Candice Stafford to Speak on How Infection with Tomato Spotted Wild Virus Modifies Thrips Feeding Behavior

Feb. 29, 2012

Candice Stafford, doctoral candidate in plant pathology, will speak on "A Virus at the Helm: Infection with Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus Modifies Thrips Feeding Behavior" on March 7. Her major professor, Diane Ullman, is the host.

DAVIS-- Candice Stafford, a plant pathology doctoral candidate in the Diane Ullman lab, will speak on "A Virus at the Helm: Infection with Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus Modifies Thrips Feeding Behavior" at the next Department of Entomology seminar, set for 12:10 to 1 p.m., March 7 in 122 Briggs Hall.

Host is her major professor Diane Ullman, professor of entomology and associate dean for undergraduate academic programs in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Stafford, Ullman and Gregory Walker of UC Riverside published their research on the thrips feeding behavior last May in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). (See UC Davis news story.)

Thrips--tiny insects that pierce and suck fluids from tomatoes,  grapes, strawberries and hundreds of other plant species--show altered feeding behavior when they’re infected with Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV), the scientists said in their published work.

Male Western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis) infected with TSWV fed up to three times more than uninfected males, Stafford pointed out.

Stafford most recently spoke on her research at the Northern California Entomology Society meeting Feb. 2 in Sacramento.

Biosketch
Stafford received her bachelor's degree in entomology from UC Riverside and then went on to complete her master's in entomology under Greg Walker at UC Riverside.  "For my master's, I examined feeding behaviors of the beet leafhopper Circulifer tenellus, with a focus on feeding behaviors involved in the transmission of Beet severe curly top virus," she said. "Then I came to Davis to do my PhD on thrips-tospovirus interactions with Diane Ullman.  Although initially my project was going to be a purely molecular approach to investigating thrips-tospovirus interactions, I was so intrigued by their feeding behavior and the potential affects that tospovirus infection could have on it, that Diane and I decided to make this a major component of my PhD work." 

Coordinating the UC Davis Department of Entomology's winter seminars are assistant professors Louie Yang and Joanna Chiu. Some of the talks will be webcast and then can be viewed on UCTV. Professor James R. Carey is spearheading the project.

The complete list of speakers:

Jan. 11: Denise Ferkey, assistant professor, State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, will speak on "Regulation of Chemosensory Signaling in C. elegans."
Hosts: Valerie Williamson, professor of nematology, and Ed Lewis, professor of nematology and entomology and acting chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.
Site: 12:10 to 1 p.m., 122 Briggs Hall.
Webcast and posted on UCTV: Yes.

Jan. 18: Anurag Agrawal, professor of ecology at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., will speak on "Evolutionary Ecology of Plant Defenses."
Host: Andrew Merwin of the Michael Parrella lab.
Site: 12:10 to 1 p.m., 122 Briggs Hall.
Webcast and Posted on UCTV: Yes

Jan. 25: Mary Louise Flint, Cooperative Extension specialist and associate director for Urban and Community IPM, UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program, will speak on "Educating the Urban Public about Insect Pests and their Management."
Site: 12:10 to 1 p.m., 122 Briggs Hall.
Host: Frank Zalom
Webcast and Posted on UCTV: No.

Feb. 1: T’ai Roulston, research associate professor and curator, State Arboretum of Virginia, will speak on "Pollen as a Resource for Pollinators: What Governs Quality?"
Site: 12:10 to 1 p.m., 122 Briggs Hall.
Host: Neal Williams, assistant professor of entomology.

Feb. 8: Damian Elias, assistant professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, UC Berkeley, will speak on "Multimodal Communication in Jumping Spiders."
Site: 12:10 to 1 p.m., 122 Briggs Hall.
Host: Leslie Saul of the Neal Williams lab.

Feb. 15: Jamesina J. Scott, district manager and research director, Lake County Vector Control District, will speak on  "Aedes japonicus -- Tracking an Invasive Mosquito We Knew Very Little About."
Site: 12:10 to 1 p.m., 122 Briggs Hall.
Host: Brittany Mills of the William Reisen lab.
Webcast and Posted on UCTV: No.

Feb. 22: Jennifer Thaler, associate professor, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., will speak on "Interactive Effects of Host Plant Quality and Predation Risk."
Site: 12:10 to 1 p.m., 122 Briggs Hall.
Host: Billy Krimmel of the Jay Rosenheim lab
Webcast and Posted on UCTV: No.

Feb. 29: Jay Rosenheim, professor of entomology at UC Davis, will speak on "Ecoinformatics for IPM: Expanding the Applied Insect Ecologist's Tool-Kit."
Site: 122 Briggs Hall.
Host: Kelly Hamby of the Frank Zalom lab.
Webcast and posted on UCTV: Yes.

March 7: Candice Stafford, graduate student researcher in the Diane Ullman lab, will speak on "A Virus at the Helm: Infection with Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus Modifies Thrips Feeding Behavior."
Site: 12:10 to 1 p.m., 122 Briggs Hall.
Host: Diane Ullman, professor of entomology and associate dean for undergraduate academic programs in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

March 14: Ulrich Mueller, W. M. Wheeler Lost-Pines Professor of Integrative Biology, University of Texas, Austin, will speak on "Ant-Microbe Interaction and Evolution."
Site: 12:10 to 1 p.m., 122 Briggs Hall.
Host: Marek Borowiec of the Phil Ward lab.

March 21: Stephen Welter, professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, UC Berkeley, and associate dean of instruction and student affairs, will speak on "Pheromone Mating Disruption Systems for Management of Insects in Perennial Crops:  New Successes with Old Problems."
Site: 12:10 to 1 p.m., 122 Briggs Hall.
Host: Steve Seybold, UC Davis Department of Entomology affiliate

Contact information:
Louie Yang: (530) 754-3261 or lhyang@ucdavis.edu
Joanna Chiu: (530) 752-1839 or jcchiu@ucdavis.edu

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--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894