Several UC Davis scientists, including Professor Lynn Kimsey,  and Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology,  weighed in on "The Plight of the Pollinators," in an informative article by Ula Chrobak in the March edition of UC Davis Magazine, edited by Jocelyn Anderson. 

Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, specializes in Hymenoptera. One of her activities: she hosts the annual Robbin Thorp Memorial Bumble Bee Contest contest to determine who can find the first bumble bee of the year in the three-county area of Yolo, Solano and Sacramento.  

Niño, the statewide Extension apiculturist, serves as the director of the California Master Beekeepers' Program, and faculty director of the UC Davis Bee Haven. 

Also featured were Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, who has monitored the butterfly population of Central California since 1972; and avian veterinarian and hummingbird expert Lisa Tell, a UC Davis professor of veterinary medicine and author of a newly published children's poetry book, "If Hummingbirds Could Hum," that relates how to attract hummers.

Some resources mentioned:

• What to plant to attract bees and other pollinators: See the UC Davis Bee Haven website, directed by Niño and managed by Chris Casey. The Haven, located on Bee Biology Road, west of the central campus, is open year around, from dawn to dusk.
• What to plant to attract butterflies: See Art Shapiro's website, Art's Butterfly World 
• Sign up for bee classes with the California Master Beekeepers' Program, launched and directed by Elina Lastro Niño
• See pollinators and other insects at the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology, home of a global collection of 8 million insect specimens. (The Bohart, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, is temporarily closed due to COVID-19 pandemic precautions) 

Photographs for the UC Davis Magazine article are the work of Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and an avid pollinator photographer.

UC Davis Magazine, which has been covering the campus community since 1983, is printed in March and September. A yearly subscription is $12.

Molecular biologist Adam Steinbrenner, an assistant professor of biology at the University of Washington, will present a Feb. 23rd seminar hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology on "Plant Immune Recognition of Insect Herbivores."

His seminar, to be both in-person and virtual, begins at 4:10 p.m., Pacific Time in 122 Briggs Hall. The Zoom link is https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/99515291076.

"From the moment of initial encounter with an insect herbivore, a suite of inducible plant defenses are triggered; however, the molecular mechanisms for recognition and response are not highly studied," Steinbrenner writes in his abstract. "Specific molecular patterns from insects can serve as elicitors of defense responses on host plants, but precise receptors mediating such responses have remained elusive. We recently identified a cell surface receptor, Inceptin Receptor (INR), which detects a set of ubiquitous peptide fragments found in the oral secretions of Lepidopteran larval herbivores. INR is specific to select legume species and may structure insect host range across this plant family. We hypothesize that INR serves as a recently evolved and highly potent mechanism to perceive a specific danger signal, above and beyond cues associated with generic tissue damage. I will discuss our recent transcriptiomic characterization of inceptin responses in bean and cowpea, highlighting strong anti-herbivore defense outputs which occur after inceptin treatment but not wounding alone. I will also compare plant responses to herbivory with well-characterized pathways mediating recognition of microbial pathogens."

Steinbrenner focuses his research on cell and molecular biology, genetics and genomics, and plant biology. He holds a bachelor of science degree in biology from Tufts University (2010) and a doctorate from UC Berkeley in plant biology (2015). He was awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship of $180,000 in 2016 and studied with Eric Schmelz at UC San Diego.  

The Steinbrenner lab studies the molecular bases of plant immunity to pathogens and pests. "We are specifically interested in recognition and signaling functions of cell surface receptors and evolutionary processes driving novel immune specificity," he says on his website.

Steinbrenner served as the lead author of a paper published Nov. 23, 2021 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on how cowpea plants detect that they're being eaten by caterpillars. In the article, A Receptor-Like Protein Mediates Plant Immune Responses to Herbivore-Associated Molecular Patterns, scientists from the University of Washington and UC San Diego reported that the cowpea plants harbor receptors on the surface of their cells that can detect a compound in caterpillar saliva and initiate anti-herbivore defenses. 

"Despite chemical controls, crop yield losses to pests and disease generally range from 20-30 percent worldwide," Steinbrenner related in a University of Washington news release. "Yet many varieties are naturally resistant or immune to specific pests. Our findings are the first to identify an immune recognition mechanism that sounds the alarm against chewing insects.” 

