Like humans, fruit flies eat more and sleep less when they're isolated and lonely.

So says molecular biologist Wanhe Li, an assistant professor at Texas A&M and a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Scholar, who will present a seminar, hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, on Wednesday, Nov. 2

Li will discuss "How Time Flies During Lockdown?--Mechanisms Underlying Chronic Social Isolation-induced Sleep Loss in Drosophila" at her in-person and virtual seminar at 4:10 p.m., in 122 Briggs Hall. The Zoom link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.

Introducing her will be molecular geneticist and physiologist Joanna Chiu, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

"Chronic social isolation and loneliness have profound impacts on public health," Li says in her abstract. "Though experimental manipulations are widely applied to studying sleep/wakefulness and circadian regulation in animal models, how normal sleep is perturbed by social isolation and chronic stress is largely unknown. We previously reported that chronically isolated animals exhibit sleep-loss accompanied by over-consumption of food. The observed behavioral changes induced by chronic social isolation stress is linked to neural activities in specific neural circuits in the Drosophila brain."

"These results," she continued, "resonate with anecdotal findings of loneliness-associated sleep difficulties and hyperphagia in humans, and present a mechanistic link between chronic social isolation, metabolism, and sleep, addressing a long-standing call for animal models focused on loneliness. Future work built upon this model will help us understand the perception of social isolation and other emotional states, the regulation of sleep/wakefulness, and the regulation of metabolism at the intersection of genetics, biological timing, and neurobiology."

Science Daily, in its Aug. 18, 2021 edition, reported on her research (co-authored by eight colleagues): "COVID-19 lockdowns scrambled sleep schedules and stretched waistlines. One culprit may be social isolation itself. Scientists have found that lone fruit flies quarantined in test tubes sleep too little and eat too much after only about one week of social isolation, according to a new study published in Nature. The findings, which describe how chronic separation from the group leads to changes in gene expression, neural activity, and behavior in flies, provide one of the first robust animal models for studying the body's biological reaction to loneliness."

Li, who holds a bachelor's degree in biological sciences (2004) from Nankai University, Tianjin, China, received her doctorate in molecular and cellular biology from Stony Brook University in 2011 through a joint program with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Laurel Hollow, N.Y.  She served as a postdoctoral associate and research associate,The Rockefeller University, New York City.

Some of her latest publications:

1. Li, W, Keene, AC. Flies sense the world while sleeping. Nature. 2021;598 (7881):423-424. doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-02441-6. PubMed PMID:34588643 .
2. Li, W, Wang, Z, Syed, S, Lyu, C, Lincoln, S, O'Neil, J et al.. Chronic social isolation signals starvation and reduces sleep in Drosophila. Nature. 2021;597 (7875):239-244. doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03837-0. PubMed PMID:34408325 PubMed Central PMC8429171.
3. Ahmad, M, Li, W, Top, D. Integration of Circadian Clock Information in the Drosophila Circadian Neuronal Network. Journal of Biological Rhythms. 2021;36 (3):203-220. doi: 10.1177/0748730421993953. PubMed PMID:33641476 PubMed Central PMC8114447.
4. Garaulet, DL, Sun, K, Li, W, Wen, J, Panzarino, AM, O'Neil, JL et al.. miR-124 Regulates Diverse Aspects of Rhythmic Behavior in Drosophila. Journal of Neuroscience, 2016;36 (12):3414-21. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3287-15.2016. PubMed PMID:27013671 PubMed Central PMC4804003.
5. Shuai, Y, Hirokawa, A, Ai, Y, Zhang, M, Li, W, Zhong, Y et al.. Dissecting neural pathways for forgetting in Drosophila olfactory aversive memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  U S A. 2015;112 (48):E6663-72. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1512792112. PubMed PMID:26627257 PubMed Central PMC4672816.

