Booth, Clarissa - Date Last Updated: 09/21/2011

Clarissa Booth - Email
PhD Candidate - Started Fall 2008
Hometown: Duluth, MN
Lab of Joel Pedersen, PhD

Undergraduate Work
2008 - BS in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology from University of Minnesota-Duluth

Interests/Hobbies
Ballet (dancing, teaching, watching), working out, yoga, hiking and camping, cooking, reading, anything that makes me laugh. I also love to boat-watch when I'm in Duluth.

Why I Joined METC
I first chose to pursue toxicology because I'm fascinated by extremely harmful agents and what they're capable of. This program is one of the best toxicology programs in the nation and has so much to offer. The interdisciplinary nature of the program, and the wide variety of research opportunities made it the perfect choice.

Awards

Soil Biology and Biochemistry Best Poster Award 2011. Presented at the Fourth Enzymes in the Environment conference, Bad Nauheim Germany, July 2011.
Enzymes in the Environment Research Coordination Network's US Young Scientst Travel Award. Supported travel to attend the 'Enzymes in the Environment: Activity, Ecology, and Applications' conference, Bad Nauheim, Germany, July 2011.
US Young Scientist Travel Award. Supported travel to the Ecology of Soil Microorganisms conference, Prague, Czech Republic, April 2011.

Research
We are a deeply environmental group committed to understanding the behavior and fate of environmental contaminants including antibiotics, nanoparticles, and prions. Prions are the causative agent of the fatal class of neurodegenerative diseases known as Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs). The prion consists predominantly, if not entirely, of the misfolded form of cellular prion protein. Pathogenic prion protein, referred to as PrPTSE, is an atypical disease agent displaying remarkable recalcitrance to breakdown. It is this characteristic that has reinforced the spread of both sheep scrapie and chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervids; prions shed by infected animals bind tightly to soil minerals where they persist, allowing horizontal transmission of disease. This environmental infectivity reservoir is a major concern in TSE-infected regions, and is thus a significant focus of the research done in our lab. My research specifically, concentrates on environmentally relevant methods of prion degradation. Enzymes have been used to some extent to initiate breakdown of PrPTSE, but generally are effective only when used in conjunction with pH extrema or very high temperatures, and in many cases, despite enzymatic hydrolysis of the pathogenic protein, infectivity remains. I’m interested in studying the effect of microbes and enzymes present in animal manure, mortality compost, and the native soil environment on prions. Manure and compost are both enzyme-rich matrices that are commonly land applied during farming practices. Compost is also of interest as a potential disposal method of TSE-infected carcasses, and bovine manure serves as a common compost inoculant. Biodegradation of PrPTSE and the reduction or elimination of prion infectivity by enzymes present in animal manure, compost, and soil would be a novel, environmentally relevant finding that could change recommendations for farming practices and soil management in TSE-associated regions.

Publications

Smith, C.B, Booth, C.J., Pedersen, J.A. Fate of prions in soil: a review (invited review). J. Environ. Qual. 2011, 40, 449-461.

Posters

Booth, C.J., Pedersen, J.A. Degradation of pathogenic prion protein by enzymes extracted from manure and compost (poster). Enzymes in the Environment: Activity, Ecology, and Applications. Bad Nauheim, Germany. July 2011.

Booth, C.J., Pedersen, J.A. Degradation of pathogenic prion protein by enzymes extracted from manure and compost (poster). Ecology of Soil Microorganisms Conference. Prague, Czech Republic. April 2011.
Johnson, C.J., Booth, C.J., Smith, C.B., Aiken, J.M., Samuel, M. & Pedersen, J.A. Detection of prion protein associated with cervid chronic wasting disease in environmental samples (poster). Spring Ecology Symposium. University of Wisconsin-Madison. April 2010.
Sturm, R., Booth, C., Smith, C., Pedersen, J., Li, L. Protease evaluation for production of methionine-deficient peptides for MRM quantitation of the infectious prion protein (poster). ASMS Conference. Salt Lake City, UT. May 2010.

Graduate Seminars Given

11/17/11
Influence of Mineral Particles on Base-Catalyzed Prion Degradation

11/11/10
Pathogenic Prion Protein Degradation by Bovine Manure Proteases

03/04/10
Fate of Pathogenic Prion Protein During Simulated Mortality Composting

Date Last Updated: 09/21/2011 webteam@med.wisc.edu