permaculture

[kris kaul <kriskaul@yahoo.com>]

This Purdue University article was sent from the Global Justice Ecology 
Project - 
   
  Fighting pollution the poplar way: Trees to clean up Indiana site
          WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -   Richard Meilan inspects a row of hybrid 
poplars
Download photo
caption below             Purdue University researchers are collaborating 
with Chrysler LLC in a project to use poplar trees to eliminate pollutants 
from a contaminated site in north-central Indiana.
  The researchers plan to plant transgenic poplars at the site, a former oil 
storage facility near Kokomo, Ind., this summer. In a laboratory setting, the 
transgenic trees have been shown to be capable of absorbing 
trichloroethylene, or TCE, and other pollutants before processing them into 
harmless byproducts.
  Richard Meilan, a Purdue associate professor, is currently at work to 
transform one variety of poplar suited to Indiana's climate; cold-hardy 
poplars are generally more difficult to alter than the variety used in a 
laboratory setting.
  "This site presents the perfect opportunity to prove that poplars can get 
rid of pollution in the real world," Meilan said.
  In a study Meilan co-authored, published last October in Proceedings of the 
National Academy of Sciences, poplar cuttings removed 90 percent of the TCE 
within a hydroponic solution in one week. The engineered trees also took up 
and metabolized the chemical 100 times faster than unaltered hybrid poplars, 
which have a limited ability to remove and degrade the contaminant on their 
own, he said.
  The transgenic poplars contain an inserted gene that encodes an enzyme 
capable of breaking down TCE and a variety of other environmental pollutants, 
including chloroform, benzene, vinyl chloride and carbon tetrachloride.
  Meilan said he believes the transgenic poplars will be able to remove the 
TCE from the site, named Peter's Pond, which was contaminated by tainted oil 
stored there in the 1960s. The chemical, used as an industrial solvent and 
degreaser, lies within 10 feet of the surface, making it accessible to poplar 
roots, he said.
  TCE, the most common groundwater pollutant on Superfund sites, is a 
probable human carcinogen and causes various health problems when present in 
sufficiently high levels in water or air.
  Meilan said planting transgenic trees in the field remains controversial, 
primarily due to concerns that inserted genes, or transgenes, might escape 
and incorporate into natural tree populations.
  "It is legitimate to be concerned about transgenic plants, but we are 
taking comprehensive steps to ensure that our transgenes don't escape into 
the environment," Meilan said.
  Meilan has applied for a permit to grow transgenic poplars in a field, or 
non-laboratory, setting from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, 
the government organization responsible for regulating such research 
activities, he said.
  In order to comply with permit guidelines and to protect the environment, 
Meilan's team will take measures to prevent any plant material from leaving 
the site and will remove the trees after three years, short of the five it 
takes for poplars to reach sexual maturity, he said.
  "Three years should be enough time for them to grow up, send down roots to 
suck the pollutants up and break them down," Meilan said. "Then we'll cut 
them down before they have the chance to pass on their genes to the 
environment."
  Besides their utility in phytoremediation, or pollution removal, poplars 
have promise as a feedstock for cellulosic ethanol. To investigate their 
potential in this area, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded a $1.3 million 
grant to Meilan and two colleagues, professors Michael Ladisch, agricultural 
and biological engineering, and lead researcher Clint Chapple, biochemistry.
  They are currently investigating ways to alter the composition of poplar 
lignin, which provides rigidity to the plant cell wall by binding to strands 
of cellulose, a complex sugar that can be converted into ethanol.  
  Chrysler will fund the Kokomo project and said that the TCE is contained 
within an isolated water table at Peter's Pond and presents no public hazard.
  The original study, led by University of Washington professors Stuart 
Strand and Sharon Doty, revealed that the transgenic poplars also were able 
to absorb TCE vapors through their leaves before metabolizing the chemical. 
Tree cuttings removed 79 percent of the airborne TCE from a chamber within 
one week. This suggests poplars could one day help mitigate air as well as 
water pollution.
  If the project succeeds, poplars may be used for phytoremediation 
elsewhere. Poplars grow across a wide geographic range and in many different 
climates, Meilan said.
  Writer: Douglas M. Main, (765) 496-2050, dmain@purdue.edu
  Source: Richard Meilan, (765) 496-2287, rmeilan@purdue.edu
  Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu
Agriculture News Page
  PHOTO CAPTION:
Richard Meilan, shown inspecting a row of hybrid poplars, is developing a 
transgenic poplar capable of absorbing and breaking down various 
contaminants. His poplars will be put to the test this summer in a project 
with Chrysler LLC to remove trichloroethylene from a former oil-storage 
location in Kokomo, Ind. (Purdue Agricultural Communication file photo/Tom 
Campbell)
  A publication-quality photo is available at 
http://news.uns.purdue.edu/images/+2008/meilan-poplars.jpg
    