Emily Meineke, assistant professor of urban landscape entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, coordinates the department's seminars for the 2022-23 academic year. All 11 seminars will take place both person and virtually at 4:10 p.m. on Wednesdays in Room 122 of Briggs Hall except for the Nov. 9th and Dec. 7th seminars, which will be virtual only, she said.  (See list of seminars)

For further information on the seminars or to resolve any technical difficulties with Zoom, contact Meineke at ekmeineke@ucdavis.edu. 

Bohart Museum of Entomology associate and longtime butterfly collector Bill Patterson and his wife, Doris Brown, of Sacramento are the 2022 recipients of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences' 'Friends of the College' Award.

The couple recently donated $1 million to support the museum's insect collection, a gift that will provide the museum with the financial security to support staff and resources, according to Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology. The Bohart Museum, the seventh largest insect museum in North America, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens.

Patterson, a Bohart associate since 1993, has donated more than 15,000 specimens to the museum.

"Doris and Bill have been incredibly supportive of the Bohart," Kimsey said today. "Bill has collected butterflies and moths for many years and sees the museum as the place he wants to be home to his collection. Doris isn't a collector herself, but she strongly supports his interests and has been enthusiastic about his collection coming here as a permanent home."

The couple will be honored at the CA&ES Award of Distinction dinner and celebration awards ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 3 in the UC Davis Activities and Recreation Center Ballroom.

“I hope my donation will help educate the community about the importance of butterflies and moths,” Patterson said in a news story written by Ashley Han of the CA&ES. “I believe scientifically valuable collections should not stay in private hands. The museum is the perfect place for my collection to be permanently protected and studied."

Patterson, a native of Oakland, began collecting butterflies at age 6. He received a bachelor's degree in entomology from the University of Arizona, Tucson, in 1962. He worked as a technician for UC Davis entomology professor Howard McKenzie from 1958 to 1968, retiring from UC Davis in 1963.  Patterson also holds a teaching credential from Sacramento State University and taught math and science as a substitute teacher for 15 years, retiring from teaching in 1985.

Patterson is an active member of the international Lepidopterists' Society, which met in 2019 at the Bohart Museum for its 68th annual conference.

Doris Brown, born in Seattle, holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Washington State University. She also has a master's degree in counseling. She worked as an analyst and manager for the federal and state goverment and a private consulting firm. She  retired as the chief of Fiscal Programs Division, California Employment Development Department.

"I didn't know much about Lepidoptera until I met Bill," she said, "but I had painted and decorated with them," she said. "I had walked by the river everyday and loved seeing the butterflies, but after I walked there with Bill I was amazed how many species there were." 

The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946, is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. Named for UC Davis professor and noted entomologist Richard Bohart, it is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. 

Among the six honored at the CA&ES Award of Distinction ceremony will be honey bee geneticist Robert E. Page Jr.,  named the recipient of the Exceptional Emeriti Award. A UC Davis-trained scientist whose academic career spans UC Davis and Arizona State University, he is known as “the leading honey bee geneticist in the world."  (See news story)

Others in the spotlight at the Nov. 3 awards celebration: 

• Alumnus of the Year, Marko Zaninovich (Class of 1964)
• Exceptional Faculty Award, Daniel Sumner, the Frank H. Buck, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics
• Exceptional Staff Award, Shannon Tanguay, budget fiscal officer with CA&ES. (See more on CA&ES website)

CA&ES, directed by Dean Helene Dillard, "is known throughout the world for its expertise, educational opportunities, and contributions to society," according to its website. "Much of that is due to the great dedication and efforts of our faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the college. Each year CA&ES recognizes individuals for their achievements, support, leadership and service to the college with an Award of Distinction honoring those contributions."

UC Davis-trained honey bee scientist Robert E. Page Jr., known as “the leading honey bee geneticist in the world,” has been named the recipient of the Exceptional Emeriti Faculty Award, from the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES). 

He will be honored at the CA&ES Award of Distinction dinner and celebration awards ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 3 in the UC Davis Activities and Recreation Center Ballroom.

