U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 Natural Products Utilization Research: Oxford, MS
 close



    Research

                    Research Projects
                                    Publications
                                    Collaborations
                                    News
                People

                    Staff Listing
                                    Careers


        


                    Location Research Units
                        National Sedimentation Laboratory
                                    Natural Products Utilization Research Unit
                                    Water Quality and Ecology Research Unit
                                    Watershed Physical Processes Research UnitSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




American beautyberry (*Callicarpa americana*) was found by Research Chemist Charles Cantrell to produce a compound that he named callicarpenal that is a potent insect repellent.
 The smoke of the burning dried male flower of the breadfruit plant is used by some native people of Polynesia to repel biting insects.  Research Chemist Charles Cantrell has determined the chemicals responsible for this property. He is developing blends of these compounds for natural insect repellents.
 The root hair-specific expression patterns directed by gene promoters isolated from *Sorghum bicolor* are visualized in mature root hair cells of transgenic rice seedlings using the β-glucuronidase reporter gene. This promoter is being utilized to impart allelopathic traits into crops.
 A compound from Texas torchwood (*Amyris texana*) was modified to produce an insect repellent that is three-fold more effective than DEET.  It is patented and is being developed.
 Blue green algae (cyanobacteria) like these (*Oscillatoria peronata* and *Oscillatoria agarchii*) produce bad-tasting chemicals that accumulate in fish grown in aquaculture.  This problem is costly to the aquaculture industry. Microbiologist Kevin Schrader has discovered  and patented a natural product-based chemical the will selectively remove these algae from aquaculture ponds.


Mission


People Baerson, Scott Bajsa-Hirschel, Joanna Barickman, Thomas
                                            *- Casey Barickman* Blessitt, Julie Cantrell, Charles Green, Solomon Hervey, Gloria Howard, Xiaoyun Kim, Seong Mask, Melanie Meepagala, Kumudini Pan, Zhiqiang
                                            *- Peter* Reichley, Amber Robertson, Jessie Ruscoe, Marilyn Sharfadine, Sherif Slack, Jessika Tamang, Prabin Wang, Mei


Southeast Area   charles.cantrell@usda.gov


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov