Genetics & Genomics and Medical Entomology
Much of the early work in fields like genetics, neurobiology, endocrinology, gene expression, sex determination, and translational control was conducted using insects. Today, insects continue to serve as important models for developmental biology, physiology, neural and molecular correlates of behavior, vector biology, and evolutionary biology. The completion of the Drosophila genome and other insect genetic tools has maintained the place of insects at the forefront of research on the structure, function, mapping, organization, expression, and evolution of genomes.
Several Entomology Department faculty use insects to answer basic scientific questions ranging from the function of individual genes and gene networks to the genome-wide effect of genetically modified crops on agricultural pests. While many of these studies use Drosophila melanogaster and several species of mosquitoes as model systems, othes include Lepidoptera, the Colorado potato beetle and other beetles, brown marmorated stink bug, milkweed beetles.
Several Entomology Department faculty use insects to answer basic scientific questions ranging from the function of individual genes and gene networks to the genome-wide effect of genetically modified crops on agricultural pests. While many of these studies use Drosophila melanogaster and several species of mosquitoes as model systems, othes include Lepidoptera, the Colorado potato beetle and other beetles, brown marmorated stink bug, milkweed beetles.
Department faculty partner with local and state agencies monitor mosquito populations in urban landscapes as well as federal agencies including the National Institutes of Health to conduct tests of previously undiagnosed diseases in the model organism D. melanogaster. This exciting research provides students and postdocs with valuable experience using state of the art genetic and computational tools in the lab as well as field experience ranging from local research farms to the sub-Saharan African country of Burkina Faso.
Participating Faculty
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Megan Fritz, Assistant Professor
PLS 3126 | 301-405-3945 | [email protected] Research: The Fritz lab focuses on the study of insect evolution in response to a constantly changing environment. We use molecular, genomic, and computational tools to shed light on the genomic variants that facilitate adaptation. |
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David Hawthorne, Associate Professor & Director of Education, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC)
PLS 4132 | 301-405-2401 | [email protected] Research: The Hawthorne Lab uses population genetics to understand how insects become pests, how they evolve to counter control efforts, and how to use evolutionary thinking to manage them. The Lab also dissects the genetic basis of host-plant associated divides among pest populations and uses phylogeographic analyses to investigate issues in conservation genetics. |
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Leslie Pick, Professor & Chair
PLS 4114 | 301-405-3914 | [email protected] Research: The Pick Lab uses the fruit fly to track the evolution of the Hox gene fushi tarazu (ftz) and its partner, the orphan nuclear receptor Ftz-F1, through arthropod phylogeny. These studies have led to a widely accepted model for the evolution of this Hox gene, which has undergone changes in both its expression pattern and protein sequence to switch its function from an ancestral homeotic gene to a segmentation gene in Drosophila. |
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Raymond St. Leger, Professor
PLS 3120 | 301-405-5402 | [email protected] Research: Research in the St. Leger Lab primarily focuses on understanding the biochemistry and molecular biology of entomopathogenic fungi with the aim of using them as a source of innovation for the agricultural industries. Many studies in the St. Leger Lab have employed Metarhizium anisopliae as a model for understanding how fungi respond to changing environments, initiate host invasion, colonize insect tissues, and counter host immune responses. |
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Jian Wang, Associate Professor
PLS 3144 | 301-405-7892 | [email protected] Research: The Wang Lab uses fruit flies as a model to understand molecular mechanisms that guide the formation of the nervous system, specifically the function and signaling pathways of Drosophila Down Syndrome Cell Adhesion Molecule (Dscam) and genome-wide screens for genes underlying different aspects of neuronal development. |
