David G. Heckel

David Goodwin Heckel (* 1953 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania ) is an American entomologist .

Scientific career

After studying biology and mathematics at the University of Rochester , New York, and a bachelor's degree in biology and mathematics in 1975, Heckel received his PhD in biology from Stanford University in 1980 . His dissertation was entitled Extensions of the theory of evolutionary ecology, and the ecology of Anolis gingivinus . From 1980 to 1999 he was an assistant professor and later an associate and full professor at Clemson University in South Carolina. From 1996 to 1997 he was a Fulbright Fellow in Canberra, Australia. From 1999 to 2003 he taught as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Melbourne , Australia. Since 2003 he has been Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and Head of the Entomology Department. In 2006, the Friedrich Schiller University Jena appointed him honorary professor.

Heckel is researching adaptation mechanisms with which herbivorous insects find and utilize their host plants. He also examines how adaptations interact with other stressors in the environment. A strategy of its research is the use of genetic variation patterns that exist between populations, races or species, as well as the mapping (engl. Mapping ) of the genes and the discovery of candidate genes for identifying the mechanisms involved. He also applies this approach to the investigation of genetic and physiological mechanisms with the help of which insects develop resistance to chemical and biological insecticides, in particular cry toxins (Bt) from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis . Another focus of his work is the investigation of patterns of genetic variability in insects that represent different races due to their preferred host plants or the formation of sexual attractants and are in the process of developing new species.

honors and awards

• Phi Beta Kappa 1975
• Fulbright Senior Scholar, Canberra, Australia, 1996-1997
• John and Allan Gilmour Research Award, University of Melbourne, Australia, 2001
• Woodward Medal in Science and Technology, University of Melbourne, Australia, 2002

Publications (selection)

• BE Tabashnik, YB Liu, N. Finson, L. Masson, DG Heckel: One gene in diamondback moth confers resistance to four Bacillus thuringiensis toxins. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Volume 94, No. 5, 1997, pp. 1640-1644.
• DG Heckel, LJ Gahan, YB Liu, BE Tabashnik: Genetic mapping of resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis toxins in diamondback moth using biphasic linkage analysis. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Volume 96, No. 15, 1999, pp. 8373-8377.
• LJ Gahan, F. Gould, DG Heckel: Identification of a gene associated with Bt resistance in Heliothis virescens. In: Science . Volume 293, No. 5531, 2001, pp. 857-860. doi: 10.1126 / science.1060949
• S. Asser-Kaiser, E. Fritsch, K. Undorf-Spahn, J. Kienzle, KE Eberle, NA Gund, A. Reineke, CPW Zebitz , DG Heckel, J. Huber, JA Jehle: Rapid emergence of baculovirus resistance in codling moth due to dominant, sex-linked inheritance. In: Science. Volume 317, No. 5846, 2007, pp. 1916-1918. doi: 10.1126 / science.1146542
• D. Freitak, CW Wheat, DG Heckel, H. Vogel: Immune system responses and fitness costs associated with consumption of bacteria in larvae of Trichoplusia ni. In: BMC Biology. Volume 5, 2007, p. 56. doi: 10.1186 / 1741-7007-5-56
• D. Freitak, DG Heckel, H. Vogel: Dietary-dependent trans-generational immune priming in an insect herbivore. In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B - Biological Sciences. Volume 276, 2009, pp. 2617-2624. doi: 10.1098 / rspb.2009.0323
• JM Lassance, AT Groot, MA Liénard, A. Binu, C. Borgwardt, F. Andersson, E. Hedenström, DG Heckel, C. Löfstedt: Allelic variation in a fatty-acyl reductase gene causes divergence in moth sex pheromones. In: Nature . Volume 466, 2010, pp. 486-489. doi: 10.1038 / nature09058
• BE Tabashnik, F. Huang, MN Ghimire, BR Leonard, BD Siegfried, M. Rangasamy, Y. Yang, Y. Wu, LJ Gahan, DG Heckel, A. Bravo, M. Soberón: Efficacy of genetically modified Bt toxins against insects with different genetic mechanisms of resistance. In: Nature Biotechnology . Volume 29, No. 12, 2011, pp. 1128-1131. doi: 10.1038 / nbt. 1988
• N. Joußen, S. Agnolet, S. Lorenz, SE Schöne, R. Ellinger, B. Schneider, DG Heckel: Resistance of Australian Helicoverpa armigera to fenvalerate is due to the chimeric P450 enzyme CYP337B3. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Volume 109, No. 38, 2012, pp. 15206-15211. doi: 10.1073 / pnas.1202047109 . PMID 22949643 , PMC 3458352 (free full text)
• DG Heckel: Insecticide Resistance After Silent Spring. In: Science. Volume 337, No. 6102, 2012, pp. 1612-1614. doi: 10.1126 / science.1226994
• F. Beran, Y. Pauchet, G. Kunert, M. Reichelt, N. Wielsch, H. Vogel, A. Reinecke, A. Svatoš, I. Mewis, D. Schmid, S. Ramasamy, C. Ulrichs, BS Hansson , J. Gershenzon, DG Heckel: Phyllotreta striolata flea beetles utilize host plant defense compounds to create their own glucosinolate-myrosinase system. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2014. doi: 10.1073 / pnas.1321781111

literature

• Caterpillars, butterflies and plants: David G. Heckel. In: Yearbook of the Max Planck Society 2004. Munich 2004, ISBN 3-927579-18-1 , pp. 63–65. (Article about David Heckel)

Web links

• Website of the Entomology Department at the MPI for Chemical Ecology

Individual evidence

1. ^ Website of the MPI for Chemical Ecology
2. ↑ Lent Genes: Key to Evolutionary Innovations in the Interaction between Plants and Insects Yearbook of the Max Planck Society 2007.
3. ↑ Herbivore insect larvae: Digestion and Immunity Yearbook of the Max Planck Society 2010.
4. ↑ New bacterial toxins against resistant plant pests MPG Updates, October 19, 2011.
5. ↑ The small E / Z difference and its big consequences MPG News, June 20, 2010.
6. ↑ Woodward Medallists at the University of Melbourne ( Memento of March 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive )