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Dixon Listed among Top 15 Plant Researchers Worldwide
Ardmore-based researcher among top cited scientists in world

ARDMORE, Okla. — The director of the Noble Foundation's Plant Biology Division will be recognized as one of the top 15 plant researchers cited worldwide during an awards gala reception in New Orleans on April 22.

Richard A. Dixon, Ph.D., was listed among the top plant science researchers by ISI, inventors of the Web site evaluation tool, ISI Essential Science Indicators^SM, which was used to identify the top-ranking scientists. The tool permits users to rank the performance of scientists, institutions such as universities, corporations and government laboratories, countries and journals by 22 specific fields. The Indicators ranking is based on total citations to papers indexed from 1991 through October 2001. Also ranked were the top 15 animal science researchers.

"I am both flattered and honored by this award," said Dixon. "It is good to know that the work you do is being read and considered important by others. The excellent support for my work from the Noble Foundation has enabled me to put together the body of work on which this award was based. I have also been blessed with wonderfully talented postdoctoral fellows, technicians and collaborators."

Dixon's laboratory research centers on understanding how plants produce natural products, and how this understanding can be applied to generate improved plants. Especially of interest are three major classes of natural products: 1) isoflavonoids, which help protect the plant from fungal infection and may have beneficial health effects for humans as well; 2) triterpenes, complex biosynthetic pathways of certain compounds that act as antifeedants and can seriously affect forage quality, but which also have displayed potent anticancer activity; and 3) lignin, a cell-wall polymer that negatively affects digestibility of forage legumes and grasses. Through his research, Dixon has shown that genetic modification of lignin content and composition can improve forage digestibility for livestock.

"I see important applications of this work for increasing crop yields through improved disease resistance and providing a true scientific basis for human preventative medicine based on dietary intake," said Dixon.

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc., is a nonprofit organization founded in 1945. Besides providing globally-recognized plant biology research and housing the Center for Medicago Genomics Research, the Foundation includes agricultural consultation services and field research, specified granting opportunities and forage biotechnology research.

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Photos:

Dr. Richard Dixon (540k jpeg)

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a non-profit organization conducting agricultural, forage biotechnological, and plant biology research; providing grants to numerous non-profit charitable, educational and health organizations; and assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs.

To learn more, visit the Noble Foundation Web site at http://www.noble.org.

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