Collaborating on the multidisciplinary project are researcher and grant author Angela Zivkovic of the Hammock lab;  principal investigator Hammock, professor in the Department of Entomology; biochemist and food scientist Bruce German, professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology; and clinician and cell biologist Robert Weiss, professor in the Division of  Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine.

“Immunoglobulin A nephropathy” or IgAN, the most chronic inflammatory disease of the glomerulus, a filtering structure in the kidneys, can strike people of all ages, said Zivkovic.  Characterized by blood and protein in the urine and swelling of the hands and feet, the disease occurs when deposits of the protein IgAN disrupt the filtering process.

 “In more than 30 percent of IgAN patients, the disease progresses to end-stage kidney disease, resulting in hemodialysis and kidney transplant,” Zivkovic said. “The disease is not well understood, and there are no proven treatments.” 

The $84,000 multi-disciplinary grant, “Development of a Metabolic Assessment Tool for Chronic Kidney Disease,” is funded by the UC Davis Center for Health and Nutrition Research. The work involves substances that make up omega-3 acids.

“Signaling lipids, or eicosanoids, are derived from essential fatty acids, which include omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids,” Zivkovic said. “These fatty acids are essential because they cannot be synthesized in the body, and therefore need to be obtained from the diet. Whereas omega-6 fatty acids are abundant in the western diet in the form of grains and cooking oils, long-chain omega-3 fatty acids can be obtained only from marine sources. Fish oil is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, and it has been shown to improve kidney function in animal studies but in human trials show inconsistency.”

Zivkovic said preliminary evidence shows that IgAN patients have deficiencies in omega-3 fatty acids.  

“In some IgAN patients, omega-3 fatty acids help reverse kidney disease and improve kidney function, in other patients, there is no benefit, and the reason for this inconsistency is unclear,” she said.

The researchers hope to learn whether certain IgAN patients have metabolic disturbances in omega-3 fatty acid metabolism that play causative roles in disease development by way of eicosanoids in the kidney.

“We will also determine how these metabolic disturbances in omega-3 fatty acid and eicosanoid metabolism are involved in mediating the effectiveness of treatment with fish oil,” Zivkovic said.

The scientists will measure the comprehensive blood lipid and eicosanoid profiles of IgAN patients and compare them with healthy individuals. Both groups will be measured before and after supplementation with fish oil. 

“We aim to find new biomarkers that will be used to assess metabolic status in patients with IgAN,” Zivkovic explained. “With these new biomarkers it will be possible to detect responsiveness to fish oil and monitor treatment progress. By comparing the changes in omega-3 fatty acids and eicosanoids that are associated with IgAN and fish oil treatment, we will also begin to unravel the causes of this disease and how omega-3 fatty acids play a role in its reversal.”

Said Hammock: “This is a unique opportunity for collaboration, using state-of-the-art new mass spectrometry equipment in our lab to probe the mechanism of action of common food supplements.”

Hammock maintains an active research program in insect developmental biology and innovative methods of insect pest control. Due to his interest on the effects of pesticides on the environment and on human health, he developed broad interests in the human cardiovascular and inflammatory systems and how nutritional status and exposure to environmental chemicals may influence health. 

“At a fundamental level,” Hammock said, “the basic biology of insects is not so different from that of man.” 

Hammock has long collaborated with German, a biochemist noted for his work in using an analytical technique known as metabolomics to move toward individualizing medicine. Cell biologist Weiss pursues a variety of interests, including hardening of the arteries, restenosis and renal disease.

“UC Davis is unique in allowing me to draw on the skills in nutrition and food science of Angela Zivkovic and Bruce German on one hand, and the mass spectrometry laboratory run by Bruce Hammock on the other, to address fundamental science of immediate clinical interest,” Weiss said.

Zivkovic, who received her doctorate in nutritional biology from UC Davis, researches the development of tools for metabolic health assessment. Her ultimate research goal is to pave the way to personalized nutrition approaches that can improve health and prevent disease in individuals.

“Recently available mass spectrometry equipment at UC Davis opens the door to personalized medicine,” she said.

In addition to her research work with Hammock, Zivkovic consults for Lipomics Technologies, Inc., a biotech company based in West Sacramento, and she owns and operates her own personalized nutrition consultation practice.

CONTACT: Kathy Keatley Garvey, (530) 754-6894, kegarvey@ucdavis.edu

Bee breeder and geneticist Susan Cobey, who leads the bee breeding program at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Biology Research Facility at the UC Davis, scours a hive for the queen bee.