Page, emeritus professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and an emeritus professor and administrator at Arizona State University, “is a pioneering researcher in the field of evolutionary genetics and social behavior of honey bees, and a highly respected and quoted author, teacher and former administrator,” wrote nominator Steve Nadler, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

“One of Dr. Page's most salient contributions to science was to construct the first genomic map of the honey bee, which sparked a variety of pioneering contributions not only to insect biology but to genetics at large,” Nadler pointed out. “It was the first genetic map of any social insect. He was the first to demonstrate that a significant amount of observed behavioral variation among honey bee workers is due to genotypic variation. In the 1990s, he and his students and colleagues isolated, characterized and validated the complementary sex determination gene of the honey bee; considered the most important paper yet published about the genetics of Hymenoptera. The journal Cell featured their work on its cover. In subsequent studies, he and his team published further research into the regulation of honey bee foraging, defensive and alarm behavior.”

A native of Bakersfield, Kern County, Rob holds a bachelor's degree in entomology (1976), with a minor in chemistry, from San Jose State University. He received his doctorate in entomology in 1980 from UC Davis, where he studied with his doctoral research mentor, Harry H. Laidlaw Jr.,  “the father of honey bee genetics” for whom the university's bee facility, the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, is named.

Page joined the UC Davis entomology faculty in 1989 and chaired the department from 1999 to 2004 when he transitioned to emeritus and was recruited by Arizona State University (ASU)  to be the founding director of its School of Life Sciences. His career at ASU led to a series of top-level administrative roles: from founding director of the School of Life Sciences (2004-2010) to vice provost and dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (2011-2013) and then to University Provost, 2014-2015.

While at UC Davis, Page worked closely with Laidlaw. Together they published many significant research papers and the landmark book, “Queen Rearing and Bee Breeding” (Wicwas Press, 1998), considered the most important resource book for honey bee genetics, breeding, and queen rearing.

For 24 years, from 1989 to 2015, Page maintained a UC Davis honey bee-breeding program, managed by bee breeder-geneticist Kim Fondrk. Their contributions include discovering a link between social behavior and maternal traits in bees. Their work was featured in a cover story in the journal Nature. In all, Nature featured his work on four covers from work mostly done at UC Davis. 

Since his retirement from UC Davis, Page has published 65 research papers, eight major reviews and two scholarly books, many using his UC Davis affiliation. He authored “The Spirit of the Hive: The Mechanisms of Social Evolution” (Harvard University Press, 2013) and the “Art of the Bee: Shaping the Environment from Landscapes to Societies” (Oxford University Press, 2020).

Now residing near Davis, Page continues to focus his research on honey bee behavior and population genetics, particularly the evolution of complex social behavior. His continuing academic activities bring credit to bee biology and UC Davis, Nadler said. “His large number of publications and citations continue to be an important component of the high national rating of our entomology department.”

To date, Page has published more than 250 research papers and articles, edited or authored five books, and is listed as a “highly-cited author” by the ISI Web of Knowledge, representing the top 1/2 of one percent of publishing scientists.

Page continues to work closely with UC Davis professors and students, offering advice, helping them with grants, and editing manuscripts. A few years ago, he held an international workshop at the Laidlaw facility. He teaches courses (including “The Social Contract: from Rousseau to the Honey Bee,” and “The Song of the Queen: Thrilling Tales of Honey Bee Mating Behavior”) for the UC Davis Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).

“Not surprisingly, Dr. Page humbly considers his most far-reaching and important accomplishment, the success of his mentees, including at least 25 graduate students and postdocs who are now faculty members at leading research institutions around the world,” Nadler wrote. “He also built two modern apicultural labs (in Ohio and Arizona), major legacies that are centers of honey bee research and training. He has trained many hundreds of beekeepers. His public service now extends to working as a Fellow with the California Academy of Sciences.”

