- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Snelling, 74, an internationally known entomologist who primarily studied ants, wasps and bees and worked in collections at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County for more than three decades, left behind an unfinished manuscript when he died April 21, 2008 while on an ant expedition in Kenya.
His work included 10 new species of Temnothorax ants, mostly from California but also from Nevada and Baja, California.
Today it is seeing the light of day, thanks to two ant specialists at the University of California, Davis: Marek Borowiec and Matthew Prebus of the UC Department of Entomology and Nematology. They recently published the work, with Snelling listed as a co-author, in ZooKeys and linked each described specimen to the AntWeb database.
Snelling's son, Gordon, gave the draft to Borowiec and Prebus to complete and publish. Both are doctoral candidates in the Phil Ward lab.
The 10 new species of a Temnothorax ants doubles the number of species of this genus in California.
The era of electronic publishing in taxonomy has greatly facilitated the accessibility of specimen data, the entomologists said. ZooKeys has been long spearheaded the wide and rapid dissemination of taxonomic information.
"We include 20 species known from California in our study but at present, there are about 60 species, including those described, of Temnothorax known from North America and more than 350 species worldwide so our study is of somewhat limited scope,” the authors said in a news release. "Nevertheless, we believe that by officially describing these forms and giving a new illustrated key, we are providing a useful resource for myrmecologists working in western North America."
AntWeb is an online ant database that focuses on specimen level data and images linked to specimens. In addition, contributors can submit natural history information and field images that are linked directly to taxonomic names. Distribution maps and field guides are generated automatically. All data in AntWeb are downloadable by users.
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) where Snelling worked, houses more than 35 million specimens, some dating back 4.5 billion years. Snelling built up the ant collection there.
Roy Snelling "is one of the most significant figures in modern myrmecology," wrote ant specialist/insect photographer Alex Wild in his Myrmecos blog. Wild holds a doctorate in entomology from UC Davis, where he studied with major professor Phil Ward.
Snelling, born of Cherokee Indian heritage in 1934 in Turlock, was basically a self-taught entomologist. He studied at a junior college in Modesto and later in life, did graduate-level studies at the University of Kansas. Snelling served in the U.S. Army and was an inspector with the California Department of Food and Agriculture before joining NHM.
Wrote Wild: "Roy's prolific career as a curator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County produced dozens of studies on the taxonomy of bees, wasps, and especially ants. Among other accomplishments, his works are the primary reference for the honeypot ants of North America, numerous groups of carpenter ants, and the entire Chilean myrmecofauna. Roy was a devoted desert rat, an aficionado of fine Mexican food, and- and I mean this in the very best way- a curmudgeon's curmudgeon."
Borowiec, a fourth-year doctoral student, joined the UC Davis entomology graduate program in 2010. He received his master's degree, with honors, in zoology in 2009 from the University of Wroclaw, Poland. His thesis focused on the taxonomy of Cerapachys sexspinus group.
Prebus, a third-year Ph.D student, received his bachelor of science degree in biology from Evergreen State College, Olympia, Wash., in 2010 and then joined the Phil Ward lab. His research goals are to investigate when--and where--the hyperdiverse ant genus Temnothorax arose, and how it diversified on a global scale. Additionally, he willl revise the members of the genus from the Neotropical biogeographical region and investigate the relationship among members of the genus on the mainland and the Greater Antilles.
Links to their work:
Facebook
Google Plus
Twitter
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Carroll, the founding director of the Institute for Contemporary Evolution, is a member of the Sharon Lawler lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the journal, published by the International Society for Behavior Ecology, the editors chose the most influential articles and reviews, and compiled them in a celebratory Virtual Issue.
Carroll's paper on the ecology and genetics of adaptive differences among soapberry bug populations in the plasticity of mating behavior, was not only selected as the most influential paper, but his photograph of the bugs at his study site, the Florida Keys, graced the cover.
Editor-in-chief Leigh Simmons of the Center for Evolutionary Biology, University of Western Australia, described Carroll's work as "a beautiful study of divergence in phenotypic plasticity in mate guarding in these creatures."
The research paper is titled Divergence in Male Mating Tactics between Two Populations of the Soapberry Bug: II. Genetic Change and the Evolution of a Plastic Reaction Norm in a Variable Social Environment.
Carroll conducted the research as part of his dissertation at the University of Utah, under professor Eric Charnov. He co-authored the paper while a post-doctoral scholar in the laboratory of Hugh Dingle, UC Davis Department of Entomology (now the Department of Entomology and Nematology). His co-author, Patrice Corneli, now an associate research professor in the Department of Biology, University of Utah, analyzed aspects of the data for her master's thesis in statistics, also awarded at the University of Utah.
As the director of the Institute for Contemporary Evolution, Carroll does research on patterns of ongoing evolution in wild and anthropogenic environments. His studies on evolutionary changes in soapberry bugs in response to plant introductions are seminal contributions to our understanding of diversification.
