Fall armyworm voraciously feeding on plant tissue

Development of Novel DNA-Based Methods for Detection of Bt Resistant Fall Armyworms

During the past 22 years, pest control efficacy and the potential for higher net returns have driven a global increase in the adoption of transgenic crops which produce insecticidal proteins (Cry and Vip toxins) from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt crops). In the US alone, Bt corn and cotton adoption represent >80% of the national acreage devoted to the two commodities, which has unfortunately led to increasing selection pressure for evolution of Bt toxin resistant insect pests. One such devastating pest is the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) which has become a growing threat to the use of transgenic corn technology in the Western Hemisphere and more recently the African continent. The fall armyworm is the insect pest with the highest

black and white photo of Dr. Hadziabdic Guerry

Congratulations to Dr. Denita Hadziabdic Guerry – Fulbright Scholar!

Several indigenous crop species have the potential to become foods of the future and need to be integrated into existing agricultural research. Dr. Denita Hadziabdic Guerry was selected for a Fulbright award to the African Regional Research Program to study an indigenous crop, frafra potato (Solenostemon rotendifolius), as an alternative food source. She will spend four months in Ghana working closely with her collaborator at the University of Ghana (UG), Dr. Naalamle Amissah, to evaluate genetic diversity of frafra potato populations in Ghana and surrounding sub-Saharan African countries where this species is cultivated. This is quite an innovative project that involves studying traditional subjects while providing hands-on experiential learning experiences for faculty, staff, and students at the University of Ghana. Congratulations, Dr. Guerry!

EUReCA! winners from left to right: Angel Chaffin (top), Logan Houston (bottom), and Geordan Hall

EUReCA! Winners

Logan Houston, an undergraduate researchers in the Trigiano lab, was awarded a Gold Medal at last night’s EUReCA awards ceremony. Logan’s award was one of four in the STEM section of the competition. Logan’s research, “Geographical location drives the population structure of native Asian Cornus florida” was supported by the Trigiano lab and guided primarily by Dr. Marcin Nowicki. Angel Chaffin, one of our EPP minors, was awarded an Honorable Mention for her work on, “Potential pathogens of industrial hemp (Cannibas sativa)”. Although her research was sponsored by Dr. Kimberly Gwinn, she was also assisted by Cody Seals, Mary Dee, Dr. Ernest Bernard, and Dr. Jerome Grant. Geordan Hall, who worked with Drs. Karen Vail and Becky Trout Fryxell, also

Close-up of a fire ant; note the large head and mandibles

Recent Article: Sociometry of Solenopsis Geminata Reveals Variation in Colony-Level Phenotypes in Fire Ants

Abstract: In social insects, natural selection operates at the level of the colony, rather than the individual, but our understanding of how colony-level phenotypes arise and vary between species is lacking. Here, we test how colony-level phenotypes vary within the fire ants by measuring the composition of colonies of the tropical fire ant, Solenopsis geminata, over a wide range of sizes at multiple times throughout the year. Similar to the well-studied fire ant species S. invicta, we find that S. geminata colony composition varies strongly with colony size, such that as colonies grow they produce increasingly large workers as well as queens and males. However, major production increases more rapidly with colony size in S. geminata than in S. invicta,

North American fire ants surround and protect their significantly much larger queen

New Genetic Study Reveals Cryptic Diversity in the Native North American Fire Ants

The native North American fire ants (Solenopsis Westwood) comprise a difficult group taxonomically that has undergone multiple revisions in the past century yet remains in a state of taxonomic uncertainty. The results of our genetic study demonstrated that the recognised North American fire ant species represent evolutionarily independent entities. We also confirm the presumed sister status of the desert fire ants, S. aurea Wheeler and S. amblychila Wheeler. However, we also found tat least two genetically divergent populations within the nominal species boundaries, including a western form of S. xyloni and a distinct population of S. aurea. These results suggest that the current taxonomy does not fully capture the species‐level diversity in this group. Our study provides the molecular foundation for