In the Annual Review of Entomology: Odorant Reception in Insects: Roles of Receptors, Binding Proteins, and Degrading Enzymes Latest Publications View my collection, "My Bibliography" from NCBI Published in the Public Library of Sciences-PLoS ONE: Moth Sex Pheromone Receptors and Deceitful Parapheromones Published in the Public Library of Sciences-PLoS ONE: Conserved Odorant-Binding Proteins from Aphids and Eavesdropping Predators Published in the Journal of Visualized Experiments: Electrophysiological Measurements from a Moth Olfactory System Link to JoVE Published in the Journal of Insect Physiology: Characterization of olfactory genes in the antennae of the house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus Published in the Journal of Molecular Biology: Dynamic conformational equilibria in the physiological function of the Bombyx mori pheromone-binding protein Published in the Public Library of Sciences-PLoS ONE: Generic insect repellent detector from the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster Published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications: Extrusion of the C-terminal helix in navel orangeworm moth pheromone-binding protein (AtraPBP1) controls pheromone binding Published in the Journal of Chemical Ecology: Pheromone binding to general odorant-binding proteins from the navel orangeworm Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA: Crystal and solution structures of an odorant-binding protein from the southern house mosquito complexed with an oviposition pheromone Published in the Public Library of Sciences-PLoS ONE: Odorant-Binding Proteins of the Malaria Mosquito Anopheles funestus sensu stricto

Welcoming
New Lab Members
Dr. Young-Moo Choo
Junior Scientist
Xiaoli Zhang
Visiting Graduate Student
Hang Gao
Undergraduate Student

Our Group After a Seminar (September 27, 2010)


Published in the Journal of Chemical Ecology (Open Access)
CLICK HERE-Odorant Receptor from the Southern House Mosquito
Narrowly Tuned to the Oviposition Attractant Skatole


Zain Syed, Julien Pelletier, Wei Xu, Eric Flounders,
Ryan Nguyen, and Walter Leal welcome
New Lab Members
Dr. Elizabeth Atungulu
Ph.D. Iwate University-Japan
Sponsored by National Science Foundation

Just Arrived
Sophie Vandermoten
University of Liege, Belgium


Rodrigo Chitolina
Undergrad, Universidade Federal do Parana-Curitiba, Brazil
Sponsored by CAPES-FIPSE


Dr. Pingxi Xu
Recipient of the 2005 Eppendorf and Science Prize for Neurobiology

Leonardo Diório Lordello
Undergrad, Universidade Federal do Parana-Curitiba, Brazil
Sponsored by CAPES-FIPSE


Fernando Ribeiro Sujimoto
Undergrad, Universidade Universidade de Sao Paulo-Campus de Piracicaba (ESALQ)
Sponsored by CAPES-FIPSE


Diego Rivas (Undergrad, UC Santa Cruz)


Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS
CLICK HERE-Bombykol receptors in the silkworm moth and the fruit fly

See articles:
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
UC Newsroom
The Davis Enterprise

Published in the Journal of Chemical Ecology
CLICK HERE-Knockdown of a Mosquito Odorant-binding Protein
Involved in the Sensitive Detection of Oviposition Attractants


NEWS & VIEWS in NATURE

Published in March 4, 2010:
The treacherous scent of a human


Mining the Genome of the Southern House Mosquito for Molecular Targets

Published in the Public Library of Sciences-PLoS ONE:
Odorant Receptor Sensitive to an Oviposition Attractant

OVIPOSITION ATTRACTANT FOR Culex quinquefasciatus

DEVELOPED BY OUR LABORATORY
Is now Commercially Avilable by
CHEMTICA INTERNATIONAL(Click Here for Details)

Leal Lab Members Gather at Susumu Maeda Mulberry Tree
to Discuss the Research Reported in the Latest PNAS Paper

Rear: Postdoctoral Scholars: Julien Pelletier, Zain Syed, and Elizabeth Oriema,
and Undergrad Student Allen Hoang
Front: Walter Leal is flanked by Graduate Student Wei Xu, Undergrad Student Jessica Doolittle (left)
and Undergrad Students Eric Flounders and Ryan Nguyen
Absent: Undergrad Students Sadaf Mehdizadeh, Nicholas (Nick) Nguyen, and Afsoon Badiei

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS
CLICK HERE-Nonanal: A Mosquito Attractant from Birds and Humans

In This Issue: PNAS November 3, 2009
Compound may attract West Nile virus-harboring mosquitoes


Featured in SCIENCE
To Mosquitoes, We Smell Like Bird


Recommeded by Faculty of 1000
MUST READ Factor 6.0


Highlights from the Media:

Los Angeles Times
The Sacramento Bee
UC Newsroom: Dominant odor that lures mosquitoes identified
See Wikipedia
The Davis Enterpise
The Daily Democrat
DiscoveryNews
Discovery CHANNEL
ScienceDaily
Selected Science News
U.S.News & World Report
National Science Foundation: Where Discoveries Begin