The UC Davis evolutionary ecologist is the co-editor of the book, Conservation Biology: Evolution in Action (Oxford University Press, 2008) with Charles Fox, professor of insect genetics, behavior and evolutionary ecology, University of Kentucky.
Highly recognized for his work, Carroll co-authored a research paper that was selected in 2013 as one of the top 100 most influential papers ever published in the worldwide British Ecological Society, headquartered in London. The 13-page article, “Adaptive Versus Non-Adaptive Phenotypic Plasticity and the Potential for Contemporary Adaptation in New Environments,” was published in April 2007 (Volume 21) in the society's journal, Functional Ecology.
Scott received his bachelor's degree in ecology and behavioral ecology, magna cum laude, from the University of Minnesota in 1981, and then went on the earn his maser's degree in zoology, with distinction, from the University of Oklahoma in 1983 before receiving his doctorate in biology in 1990 from the University of Utah.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Doctoral research
Her doctoral research was on the host immune response to Leishmania parasites, which provided her valuable experience in mammalian Immunology, as well as a solid background in parasitology and molecular biology. Specifically, her dissertation project focused on the central memory CD4+ T cells generated in response to Leishmania major infection. During her graduate studies, she also attended the prestigious Biology of Parasitism summer course at the Woods Hole Marine Biology Labs. "The course significantly improved my basic knowledge of Parasitology, but also allowed me to work with a variety of parasites, including Plasmodium."
Postdoctoral Research
After completing her doctorate, Pakpour accepted a post-doctoral position in Shirley Luckhart's laboratory at UC Davis. "The laboratory is broadly interested in understanding how the inflammatory factors present in human blood affect malaria parasite transmission," Pakpour noted. In joining the lab, Pakpour shifted from her previous work on adaptive immune responses in mice to the innate immune response of mosquitoes to malaria parasite infection. "In doing so, I have mastered a new body of literature and a broad range of new techniques, including insect cell culture, in vitro cell signaling assays, and culturing of P. falciparum for mosquito infection studies. Further, I adapted our mammalian cell signaling assays for use in mosquito tissues."
Her research goal is to elucidate the bidirectional effects of malaria on Type 2 diabetes and of Type 2 diabetes on malaria. "By 2030, one in five adults on the African continent will have Type 2 diabetes, resulting in epidemic co-morbidity of these diseases," Pakpour said. "Therefore, a better understanding of the intersection of malaria infection and Type 2 diabetes will be critical for the development of future clinical interventions to reduce the burden of Type 2 diabetes complications as well as malaria transmission."
Pakpour's honors include a McBeth Memorial Entomology Scholarship, Presidential Undergraduate Research Fellowship, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Research Fellowship. She received a traineeship in Cell and Molecular Biology (5-T32-GM-07229-32) from 2002-2004 as well as a traineeship in Parasitology: Modern Approaches (5-T32-AI-007532-09) from 2004-2008. In addition, she was a finalist for the UC Davis Award for Post-doctoral Excellence in 2012 and was named an American Society for Microbiology & Burroughs/Wellcome Fund Science Teaching Fellow, 2013-2014.
Pakpour is a member of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), Association for Women in Science (AWIS) and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).
Her recent publications include:
1. DrexlerAL, PietriJE, Pakpour N, HauckE, WangB, GlennonEKK, GeorgisM, RiehleMA, LuckhartS. (2014) Human IGF1 regulates midgut oxidative stress and epithelial homeostasis to balance lifespan and Plasmodium falciparum resistance in Anopheles stephensi. PLoS Pathogens (under review)
2. Pakpour N, Camp L, Smithers HM, Wang B, Tu Z, Adler SA, Luckhart SL. (2013) Protein kinase C-dependent signaling controls the midgut epithelial barrier to malaria parasite infection in anopheline mosquitoes. PLoS One. 8(10): e76535.
3. Vodovotz Y, Azhar N, Miskov-Zivanov N, Buliga M, Zamora R, Ermentrout B, Constantine G, Faeder J, Pakpour N, Luckhart S. Modeling host-vector-pathogen immuno-inflammatory interactions in malaria., in: G. An and Y. Vodovotz (Ed.), Complex Systems and Computational Biology Approaches to Acute Inflammation. Springer Science & Business Media, New York, NY. 2013. 265-279.
4. Chau JY, Lawrence JA, Tiffany CM, Mooney JP, Lokken KL, Pakpour N, Tsolis RM, Luckhart S. (2013) Malaria-associated L-Arginine deficiency induces mucosal mast cell-dependent disruption to the intestinal barrier defenses against non-typhoidal Salmonella bacteremia. Infect Immun. 81(10):3515-26.
