KORTH LAB
Research
Our research focuses on interactions of plants and insects. Specifically, we use the tools of molecular biology to examine how plants respond to insect herbivory and to insect-derived factors. These factors can include components of caterpillar saliva or regurgitant. We measure gene transcript levels and the release of volatile compounds in both rice and the model legume
Medicago truncatula. The volatile organic compounds released by
injured plants can serve as signals to herbivores, natural enemies of the
herbivorous insects, or perhaps even to other plants. We also work in
collaboration with Dr. Paul Nakata (USDA-ARS/Baylor School of Medicine) with mutant lines of M.
truncatula containing altered levels of calcium oxalate, to determine the
role of this common mineral in insect resistance.
We are part of a large scale collaborative project aimed at analysis of the
M. truncatula genome. We make use of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from insect-damaged leaves into an
M. truncatula
EST database and have utilized in silico and microarray analyses of
EST-based sequences to identify a large number of insect-induced and
insect-suppressed transcripts.
A related project in the lab deals with regulation of enzymes important for the biosynthesis of
terpenoids, the largest and most-varied class of plant natural products. This
group of compounds can contribute as antimicrobial factors in plant species such as rice, potato, and
pepper. Sterols or sterol precursors, which can have beneficial
nutritional properties, are also derived from this pathway. Finally, many of the induced volatile
signals released from leaves following insect herbivory are
terpenoids.
Research in our lab has been funded by:
The Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board
The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation
The Arkansas Biosciences Institute
The Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board