Wrote UW science writer James Urton: "The team showed that, in response to both leaf wounds and the presence of a protein fragment specific to caterpillar saliva, the cowpea's INR protein boosts the production of ethylene, a hormone that plants often produce in response to munching by herbivores and other types of environmental stress. The protein fragment in caterpillar spit that elicited this response, Vu-IN, is actually a fragment of a cowpea protein, which gets broken down by the caterpillar as it dines on cowpea leaves."  (See full article.)

Nematologist Shahid Siddique, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, coordinates the Wednesday seminars. For any Zoom technical issues, contact him at ssiddique@ucdavis.edu.

Fatma Kaplan, chief executive officer and co-founder of Pheronym, Inc., an agricultural-biotechnology startup based in Woodland, Calif., will address the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology at an in-person and virtual seminar at 4:10 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 1 on "Conspecific and Heterospecific Pheromones Stimulate Dispersal of Entomopathogenic Nematodes during Quiescence."

"Ascaroside pheromones stimulate dispersal, a key nematode behavior to find a new food source," Kaplan says in her abstract. "For entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), the new food source is insects. The talk will focus on understanding the interaction between pheromone signals, dispersal and foraging strategies, and practical applications to improve the EPN's efficacy as biocontrol agents."  

The seminar takes place in 122 Briggs Hall. The Zoom link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/99515291076.

Seminar coordinator Shahid Siddique, a nematologist and assistant professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology, will introduce her.  She will  share "the development of Pheronym and the significance of its innovations to the advancement of agricultural technology," he said.

Pheronym develops nontoxic solutions for plant protection. "We use pheromones to control the behavior and development of microscopic roundworms called nematodes," the organization explains on its website. The pheromones are water soluble, which makes them suitable for seed treatment." 

Kaplan related that she co-founded Pheronym to bring nematode pheromone technology to the market and to provide effective, non-toxic pest control for farmers and gardeners.

Kaplan, who grew up on a family farm in Turkey--a 40-acres hazelnut orchard--holds a  doctorate in plant molecular and cell biology from the University of Florida and did postdoctoral training in natural product chemistry with a focus on isolating biologically active compounds. She worked as a scientist at NASA, the National Magnetic Field Laboratory. and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service.  

She discovered the first sex pheromone of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, publishing her work in Nature. She went on to discover pheromones that regulate other behaviors in both parasitic and beneficial nematodes. Kaplan discovered the first sex pheromone of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, publishing her work in Nature. She went on to discover pheromones that regulate other behaviors in both parasitic and beneficial nematodes. She conducted the first agricultural biocontrol experiment in space at the International Space Station in 2020. 

Kaplan describes her work in her Linked-In article, A Technical Founder's Journey: An Ag-Biotech Startup CEO with a Vision: 

"Being a scientist, I often have to convince people that I am the right CEO for Pheronym, an ag-biotech startup. Frequently I hear, 'You would make a great CSO.' I know I would be a great CSO, but I am the only one who can be Pheronym's CEO."

"Let's start with 'What does a startup CEO do?' Everyone knows that the CEO is the person in charge, but what does that mean for a small startup? Startup CEO's can play very different roles depending on the type, stage, and founding team. For example, digital healthcare, digital agriculture, biotechnology, consumer-facing and B2B startups all have different needs. Furthermore, a startup is expected to create something visionary that will transform the industry or create some new and novel technology. So the startup needs a CEO with a vision."

"It's always been my belief I had the vision required. In 2005, when I accepted the position to identify the model nematode's (Caenorhabditis elegans) sex pheromone, I knew how these discoveries could revolutionize agricultural pest control for nematodes. Soon after we published the work in Nature (2008), the USDA-ARS recruited me to apply this discovery to control agriculturally important nematodes. After all, pheromones had been used to control insects successfully for decades. Why not for nematodes? When I was at the USDA, I won the 2011 American Phytopathological Society Schroth Faces of the Future, Nematology Award for my vision of using pheromones to control parasitic nematodes. Then, in 2014, my article on the future of the nematode pheromone field won an essay contest sponsored by the Genetics Society of America and was published in the GSA Reporter. When I started thinking about filing patents and commercializing my discoveries, I realized that I was the only one with the knowledge, passion, and vision to make it happen." (See more.)

