From trash tree to disease fighter

A team of scientists from the University of Missouri have found preliminary evidence that a compound from a nuisance tree could be a new anti-microbial agent effective against a dangerous infection plaguing hospitals.

 

The Eastern Red Cedar (ERC) is one of the most widely distributed American tree species. There are about 500 million of them in Missouri, and their range extends from Kansas to the east coast.

 

A resilient tree with either needles or narrow leaves, ERC survives in even the poorest soils. Once used widely by Native Americans, ERC berries today are a desirable food for birds. Unfortunately, birds spread ERC seeds widely and it is invasive on farm, forest and pasture land. Farmers actively destroy them. ERC trees contain chemicals that burn readily and were blamed for the rapid spread of Oklahoma and Texas wildfires in 2005 and 2006.

 

A study to determine uses for ERC trees was conducted a decade ago by another team of researchers from the MU Center for Agroforestry led by forestry research professor and Center Associate Director Mike Gold. The study demonstrated that ERC trees have a wide array of economic uses with an estimated national market value exceeding $60 million. Their findings uncovered intriguing studies that led to the current work on the medical uses of ERC.

 

In 2007, Chung-Ho Lin, a research assistant professor in the MU Center for Agroforestry, was given the assignment to find a commercial use for ERC trees with funding from MU Center for Agroforestry. His research is finding ways how trees and perennial grasses can safely soak up and break down dangerous agrochemicals and munitions waste in soil.

"I was told to find an entrepreneurial use for this 'trash tree' so land owners could put their energy into profiting from them instead of cutting them down," Lin said. "I thought it was a fun challenge."

 

Lin aimed his initial investigation at building on existing research showing antibacterial potential of ERC-derived compounds and rumors of its effectiveness as a traditional herbal remedy for acne. Then he developed a series of purification processes to isolate the bioactive compounds.

 

When Lin's research began to see solid results in ERC's anti-microbial characteristics of the compounds he purified, he shared the stats with friends in the College of Veterinary Medicine's Department of Pathobiology and MU's Department of Biochemistry. Intrigued, Brian Thompson, Department of Biochemistry, and George Stewart, professor and department chair of Veterinary Pathobiology, among others, formed an interdisciplinary team to take Lin's initial findings and identify and isolate the most promising phytochemicals, biologically active organic chemicals, from ERC tissues.

 

"It was exciting to tackle the research from three widely different disciplines," Thompson said. "We each brought a very different perspective to the research."

 

Their tests showed that chemical compounds derived from ERC needles and bark were effective as a topical acne treatment. They also found out that the ERC compounds were a strong anti-microbial agent against a wide range of human bacterial pathogens, including tetanus, botulism, strep throat, Listeria and Salmonella germs, cholera, and anthrax.

 

Interestingly, it took a relatively small concentration one of their ERC compounds – just 5 micrograms per milliliter – to be effective against one of the most dangerous types of bacteria – methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the superbug infection that plagues many hospitals.

 

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