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My research interests are rooted in evolutionary biology but span multiple disciplines in biology. At the heart of my research program is the use of flies in the genus Drosophila to understand the evolutionary genomics of host-parasite interactions. Much of my research is focused on endoparasitoid wasps, which are readily observed infecting Drosophila in nature and can be very specialized to particular host species. These wasps lay single eggs in Drosophila larvae and consume flies from the inside out. Flies mount cellular and behavioral defense responses against wasps, but wasps have adaptations for finding host fly larvae, suppressing host cellular immunity, and manipulating host behavior. I use a variety of "omics" tools to understand the molecular genetics of fly cellular immunity and wasp virulence, as well as patterns of host immunity and pathogen virulence coevolution across fly and wasp phylogenies. For example, I am sequencing a number of parasitic wasp genomes to understand how wasp virulence genes are recruited from the normal wasp gene pool and repeatedly replaced by newer gene duplicates. I am also making inroads into the evolution, genetics, and neurobiology of behaviors that flies use to avoid being infected by the wasps and to cure themselves once they are infected, including various self-medication behaviors. Show Less
Courses
- BBFBusy Bees and Fancy Fleas: How Insects Shaped Human History
- MISMethods in Insect Science
- CIComparative Immunology
- ICInsects and Culture
Grants
- EAGER: Development Of Functional Genetic Tools For Endoparasitoid Wasps
Principal Investigator (PI)
2020
$350.0KActive - A Model System for Host Pathogen Interaction: Drosophila and Its Parasitic Wasps
Principal Investigator (PI)
2016
$1.1M - Evolution Of Behavioral Immune Responses In Fruit Flies: Tradeoffs, Mechanisms, And Genetics
Principal Investigator (PI)
2016
$136.6K
News
- What Mutant Flies Can Teach Us About Autoimmune Disorders
2021
Publications (39)
Recent
- Behavioral defenses against parasitoids: Genetic and neuronal mechanisms
2022
- A hymenopteran odorant alerts flies to bury eggs
2021
- Characterization of a cell death‐inducing endonuclease‐like venom protein from the parasitoid wasPteromalus puparum Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae)
2021
- Extracellular matrix protein N-glycosylation mediates immune self-tolerance in Drosophila melanogaster
2021
- DROP: Molecular voucher database for identification of Drosophila parasitoids
2021
- Lipidomics reveals how the endoparasitoid wasPteromalus puparum manipulates host energy stores for its young
2020
- Characterization of a cell death-inducing endonuclease-like venom protein from Pteromalus puparum Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae)
2020
- The mechanistic basis of a Drosophila defense behavior against parasitoid wasps
2019
- Hemomucin as a key determinant of host-parasitoid interactions
2019
- Drosophila defenses against parasitoid wasps
2019
- Host JAK/Stat activity is a target of endoparasitoid wasvirulence strategies
2018
- Behavioral defenses flies use against parasitoids
2018
- Member Symposium: Evolutionary Ecology of Drosophila-parasitoid Food Webs: From Molecules to Ecosystems
2018
- Ethanol confers differential protection against generalist and specialist parasitoids of Drosophila melanogaster
2017
- An'omics' approach for dissecting a behavioral immune defense in Drosophila melanogaster
2016
- Evolution of behavioural and cellular defences against parasitoid wasps in the Drosophila melanogaster subgroup.
2016
- Transcriptional response of Drosophila melanogaster to infection by ten different species of parasitic wasps
2016
- Characterizing the genetic basis of behavioral immunity in fruit flies
2016
- Fruit flies diversify their offspring in response to parasite infection
2015
- Drosophila suzukii: The Genetic Footprint of a Recent, Worldwide Invasion
2014
- Insights from natural host–parasite interactions: The Drosophila model
2014
- A role for nematocytes in the cellular immune response of the Drosophilid Zaprionus indianus
2014
- Fruit Flies Medicate Offspring After Seeing Parasites
2013
- Parasitoid wasvenom SERCA regulatesDrosophilacalcium levels and inhibits cellular immunity
2013
- Integrative Approach Reveals Composition of Endoparasitoid WasVenoms
2013
- Alcohol Consumption as Self-Medication against Blood-Borne Parasites in the Fruit Fly
2012
- Defence strategies against a parasitoid wasin Drosophila: fight or flight?
2012
- High Hemocyte Load Is Associated with Increased Resistance against Parasitoids in Drosophila suzukii, a Relative of D. melanogaster
2012
- Adaptive evolution of a novel Drosophila lectin induced by parasitic wasattack
2012
- Mgat1-dependent N-glycosylation of Membrane Components Primes Drosophila melanogaster Blood Cells for the Cellular Encapsulation Response
2012
- Fruit flies like a rotten) banana
2008
- Dynamic evolution of the innate immune system in Drosophila
2007
- Contrasting infection strategies in generalist and specialist wasparasitoids of Drosophila melanogaster
2007
- Evolution of genes and genomes on the Drosophila phylogeny.
2007
- A role for alcohol dehydrogenase in the Drosophila immune response?
2005
- Linkage Disequilibrium and Recent Selection at Three Immunity Receptor Loci in Drosophila simulans
2005
- Strong selective sweeassociated with a transposon insertion in Drosophila simulans
2004
- Natural selection drives Drosophila immune system evolution
2003
- Molecular population genetics of innate immune system genes in Drosophila simulans
2001
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