---------------------------------
    ABSTRACT
  Enhanced Phytoremediation of Volatile Environmental Pollutants with 
Transgenic Trees
  Sharon L. Doty, C. Andrew James, Allison L. Moore, Azra Vajzovic, Glenda L. 
Singleton, Caiping Ma, Zareen Khan, Gang Xin, Jun Won Kang, Jin Young Park, 
Richard Meilan, Steven H. Strauss, Jasmine Wilkerson, Federico Farin,  and 
Stuart E. Strand  
  Small, volatile hydrocarbons, including trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, 
carbon tetrachloride, benzene, and chloroform, are common environmental 
pollutants that pose serious health effects. We have developed transgenic 
poplar (Populus tremula x Populus alba) plants with greatly increased rates 
of metabolism and removal of these pollutants through the overexpression of 
cytochrome P450 2E1, a key enzyme in the metabolism of a variety of 
halogenated compounds. The transgenic poplar plants exhibited increased 
removal rates of these pollutants from hydroponic solution. When the plants 
were exposed to gaseous trichloroethylene, chloroform, and benzene, they also 
demonstrated superior removal of the pollutants from the air. In view of 
their large size and extensive root systems, these transgenic poplars may 
provide the means to effectively remediate sites contaminated with a variety 
of pollutants at much faster rates and at lower costs than can be achieved 
with current
 conventional techniques.
    
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>From keithdj@mindspring.com  Tue Jan 22 12:00:33 2008
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Subject: Re: [permaculture] We all should be Seed Savers
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Scott and Woody,
Thanks for the calm, clear, and non-reactive overview. You echo my 
thoughts, precisely,
Keith

Scott Vlaun wrote:
> Woody and All,
>
> I've been reading all the posts regarding SSE with great interest and  
> concern, but still don't feel like we have a full story to act/react  
> regarding the situation so won't comment on it directly, especially  
> since my company helped them with their catalog this year.
>
> Regardless of the details and final outcome of this debacle, I was  
> glad to see Woody's post below. After having been involved with the  
> organic seed industry for 15+ years now, I feel strongly that we need  
> to continue to build and support regional seed growing networks,  
> while supporting as many small-scale professional seed growers as  
> possible. This can be done by understanding where your seeds are  
> coming from to whatever extent possible, and buying from companies  
> that support sustainable farming.
>
> So far, the organic seed industry is primarily suppled by family farm- 
> scale growers who might grow 8-10 crops per year on a few acres with  
> adequate populations to maintain vigorous varieties. Companies large  
> and small buy from these growers and disseminate the seed widely.  
> Many backyard gardeners and market growers continue to save OP seed  
> and are organizing their own seed exchanges. This movement is growing  
> in leaps and bounds. The recent news of SSE will only infuse it with  
> new energy. Just as we need to know where our food comes from, we  
> need to be asking the same questions about our seed. (Especially  
> since Semenis, supplier of a large percentage of the vegetable seed  
> in this country, is now owned by Monsanto)
>
> SSE has empowered and trained countless gardeners and farmers to save  
> seeds over it's 30+ year history. The potential "hijacking" of this  
> organization, does not mean the demise of the seed saving movement.  
> Seed swaps are popping up all over the country as folks realize the  
> value of regionally adapted OPs. Furthermore, burgeoning  
> organizations like the Organic Seed Alliance, and Southern Exposure  
> Seed Exchange are training and organizing seed growers all over the  
> country. These growers sell to multiple sources like Fedco, High  
> Mowing, Wood Prairie Farm, Wild Garden Seed, not to mention Seeds of  
> Change with whom I am affiliated and through which I've had the honor  
> of knowing scores of dedicated seedspeople.
>
> There is a lot of great seed being grown out there and thousands of  
> solid OP varieties to choose from. I'm with Woody. It's up to  
> everyone to do their part, whether with their purchasing power, or by  
> getting involved in seed saving directly. It's our genetic heritage.  
> To entrust any one entity to preserve it is folly.
>
> Scott Vlaun
> Moose Pond Arts+Ecology
> Design Solutions for a Sustainable Future
>
> 450 Main St. Studio 2
> Norway, Maine 04268
> 207-739-2409 Studio
> 207-890-4099 Cell
> http://www.moosepondarts.com
>
> On Jan 21, 2008, at 1:44 PM, Woody Wodraska wrote:
>   
>> Folk, the clear lesson is that we all should be saving seeds, all the
>> time. Save them and grow them out again. Give them away. Sell them.
>> Get them out there in the world. Organizations and businesses built
>> around seeds are a phenomenon of the past couple of hundred years.
>> Before that seeds were the concern of individual gardeners and
>> families, and diversity was manifested naturally.
>>
>> We CANNOT depend on any organization, no matter how beautiful and
>> benign its founding intentions, to do this for us. Organizations that
>> reach a certain size and attract a certain amount of money begin to
>> attract ugly energy.
>>
>> Woody Wodraska
>> wodraska@mac.com
-- 
Keith Johnson
"Be fruitful and mulch apply."
Permaculture Activist Magazine
PO Box 5516, Bloomington, IN 47407
(812) 335-0383
http://www.permacultureactivist.net
http://www.PermacultureTradingPost.com
Switch to Solar Power the Easy Way
http://www.jointhesolution.com/KeithJ-SunPower
http://www.PowUr.com/KeithJ-SunPower
Blog: http://kjpermaculture.blogspot.com/
also Patterns for Abundance Design & Consulting
http://www.permacultureactivist.net/design/Designconsult.html
also Association for Regenerative Culture
http://www.ARCulture.org
also APPLE-Bloomington (Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy) It's a 
small world after oil.
http://www.relocalize.net/groups/applebloomington
also Bloomington Permaculture Guild
http://my.calendars.net/bloomingtonpccal/
and: http://bloomingtonpermacultureguild.blogspot.com/
also: Bioregional Congress
http://www.bioregional-congress.org