5. Hauck E, Antonova-Koch Y, Drexler A, Pietri J, Pakpour N, Liu D, Blacutt J, Riehle MA, Luckhart S. (2013) Overexpression of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) improves fitness and decreases Plasmodium falciparum development in Anopheles stephensi. Microbes Infect. 15(12):775–787.
6. Pakpour N, Akman-Anderson L, Luckhart SL. (2013) The effects of ingested human blood factors on arthropod immunity and physiology. Microbes Infect 15: 243-254.
7. Luckhart SL, Giulivi C, Drexler AL, Antonova-Koch Y, Sakaguchi D, Napoli E, Wong S, Price MS, Eigenheer R, Phinney BS, Pakpour N, Pietri JE, Cheung K, Georgis M, and Riehle M. (2013) Sustained Activation of Akt elicits mitochondrial dysfunction to block Plasmodium falciparum infection in the mosquito host. PLoS Pathog 9(2): e1003180.
8. Pakpour N, Corby-Harris V, Green G, Smithers H, Cheung KW, Riehle MA, Luckhart SL. (2012) Ingested human insulin inhibits the mosquito innate immune response to Plasmodium falciparum. Infect Immun. 80(6):2141-9
9. Surachetpong W*, Pakpour N*, Cheung KW, and Luckhart SL. (2011) Reactive oxygen species-dependent cell signaling regulates the mosquito immune response to Plasmodium falciparum. Antioxidant & Redox signaling. (6):943-55. (*these authors contributed equally to this manuscript)
10. Pakpour N, Cheung KW, Souvannaseng L, Concordet JP and Luckhart SL. (2010) Transfection and mutagenesis of target genes in mosquito cells by locked nucleic-acid modified oligonucleotides. J Vis Exp. (46): e2355.
11. Corby-Harris V, Drexler A, Watkins de Jong L, Antonova Y, Pakpour N, Ziegler R, Ramberg F, Lewis EE, Brown JM, Luckhart SL, and Riehle, MA. (2010) A novel strategy for controlling malaria transmission in the mosquito Anopheles stephensi. PLoS Pathogens. 6(7):e1001003.
12. Liu D, Kebaier C, Pakpour N, Beverley SM, Scott P, Uzonna JE. (2009) Leishmania major phosphoglycans influence the host early immune response by modulating dendritic cell functions. Infect Immun. 77(8):3272-83.
13. Pakpour N, Zaph C, Scott P. (2008) CD4+ T cells in Leishmania major are non-polarized and require IL-12 to become Th1 effector cells. J Immunol. 180:8299-8305.
14. Margolis TP, Elfman FL, Leib D, Pakpour N, Apakupakul K, Imai Y, Voytek C. (2007) Spontaneous reactivation of HSV-1 in latently infected murine sensory ganglia. J Virol. 81(20):11069-74.
15. Miller K, Pakpour N, Yi E, Melese M, Alemayehu W, Bird M, Schmidt G, Cevallos V, Olinger L, Chidambaram J, Gaynor B, Whitcher J, Lietman T. (2004) Pesky trachoma suspect finally caught. Br J Ophthalmol. 88 (6):750-1.
16. Massey HC Jr, Nishi M, Chaudhary K, Pakpour N, Lok JB. (2003) Structure and developmental expression of Strongyloides stercoralis fktf-1, a proposed ortholog of daf-16 in Caenorhabditis elegans. Int J Parasitol. 33(13):1537-44.
17. Luo EJ, Pakpour N, Huang EJ. (2001) Control of mouse sensory neuron development by Brn-3a and homeodomain interacting protein kinase 2. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol.60(5):513-513.
Assistant professor Brian Johnson coordinated the winter quarter seminars. He may be reached at brnjohnson@ucdavis.edu for more information.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
His project, “Understanding a Landmark Social Insect Radiation: Comparative Analysis, Phylogenomics and Morphology of Dorylomorph Ants,” is a two-year grant funded for $19,932.
“Army ants are some of the most striking organisms found in warm temperate and tropical regions of the world,” Borowiec wrote in his abstract. “They are the most important invertebrate predators of the tropics, making them key species in rainforest ecosystems. This research will reconstruct the evolutionary history of army ants and their close relatives. The family tree of these ants, their geographic origins and the timeline of the evolution of traits that account for their ecological dominance will be investigated.”
Borowiec will construct an evolutionary tree from the ants' DNA, using latest advances in molecular biology and bioinformatics. “This tree will then serve as a framework for testing hypotheses on the evolution of army ant characteristics,” he wrote. “This study will also provide a new framework for identification of army ants and closely related species.”
“This project will not only bring insights into the history of an ecologically important group of insects but also help to understand how the latest advances in molecular biology, statistics and computer science can improve our knowledge of evolutionary processes. New resources allowing easier and more accurate identification of these ants will aid other biologists and conservation specialists in decision making and planning further research on the group.”