The Department of Entomology and Nematology seminars--some are virtual and some are in-person--are held at 4:10 p.m. on Wednesdays. Coordinator Shahid Siddique may be reached at ssiddique@ucdavis.edu for any technical issues in the Zoom seminars. 

Resources:

• Women in Ag-Tech: Fatma Kaplan, Scientist-Turned-Entrepreneur Uses Pheromones to Tackle Global Food Crisis
  
  
• Women Innovators Encourage Others to Step Up as Role Models in Agriculture
  
  
• Ag-Tech Startup Gets Results from Space Nematode Experiment

 

Ecologist Monika Egerer, an assistant professor at Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany who focuses much of her research on urban agricultural ecosystems, will discuss "Entomological Investigations in Urban Gardens" at a virtual seminar hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology on Wednesday, Nov. 24.

Her seminar, dealing with insect biodiversity, ecosystem services, and citizen science approaches in urban gardens, begins at 4:10 p.m., Pacific Time. The Zoom link is https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/99515291076.  

More than 60 percent of our world's population will live in cities in the next decades, Egerer says in her abstract. "Urban agriculture has great potential to support arthropod biodiversity and thereby potentially enhance ecosystem services such as pollination and pest predation for more sustainable food production. In this talk, I discuss interdisciplinary research on wild bees and natural enemies in urban community gardens in Berlin and Munich, Germany. Specifically, I examine how urban garden management can play an important role in supporting species diversity and the provision of insect-mediated services. Furthermore, I discuss citizen science initiatives that our group uses to engage the public in scientific research on urban biodiversity and ecosystem services."

Egerer, whose research and teaching interests include ecology, biodiversity, agroecology, urban ecology, insect ecology, climate change, and food systems, holds a bachelor's degree in biology (2013) from Kalamazoo College, Mich., and then received her master's degree (2017) and her doctorate (2019) in environmental studies from UC Santa Cruz, studying with major professor Stacy Philpott.

After research work in Australia, Egerer joined the Institute of Ecology at the Technical University of Berlin in 2019 as an International Postdoc Initiative (IPODI) postdoctoral fellow. In 2020, she was appointed to the professorship for Urban Productive Ecosystems in the TUM School of Life Sciences.

Her most recent peer-reviewed publications include:

• Egerer M and Kowarik I. (2020) Confronting the modern Gordian Knot of urban beekeeping, Trends in Ecology and Evolution 1-4.

• Philpott SM, Egerer M, Bichier P, Cohen H, Cohen R, Liere H, Jha S, Lin BB. (2020) Gardener demographics, experience, and motivations drive differences in plant species richness and composition in urban gardens, Ecology and Society 

• Buchholz S and Egerer M. (2020) Functional ecology of wild bees in cities: what we know about trait-urbanization relationships, Biodiversity and Conservation 1-23.

• Philpott SM, Lucatero A, Bichier P, Egerer M, Jha S, Lin BB, Liere H. (2020) Changes in natural enemy-herbivore networks along local and landscape gradients in urban agroecosystems, Ecological Applications 0: 1-13.

• Egerer M, Lin B, Diekmann L. (2020) Nature connection, experience and policy encourage and maintain adaptation to drought in urban agriculture, Environmental Research Communications 2: 1-12.

• Egerer M, Liere H, Lucatero A, Philpott SM. (2020) Plant damage in urban agroecosystems varies with local and landscape factors, Ecosphere 11(3): 1-19.

• Egerer M, Fouch N, Anderson EC, and Clarke M. (2020) Socio-ecological connectivity differs in magnitude and direction across urban landscapes, Scientific Reports 10: 1-16.

• Egerer M, Wagner B, Lin BB, Kendal D and Zhu K. (2020) New methods of spatial analysis in urban gardens inform future vegetation surveying, Landscape Ecology 1: 1-18. 
  
  
• Egerer M, Cecala JM and Cohen H. (2020) Wild bee conservation within urban gardens and nurseries: effects of local and landscape management, Sustainability 12: 1-10.

The Department of Entomology and Nematology seminars are coordinated by nematologist and assistant professor Shahid Siddique, who may be reached at ssiddique@ucdavis.edu for any technical issues.