Faculty
Department of Entomology: Insect-to-insect or plant-to-insect chemical communication via olfaction, neuroethology, heliothine moth sex pheromone and host plant volatile mixture interactions, development of an insect antenna-based olfactory biosensor, discovery and development of novel insect attractants, traps and mating disruption dispensers, and evolution of sex pheromone blends.
School of Forest Resources: Structural and functional genomics of trees and the intersection between genomics and tree chemistry, genetic linkage mapping and molecular cytogenetics, genetics of tree growth, pest resistance, and wood quality, development of environmentally friendly resistance to insect pests and other stresses, molecular basis of lignin synthesis and the response of trees to environmental pollutants.
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences: Genetics of secondary metabolites in maize and sorghum, molecular biology and role of secondary metabolites in plant developmental process and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, phlobophenes, 3-deoxyanthocyanidins.
Department of Entomology: Interactions between insects and their pathogens and parasites, elicitation and regulation of the insect immune system, enzyme interactions and gene expression in epidermis and immune responses, receptor/ligand reactions in pathogen recognition, cell--cell interactions and signaling pathways underlying immune response activation, suppression of host immune responses by parasitic microbes and arthropods.
Department of Entomology: Chemically mediated ecological interactions among plants, herbivores, and parasitoids, production and release of volatile compounds that mediate communication among plants and between plants and the natural enemies of insect herbivores, impacts of chemical communication on community structure and dynamics, volatile signaling between parasitic plants and their hosts.
Department of Entomology: Physiological, biochemical and molecular aspects of insect--plant interactions, impact of insect saliva (primarily glucose oxidase) on plant responses and acclimation to abiotic stresses, role of foliar phenolics in improving insect performance by stimulating feeding and/or by providing antioxidant benefits.
Department of Entomology: Structure and function of insect chemosensory systems, impact of sensory systems on chemically mediated behavior (especially feeding behavior of caterpillars), roles of key stimuli during the early phases of induced plant defenses, mechanisms of transduction in chemosensory cells, design of antifeedant chemicals, and development of new detectors.
Department of Plant Pathology: Molecular evolutionary genetics of fungi, molecular phylogenetics and systematics, identities and roles of fungal culprits in plant and animal diseases and toxicoses, curation of the world's largest collection of Fusarium cultures.
Department of Entomology: Our research focuses on the genomic analysis of chemical communication in honey bees and other social insect species. Our studies seek to understand the molecular and physiological basis of modulation of chemical communication in honey bees, both in terms of production of the chemical signal and responsiveness of the receiving individual.
Department of Entomology: Tritrophic interactions; impact of phytochemicals and insect host antiviral defenses on pathogenesis of baculoviruses; role of baculovirus genes as virulence factors; gut symbionts and lignocellulose digestion in the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB); behavior elicited by ALB-produced pheromones.
Department of Plant Pathology: Molecular, cellular, and evolutionary mechanisms underpinning plant-fungal pathogen interactions in rice and Arabidopsis thaliana, development of a cyber-infrastructure (Fungal Plant Pathogen Database) integrating research and survey activities on fungal plant pathogens to support the identification, detection, tracking, and risk assessment of major plant pathogens.
Department of Horticulture: Mycorrhizal symbioses and their influence on processes that affect plant fitness, including decomposition, nutrient mobilization and nutrient uptake, signaling between mycorrhizal fungi and host plants, mycorrhizal fungal community structure,influence of mycorrhizal fungi on plant communities.
Department of Plant Pathology: Roles of fungal secondary metabolites in fungus--plant and fungus--microbe interactions, functions of mycotoxins, microbial ecology of silages, secondary metabolites of Fusarium.
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences: How plants respond to environmental stresses at the physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels; how corn defends itself against herbivory by caterpillars and the aflatoxin-producing fungus Aspergillus flavus.
College of Science, Department of Biology: Ecological and evolutionary animal physiology, evolution of aerial locomotion in insects, population- and ecosystem-level influences on insect success and life history evolution, impact of food quality and quantity on dragonfly parasite loads, metapopulation dynamics of butterflies.
Department of Entomology: Evolution, social behavior, multilevel selection, cultural evolution, volatile mediation of interactions among plants, herbivores, and parasitoids.
Department of Entomology: Molecular mechanisms underlying differences in susceptibilities of insect species to the effects of synthetic or natural poisons, amino acid receptors as models for selective taste and insecticide action, cytochrome P450 monooxygenases and epoxide hydrolases as model detoxification enzymes degrading sensory chemicals at nerve receptor sites, peptide and protein taste receptors in beetles, development of novel biopesticides.
Department of Entomology: Ecology and evolutionary genetics of infectious diseases, virulence, interactions between pathogens, phylodynamics and evolution of immunity, control strategies.
College of Science, Department of Biology: Basic and applied population ecology using both theoretical and empirical methods; invasion ecology; decision theory in population management; species interactions.
College of Science, Department of Biology: Interrelationships among inbreeding, herbivore and disease in plants; effects of inbreeding on plant volatile production and insect attraction to plants; changes in volatile production with herbivory and pathogen infection; responses of insect vectors to pathogen infected plants.
College of Science, Department of Biochemistry: Fungal lignin biodegradation, role of wood substrate in enzyme production and succession of enzymes involved in degradation of wood, protemics, trypsin fingerprinting using MALDI/TOF mass spectroscopy, role of methionine sulfoxide reductases in protection of plants from oxidative stress.
Department of Entomology: Plant–insect interactions, tritrophic interactions, host–plant volatile emissions, plant defenses, phytohormones dynamics, conservation biological control, gall-inducing insects.
Department of Entomology: Insect pheromones and other semiochemicals, biochemistry of signal production and release in plants and insects, behavioral responses of insects to chemical cues, interactions among herbivorous insects, their host plants, and their natural enemies, biochemistry of insect saliva and regurgitant, environmentally safe pest management.
Department of Plant Pathology: Complex network of signal transduction and pathway interactions involved in rice biotic and abiotic stress tolerance by using a combination of molecular, biochemical, genetic, genomic and proteomic approaches; genetic and molecular dissection of defense signaling pathways in rice; proteomic and functional analyses of stress signaling complexes; high-throughput RNA interference system for rice functional genomics; genetic engineering for enhanced biotic and abiotic stress tolerance.