Borowiec, who has studied with major professor Phil Ward since September 2010, received his master's degree, with honors, in zoology in 2009 from the University of Wroclaw, Poland. His thesis focused on the taxonomy of Cerapachys sexspinus group. He received his bachelor of science degree, with honors, in biological sciences/zoology in 2007, also from the University of Wrocław.
He has published his peer-reviewed research in ZooKeys, Journal of Hymenoptera Research Myrmecological News and Polish Journal of Entomology, among others.
Among his mostly published research:
Snelling R.S., Borowiec M.L., Prebus M.M. 2014. Studies on California ants: new species in the genus Temnothorax Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). ZooKeys, 372: 27-89.
Johnson B.R., Borowiec M.L., Chiu J.C., Lee E.K., Atallah J.,Ward P.S. 2013. Phylogenomics resolves the puzzle of evolutionary relationships among ants, bees, and wasps. ZooKeys 23:2058-2062.
Borowiec M.L., Borowiec L. 2013. New data on the occurrence of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Lower Silesia and other regions of Poland [in Polish with English summary] Wiadomości Entomologiczne,32:49-57.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
DAVIS--Graduate student researcher Sean Kodani of the Bruce Hammock lab, University of California, Davis, has received a fellowship to study omega 3 fatty acids.
The fellowship is from the Center for Content Rich Evaluation of Therapeutic Efficacy (cCRETE), headed by Katherine Ferrara, a distinguished professor and director of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and a newly selected member of the National Academy of Engineering.
The center, cCRETE (pronounced "secrete") is part of the Research Investments in Science and Engineering (RISE) Program.
Kodani's projects will involve continuing the work of Guodong Zhang, who recently received a faculty position at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. While at Davis, Zhang found that metabolites of omega 3 fatty acids reduced angiogenesis, tumor growth and tumor metastasis. "I will be focusing on the specific pathways involved in this phenomena while also investigating the biological activity of other omega 3 metabolites," Kodani said.
"When I first rotated in Dr. Hammock's laboratory I mostly synthesized inhibitors for the enzyme soluble epoxide hydrolase, which is the primary target investigated in our laboratory," Kodani said. "However, my background is stronger in biology and biochemistry than synthetic chemistry, so when I joined the laboratory this was a project where I could incorporate all of those skills."
Kodani, from Orangevale, received his bachelor's degree in molecular toxicology and environmental sciences from UC Berkeley in 2012.
In addition to Ferrara, the leadership of cCRETE includes
- Steven C. Currall, dean and professor of Management Graduate School of Management
- Ralph deVere White, director of the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center and distinguished professor of Urology
- Fredric Gorin, professor and chair of the Department Neurology
- Bruce Hammock, distinguished professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology with a jointappointment in the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Alexander Revzin, associate professor. Department of Biomedical Engineering, and
- Clifford Tepper, associate research biochemist, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine
The center focuses on assays of cell-secreted factors in vitro and in vivo, including exosomes, peroxide, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Cell secreted factors are of interest in 1) gauging the response to therapy with new drugs and 2) the development of an understanding of cell-to-cell communication. The “rich” content to be assessed to understand the impact of cell secretions goes beyond the quantification of traditional markers such as proliferation and apoptosis to evaluate markers of invasive potential, inflammation, “stem-ness,” autophagy and metabolic pathways.
"With respect to the response to therapy, the cost of bringing a new drug to market is now estimated to exceed $1 billion, with the timeline for developing a drug and getting it to market approaching 15 years," according to the website. "During the next 4 years, 9 of the top 10 and 18 of the top 20 best-selling drugs in the world will go off patent. A major challenge for the pharmaceutical industry is their lack of tools to identify promising candidates and to separate the winners from the losers early in the development process. Such tools have the potential to substantially reduce the cost to market for new drugs. To address the critical need for screening tools, a team of cancer biologists, social scientists, bioinformatics experts and bioengineers has formed a single disciplinary group to develop and validate biomarker assays for the effect of new therapeutics.
"In addition, members of the group (Hammock, Gorin, Ferrara) have developed novel therapeutics that effectively inhibit key pathways in cancer and atherosclerosis; the success of these new therapeutics will require biomarkers, which are one focus of our team. Therefore, one important problem to be solved is the creation of high throughput and content rich assays to summarize the impact of therapeutics on cellular functionality. We are developing in vitro cell microsystems where micropatterned co-cultures of cancer and non-cancer cells are juxtaposed with arrays of sensing elements for monitoring downstream readouts of cell-drug interactions. Further, we are developing and applying in vivo imaging approaches to assess specific targets and efficacy."
Hammock holds a joint appointment in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. He directs the campuswide Superfund Research Program, National Institutes of Health Biotechnology Training Program, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Combined Analytical Laboratory.
