mosquito that is resistant to malaria, but also fit enough to out-compete and replace wild-type populations.  When I'm done here I hope to teach a medical entomology course at the community college level, and get more young students interested in studying vector-borne diseases."

 Does she eat insects regularly? "I can't say I eat insects regularly, ha, ha, although I'm always down to try them as a novelty!" Baker said.  Her favorite? "My favorite so far is chocolate-covered ants."

The eating of insects, entomophagy, common in many countries throughout the world, is gaining momentum in the United States. "I've seen a number of articles touting insects as the 'future of meat,' because they contain a lot of protein and amino acids and are a very sustainable food source," she said. "They require much less water and space than animal farms, and insect farming emits far fewer greenhouse gases.  Unfortunately, companies offering insect-based products are still developing the infrastructure to raise human food grade insects on a large scale, so a lot of these foods are incredibly expensive.  The cricket flour alone costs $40-plus per pound!"

Of the 20 entries at the entomology/nematology social, Baker's cookies were "on the judges' short list in every category" in addition to her winning "Most Innovative," said contest coordinator Guyla Yoak. Thus, the awarding of The Golden Teaspoons...

The judges--professor Diane Ullman, emeritus professor Hugh Dingle, faculty affiliate Steve Seybold and account manager Wayne Monteiro—awarded four other first-place prizes.

• Steve Nadler, professor and chair of the department, won “Best Taste Without Chocolate" with his  “Citrus Cranberry Walnut Cookies.”
• Junior specialist Stacey Lee Rice, who studies bagrada bugs in the lab of Extension entomologist Larry Godfrey, won “Best Taste with Chocolate” for her “Chocolate Bug Bites.”  (No bugs. No bagradas. Just chocolate.)
• Account manager Elvia Mayes' entry, “Merry Minnies” cookies, scored “Best Decorated."
• Graduate student/mosquito researcher Mimi Portilla of the lab of aquatic entomologist Sharon Lawler, won  “Best Entry Name” for her “Cereally Oatrageous Oatmeal Cookies.”

Unfortunately, most of the "chocolate chirps" went uneaten.

That's not to say the scientists who study bugs don't like bugs. They do. They just don't eat them. Generally.

One noted exception: those pesky wax moth larvae in bee hives.

"Wax moth larvae, when fed honey and baby food are delicious!" Hammock declared. "They taste just like cream of wheat with honey on it."

The joy of the season strikes a chord.

When bees slip out of their California hives during winter sun breaks, they often head over to mallow blossoms to grab some nectar and pollen. A favorite is the tree mallow, Lavatera maritima “bicolor," native to Mediterranean regions of the world and California. The genus derives its name from Swiss botanist J.R. Lavater, who first discovered the species in Spain. The drought-tolerant plants, which can reach 12 feet in height, are perfect for gardeners challenging the California drought!

It doesn't take long for honey bees to discover the towering blossoms. The bees buzz in and out, battling for position, jockeying for the precious pollen. Then, laden with "gold dust," they linger in flight to clean their tongues for another go-around.

Bees, we can't get enough of them! Is it spring yet?

Meanwhile, let's fast-forward to May 2017. Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 6 and Sunday, May 7. On May 6 is the inaugural California Honey Festival in Woodland, and on May 7, the fourth annual UC Davis Bee Symposium.

The California Honey Festival,  co-sponsored by the Honey and Pollination Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, UC Davis, and the Woodland Hoteliers, is an all-day family festival that will take place on Main Street, Woodland.

“The California Honey Festival will be a great opportunity for guests to experience the full spectrum of honey flavor,” said Honey and Pollination Center director Harris, who is coordinating the festival's educational content. “Not all honey tastes the same! Like wine, varietals of honey flavors and aromas can be very distinct. We developed our Honey Flavor Wheel in 2015 to help teach people about the nuances of honey flavor.”

In addition to tasting honey, festival goers can learn about honey bees, their pollination services, and the health benefits of honey. They can sample specialty meads or “honey wine”; taste honey-inspired food and beverages, and purchase honey and bee-themed gifts. Other family friendly activities will include a bee-themed play structure for kids, cooking demonstrations featuring honey, and informational sessions on beekeeping basics and bee-friendly gardening. More information on the California Honey Festival, including sponsorships and vendor details, is available on the festival website, www.CaliforniaHoneyFestival.com 

And the next day, Sunday, May 7, is the fourth annual Bee Symposium, co-sponsored by the Honey and Pollination Center and the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. The day-long event will focus on bee health and best management practices. It will feature keynote speakers, panel discussions, a luncheon, and a graduate student poster contest, among other activities. It's a mingling of bee scientists and researchers, beekeepers and others interested in bee health. Details are pending.

Stay tuned!