James H. Tumlinson Ph.D.

Current Graduate Students:

Tracy Conklin
Sean Halloran
Dan Schmehl

International Programs/Experience:

Collaborating with scientists in Brazil and in S. Africa on investigations to identify an attractant for Sirex noctilio, an invasive species of woodwasp that attacks pine trees and was recently discovered in Oswego, NY. This research is supported by USDA, APHIS. Collaborating with Professor Naoki Mori, University of Kyoto, Japan, on research to determine the role of insect produced elicitors of plant defenses in the digestion and metabolic processes of the caterpillars that produce the elicitors.  Collaborating with Dr. Baldwyn Torto, International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) to study African honey bees.

Department Focus Area:

Chemical Ecology

Research Interests:

Chemicals that affect insect behavior, plant-insect interactions, plant signaling, and plant defenses

Research:

As a chemist interested in biological and agricultural systems, I have studied chemicals that affect insect behavior. My laboratory has identified insect pheromones and other semiochemicals, investigated the biochemical mechanisms by which chemical signals are produced and released by insects, and studied the behavioral responses, including learned responses, of insects to chemical cues. More recently, we have been investigating the interactions among herbivorous insects, their host plants, and their natural enemies. We found that plants damaged by caterpillar feeding synthesize and release volatile chemicals. Small wasps use these released volatiles as cues to locate and parasitize the caterpillars. The chemical defenses of the plant are induced by a compound, which we identified and named volicitin, in the oral secretion of the caterpillars. We are now investigating the biochemical mechanisms by which volicitin triggers the plant chemical defense, the source of volicitin in the caterpillars, its role in insect metabolism, the structures of similar molecules in other insect species, and the responses of the parasitic wasps to plant volatile chemicals. We have also, in collaboration with USDA, ARS, CMAVE, Gainesville, FL, recently identified a new type of elicitor of plant volatiles from grasshoppers.  Emphasis is on developing fundamental knowledge and principles that can be applied in environmentally safe pest management programs.

Recent Publications:

Rose, U. S. R., Lewis, W. J. and Tumlinson J. H.  Extrafloral nectar from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) as a food source for parasitic wasps. Functional Ecology 20: 67-74 (2006).

Cardoza, Y. J. and Tumlinson, J. H.  Compatible and Incompatible Xanthomonas Infections  Differentially Affect Herbivore-Induced Volatile Emission by Pepper Plants.  J. Chem. Ecol. 32: 1755-1768 (2006).

Torto, B., Boucias, D.G., Arbogast, R.T., Tumlinson, J.H., and Teal, P.E.A.  Multitrophic interaction facilitates parasite–host relationship between an invasive beetle and the honey bee. PNAS 104: 8374-8378 (2007).

Engelberth, J., Seidl-Adams, I., Schultz, J.C., and Tumlinson, J.H. Insect elicitors and exposure to green leafy volatiles differentially up-regulate major octadecanoids and transcripts of 12-oxo phytodienoic acid reductases in Zea mays.  Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 20: 707-716 (2007).

Alborn, H.T., Hansen, T.V., Jones, T.H., Bennett, D.C., Tumlinson, J.H., Schmelz, E.A., and Teal, P.E.A.  Disulfooxy fatty acids from the American bird grasshopper, Schistocerca Americana, elicitors of plant volatiles. PNAS 104: 12976-12981 (2007).

Yoshinaga, N., Aboshi, A., Ishikawa, C., Fukui, M., Shimoda, M., Nishida, R., Lait, C.G., Tumlinson, J.H., and Mori, N. Fatty acid amides, previously identified in caterpillars, found in the cricket Telegryllus taiwanemma and fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster larvae. J. Chem. Ecol. 33: 1376-1381 (2007)

Lelito, J.P.,  Fraser, I., Mastro, V.C.,  Tumlinson, J.H., Böröczky, K., and Baker, T.C. Visually mediated ‘paratrooper copulations’ in the mating behavior of Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), a highly destructive invasive pest of North American ash trees. J. Insect Behav. 20: 537-552 (2007).

Torto, B., Arbogast, R. T., Alborn, H., Suazo, A., van Engelsdorp, D., Boucias, D., Tumlinson, J. H., And Teal, P. E. A.  Composition of volatiles from fermenting pollen dough and attractiveness to the small hive beetle Aethina tumida,a parasite of the honeybee Apis mellifera. Apidologie 38: 380-389 (2007).

Gao, X., Starr, J., Göbel, C., Engelberth,J., Feussner, I Tumlinson, J., and Kolomiets, M.  Maize 9-lipoxygenase ZmLOX3 controls development, root-specific expression of defense genes, and resistance to root-knot nematodes.  Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 21: 98-109 (2008).

Felton, G.W. and Tumlinson, J. H. Plant-insect dialogs: complex interactions at the plant-insect interface. Curr. Opinion Plant Biol. 11: 457-463 (2008).

Tumlinson, J. H. and Engelberth, J., Fatty acid-derived signals that induce or regulate plant defenses against herbivory, pp. 389-407. In A. Schaller (ed.), Induced Plant Resistance to Herbivory, Springer,  2008

Boroczky, K., Park, K.C., Minard, R.D., Jones, T.H., Baker,T.C., Tumlinson, J.H., Differences in cuticular lipid composition of the antennae of Helicoverpa zea, Heliothis virescens, and Manduca sexta, Journal of Insect Physiology 54: 1385–1391 (2008).

