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MSU University News Research Roundup at Montana State University (#233)

Connecting dots

A meteor struck Iowa 74 or 75 million years ago and left a crater more than 20 miles across. Researchers who’ve studied the moon and other space objects believe debris from the impact spread largely to the northwest. It may have affected a dinosaur bone bed in Montana, says David Varricchio, an MSU paleontologist who received money from NASA to investigate. The grant will allow, among other things, graduate student Jessica Shelton to examine rock layers in the Willow Creek Anticline near Choteau. Proving a relationship between the bone bed and the meteor may be hard, but the process will be valuable anyway because of what it reveals about the bone bed, Varricchio said.

Strep throat and more

The same group of bacteria that causes strep throat can cause flesh-eating disease and toxic shock syndrome, says Ben Lei, assistant professor in MSU’s veterinary molecular biology department. Group A Streptococcus, a major human bacterial pathogen, also causes cellulitis and scarlet fever. It can lead to acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. To find out how the bacteria acquires the iron it needs from human proteins, Lei is involved in a two-year project funded by the National Institutes of Health. One such protein is the hemoglobin of red blood cells. Lei said his study will advance understanding and could identify new candidates for vaccines.

Testing mosquito traps

Greg Johnson and his band of mosquito trappers used two kinds of traps last year to capture mosquitos around the state. This year, they’re using just one. The battery-operated trap emits carbon dioxide and has a fan that draws the mosquitoes into a bag. It’s called a light trap, but the MSU entomologist isn’t using the light now because it draws in too many non-mosquitoes. Besides researching West Nile virus, Johnson is comparing carbon dioxide sources for the trap. Dry ice so far is much more effective than packets of powder, but powder would be easier to use in remote areas, he said. Traps for the carbon dioxide study are located in the Missouri Headwaters State Park near Three Forks. Traps for the West Nile study are all over Montana.

Mapping bear food

Grizzly bears rely on whitebark pine seeds for food. In fact, it’s the most significant vegetation they eat. To see how much is available to the threatened and endangered bears of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Lisa Landenburger and others are working on a project to use satellite images to map the distribution of whitebark pine in the ecosystem. After rounding up a variety of information, Landenburger will train software to recognize whitebark pine when it shows up as a digital satellite image. One goal is to expand the use of remotely-sensed information at the Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center where Landenburger works. The U.S. Geological Survey center is located at MSU.

Evelyn Boswell, (406) 994-5135 or [email protected]

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