Biological Sciences Faculty Receive $1.3 M, 5-year NSF Grant

Investigating chemosensory evolution in beetles

Dr. Duane McKenna (PI), William Hill Professor of Biology and director of the Center for Biodiversity Research (CBio) and Ag-Tech Research Cluster, and Dr. Stephanie Haddad (Co-PI), research assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and CBio Associate, have been awarded a $1.3 million, 5-year NSF grant jointly awarded by the NSF-DEB Systematics Program and the NSF-IOS Integrative Ecological Physiology Program. The grant is titled Investigating chemosensory evolution in longhorned beetles using a comparative phylogenomic framework that integrates genomic, morphological, and biochemical data. Dr. Jaime Sabel, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and CBio Associate, is collaborating on survey design, implementation and analysis for broader impacts activities associated with the grant.

Chemosensation—comprised of smell (olfaction) and taste (gustation)—is a sensory modality that is ubiquitous among animals, is essential for their survival, and exhibits considerable variation. However, the evolution of chemosensation remains little-studied, especially in insects. We will address this lack of knowledge through integrated analyses of genomic, morphological, and biochemical data sampled methodically from across the family tree of longhorn beetles, a species-rich clade of plant-feeding insects (>35,000 species) which exhibit complex chemically-mediated interactions with conspecifics and plants. This project has implications for agriculture and forestry — longhorn beetles are important plant pests and pollinators — and will contribute to a better understanding of chemical communication (including pheromone use) and the evolution of specialized plant-feeding in insects.

For more information on this grant and/or the research, contact McKenna at dmckenna@memphis.edu.