Page's colleagues praise his strategic vision, his leadership and his contributions to science. ASU Professor Bert Hoelldobler described him as “the leading honey bee geneticist in the world. A number of now well-known scientists in the U.S. and Europe learned the ropes of sociogenetics in Rob's laboratory.”

“Rob is one of the most gifted scientists, administrators, and teachers I have had the privilege to know in my 42 years in academia,” said James R. Carey, a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology.

Bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey of Washington State University, former manager of the Laidlaw facility, emphasized Page's importance to the bee breeding and beekeeping industry. She has based her entire career on the Page-Laidlaw Closed Population Breeding. “The beauty of this system is that it is practical and addresses the unique challenges of honey bee stock improvement,” she related. “Queens mate in flight with numerous drones and selection is based upon complex behaviors at the colony level, influenced by the environmental. Hence, traditional animal breeding models do not apply well to honey bees.”

When Page addressed the 2016 meeting of the International Congress of Entomology (ICE), he was introduced as “an engaging, energetic, humorous and highly intellectual speaker; this will be a memorable, entertaining and highly educational lecture by one of the most important entomologists of the 21st^t century. His background is in behavior and population genetics, and the focus of his current research is on the evolution of complex social behavior. Using the honey bee as a model, Dr. Page has dissected their complex foraging division of labor at all levels of biological organization, from gene networks to complex social interactions.”

Among Page's many honors:

• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Awardee of the Alexander von Humboldt Senior Scientist Award (the Humboldt Prize - the highest honor given by the German government to foreign scientists)
• Foreign Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences
• Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Elected to the Leopoldina, the German National Academy of Sciences (the longest continuing academy in the world)
• Fellow of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
• Fellow of the Entomological Society of America
• Awardee of the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Fellowship
• Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences
• Fellow, Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation, Munich, Germany, September 2017-August 2018
• Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Award from UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
• James Creasman Award of Excellence (ASU Alumni Association)
• Regents Professor, Arizona State University
• UC Davis Distinguished Emeritus Professor

Yao Cai, who received his doctorate in entomology in September from UC Davis, will present his exit seminar, "How Do Flies Tell the Time of Day?" at the next UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar, set Wednesday, Oct. 26.

Cai, of the laboratory of molecular geneticist and physiologist Joanna Chiu, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will deliver his seminar both in-person and virtually at 4:10 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall. The Zoom link:
https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.

Professor Chiu, his major professor, will serve as the host. 

"Circadian clocks time daily rhythms inorganismal physiology and behavior to optimize health and fitness," Cai says in his abstract. In Drosophila, phosphorylation regulates time-of-day function of core clock proteins, including the transcriptional
activator CLOCK (CLK). However, it remains unclear whether CLK phosphorylation facilitates the closure of the negative feedback loop. In this study, we demonstrated casein kinase 1 alpha (CK1α) as a CLK kinase and mapped CK1α-dependent CLK phosphorylation sites using mass spectrometry. Our genetic and biochemical analyses revealed that upon CK1α phosphorylation at CLK(S13), CLK occupancy at circadian promoters decreases, thereby sequestering CLK transcriptional activity. Moreover, our results suggest that the transcriptional repressor PERIOD (PER) facilitates CK1α-CLK interaction."

"This study highlights the importance of post-translational regulation of circadian rhythms," Cao noted. "Finally, together with previous studies in fungi and mammals, our results suggest a conserved feature in eukaryotic clocks by which transcriptional repressors recruit CK1s to modulate the activity of transcription activators."

A native of southeast Asia, Cai holds two degrees from China Agricultural University, Beijing: a bachelor of science degree (2014) in plant protection and a master's degree in entomology (2016).

What sparked his interest in entomology? "The insect world presented to me the diversity of species when I was a kid," he related. "Since then, I have wondered about the origin and evolution of species. I was lucky to cultivate my interest as an undergrad and then a master student in Chinese Agricultural University. As a PhD student in the Department of Entomology and Nematology at UC Davis, this interest expanded to the cellular and molecular mechanisms of evolution and adaptation. Upon my graduation in summer 2022, I continued my postdoctoral research in the Chiu Lab. I hope this will prepare me to become a professor in biological sciences."

Cai completed an International Chronobiology Summer School (virtual) in 2020 and a UC Davis Comprehensive Course in Flow Cytometry in 2019. His publications include: 

• Cai YD*, Joshi R*, Xia Y, Chiu JC, Emery P (2022) PERIOD phosphoclusters control temperature compensation of the Drosophila circadian clock, Frontiers in Physiology. 13: 888262.
  
  
• Cai YD, Sotelo SH, Jackson K, Chiu JC (2022) Assaying circadian locomotor activity rhythm in Drosophila, in “Circadian Rhythms” in NeuroMethods series. ed. M. Hatori, T. Hirota, and S. Panda. Springer Nature, Switzerland.
  
  
• Cai Y.D., Y. Xue, C. Truong, J. Del-Carmen Li, C. Ochoa, J.T. Vanselow, K.A. Murphy, Y.H. Li, X. Liu, B.L. Kunimoto, H. Zheng, C. Zhao, Y. Zhang, A. Schlosser, J.C. Chiu (2021). CK2 inhibits TIMELESS nuclear export and modulates CLOCK transcriptional activity to regulate circadian rhythms. Current Biology 31(3): 502-514.
  
  
• Cai, Y.D., J.C. Chiu (2021). Timeless in animal circadian clocks and beyond. FEBS Journal (Online ahead of print). doi: 10.1111/febs.16253.
  
  
• Abrieux, A., Y. Xue, Y. Cai, K.M. Lewald, H.N. Nguyen, Y. Zhang, J.C. Chiu. (2020). EYES ABSENT and TIMELESS integrate photoperiodic and temperature cues to regulate seasonal physiology in Drosophila. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. U.S.A. 117(26): 15293-15304. 

Active in academics, Cai served as a guest lecturer for Entomology 102 on the "Insect Nervous System" and for Entomology 10 on "Insect Circadian Rhythm." He also served as a teaching assistant for a number of UC Davis classes, including Applications, Values, and Ethics in Animal Research; Insect Physiology; Introduction to Biology: Ecology and Evolution; Introduction to Biology: Cell Functions; and Calculus for Biology and Medicine. In addition, he has assisted at Bohart Museum of Entomology open houses and at science program provided by Peregrine School, Davis.

Honored with a number of awards, Cai received a 2021 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Finance Students Abroad; a 2021 UC Davis Entomology W. Harry Lange, Jr. Memorial Travel Fund; 2021 UC Davis Marv Kinsey Scholarship; a 2020 Boroughs Welcome Fund Society for Research on Biological Rhythms (SRBR) Excellence Award; a 2020 UC Davis Sean and Anne Duffey and Hugh and Geraldine Dingle Research Fellowship; a 2019 UC Davis McBeth Memorial Scholarship; and a 2018 and 2017 UC Davis Henry A. Jastro Graduate Research Awards, among others.

Cai was a member of the Entomology Band, comprised of seven UC Davis graduate students who performed at Briggs Hall during the 2018 campuswide Picnic Day celebration.  Cao, the drummer, dressed as a fruit fly. Entomology Today, a publication of the Entomological Society of America, featured the band in a June 2018 edition.    

Emily Meineke, assistant professor of urban landscape entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, coordinates the department's seminars for the 2022-23 academic year. All 11 seminars will take place both person and virtually at 4:10 p.m. on Wednesdays in Room 122 of Briggs Hall except for the Nov. 9th and Dec. 7th seminars, which will be virtual only, she said.  (See list of seminars)

For further information on the seminars or to resolve any technical difficulties with Zoom, contact Meineke at ekmeineke@ucdavis.edu.