Prof. Emma Allen-Vercoe, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, is among 14 researchers from five countries on a research team looking to study connections between microbes in the body and cancer.
Her expertise in culturing gut microbes developed in her U of G lab – and its custom-designed “robo-gut” mimicking the workings of the large intestine – led the team’s principal investigators to invite her to join the project.

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University of Guelph researchers have pinpointed the North American birthplaces of migratory monarch butterflies that overwinter in Mexico, vital information that will help conserve the dwindling species.

The researchers analyzed “chemical fingerprints” in the wings of butterflies collected as far back as the mid-1970s to learn where monarchs migrate within North America each autumn.

The largest percentage of monarchs migrated to Mexico from the American Midwest, but the biologists were surprised to find the insects’ origins were spread fairly evenly throughout Canada and the United States.

“We expected the vast majority of monarch butterflies to be found in the Midwestern states,” says Tyler Flockhart, lead author and Liber Ero Postdoctoral Fellow at U of G. “However, just 38 per cent come from that part of the U.S.A. If we just focus conservation activities on this area, this research shows we will be missing a large number of butterflies born elsewhere in North America.”

Monarch numbers have dropped significantly in recent years, likely due partly to the eradication of milkweed, which began in the mid-1990s. Monarchs feed on milkweed and lay their eggs on the plants.

Analyzing more than 1,000 samples, the research team looked at chemical isotope signatures showing where the butterflies were born in the previous summer and fall.

They found that 12 per cent of the insects were born in the northwestern U.S. and Canadian Prairies, 17 per cent in the north-central States and Ontario, 15 per cent in the northeastern U.S. and the Maritimes, 11 per cent in the south-central U.S. and eight per cent in the southeastern States.

Co-author and integrative biology professor Ryan Norris says the study shows monarch conservation efforts must begin immediately throughout North America. He calls for better collection and analysis of butterflies in their Mexican overwintering grounds to monitor the effects of conservation efforts.

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Sociology and anthropology professor Linda Hunter examined 25 years’ worth of HIV awareness posters aimed at women, who account for one-quarter of the 75,000 adults living with HIV in Canada. Hunter looked at posters from 1990 to 2015 and found that poster campaigns generally reinforce stigma rather than promote communication.

Hunter’s study found that early posters reinforced the stigma around HIV by citing examples of how women with HIV were treated differently and were portrayed as being isolated.

One poster, produced in 2004, depicts a woman isolated from her peers with text stating that since her diagnosis, no one wanted to share anything with her, “not even the bathroom.” This type of fear-based messaging can lead to misinformation, stereotyping and stigma, says Hunter. A more effective approach, she adds, would be to portray HIV-positive women surrounded by friends and family.

She also points to a recent campaign by the Canadian AIDS Society in 2015 called HIVAnonymous. The word “anonymous” further stigmatizes people living with HIV, she says, as does the use of a faceless silhouette.

Hunter did find an exception to this trend. A 2013 anti-stigma poster campaign from Montreal features HIV-positive individuals talking about their lives and their contributions to their communities. The poster states, “It’s HIV that needs to be excluded, not the people living with it.”

She says reducing the stigma can help women feel more comfortable about seeking health care and talking about issues regarding sexuality, pregnancy and child care with health-care providers. Many women with HIV avoid accessing health services and support programs due to fear of judgment by health-care providers. –SUSAN BUBAK

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A team of researchers, including U of G integrative biology professor Hafiz Maherali, found that fungi — not trees — are what control forest diversity. More specifically, whether a tree and its fungi have an “internal” or “external” relationship affects growth patterns.

Tree species diversity is critical for maintaining forest biodiversity and ecosystem function, including everything from carbon storage to nutrient cycling. But the factors regulating tree diversity have remained unclear. Scientists have long known that plants and soil fungi form symbiotic relationships called mycorrhizas, with plants providing carbon in exchange for nutrients.

Most tree species, including maple and ash, have internal mycorrhizas with fungi that colonize in tree roots. But other species, such as pine and oak, have external mycorrhizas that produce a protective sheath around the root.

In the study, published in Science, the researchers examined 55 tree species from 550 forest locations in North America. They found the type of relationship determines where trees grow.

In both greenhouses and forests, they found that trees with external mycorrhizas might grow together more densely because their roots are protected from pathogens in the soil.