Her trained eye quickly spots the elongated queen. Dozens of worker bees circle the queen. Their job is to protect and nurture the matriarch of the 50,000- to 80,000-member colony.  The queen’s sole job is to reproduce; typically she lays about 2,000 eggs a day during her two-year life span.

And it’s Cobey’s job to ensure that queen bee breeding programs thrive, that bees literally be all they can be.

“The queen, mother of all individuals in a hive, determines the inherited characteristics of the colony,” she wrote in a published paper. “Her success, productivity and lifespan are dependent upon the number and genetic diversity of drones with whom she mates.”

“The challenge with honey bee genetics is that queens always mate in flight,” Cobey said. “They’ll mate with multiple drones, as many as 60, although average about 10, within a couple of days. The drones die after mating and the impregnated queen settles down to begin her lifelong egg-laying.”

“With instrumental insemination, we can control mating, enabling selection to enhance commercial stocks and maintain desired traits, including temper and resistance to disease and parasites.”

Cobey, a 30-year veteran of bee fertility research programs, is considered the world’s most renowned bee insemination authority and instructor. Hired by UC Davis in May, she teaches courses on “The Art of Queen Rearing,” “Instrumental Insemination and Bee Breeding” and “Advanced Instruction Instrumental Insemination.”

Over the last 25 years, she’s taught researchers and beekeepers from Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, France, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, China, India, United Kingdom, England, New Zealand. Korea, Israel, Egypt, Kuwait, and Nigeria.

By invitation, she’s also taught in Canada, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Egypt and South Africa.

Cobey’s job is basically to build a better bee by maximizing the good traits and minimizing the bad traits. “Controlled mating,” she said, “is the basic foundation of all stock improvement programs.”

The issue is timely, especially since CCD — “colony collapse disorder” or “massive honeybee die-off” — killed a quarter of the nation’s 2.4 million commercial bee hives last winter, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“Colony collapse disorder appears to be a complex issue,” Cobey said. “Similar situations have been experienced in the past. CCD may involve a variety of factors; parasitic mites, bee pathogens, chemicals (both miticides used in the colony and pesticides in the environment), changing climates, loss of forage, poor nutrition and loss of genetic diversity. Overall, I think it is stress, caused by the combination of these factors.” 

However, by controlling the genetics of honey bees, researchers can breed stronger, more survivable bees, bees able to withstand such pests as varroa mites, she said.

Honey bees, crucial to the nation’s multi-billion agricultural industry, pollinate one-third of the food crops, including fruits, legumes and vegetables, according to the USDA. They account for 80 percent of all insect crop pollination. They produce around 200 million pounds of honey a year in the United States, or about 84 pounds of honey per colony. California’s honey production averages $25.2 million a year, just behind national leader North Dakota’s $27.2 million.

Bees are especially critical to almond growers.

“Without honey bee pollination, crop yields would not be economically viable,” Cobey said. California, accounting for half of the world production of almonds, requires between 900,000 and 1 million colonies of honey bees to pollinate the state’s 420,000 acres of almonds, figures the National Honey Board.

Insects first sparked Cobey’s interest during her childhood in Lancaster County, Pa. She remembers bringing insects into her elementary school classroom for show and tell, until she was told to choose something different.

“Insects are like jewelry,” she said. “They come in all shapes, sizes and colors.”

And bees? The social insects fascinate her.  “The beehive is so efficient. The queen is the soul of the colony. She sets the tone and the production rate. Every bee has a task.”

After enrolling in a student exchange program in entomology in 1975 at Oregon State University, Corvallis, Cobey received her bachelor’s degree in entomology in 1976 from the University of Delaware, Newark.  From 1978 to 1980, she worked at UC Davis, where she was influenced by Harry Laidlaw (1907-2003).

Known as the “father of honeybee genetics,” Laidlaw perfected artificial bee insemination technology. “He discovered the valve fold in the queen bee which hinders injection of semen into the lateral oviducts,” Cobey said. “He developed instrumentation to bypass the valve fold enabling the success of bee insemination.”

Utilizing the training, Cobey established the Vaca Valley Apiaries in Vacaville in 1982, developing the highly regarded New World Carniolan (a black race of bees) Breeding Program. In 1990 she pulled up roots—and hives—and settled in Ohio, serving as staff apiarist at the Rothenbuhler Honey Bee Research Laboratory at Ohio State University until accepting the research associate position at the UC Davis facility in May.  She joins Eric Mussen, a longtime UC Cooperative Extension apiculturist.

