Faculty

Dr. Patricia Pietrantonio, professor of Entomology at Texas A&M University, was the State-of-the-Art Speaker at the 29^th Conference of European Comparative Endocrinologists (CECE), in August in Glasgow, Scotland.

Held every two years, the purpose of the CECE meeting is to share new ideas and network with other researchers interested in the field of endocrinology. Pietrantonio’s presentation was during the “Omics and the Physiology of Insect Neuropeptides” section.

Pietrantonio was invited by Professor Shireen Davis (University of Glasgow), the coordinator for nEUROSTRESSPEP. This Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme is funded by the European Commission and aims to discover novel control molecules for insect pests.

Her presentation was titled “Omics and the Physiology of a Superorganism: GPCR Signaling and Brain Transcriptomes of the Fire Ant (Solenopsis Invicta Buren): Toward Linking Nutrition and Reproduction”.

Pietrantonio discussed her ongoing research investigating the hormonal signaling in fire ants. Her lab uses various methodologies in physiology, cell biology, biochemistry, molecular biology and reverse genetics to address fundamental research questions on the physiology of the neuropeptide signaling in the invasive polygyne (multiple queen colonies) ants.

By finding differentially expressed genes in brains of virgin versus mated queens the Pietrantonio lab, in collaboration with Dr. Cecilia Tamborindeguy lab, aims to find candidate signaling genes controlling reproduction.

The research included in the presentation was published in the journal Ecology and Evolution. A second publication that will appear soon in the journal General and Comparative Endocrinology follows the comparative theme by identifying G protein-coupled receptors expressed in brains of fire ant queens versus those expressed in the brains of worker ants.

Pietrantonio said her research would help control the ants by targeting the genes that control and link reproduction and feeding status in queens.

“Fire ants are a pest in the lands they invade partially due to their high reproductive ability and their capacity to exploit numerous nutritional resources, so our research strives to find critical genes involved in signaling for both nutritional status and key aspects of reproduction that may be potential targets to disrupt the reproductive process in queens,” she said. “Colonies are complex organisms so understanding the gene networks in queens and workers is important to understand colony organization at the endocrine and molecular level. Selective insect hormone mimetics, synthetic molecules as receptor agonists or antagonists could disrupt these processes in these ants to our benefit”.

The research can also impact the understanding of the physiology of other hymenopteran insects in addition to fire ants, as the endocrinology of reproduction in honey bee queens is poorly understood.

“With respect to broader impacts, our research my also inform these processes in other hymenopterans, such as pollinators, and the neurobiology of insects in general,” Pietrantonio said.

Pietrantonio was honored by the invitation, and said the conference was a great networking experience as the presentation was well-received by the audience.

by Steve Byrns, Texas A&M AgriLife Communications

COLLEGE STATION – Termites! Just the insects’ common name can strike fear in the hearts of most any homeowner, but a recently published work could go a long way in quelling some of those fears, said one of the authors.

Dr. Ed Vargo, Endowed Chair in Urban and Structural Entomology at Texas A&M University, College Station, is among a team of scientists who recently published “Identification of a Queen and King Recognition Pheromone in the Subterranean Termite Reticulitermes flavipes,” in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/03/15/1721419115

Co-authors with Vargo were Dr. Coby Schal, Blanton J. Whitmire Distinguished Professor of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina; Colin Funaro, doctoral student for Vargo and Schal, North Carolina State University; and Dr. Katalin Boroczky, research chemist, Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania.

Termites are group of wood-eating insects that serve as important decomposers in nature, but some types are highly destructive pests to human-built structures, Vargo said.

“Regardless of type, all termites live in highly cooperative colonies consisting of different castes, such as the kings and queens, the reproductive caste and the worker or non-reproductive caste,” Vargo said. “It’s long been suspected that termites within a colony can distinguish caste members based on chemical cues, but until now no active chemical compounds had been identified. Our team of biologists and chemists set out to identify those chemical cues that mediate caste recognition.”

To find those chemical cues, called pheromones, the team selected Reticulitermes flavipes, the most widespread North American termite species, to study. They isolated a hydrocarbon, heneicosane, a substance unique to royals, applied it to glass “dummy queens” and were able to duplicate the same behavior in workers to the glass queens as they exhibit to real termite royals.

Vargo said the work represents an important breakthrough, especially when one considers social insects such as honeybees, fire ants and termites are remarkable creatures among which thousands of individuals work together to form a superorganism.

“How these superorganisms function and how they evolved have long been of intense interest to scientists,” he said. “This work helps us understand how termites and other social insect colonies function and offers a window into their evolution.

“Because termites rely heavily on chemical communication to function efficiently, by decoding their chemical language, in the future we may be able to disrupt their activity in a targeted and environmentally friendly way to protect our homes and property.”