Trees with internal mycorrhizas growing in the same soil as their parent tree are exposed to the parent’s pathogens. “Pathogen attack causes these trees to grow further away from their parent, a process that increases forest diversity,” says Maherali.

The results may help in forest management and restoration and and in better understanding the effect of invasive species.

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In Canada, the TB vaccine is recommended only for those who live or work in high-risk areas for TB transmission. The vaccine is only 51 per cent effective in preventing any type of TB infection, according to the Government of Canada’s Immunization Guide.

“It’s not effective anymore, especially in adults,” says University of Guelph chemistry professor Mario Monteiro. “It’s not even used now in North America.”

Monteiro is working on a new type of TB vaccine that uses a plant-based ingredient to trigger an immune response in the body.

Monteiro’s lab is best known for developing vaccines against gastro- intestinal bugs such as Clostridium difficile and Campylobacter jejuni, both of which cause diarrhea. Both vaccines use polysaccharides (long sugar molecules found on bacterial cell surfaces) to fire up the body’s immune system. Monteiro decided to use a similar approach with TB. The infectious lung disease is particularly dangerous for young children and people living with HIV/ AIDS. Cases of multidrug-resistant TB are on the rise, making the need for a new vaccine even more pressing.

In collaboration with Prof. Praveen Saxena, Department of Plant Agriculture, Monteiro’s lab also studies medicinal plants such as St. John’s wort and their effects on the immune system. Monteiro noticed the plant produces a polysaccharide region similar to an area in the cell wall of the TB mycobacterium. Plants with these types of polysaccharide structures have properties that stimulate the immune system, as do the polysaccharides found in the cell wall of the TB mycobacterium, he explains.

Instead of growing TB mycobacteria for the vaccine, which must be done safely in a biohazard lab, Monteiro is isolating and characterizing parts of the St. John’s wort polysaccharide. This process yields 1,000-fold more polysaccharide material from St. John’s wort than from TB mycobacteria.

The polysaccharides from the TB mycobacteria are being used as targets for the vaccine. When the body is exposed to TB mycobacteria, the immune system will be equipped with the specific antibodies to recognize the cell surface of the microorganism and respond immediately, says Monteiro, adding the vaccine is in the early stages of development.

“You can actually say vaccines can grow on trees,” he says. –SUSAN BUBAK

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Tipping in restaurants is a widespread practice in need of reform, according to a new study by University of Guelph professors.

They found tipping poses significant challenges for restaurants, with managers seeing difficulties in hiring chefs and maintaining a cordial workplace environment. Surprisingly, servers welcomed changes to how tips are divvied up, even at the risk of less income.

Recently published in the Journal of Foodservice Business Research, the study includes interviews with nearly 100 managers and servers, and 160 online surveys.

“This may be the first study looking at how tipping affects restaurants; it creates many issues for them, the biggest one being inequity in pay,” says co-author Prof. Bruce McAdams, Department of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management. “Servers are generally making twice what those in the kitchen do, leading to a talent drain there. There are not enough chefs.”

A few restaurants in North America have attempted to address this issue by eliminating tipping and paying set salaries to staff, some servers have resisted.

“The average server in our study earned $18 per hour in tips, plus minimum wage,” says McAdams. “That adds up to nearly $28 per hour, so you can see why servers would not want to eliminate tipping.”

The study found some servers even resisted promotion to management because they would take home less pay.

Tipping can cause problems for managers, including rivalries and poor service by servers focused on tips and competing for certain shifts or restaurant sections, says co-author Prof. Michael von Massow, Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics.

The survey found nine out of 10 servers supported pooling a portion of tips. It also found most managers and servers believe tipping rewards those who provide good customer service.

“Some customers also feel tipping ensures they get good service. What has been found, though, is most people tip within a certain window, regardless of service,” says von Massow.

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Funded by a gift from Longo Brothers Fruit Markets, Inc., the new research facility in the College of Business and Economics will explore several areas related to consumers’ relationship with food, including how we value and learn about different foods, and our decision-making when purchasing and consuming foods.

The space will look like a grocery store, including fully stocked shelves, and will be equipped with monitoring cameras and eye-tracking equipment. Researchers will be able to gauge consumers’ responses to grocery store flyers or television advertisements, nutritional information, and surveys before and after their trips to the store.