Cobey is part of the overall plan to launch the UC Davis bee biology research program back to international prominence, said Walter Leal, professor and chair of the Department of Entomology. Over the past decade, budget cuts, resignations and retirements took their toll. The department is now recruiting a professor specializing in bee pollination.

Cobey’s expertise includes establishing and managing a closed population breeding program for more than 30 years, researching and writing scientific publications, and teaching bee breeders how to inseminate queen bees. She developed techniques and equipment for instrumental insemination, including a ruby-tipped hook, but has no plans for patent rights. 

“The world of bee breeding is so small,” she said.

At Ohio State University, she developed an independent research program on post-insemination survival of honey bee queens and the selection of behavioral traits. Selection for hygienic behavior, the ability to detect and remove varroa mites and bee diseases from brood, is one trait of natural resistance.  The varroa mite, a native of Asia, dines on bee larvae and occasionally an adult bee.

In her instrumental insemination classes, Cobey teaches students how to extract semen from a drone, and inseminate an anesthetized virgin queen.  Magnified images on a computer screen help illustrate the procedure.

Students highly praise her skills and teaching ability.  In a thank-you note to Leal, bee breeder Dave Welter of Welter Apiaries of Stuart, Fla., wrote:  “Thank you for hosting the Honeybee Instrumental Insemination short course.  It was first rate.  I am from South Florida where we are trying to develop strategies to deal with the arrival of the African Honey Bee.  The skills that I developed in Sue’s class will provide me with a valuable resource as I move forward in this endeavor.  Sue really did an incredible job teaching this class.  Her patience, professionalism and vast experience created an environment highly conducive to learning.   I am very pleased with what I learned and the skills I developed.”

Cobey’s New World Carniolan bees also draw international acclaim. Wrote Honey Run Apiaries of Delphos, Ohio: “Our breeder queens are obtained directly from Sue Cobey’s New World Carniolan Breeding Program. These queens have been selected for productivity, rapid spring buildup, overwintering ability, tracheal mite resistance, hygienic behavior, pollen collection, gentle temperament and high brood viability. We have been impressed with their performance and with their calm, gentle nature they are a pleasure to work.”

“I love my work,” said Cobey, who is partial to blue jeans and t-shirts. “I get to work outside and enjoy the change of seasons, the smells and sounds, and be close to nature. And my bees.”

She admits to having a soft spot for drones. Once the honey-gathering season is over, the worker bees kick the drones out of the hive, as their only function is to mate. 

“They’re cold and hungry, sitting there on the doorstep and wanting to go back in. They’re attacked and they die.  Well, it’s a matriarchal society.”

Husband Timothy Lawrence, an analyst with UC Davis Extension, shares her interest in bees. A wedding portrait shows them bearded with bees.

Cobey also enjoys working with bee breeders. Beekeeping is a hard life, but it’s a lifestyle for many.

“They just fall in love with their bees.”

As does she. “Breeding them so they’re strong and healthy and resilient, so they will bounce right back, it’s a passion and an increasing challenge.”

(Editor’s Note: a photo page of her teaching a UC Davis class is at http://www.ucmrp.ucdavis.edu/news/beeclassphotos.html)

CONTACT: Kathy Keatley Garvey, (530) 754-6894, kegarvey@ucdavis.edu

Veggie fans can already point to some cancer-fighting properties of 3,3′-diindolylmethane (DIM), a chemical produced from the compound indole-3-carbinol when Brassica vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and kale are chewed and digested. Animal studies have shown that DIM can actually stop the growth of certain cancer cells.

This new study in mice, published online Aug. 20 in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, shows that DIM may help boost the immune system as well.

“We provide clear evidence that DIM is effective in augmenting the immune response for the mice in the study, and we know that the immune system is important in defending the body against infections of many kinds and cancer,” said Leonard Bjeldanes, UC Berkeley professor of toxicology and principal investigator of the study. “This finding bodes well for DIM as a protective agent against major human maladies.”

Previous studies led by Bjeldanes and Gary Firestone, UC Berkeley professor of molecular and cell biology, have shown that DIM halts the division of breast cancer cells and inhibits testosterone, the male hormone needed for growth of prostate cancer cells.

