Duane McKenna
University of Memphis, TN·Ecology & Evolution
Longhorned beetles are one of the most diverse insect groups on Earth, with more than 30,000 species. Many feed on dead wood or plants and pollinate flowers, but some are serious pests of living trees and timber.
- Fields
Ecology & Evolution
Genetics
Biology
- Topics
longhorned beetles
Cerambycidae
phylogenomics
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Reconstruct the first comprehensive phylogeny of longhorned beetles using more than 500 nuclear genes from over 600 species, collected by anchored hybrid enrichment sequencing and supported by genomes of key species.
- Compare the variety of chemical-sensing structures on longhorned beetle antennae across several lineages using scanning electron microscopy, which images surface structures at very high magnification.
- Generate antennal transcriptomes, the genes active in the antenna, and annotate the chemoreceptor and pheromone receptor genes, then compare what chemicals these receptors detect to trace how beetle chemical communication evolved.
- Test how ecological differences among longhorned beetle species relate to differences in their antennal organs and receptor gene sets, and whether new communication modes influenced how the group diversified.
More about the research
Despite this importance, how the major groups of longhorned beetles are related remains unresolved. The beetles' long "horns" are antennae, sensitive organs that smell and taste the environment. This project asks how changes in these chemical-sensing organs relate to why the group became so diverse.
Why it matters
Knowing which odor and taste receptors longhorned beetles use could help efforts to control species that damage trees and timber while sparing species that recycle dead wood and pollinate flowers. The findings may also improve understanding of chemical sensing in other arthropods, a group that includes both helpful species and costly agricultural and forest pests.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
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Nathaniel Hardy
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The school
University of Memphis: 3 labs on PI Pages, $109M a year on research, 180 research doctorates a year.
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