Yoshinaga, N., Aboshi, T., Abe, T., Nishida, R., Alborn, H.T., Tumlinson, J. H., and Mori, N., The active role of fatty acid amino acid conjugates in nitrogen metabolism in Spodoptera litura larvae, PNAS, 105: 18058-18063 (2008).

Schmelz, E.A., Engelberth, J., Alborn, H.T., Tumlinson, J.H., and Teal, P.E.A, Phytohormone-based activity mapping of insect herbivore-produced elicitors. PNAS 106: 653–657 (2009).

Lelito, J.P., Böröczky,K., Jones, T.H., Fraser, I., Mastro, V.C., Tumlinson, J.H., and Baker, T.C.  Behavioral Evidence for a Contact Sex Pheromone Component of the Emerald Ash Borer, Agrilus Planipennis Fairmaire, J Chem Ecol 35:104–110 (2009).

Boroczky, K., Crook, D.J., Jones, T.H., Kenny, J.C., Zylstra, K.E., Mastro, V.C. and Tumlinson, J.H. Monoalkenes as contact sex pheromone components of the woodwasp Sirex noctilio. J. Chem. Ecol. 35:1202-1211 (2009).

Swanson. J.A.I., Torto, B., Kells, S.A., Mesce, K.A., Tumlinson, J.H., and Spivak, M. Odorants that induce hygienic behavior in honeybees: identification of volatile compounds in chalkbrood-infected honeybee larvae. J Chem Ecol 35:1108–1116 (2009).

Frazier, M.T., Muli, E., Conklin, T. Schmehl. D., Torto, B., Frazier, J., Tumlinson, J., Evans, J.D., Raina, S. A scientific note on varroa mites found in East Africa; Threat or Opportunity?  Apidologie  41: 463-465 (2010).

Renuka Shivaji, Alberto Camas, Arunkanth Ankala, Jurgen Engelberth, James H. Tumlinson, W. Paul Williams, Jeff R. Wilkinson and Dawn Sywassink Luthe, Plants on Constant Alert: Elevated Levels of Jasmonic Acid and Jasmonate-Induced Transcripts in Caterpillar-Resistant Maize. J. Chem. Ecol. 36: 179-191 (2010)

Naoko Yoshinaga, Hans T. Alborn, Tomoaki Nakanishi, David M. Suckling, Ritsuo Nishida, James H. Tumlinson and Naoki Mori, Fatty Acid-amino Acid Conjugates Diversification in Lepidopteran Caterpillars. J. Chem. Ecol. 36: 319-325 (2010).

Lait, C.G., Lobaido, M. J., Wiester, A. J., Kossak, S., and Tumlinson, J. H. Comparative kinetics of fatty acid-amino acid conjugate elicitor biosynthesis by midgut tissue microsomes of Lepidopterous caterpillar larvae. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol.  75: 264-274 (2010).

Lelito, J.P., Domingue, M.J., Fraser, I., Mastro, V.C., Tumlinson, J.H., Baker, T.C. Field investigation of mating behaviour of Agrilus cyanescens and Agrilus subcinctus. Can. Entomol. 143: 370–379 (2011)

Schwartzberg, E.G., Böröczky, K.,  and Tumlinson, J.H.  Pea Aphids, Acyrthosiphon Pisum, Suppress Induced Plant Volatiles in Broad Bean, Vicia Faba . J. Chem. Ecol. 37: 1055-1062 (2011).

Kuhns, E.H., Seidl-Adams, I. and Tumlinson, J.H.  A Lepidopteran Aminoacylase (L-ACY-1) in Heliothis virescens (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Gut Lumen Hydrolyzes Fatty Acid Amino Acid Conjugates, Elicitors of Plant Defense. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 42:  32-40 (2012).

Cooperband, M.F., Böröczky, K., Hartness, A., Jones, T.H.,  Zylstra, K.E., Tumlinson, J.H.,  and Mastro, V.C.  Male-Produced Pheromone in the European Woodwasp, Sirex noctilio. J. Chem. Ecol. In Press (2012).

Böröczky, K., Zylstra, K.E., Mccartney, N.B.,  Mastro, V.C. and Tumlinson,, J.H., Volatile Profile Differences and the Associated Sirex noctilio Activity in Two Host Tree Species in the Northeastern United States. J. Chem. Ecol. In Press (2012).

Kuhns, E.H., Seidl-Adams, I. and Tumlinson, J.H.  Heliothine caterpillars differ in abundance of a gut lumen aminoacylase 3 (L-ACY-1)—Suggesting a relationship between host preference and fatty acid amino acid conjugate metabolism. Insect Physiology in press (2012).

Harris, C.M., Ruberson, J. R., Meagher, R., and Tumlinson, J. H.,  Host Suitability Affects Odor Association in Cotesia marginiventris: Implications in Generalist Parasitoid Host-Finding. J. Chem. Ecol.  In Press (2012).