- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It will be recorded for later posting on UCTV.
“Whether in natural or agro-ecosystems, researchers are increasingly viewing positive interactions such as pollination in a broader context rather than as isolated pair-wise interactions,” Gillespie says. “In natural ecosystems, my research has explored how incidence of parasites and diseases of native bumble bees may affect pollination of plants in old-field meadows in Massachusetts. High incidence of certain parasites reduced pollination of bumble bee-dependent wild plants, suggesting that parasitism may impact pollination service to native plants and crops.”
“In a more applied context, I examined the effects of field management decisions, including pesticide use and irrigation practices, on pollination service in onion seed production in California. High insecticide use, even pre-bloom, as well as reduced irrigation negatively impact pollinator visitation in this crop, highlighting the importance of considering the indirect effects of management on the pollination process in agro-ecosystems.”
Gillespie, a postdoctoral researcher at UC Davis since 2011, received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Simon Fraser University, Canada. Her doctorate, from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, was a joint degree in organismic and evolutionary biology, and entomology. Her doctoral dissertation, with major professor Lynn Adler, “sought to understand whether mutualisms can mediate trophic cascades, and whether the occurrence and strength of such cascades is affected by the interdependence between mutualists. I examined the context and mechanisms by which parasitoids and parasites of bumble bees can have indirect effects on pollination service to plants using a range of approaches, including field surveys, laboratory manipulations and theoretical modeling.”
As a postdoc in the Williams lab, she is applying these techniques to examine the mechanisms behind yield declines in hybrid onion seed production in California, with the goal of developing sustainable recommendations for producers.
Gillespie and Adler co-authored “Mutualisms in Trophic Cascades: Parasitism of Bumble Bees and Pollination Service to Plants,” pending publication in Ecology.
Her research on “Factors Affecting Parasite Prevalence among Wild Bumble Bees,” was published in Ecology Entomology, 2010. She has also published her work in the American Journal of Botany (“Variation in the Timing of Autonomous Selfing among Populations that Differ in Flower Size, Time to Reproductive Maturity, and Climate,” 2010) and Annals of the Entomological Society of America (“Laboratory Rearing of North American Tiger Beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae: Cicindelinae,” 2011).
Pending publication in the Journal of Economic Entomology: “Insecticide Use in Hybrid Onion Seed Production Affects Pre- and Post-Pollination Processes,” by Gillespie, Neal Williams, Rachael Long and Nicola Seitz.
A recipient of several nationally competitive and specialty grants, Gillespie received a National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant in 2008, and a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Post-Graduate Award in 2007. The California Garlic and Onion Growers’ Association awarded her a research grant in 2011.
Gillespie presented a seminar on “Indirect Effects of Insecticides on Pollination in Hybrid Onion Seed Production” at the 2012 meeting of the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America. In 2009, her graduate student presentation on “Factors Affecting Parasitism in Bumble Bees” at the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of Canada and the Entomological Society of Manitoba won her the President’s Prize award for the best student talk.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Using state-of-the-art genome sequencing and bioinformatics, the researchers resolved a long-standing, unanswered evolutionary question. Scientists previously thought that ants and bees were more distantly related, with ants being closer to certain parasitoid wasps.
Ants, bees and stinging wasps all belong to the aculeate (stinging) Hymenoptera clade -- the group in which social behavior is most extensively developed, said senior author and ant specialist Phil Ward, professor of entomology at UC Davis.
"Despite great interest in the ecology and behavior of these insects, their evolutionary relationships have never been fully clarified. In particular, it has been uncertain how ants—the world’s most successful social insects—are related to bees and wasps," Ward said. "We were able to resolve this question by employing next-generation sequencing technology and advances in bioinformatics. This phylogeny, or evolutionary tree, provides a new framework for understanding the evolution of nesting, feeding and social behavior in Hymenoptera."
“With a phylogeny or evolutionary progression that we think is reliable and robust, we can now start to understand how various morphological and/or behavioral traits evolved in these groups of insects, and even examine the genetic basis of these phenotypic changes,” Chiu said.
Johnson, whose lab studies the genetics, behavior, evolution and health of honeybees, noted that the study showed that ants and bees are more closely related than previously thought.
The scientists combined data from the transcriptome -- showing which genes are active and being transcribed from DNA into RNA-- and genomic (DNA) data from a number of species of ants, bees and wasps, including bradynobaenid wasps, a cuckoo wasp, a spider wasp, a scoliid wasp, a mud dauber wasp, a tiphiid wasp, a paper wasp and a pollen wasp; a velvet ant (wasp); a dracula ant; and a sweat bee, Lasioglossum albipes.
Of particular interest was the finding that ants are a sister group to the Apoidea, a major group within Hymenoptera that includes bees and sphecid wasps (a family of wasps that includes digger wasps and mud daubers).
The UC Davis results also provide a new perspective on lower Cretaceous fossil Cariridris bipetiolata, originally claimed to be the oldest fossil ant. Scientists later reinterpreted it to be a spheciform wasp.
“Our discovery that ants and apoids are sister taxa helps to explain difficulty in the placement of Cariridris,” the authors wrote in the paper, “and suggests that it is best treated as a lineage close to the root of the ant-apoid tree, perhaps not assignable with certainty to either branch.”
The scientists discovered that the ancestral aculeate wasp was likely an ectoparasitoid, which attacks and paralyzes a host insect and leaves its offspring nearby where they can attach to the outside of the host and feed from it.
The research drew financial support from UC Davis.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Another book, pending publication in December, also will contain their work: the second edition of Pheromones and Animal Behaviour (Cambridge University) by Tristram Wyatt.
Saul-Gershenz, a PhD candidate in the Neal Williams lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and UC Riverside professor Jocelyn Millar and staff research associate Steven McElfresh study a group of solitary ground-nesting bees, in the genus Habropoda and its nest parasite, a blister beetle, Meloe franciscanus.
They are examining the host range of Meloe blister beetles and how these nest parasites cooperate to mimic the sex pheromone bees. The larvae of the parasitic blister beetle produce a chemical signal or a pheromone similar to that of the female solitary bee to lure males to the larval aggregation, said Saul-Gershenz. The larvae attach to the male bee and then transfer to the female during mating. The end result: the larvae wind up in the nest of a female bee, where they eat the nest provisions and likely the host egg.
- Keeping the Bees: Why All Bees Are at Risk and What We Can Do to Save Them by Laurence Packer and published in 2011 by HarperCollins Publishers, Ltd.
- Cuticular Hydrocarbons: Biology, Biochemistry and Chemical Ecology by editors A. Bagnères-Urbany and G. Bloomquist and published in 2010 by Cambridge University Press.
- The Other Insect Societies by James T. Costa, and published in 2006 by the Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Saul-Gershenz is the lead author of “Blister Beetle Nest Parasites Cooperate to Mimic the Sex Pheromone of the Solitary Bee Habropoda pallida (Hymenoptera: Apidae)," peer-reviewed research co-authored by Millar and McElfresh and published in the April 2012 edition of the Mojave National Preserve Science News.
The solitary bee is the first native bee to emerge in the spring on the Kelso Dunes in the Mojave National Preserve, she said. The adult beetles emerge on the dunes in the winter months at Kelso Dunes and feed exclusively on the leaves of Astragalus lentiginosus, which leafs out in January.
The bee's emergence is synchronized with the onset of blooms of the Borrego milkvetch, which is the sole host plant of adults of the blister beetle at Kelso Dunes.
“The Mojave Desert ecosystem supports 689 species of bees, which is the highest bee diversity in North America,” the UC Davis scientist said. The wide variety of insects endemic, or known only to that area, include a fly, scarabs, crickets, weevils, a bee, aphid wasp and scores yet to be described.
Saul-Gershenz, Williams and Millar received several grants including one from the Desert Legacy Fund, California Desert Research Program at The Community Foundation to study digger bee ecology and conservation. They're working with SaveNature.Org, which Saul-Gershenz co-founded. The relationship between the bee and the blister beetle is part of the research.
Related links:
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Among those honored will be Janet Brown-Simmons, chief administrative officer for five departments, including the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology; and UC Davis entomology alumnus Will Crites.
The event is held each year at harvest time to celebrate the advancement and accomplishments of our college and its impact on agriculture and the environment, according to the CA&ES website. “The Award of Distinction is the highest recognition presented by the college to individuals whose contributions and achievements enrich the image and reputation of the college and enhance its ability to provide public service.”
Recipients:
- Alumni awardees: Will Crites and Glenda Humiston
- Friend: Robert Curtis
- Staff: Janet Brown-Simmons
- Faculty: Kathryn Dewey
College Leaders awardees: Neal Van Alfen and James MacDonald
The deadline to make reservations is Friday, Oct. 4. See online registration. Checks are payble to the UC Regents. For more information, please contact Carrie Cloud at (530) 204-7500 or crcloud@ucdavis.edu.
From the CA&ES Website:
Will Crites
Crites earned two degrees in entomology at UC Davis—a bachelor’s in 1958 and a master’s in 1961. After graduation and a five-month tour of Europe on a motorcycle, he went to work with Shell Chemical Company’s agricultural chemical group. His career took him to New Jersey, San Francisco, Portland, Fresno, and eventually to Walnut Creek. He cites his work with the careful introduction of Shell-marketed pyrethroid insecticides as a major accomplishment. He remains active today as an industry consultant.
