Look Who's at the Lab: Valerie Paul
In Look Who's at the Lab, we profile some of the hundreds of scientists who visit our lab every year.
Valerie Paul at the office.
Photo: Raphael Ritson-Williams
The Basics
The Research
Quick Q & A
Publications
Title: Director, Smithsonian Marine Station (Fort Pierce, Florida)
Mag Lab user since: 2005
Number of visits to the lab: About 20
Dates of most recent visit: July 2007
Distance traveled: 225 miles or 360 km (Fort Pierce, Florida, to Gainesville, Florida)
Research Interests:
"My research interests include marine chemical ecology, marine plant-herbivore interactions, coral reef ecology, and marine natural products. I am interested in how marine natural products mediate ecological and behavioral interactions among marine organisms and possible applications for marine natural products."
Web site: www.sms.si.edu
Email: Paul@si.edu
Title: "Chemical studies of natural inducers of larval metamorphosis for species of Phestilla (Opisthobranchia)" and "Marine cyanobacteria for drug discovery"
Participants: Dr. Hendrik Luesch (Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Florida) and members of his research group
Synopsis: "Our research focuses on a type of sea slug (called nudibranch in scientific circles) known as Phestilla. Specifically, we study the chemicals that induce the larvae of these animals to metamorphose into adults. This work involves isolating and characterizing waterborne chemical cues from seawater. Phestilla sibogae consumes corals of the genus Porites, and larvae of this nudibranch settle and metamorphose specifically in response to waterborne chemical cues released from the corals. The research has great significance to marine biology. Most benthic (meaning they live at the bottom of the ocean) marine invertebrates produce planktonic larvae that remain in their larval phases for minutes to months, sometimes dispersing great distances as they float through the ocean carried by currents. The larvae use physical and chemical cues to locate suitable substrates in which they can settle and metamorphose. However, despite the evidence that chemical cues are important for settling larvae, the complete chemical identity of natural inducer molecules is known in very few cases. This is because the substances are often active at very small amounts and can be difficult to isolate from seawater. The unique instruments at the NMR facility at the McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Florida allow scientists to identify and study chemicals present in minute quanitities, and thus have the potential to help us solve this important research problem."
"Our studies of bioactive natural products from marine benthic cyanobacteria (aquatic bacteria that photosynthesize) involve isolating and characterizing the diverse suite of natural products, mostly non-ribosomal peptides and lipopeptides, which we have found in marine cyanobacteria. Marine cyanobacteria provide an exceptional resource for new natural products, and our project is the first systematic approach to studying benthic cyanobacteria from Florida coastal waters. The study will also contribute to our limited knowledge of the chemical variability of marine cyanobacteria and the relationship between natural adaptive functions of cyanobacterial metabolites and their biomedical applications. The NMR facility at the McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Florida has helped us solve the structures of natural products that have been isolated in very small quantities."
Facility: Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy facility at the McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida
Equipment: 500 MHz NMR spectrometer (2.5mm TXI probe); 600 MHz Avance II NMR spectrometer with cryoprobe (1mm HTS probe); 600 MHz Avance NMR spectrometer – warm bore applications (5mm TXI probe, used for 13C); 750 MHz wide bore spectrometer; 2.5mm triple resonance probe
Techniques: Proton and carbon NMR, including 1-mm probe, which is really useful for minor amounts of compounds
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Favorite thing about working at the lab:
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The great support by Jim Rocca and others at the AMRIS facility at McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida |
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Your proudest science moment:
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The thanks I have received from former students for mentoring those students.
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What keeps you awake at night:
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Getting too involved in a good book.
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The most unscientific thing about you:
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My sense of humor. |
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Your hero:
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I don’t really have a hero, but I admire the work of President Jimmy Carter through the Carter Center and Habitat for Humanity.
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Last book you read:
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling
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Parting thoughts on science today:
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Conducting research and making new scientific discoveries are as much fun for me today as they were 25 years ago when I discovered marine natural products research as a student.
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- Matthew, S., C. Ross, J.R. Rocca, V.J. Paul, and H. Luesch. 2007. Lyngbyastatin 4, a dolastatin 13 analogue with elastase and chymotrypsin inhibitory activity from the marine cyanobacterium Lyngbya confervoides. J. Nat. Prod. 70: 124-127.
- Paul, V.J., K. E. Arthur, R. Ritson-Williams, C. Ross, and K. Sharp. 2007. Chemical defenses: from compounds to communities. Invited review for Biol. Bull. In press.
- Ritson-Williams, R. and V.J. Paul. 2007. Marine benthic invertebrates use multimodal cues for defense against reef fish. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 340: 29-39.
- Cruz-Rivera, E. and V.J. Paul. 2007. Chemical deterrence of a cyanobacterial metabolite against generalized and specialized grazers. J. Chem. Ecol. 33: 213-217.
- Ritson-Williams, R., M. Yotsu-Yamashita, V. Paul. 2006. Ecological functions of tetrodotoxin in a deadly polyclad flatworm. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 103: 3176-3179.
- Paul, V.J., M.P. Puglisi, and R. Ritson-Williams. 2006. Marine chemical ecology. Nat. Prod. Rep. 23: 153-180.
- Kuffner, I.B., L.J. Walters, M.A. Becerro, V.J. Paul, R. Ritson-Williams, and K.S. Beach. 2006. Inhibition of coral recruitment by macroalgae and cyanobacteria. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 323: 107-117.
- Cruz-Rivera, E. and V.J. Paul. 2006. Feeding by coral reef mesograzers: algae or cyanobacteria? Coral Reefs 25: 617-627.
- Erickson, A.A., V.J. Paul, K.L. Van Alstyne, L.M. Kwiatkowski. 2006. Palatability of macroalgae that employ different types of chemical defenses. J. Chem. Ecol. 32:1883-1895.
- Paul, V.J., R. Thacker, K. Banks, and S. Golubic. 2005. Benthic cyanobacterial bloom impacts the reefs of South Florida (Broward County, USA). Coral Reefs 24: 693-697.
- Thacker, R.W. and V.J. Paul. 2004. Morphological, chemical, and genetic diversity of tropical marine cyanobacteria, Lyngbya spp. and Symploca spp. (Oscillatoriales). Appl. Env. Microbiol. 70: 3305-3312.
- Capper, A., E. Cruz-Rivera, V.J. Paul, I.R. Tibbetts. 2006. Chemical deterrence of a marine cyanobacterium against sympatric and non-sympatric consumers. Hydrobiologia 553: 319-326.
- Becerro, M.A. and V.J. Paul. 2004. Effects of depth and light on secondary metabolites and cyanobacterial symbionts of the sponge Dysidea granulosa. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 280: 115-128.
- Ritson-Williams, R., S. Shjegstad, and V. Paul. 2003. Host specificity of four corallivorous Phestilla nudibranchs (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia). Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 255: 207-218.
- Paul, V.J., E. Cruz-Rivera and R.W. Thacker. 2001. Chemical mediation of macroalgal-herbivore interactions: ecological and evolutionary perspectives. In: Marine Chemical Ecology, McClintock, J. and Baker, B. (Eds.), CRC Press, LLC, pp. 227-265.
Date posted: September 27, 2007
