Chemical ecology, a discipline emergent during the past half century, was spawned by the realization that all organisms engender chemical signals and respond to the chemical emissions of others. The consequence is a vast communicative interplay, which is fundamental to the fabric of life. Our own reliance on visual and acoustical signals notwithstanding, it is by way of molecules that the bulk of organisms communicate. Chemical ecology is now undergoing a major broadening of its goals. A new dimension has been added to its objectives, a direct consequence of its expansion into the contemporary molecular biological domain. For that novel branch of chemical ecology, we propose the term molecular ecology, in recognition of its immense potential and timeliness. The signal molecules that convey information from one organism to another are biosynthesized under genetic control, detected at specific receptor sites, transduced into neuronal, endocrine/hormone or phytohormone signals, and eventually, after triggering intermediate cascading effects, translated into final behavioral, developmental or metabolic responses. Each step in the sequence of events is subject to molecular investigation, and it is precisely by such probing at the molecular level that we propose to make our mark. By characterizing and synthesizing the chemicals that mediate ecological interactions, chemical ecology provides the tools to manipulate interactions under natural settings with a degree of rigor rarely attainable in ecology. Similarly, molecular and genomic tools allow for the surgical manipulation of individual genes and thereby an organism's genotype and potential phenotype. By combining these disciplines, we propose to understand the two essential roles that the environment plays in an organism's life: 1) as a selective agent culling the phenotypes not well matched to a particular environment, and 2) as a manipulator of phenotypic expression from a given genotype.

To study this dual role, as provider of the fitness function and as the force that fits the phenotype to the environment, we are taking advantage of the unique resources in Ithaca to develop a new program in Molecular and Chemical Ecology (MaCE). This program is built on Cornell's traditional strength in chemical ecology and the highly successful Cornell Genomics Initiative. It also draws on the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research's (BTI) distinguished history of contributions in ecology, environmental biology, entomology, and plant pathology and its current focus on signal transduction in plants as they respond to their environment. At least five new faculty in this area will be hired at Cornell and the BTI over the next several years. This number will ensure the "critical mass" necessary to develop the intellectual environment that fosters rapid progress in research. It will also ensure that the MaCE program has a large impact on this emerging field, thereby placing it in a leadership position internationally as well as nationally. To date, two faculty have been hired: Georg Jander from Cereon Genomics/Harvard University studies insect-Arabidopsis interaction and will join the BTI as an assistant scientist 9/02; Maria Harrison from the Noble Foundation studies mycorrhizal fungi — Medicago truncatula interactions and will join the BTI as a full scientist 1/03. A search for the remaining three faculty, including one at the senior level, is currently being initiated.

Another essential part of the MaCE program is an International Fellowship program in molecular and chemical ecology, being developed in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany. This program would encourage graduate students to conduct their Ph.D. thesis research or recent Ph.D. graduates to obtain postdoctoral training in this area. The fellowship program will provide a new generation of researchers who address ecological and environmental questions with new tools and approaches. It will also facilitate the training of young molecular biologists to address important biological questions from an ecological perspective. This interdisciplinary program will help bridge the large gap between ecology on the one hand and molecular biology, genetics, and genomics on the other.

Rapid development of the MaCE program was made possible by a generous $3.99M grant from Atlantic Philanthropies Inc. (AP). This grant provides resources to i) pre-fill five faculty lines, ii) partially fund start-up packages, and iii) establish a pre- and post-graduate scholarship program. This grant was among the first funded under the New Life Science Initiative (NLSI).