Schedule and Program - North Carolina Academy of Science

kinase inhibitor (SB 203580), which was used to block phosphorylation of 5-LO, and evaluating with HighPerformance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), we found that there was no affect on the production of 15-HETE.Further studies are needed to confirm the effectiveness of inhibitor.This research may lead to development ofnovel therapeutic agents that reduce 15-HETE synthesis to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension.Grafting Tomatoes for Resistance to Early Blight and Late Blight in theWarren Wilson College GardenCamille Taylor* and Amy E. BoydWarren Wilson CollegeEarly blight, Alternaria solani, and late blight, Phytophthora infestans, are foliar fungal diseases which annuallyaffect tomato production across the East Coast in as much as a 50% yield loss. Grafting blight resistant scions tosoilborne disease resistant rootstocks has been identified as a disease management practice that may increase plantvigor and mitigate disease incidence in tomato production, while consequently increasing yield. The objectiveof my study was to determine the effectiveness of grafting as a management technique and to determine theeffectiveness of two cultivars bred to be blight resistant. Blight resistant scion cultivars, NC08144 and NC08244,were compared to a susceptible heirloom scion, Purple Cherokee. Each scion was also grafted in a treatmentto soilborne disease resistant rootstock Maxifort. The six treatments were compared on the basis of plant vigor,disease incidence and total yield. One-way ANOVAs were run on the data to evaluate the effectiveness of graftingand scion type. Grafting and scion type both positively effected plant vigor and disease incidence while graftingnegatively affected yield. This negative trend may be due to excessive heat during the grafting process and generalplant stress due to an unusually hot and dry growing season. More research is warranted to support grafting as anenvironmentally sound alternative disease management technique.Culture and Characterization of Microorganisms of Soil Samples fromBuies Creek, North CarolinaChris Teeter*, Taek H. You, Michael L. Larsen, and Sang Seob LeeCampbell UniversityBacteria from several locations around Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina were collected fromthe soil in hopes of isolating and identifying new species or strains of environmental and industrial importance.It is estimated that less than five percent of microorganisms in the natural environment have been successfullycultured while the vast majority remains unknown. A variety of tests were conducted to determine the DNAcomposition and physical characteristics of the isolated colonies. After several rounds of extensive screening, totalof sixty-nine colonies were isolated. One of the bacterium was isolated from beyond the drainage ditch of an oldlaundry building on campus at Campbell University. Using universal primers, the 16S rRNA gene was amplified,sequenced, and compared to the previously identified sequences. After NCBI BLAST search, the highest sequencehomology was in the 16s rRNA gene of Leucobacter iarius with 98.4% homology. The Leucobacter genus belongsto the Microbacteriaceae family. A phylogenetic tree was constructed based on the NCBI BLAST search results toposition the unknown bacterium in the evolution tree. Physical and physiological characteristics of the unknownmicroorganism were identified along with type strains. With this information, the new strain of microorganismwas identified, and a potential importance in bioremediation is being investigated.74 - NC Academy of Science