Crites stays close to campus colleagues through ongoing reunions with UC Davis entomologists and the CALPHA Fraternity (Agricultural Fraternity California), which became Phi Delta Theta. He has twice helped bring entomology graduates from the 1950s through the 1970s back to UC Davis for reunions. He has been instrumental in a CALPHA fraternity reunion and is working on another reunion for the fraternity in 2014.
He is a charter member of the UC Davis Chancellor’s Club and has pledged support for an endowed chair in economic entomology. He also contributes to Doctors Without Borders, Meals on Wheels, the Salvation Army, the Boy Scouts of America, and several organizations searching for a cure for leukemia.
Crites says his major professor was one of the greatest influences in his life. “I attribute much of the success I’ve had in industry to the education I received at the university and especially as the result of mentoring by my dear friend and major professor, the late Dr. W. Harry ‘Doc’ Lange.”
“Will Crites has been an ambassador of goodwill for our department for many years. His passion and commitment is extraordinary. Reunions do not take place by themselves—you need a dedicated alumnus as the primary organizer and Will has been that for us.”
— Professor Michael Parrella, chair, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Janet Brown-Simmons
She joined CA&ES in 2000 as the management services officer in the Department of Entomology (now the Department of Entomology and Nematology). Her skill at bringing effective change to departmental operations helped resolve issues within the shared administrative units for the departments of Plant Pathology and Nematology—all while continuing to serve as the management services officer for the entomology department. The spirit of cooperation and the resulting administrative efficiencies enabled the department chairs and their faculty to focus on strategic planning, programmatic issues, and other academic initiatives.
Brown-Simmons also has taken on the additional role of chief administrative officer for the “Metro” cluster, which provides staff support for the departments of Environmental Toxicology; Land, Air and Water Resources; and Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology. Faculty colleagues describe her as energetic and creative in her efforts to foster team spirit and a shared commitment to the academic mission.
She holds high performance standards for employees, encourages the acquisition of new skills for career development, and is sensitive to work-life balance issues. A strong advocate for the staff, Brown-Simmons has a reputation for using humor to diffuse tensions when conflicts arise.
She served as interim management services officer for the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program, assumed management responsibilities for Foundation Plant Services, and conducted administrative reviews of many other CA&ES departments. “I wanted to give back to the CA&ES staff, faculty, and chairs partnering with me through the years,” Brown-Simmons said. “The results of this synergy have been incredibly rewarding to me personally—knowing I have made a difference in some small way.”
“Janet has succeeded in creating a positive environment for our staff. This enhances their sense of job satisfaction and their performance. As a consequence, the full department enjoys the benefits of a capable and enthusiastic support team.”
— Professor Thomas Gordon and Professor Richard Bostock, current and past chair, Department of Plant Pathology
Check out some photos from last year's College Celebration! (CA&ES)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Newmark, a colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, will be hosted by researcher Bora Inceoglu of the Bruce Hammock lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. The lecture is part of the UC Davis CounterACT Center Seminars for Excellence, Pharmacology Training Grant and Department of Pharmacology (website and list of speakers pending).
According to an entry in Wikipedia:
"Sarin, or GB, is an organophosphorus compound with the formula [(CH3)2CHO]CH3P(O)F. It is a colorless, odorless liquid, used as a chemical weapon owing to its extreme potency as a nerve agent. It has been classified as a weapon of mass destruction in UN Resolution 687. Production and stockpiling of sarin was outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, and it is classified as a Schedule 1 substance."
"Sarin can be lethal even at very low concentrations, with death following within one minute after direct ingestion due to suffocation from lung muscle paralysis, unless some antidotes, typically atropine or Biperiden and pralidoxime, are quickly administered to a person.People who absorb a non-lethal dose, but do not receive immediate medical treatment, may suffer permanent neurological damage."
Newmark’s credentials include:
- Colonel, Medical Corps, U.S. Army
- Deputy Joint Program Executive Officer, Medical Systems
- Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical/Biological Defense, U.S. Department of Defense
- Consultant to the U.S. Army Surgeon General for Chemical Casualty Care
- Adjunct full professor of neurology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
- Staff neurologist at Fort Belvoir (Va.) Community Hospital
Newmark received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and his medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. He completed a residency in neurology at the Boston City Hospital and fellowships in neurochemistry at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; in occupational neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital; and in neuromuscular disease at the University of Pennsylvania.
More information is available from host Bora Inceoglu at abinceoglu@ucdavis.edu or by telephoning (530) 591-0697.
Contact:
Tracey Pirrung
Program Grant Analyst
VM: Molecular Biosciences
University of California, Davis
(530) 754-8157 phone
tapirrung@ucdavis.edu