In the new study, the researchers found increased blood levels of cytokines, proteins which help regulate the cells of the immune system, in mice that had been fed solutions containing doses of DIM at a concentration of 30 milligrams per kilogram. Specifically, DIM led to a jump in levels of four types of cytokines: interleukin 6, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, interleukin 12 and interferon-gamma.

“As far as we know, this is the first report to show an immune stimulating effect for DIM,” said study lead author Ling Xue, who was a Ph.D. student in Bjeldanes’ lab at the time of the study and is now a post-doctoral researcher in molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley.

In cell cultures, the researchers also found that, compared with a control sample, a 10 micromolar dose of DIM doubled the number of white blood cells, or lymphocytes, which help the body fight infections by killing or engulfing pathogens. (A large plateful of broccoli can yield a 5-10 micromolar dose of
DIM.)

When DIM was combined with other agents known to induce the proliferation of lymphocytes, the effects were even greater than any one agent acting alone, with a three- to sixfold increase in the number of white blood cells in the culture.

“It is well-known that the immune system can seek out and destroy tumor cells, and even prevent tumor growth,” said Xue. “An important type of T cell, called a T killer cell, can directly kill certain tumor cells, virally infected cells and sometimes parasites. This study provides strong evidence that could help explain how DIM blocks tumor growth in animals.”

DIM was also able to induce higher levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), substances which must be released by macrophages in order to kill some types of bacteria as well as tumor cells. The induction of ROS – three times that of a control culture – after DIM was added to the cell culture signaled the activation of macrophages, the researchers said.

“The effects of DIM were transient, with cytokine and lymphocyte levels going up and then down, which is what you’d expect with an immune response,”
said Bjeldanes. “Interestingly, to obtain the effects on the immune response, DIM must be given orally, not injected. It could be that the metabolism of the compound changes when it is injected instead of eaten.”

To examine the anti-viral properties of DIM, the researchers infected mice with reoviruses, which live in the intestines but are not life-threatening.
Mice that had been given oral doses of DIM were significantly more efficient in clearing the virus from their gut – as measured by the level of viruses excreted in their feces – than mice that had not been fed DIM.

“This means that DIM is augmenting the body’s ability to defend itself by inhibiting the proliferation of the virus,” said Bjeldanes. “Future studies will determine whether DIM has similar effects on pathogenic viruses and bacteria, including those that cause diarrhea.”

The discovery of DIM’s effects on the immune system helps bolster its reputation as a formidable cancer-fighter, the researchers said. “This study shows that there is a whole new universe of cancer regulation related to DIM,” said Firestone, who also co-authored the new study. “There are virtually no other agents known that can both directly shut down the growth of cancer cells and enhance the function of the immune system at the same time.”

Two co-authors of the study are from Michigan State University’s Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition – James Pestka, professor of food science, and Maoxiang Li, a visiting research associate.

DIM is currently under investigation in government-funded clinical trials as a treatment for prostate and cervical cancer.

The University of California has filed patent applications on the use of DIM and its derivatives for immune modulation. Berkeley BioSciences, Inc., a company co-founded by Bjeldanes and Firestone, has licensed the related patent applications from the University of California and is researching and developing immune-enhancing nutritional supplements and therapeutics based on this discovery.

This study was supported by the Department of Defense’s Army Breast Cancer Research Program, the National Institutes of Health and a Strategic Partnership Research Grant from the Michigan State University Foundation.

CONTACT: Sarah Yang, (510) 643-7741, scyang@berkeley.edu

Walter Leal

DAVIS — Walter Leal, professor and chair of the Department of Entomology at UC Davis recently received the International Society of Chemical Ecology’s 2007 Silverstein-Simeone Lecture Award for his innovative research on how insects detect smells and communicate within their species.

Leal, a noted chemical ecologist, received the award at the scientific society’s annual conference in Jena, Germany.

University of Munich professor and chemical ecologist Karl-Ernst Kaissling praised Leal’s significant contributions to cutting-edge science, his high productivity and his multidisciplinary collaborations.

Over the last two decades, Leal has identified and synthesized complex pheromones from many insects, including scarab beetles, true bugs, longhorn beetles and moths. Pheromones are chemical signals released to attract other members of the species.

Leal discovered a sophisticated mechanism for the isolation of the chemical communication channels of two species of scarab beetles in Japan. More recently, Leal and UC Davis researcher Yuko Ishida isolated, cloned and expressed a pheromone-degrading enzyme from the wild silkmoth, Antheraea polyphemus. Leal is also noted for his discovery of the pheromone-binding protein of the silkworm moth, Bombyx mori.

