Faculty Profile
Ursula Schittko, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biology
Office: 229 Cyril Moore
Phone: (701) 858-3116
Email: ursula.schittko@minotstateu.edu
Education
I received a Biology Diplom from Würzburg University, Germany, in 1997. My Ph.D. is from the University of Jena, Germany, where I graduated as a student of the Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Ecology in 2000. I continued to do research in the field of plant-insect interactions at the Max-Planck-Institute for another year, and then worked as a research scientist in phytopharmaceutical industry subsequently, until I joined the Biology faculty at Minot State University in 2005.
Courses Offered
BIOL 111 (Concepts of Biology)
BIOL 154 (Introduction to Botany)
BIOL 250 (Advanced Cell Biology)
BIOL 310 (Pharmaceutical Ethnobotany)
BIOL 404 (Plant Molecular Ecology)
BIOL 448 (Systematic Botany)
Research
Heavy metal accumulation in Brassica napus L. Plants that grow on heavy metal-contaminated soils will take up the heavy metals through their root system and mechanisms of long distance transport will allocate them to different plant parts, including the flowers. I have started to investigate cadmium accumulation in flower nectaries and pollen of Brassica napus L. plants. In the long term, the goal is to elucidate the entire contamination chain from cadmium pollution in soil, through nectar and pollen in flowers, through bees, to the final honey product. The extent of heavy metal contamination of flower nectars is unknown, but it is likely to determine the health risk associated with the consumption of honey. Cadmium accumulation is analyzed under controlled greenhouse conditions and in the field. This research is of significance for North Dakota, since it is the state that currently leads the U.S. production of Brassica napus as well as the U.S. production of honey. Even more, some areas in North Dakota are known to have soils that are naturally high in cadmium content.
Identification and systematics of native medicinal plants. Sequence analysis is applied to identify historical plant material. The material is obtained from a preserved sacred medicine bundle used by Native Americans for spiritual and curative purposes. In another project I investigate hybrid formation between medicinal plant species of the genus Rhodiola.
Publications
Schwachtje J, Minchin PEH, Jahnke S, van Dongen JT, Schittko U, Baldwin IT (2006) SNF1-related kinases allow plants to tolerate herbivory by allocating carbon to roots. PNAS 103, 34: 12935-12940
Schittko U (2004) Pflanzenporträt: Rosenwurz. Z. Arzn. Gew. Pfl. 9,1: 43-45
Qu N, Schittko U, Baldwin IT (2004) Consistency of Nicotiana attenuata's herbivore-and jasmonate-induced transcriptional responses in the allotetraploid species Nicotiana quadrivalvis and Nicotiana clevelandii. Plant Physiology 135,1: 539-548
Schittko U, Baldwin IT (2003) Constraints to herbivore-induced systemic responses: Bi-directional signaling along orthosticies in Nicotiana attenuata. Journal of Chemical Ecology 29,3: 745-752
Baldwin IT, Halitschke R, Kessler A, Schittko U (2001) Merging molecular and ecological approaches in plant-insect interactions. Current Opinion in Plant Biology 4: 351-358
Voelckel C, Schittko U, Baldwin IT (2001) Herbivore-induced ethylene burst reduces fitness costs of jasmonate- and oral secretion-induced defenses in Nicotiana attenuata. Oecologia 127: 274-280
Hermsmeier D, Schittko U, Baldwin IT (2001) Molecular interactions between the specialist herbivore Manduca sexta (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) and its natural host Nicotiana attenuata. I. Large-scale changes in the accumulation of growth- and defense-related plant mRNAs. Plant Physiology 125: 683-700
Schittko U, Hermsmeier D, Baldwin IT (2001) Molecular interactions between the specialist herbivore Manduca sexta (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) and its natural host Nicotiana attenuata. II. Accumulation of plant mRNAs in response to insect-derived cues. Plant Physiology 125: 701-710
Halitschke R, Schittko U, Pohnert G, Boland W, Baldwin IT (2001) Molecular interactions between the specialist herbivore Manduca sexta (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) and its natural host Nicotiana attenuata. III. Fatty acid-amino acid conjugates in herbivore oral secretions are necessary and sufficient for herbivore-specific plant responses. Plant Physiology 125: 711-717
Schittko U, Preston CA, Baldwin IT (2000) Eating the evidence? Manduca sexta larvae can not disrupt specific jasmonate induction in Nicotiana attenuata by rapid consumption. Planta 210: 343-346
Schittko U, Burghardt F, Fiedler K, Wray V, Proksch P (1999) Sequestration and istribution of flavonoids in the common blue butterfly Polyommatus icarus reared on Trifolium repens. Phytochemistry 51: 609-614
