current projects
1.MOLECULAR MODULATORS OF PHEROMONE PERCEPTION
We recently showed that chemosensory perception can have long term effects on fertility (Ng et al., Nat Comm, 2015). We are attempting to identify the downstream modulators that mediate this effect.
2.Influence of the microbiome on host physiology
The microbiome, the collection of microbes that resides within an organism, has emerged as a major influence in numerous facets of host physiology including lifespan, metabolism, reproduction, and some behaviors. Using a comparative approach combined with powerful Drosophila genetic tools and biochemical analysis, we seek to understand how environmental microbes contribute to the microbiome composition, health, and physiology of resident hosts.
3.CHEMICAL DIVERSITY OF NATIVE HAWAIIAN DROSOPHILA
The Hawaiian Drosophila clade exhibit spectacular ecological and behavioral variation. We seek to characterize the chemical diversity of Hawaiian drosophilid cuticular lipids and pheromones using mass spectrometry and the influence of environmental and social factors. Transcriptomics will be used to examine the underlying biosynthetic pathways.
collaborators
Stephen Blanksby (Queensland University of Technology, Australia): Application of ozone- and collision-induced dissociation for structural characterization of lipid pheromones. [https://staff.qut.edu.au/staff/stephen.blanksby]
Robert Chip Cody (JEOL USA): Chemical profiling of biological tissue by Direct Analysis in Real Time mass spectrometry (DART MS). [https://www.jeolusa.com/]
María de la Paz Fernández: Circadian control of behavior [https://www.fernandez-lab.org/]
Klaus Dreisewerd (University of Münster, Germany): Mass spectrometry imaging of Drosophila lipids and pheromones; chemical profiling of live insects. [https://www.uni-muenster.de/forschungaz/person/14605?lang=en]
Henry Chung (Michigan State University, USA): Genetic control of Drosophila pheromone profile [https://thechunglab.org/]
Jonathan Massey and Patricia Wittkopp (University of Michigan, USA): Genetic control of natural variation in Drosophila cuticular hydrocarbon profiles [https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/wittkopp-lab/]
Jeremy Davis and Leonie Moyle (Indiana University, USA): Evolution of Drosophila cuticular hydrocarbon profiles [http://www.indiana.edu/~moylelab/]
Toshie Kai (Osaka University, Japan): Environmental and pheromonal influence on Drosophila oogenesis [http://www.fbs.osaka-u.ac.jp/labs/kai/en/]
Airi Sato and Aya Takahashi (Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan): Chemical ecology of Drosophila suzukii [http://www.biol.se.tmu.ac.jp/en-labo.asp?ID=en-evogen]
We welcome collaborations with researchers interested in mass spectrometry instrumentation, organic synthesis, and the chemical ecology of other organisms.