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Funding will Enable Continued Study of Symbiotic Bacteria

WOODS HOLE, MA—Jennifer J. Wernegreen, evolutionary biologist in the Josephine Bay Paul Center for Comparative Molecular Biology and Evolution at the MBL (Marine Biological Laboratory), has received a fellowship that will help support her studies of symbiotic, or co-dependent, relationships that some bacteria develop with their animal hosts.

Jennifer Wernegreen

The fellowship was established in memory of the late Neal W. Cornell, a biochemist who was a senior scientist at the MBL from 1988 until his death in 2000. Prior to conducting year-round research at the MBL, Cornell was a summer investigator and visiting scientist for many years. His research focused on the biochemical aspects of cell structure and function, the regulation of central metabolic pathways, and the molecular aspects of growth and development.  “He had the highest level of integrity and excellence as a scientist and a person,” Dr. Wernegreen said.

During his life, he and his wife, Molly N. Cornell of Falmouth, established the MBL Research Development Fund to support year-round research at the MBL. The creation of this fund was, “a recognition of our confidence in the MBL and its future,” said Mrs. Cornell.

At the time of his death, the Neal W. Cornell Endowed Research Fund was established in his memory.  Both of the Cornell funds contributed to Dr. Wernegreen’s award and are intended to support scientists in the early stages of their careers. "Like many other scientists, my husband developed a great fondness for the MBL as a result of experiences as a young a summer investigator. He knew from his own experience the importance of research support to someone who is starting out on their own independent research."

“Neal would be very pleased that Jennifer was selected to receive these awards,” said Mrs. Cornell. “She’s given not only to the MBL but to the community at large.” For example, Dr. Wernegreen participated in a mentoring program sponsored by the Woods Hole Science & Technology Education Partnership (WHSTEP) at the Lawrence School in Falmouth, where local scientists and engineers mentored junior high students as they designed science projects.”

This carpenter ant species, Camponotus nearcticus, like other members of this ant genus, rely on endosymbiotic bacteria to perform certain nutritional functions. Photo courtesy of A. B. Lazarus.

Dr. Wernegreen’s research at the MBL focuses on endosymbiotic bacteria, which live inside the tissues or cells of the host animal, often insects. After living without exposure to the outside environment for millions of years, many such bacteria have lost the ability to perform basic metabolic functions. Instead, they depend on their host animal. Meanwhile, many of the animal hosts evolved as well, becoming dependent on the bacteria to produce essential nutrients.

Dr. Wernegreen studies the bacterium Blochmannia, the symbiont of an insect commonly found on Cape Cod—the carpenter ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus). She is trying to determine which genes of Blochmannia are active at different stages of the host ant’s life cycle. She’s especially interested in the genes responsible for producing amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, when the ant is unable to obtain food, such as while in the larval stage or while a new queen keeps herself sheltered as she establishes a colony.

This summer, Dr. Wernegreen hopes to collect specimens of the different castes of ant castes: the queen, workers, and reproducers. With these samples, her laboratory will be able to examine the bacterial genes active in each ant caste and begin to explore the functions of those genes. Wernegreen and her colleagues at the MBL’s Bay Paul Center have access to high-throughput DNA sequencing equipment. This cutting-edge equipment is typically found at much larger institutions and used for large-scale efforts like the Human Genome Project.

“Having known Neal and Molly makes it all the more meaningful for me to strive for the type of excellence he showed,” said Dr. Wernegreen. “Dr. Cornell had a big influence on my getting started here,” she said, "and through these funds, he continues to have a big impact on me and other young scientists.”

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The MBL is an international, independent, nonprofit institution dedicated to improving the human condition through creative research and education in the biological, biomedical and environmental sciences. Founded in 1888 as the Marine Biological Laboratory, the MBL is the oldest private marine laboratory in the Western Hemisphere. For more information, visit www.MBL.edu.

Links:

Jennifer Wernegreen Website

2006 MBL Fellows & Scholars