Methods that can attract or repel insects have important applications for agricultural pests and medical entomology. The research could lead to designing better chemicals to attract insects and designing better chemicals to suppress insect communication.

In introductory comments, Kaissling pointed out that over the last 20 years, Leal has authored or co-authored more than 130 scientific papers and written some 20 invited chapters and review articles.

“In the titles of these papers you find about 30 names of new pheromonal compounds, and 60 animal species – many mites and insects,” he said.

“One of the highlights of the last 10 years are – for me – the papers on the pheromone-binding protein of Bombyx mori (silkworm moth),” Kaissling said.

Leal collaborated with structural biologist Jon Clardy, then at Cornel University, and Nobel laureate Kurt Wuthrich, a nuclear magnetic resonance scientist with ETH Zurich.

Leal studies the binding kinetics of protein and pheromone “which helps us to better understand what happens in the olfactory sensilla,” Kaissling said. An insect senses smells on the hair-like sensilla in its antenna.

“Another exciting achievement is the recent expression of the bombykol receptor in the empty olfactory neuron of Drosophila (fruit fly),” Kaissling said.

Leal, a past president of ISCE, joined the UC Davis faculty in 2000. A former chemical engineer in his native Brazil, Leal received his master’s degree in agricultural chemistry from Mie University in Japan and his doctorate in applied biochemistry from the University of Tsukuba, Japan. He later served as research leader of the Science and Technology Agency of Japan and the Bio-Oriented Technology Research Advancement Institute (BRAIN) and head of the Laboratory of Chemical Prospecting at the National Institute of Sericultural and Entomological Sciences in Tsukuba.

Leal won the Technology Prize (Gijitsusho) of the Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology and Agrochemistry in 1994; the Medal of Honor from the Entomological Society of Brazil in 1995; and the Gakkaisho (equivalent to a Fellow) from the Japanese Society of Applied Entomology and Zoology in 1998.

ISCE is a scientific organization that promotes the understanding of interactions between organisms and their environment that are mediated by naturally occurring chemicals. Research areas include the chemistry, biochemistry and function of natural products, their importance at all levels of ecological organization, their evolutionary origin and their practical application.

The ISCE Silverstein-Simeone lecture award, memorializing Robert M. (Milt) Silverstein (1917-2007) and John B. Simeone (1919-2005), founding editors of the Journal of Chemical Ecology, recognizes outstanding recent or current work at the frontiers of chemical ecology, rather than longterm career achievement.

The 2007 Silverstein-Simeone lecture was the first since Silverstein’s passing on Feb. 26 at age 90. Leal paid tribute to him by observing a moment of silence, and then interviewed two chemical ecology icons about Silverstein’s contributions to the field: Jerrold Meinwald of Cornell University and David Wood of UC Berkeley. Meinwald served on the search committee when the State University of Syracuse hired Silverstein, and Wood was his major collaborator.

CONTACT: Kathy Keatley Garvey, (530) 754-6894, kegarvey@ucdavis.edu

Links:
See photos of Walter Leal at http://www.ucmrp.ucdavis.edu/news/silversteinsimeoneaward.html

See ground-breaking research on silkworm moths at http://www.ucmrp.ucdavis.edu/news/silkwormmoths.html

UC Davis has released the first in a new series of annual reports designed to give the non-scientific community an unprecedented compendium of information that documents changing water quality and weather conditions in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

The annual average Secchi measurements for the past several years
were:
* 2000: 67.3 feet (20.5 meters)
* 2001: 73.6 feet (22.4 meters)
* 2002: 78 feet (23.8 meters)
* 2003: 71 feet (21.6 meters)
* 2004: 73.6 feet (22.4 meters)
* 2005: 72.4 feet (22.1 meters)
* 2006: 67.7 feet (20.6 meters)

Sylvia Wright, UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-7704, swright@ucdavis.edu

Media contacts:
* Geoff Schladow, UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, (775) 881-7563, gschladow@ucdavis.edu (Note: Schladow is at a research conference in Montreal through Thursday, Aug. 16. Reach him by cell
phone: (530) 902-2272.)
* John Reuter, UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, (530) 304-1473, jereuter@ucdavis.edu
* Julie Regan, Tahoe Regional Planning Angency, (775) 589-5237, jregan@trpa.org
* Sylvia Wright, UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-7704, swright@ucdavis.edu

The publication, co-authored by Peter Gladders of Cambridge, U.K., and Albert Paulus, plant pathologist emeritus of UC Riverside, focuses on diseases of field- and greenhouse-grown vegetable crops caused by pathogens. Chapters dealing with the general principles of the causes, diagnosis and control of vegetable crop diseases are followed by chapters organized by crop. Each disease entry includes an introduction to the disease, a detailed description of disease symptoms, information about the pathogen and disease development, and suggestions on how to manage the problem. High-quality color photos illustrate the book.