“The facility will allow business and economics researchers, as well as faculty from across the University, to collaborate on food-related research at the consumer end of the supply chain,” says Julia Christensen Hughes, dean of the College of Business and Economics.

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The researchers aim to make fish farming more energy efficient, saving money for producers in Canada’s nearly $1-billion aquaculture industry and producing more healthy fish for consumers.

The U of G project may also offer a low-cost alternative for running small-scale fish farms in developing countries, says Prof. Wael Ahmed, School of Engineering.

Using engineering smarts, he’s refining airlift pumps in order to deliver water and nutrients more cheaply and reliably than traditional centrifugal pumps used on fish farms.

“Efficiency is the key to build sustainable energy systems,” says Ahmed, whose GryphEnergy lab studies energy use and efficiency in a variety of applications.

The airlift pump works by forcing compressed air into fish tanks or cages. This closed recirculation system moves water and nutrients through the tanks more efficiently than old-style pumps, he says.

That could mean thousands of dollars in energy savings, key for farmers running on narrow profit margins and looking for cost savings wherever they can find them.

Besides saving energy and reducing production costs, Ahmed says his patented technology may also help improve water quality in farms.

He’s installed his sustainable energy system in U of G’s fish nutrition research lab run by Prof. Dominique Bureau, Department of Animal Biosciences.

They’ve tested the set-up for delivering water and nutrients in hopes of helping Canada’s growing fish farming industry. Findings so far show the system can reduce energy use by up to 70 per cent over conventional pumping systems. It’s also less noisy than the traditional pump-driven design.

In 2012, Canadian fish farmers produced 174,000 tonnes, worth about $870 million.

Both researchers hope to adapt the system for cheaper fish farming in developing countries. “It’s important to have access to energy in developing countries and rural areas,” says Ahmed.

They’re working on scaling up the system for testing in several Ontario fish farms, including a trout farming operation in Parry Sound. They also plan tests with public and private farming partners in Vietnam and Indonesia. – ANDREW VOWLES

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Psychology professor Lana Trick hasn’t driven since grad school. But the prospect of saving lives, and preventing injury and costly damage on the roads, will fuel her studies of motorists’ behaviour and performance with a new state-of-the-art driving simulator at the University of Guelph.

A cross-campus research team of psychologists, computer scientists and engineers will inaugurate the new driving simulator, considered unrivalled by any other university in Canada.

Equipped with a new simulator vehicle and motion capture system, the DRIVE Lab (Driving Research in Virtual Environments) is intended to help strengthen U of G’s leading research role in road and motorist safety.

Not only are vehicle crashes a leading cause of injury and death, but they also cost taxpayers billions of dollars every year in health and social welfare expenses, says Trick.

Along with computer scientist Blair Nonnecke and engineer Michele Oliver, she will run simulations designed to help improve traffic laws and regulations, enable carmakers to design safer vehicles, build better roads and even provide useful information to drug companies.

The new equipment — a specially outfitted Pontiac G6 hardtop convertible — replaces the lab’s first driving simulator installed in 2005.

The simulator includes viewing screens that project a wraparound, virtual-reality driving environment. Linking to the Google mapping function will allow the screens to project real-live scenarios, such as driving around downtown Guelph.

It also includes a motion-capture system of cameras for observing subjects’ activities, including their use of in-vehicle devices and equipment.

The DRIVE Lab allows researchers to challenge subjects with road hazards, from inattentive pedestrians and poor weather and visibility, to heavy traffic and reckless behaviour by other motorists.

It also permits the team to gauge in-car distractions such as GPS systems, passengers and even the driver’s emotional state. Research suggests three out of four crashes involve lack of attention, says Trick. –ANDREW VOWLES

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The study, published in the British Journal of Psychology, shows that altruists were found to have greater success in dating and sex.

Pat Barclay, a psychology professor at U of G, and Prof. Steven Arnocky from Nipissing, interviewed about 800 people about their relationships and propensity for helping others, including giving to charity, donating blood, helping strangers cross the street, donating winnings and helping classmates.

After controlling for age and personality, altruists were found to have greater success in dating and sex.

The study found that while altruism is desirable in both genders, it increases lifetime dating and sex partners for men more than for women.

The findings support previous studies on food sharing by hunters, which found that men who hunt and share meat enjoy greater reproductive success.

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