The 320-page publication contains technical information of interest to researchers, scientists, technicians and educators in plant pathology and agriculture, as well as practical, field-oriented information of use to farmers, field personnel and the agricultural industry.

The book may be purchased from Manson Publishing on its Web site, http://www.mansonpublishing.com for £95 (about $186). For more information, contact Koike at stkoike@ucdavis.edu, (831) 759-7350.

CONTACT: Jeannette Warnert, (559) 241-7514, jwarnert@ucop.edu

APFDP, which is sponsored jointly by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Chemonics International, has been promoting preservation and sustainable use of Albanian forests for the past five years. The group has already met with success in developing an environmentally conscious wicker furniture industry using sustainably harvested willow boughs. APFDP is staffed by a variety of timber and non-timber professionals, including agroforesters, agricultural economists, agricultural development officers, and training specialists who help members of forest-dependent industries meet international quality standards for their products.

Albania has only recently made the difficult transition from communist rule to a free market economy and remains one of Europe’s poorest countries. At its peak in the early 1990s, the Albanian herb industry generated approximately $20 million (US) and employed as many as 70,000 people, from wild harvesters to herb buyers to warehousers and exporters. Due to a decline in raw material sales and the political chaos of the past few years, this number has fallen to around 20,000, and the industry now generates around $10 million (US). However, thousands of Albanian villagers still depend on herbs as a primary source of income. Some subsist strictly as herb collectors, while others supplement their income by collecting herbs in season. Small farmers, for example, may plant their main crops in spring and then turn to herb collection for extra income during the summer months, returning to their fields in the fall to harvest the planted crops.

Few herbs are actually cultivated in Albania, meaning that most are harvested from wild sources. These include such common herbs as raspberry and blackberry leaf, bilberry, nettle, rosehips, chamomile, thyme, oregano, sage, bearberry, licorice, and many others. Albania is also a major source of orchid roots used to make salep, a cappucino substitute popular in Albania and Turkey and an essential thickening ingredient in Turkish ice cream. Gentian, a primary ingredient of bitter apéritif beverages such as Campari, is also heavily harvested from the wild in Albania.

Today, habitat loss (including that caused by legal and illegal logging) and unsustainable harvesting practices threaten many of these common and easily cultivated wild plants. The problem affects not only plants harvested for their roots and bark, but somewhat surprisingly, also those collected for leaves and berries. For example, bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) is now endangered in Europe, even though only the leaves are used in international commerce. The decline in bearberry populations is attributed not just to habitat loss but also to the common and destructive practice of uprooting plants in the process of harvesting leaves. Plants taken for their roots, including gentian, licorice, and orchid, present an even greater conservation challenge.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, more than 130 species of common European plants are currently threatened or endangered by over collection from the wild and habitat loss. Many of these are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), an international treaty designed to monitor and conserve endangered plants and animals in trade while protecting trade interests. Albania is not a signatory to the CITES treaty, so the Albanian herb industry is not subject to CITES regulations.

HRF’s recent research mission identified two of the most critical needs of the Albanian herb industry. Of primary importance is the development of a strong trade association that will protect wild herb resources while simultaneously improving the industry’s reputation and ability to compete internationally. The second pressing need is for quality management and training in proper herb collection, handling, drying, and storage. “It is always challenging when a single shipment of herbs represents the output of thousands of small collectors harvesting in the wild,” McCaleb remarked. “To maintain consistent quality requires education at a level as close to the source as possible – in other words, the harvesters.”

During his trip, McCaleb presented a series of workshops for Albanian herb dealers on international quality specifications, quality management, plant conservation, marketing, and business linkages. The dealers in turn will help educate the thousands of individual herb harvesters who are ultimately responsible for herb quality. “We found a strong knowledge of quality and recognition of some of the methods for increasing quality among the dealers,” said McCaleb. “The goal is to shift quality management closer to the source. The dealers need to help train the villagers to maintain very high quality standards, and must also be willing to pay more for higher quality herbs.” - Evelyn Leigh, HRF