NPR-Insight: Listen to Interview with Jeffrey Callison

Leal Lab Members Before a Seminar to Discuss the Latest PNAS Paper Top row: Allen Hoang and Nicholas (Nick) Nguyen (Undergrad students), and Wei Xu (AgCHEM Grad Student)
Middle row: Diogo Vidal (SUSPROT), Walter Leal (PI), Zain Syed, Julien Pelletier (Postdoctoral Scholars), and Gordon Walker (BMB Grad Student)
Front row: Niki Sohrabpour, Afsoon Badiei (Undergrad student), and Aline Guildolin (SUSPROT)
Sadaf Mehdizadeh (absent)

Culex Mosquitoes and Malaria

Kija Ng'habi,
a Scholar from Tanzania,
discusses how malaria-preventing bed net programs could be improved

NEW!! Prospecting the Genome of Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus for Olfactory Proteins Published in the Public Library of Sciences-PLoS ONE: Genome Analysis and Expression Patterns of Odorant-Binding Proteins from the Southern House Mosquito Structure of a Mosquito Odorant-Binding Protein Published in the Public Library of Sciences-PLoS ONE: Structure of an Odorant-Binding Protein from the Mosquito Aedes aegypti Suggests a Binding Pocket Covered by a pH-Sensitive “Lid” JUST RELEASED!! Paving the way for Reverse Chemical Ecology Published in the Public Library of Sciences-PLoS ONE: Olfactory Proteins Mediating Chemical Communication in the Navel Orangeworm Moth, Amyelois transitella Walter Leal elected Fellow of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) Kathy Keatley Garvey wrote: Chemical Ecologist Selected as an ESA Fellow See articles: in the Davis Enterprise in California Farmer in ComunidadeNews (in Portuguese) SUSPROT Students are Ag Ambassadors See articles: By Kathy Keatley Garvey in The Daily Democrat in ComunidadeNews (in Portuguese) See here a silkworm male responding to synthetic bombykol in a Y-olfactometer This movie, courtesy of Dr. Karl-Ernst Kaissling (Max Planck Institute), shows a silkworm male responding to a calling female and to female gland exudate (natural pheromone). It is an excellent demonstration for Elementary School Teachers A low resolution version for low-speed connections is here Groundbreaking Research!!! Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS How the insect repellent DEET works Highlights from the Media: The New York Times ScienceDaily WebMD UC Davis News Service: DEET Research Takes Center Stage BBC World News: Interview with Claudia Hammond Learn more about DEET from Wikipedia

Culex Mosquitoes Oviposition Attractants Published in the Public Library of Sciences-PLoS ONE: Odorless lure for trapping gravid females See Article in ScienceDaily See Spotlight from the Brazilian Network Rede Globo in the program Bom Dia Brasil

Pheromone-Degrading Enzyme from the Japanese Beetle Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Chiral Discrimination of the Sex Pheromone and a Behavioral Antagonist See Press Release and Video Interview by The National Science Foundation Complete News By Kathy K. Garvey

Pheromone Reception in Fruit Flies Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Expressing a Moth's Odorant Receptor Recommended by Faculty of 1000 Listen to Interview with Jeffrey Callison NPR-Insight

Chemosensory protein from the red imported fire ant (RIFA) Published in the Public Library of Sciences-PLoS ONE: GP-9s are ubiquitous proteins unlikely involved in olfaction

Elementary School Student Gets Startling Results In Science Project Conducted in our Lab See Article in the Daily Democrat Or a pdf file of the article published on Dec. 27, 2008 See article in the Davis Enterprise on January 6, 2009 The Sacramento Bee January 9, 2009: "...breakthrough for nut farmers"

Current members of the lab (as of December, 2008): From Left, Ana Claudia do Amaral Melo-Scholar on sabbatical leave, Derrick Stacy-ABI, Wei Xu-AgCHEM Graduate Student, Scott McCluen-Junior Scientist, Gabriel-6th Grader on a Science Project, Walter S. Leal-PI, Charles Assare-Undergraduate Student, Ruben Palma-Graduate Student-CHILE, Zain Syed-Postdoctoral Scholar, Zhao Liu-Graduate Student-CHINA, and Julien Pelletier-Postdoctoral Scholar

Dr. Ben Mensah
Fulbright Visiting Scholar

The Most Entomology-Oriented New Year Card We Received This Year
(From Professor Sigeru Matsuyama-Tsukuba University, Japan)

Recent Awards

Recent Awards

Walter Leal Received the C. W. Woodworth Award from the ESA Pacific Branch
See Wikipedia

Zain Syed Named Outstanding Postdoctoral Scholar for Excellence in Research UC Davis-Graduate Studies

Walter Leal Receives the Recognition Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology Entomological Society of America

Walter Leal Awarded Medal of Science from Brazilian Congress of Entomology
See article in ComunidadeNews: Jornal da Comunidade Brasileira
See article by Kathy K. Garvey

Walter Leal Received the International Society of Chemical Ecology's Silverstein-Simeone Lecture Award

Zain Syed Received UC Davis Citation for Excellence

Graduate Student Wei Xu Wins Two Awards at ESA Annual Meeting in Reno

Walter Leal Delivered Scudder Lecture in Entomology at the University of British Columbia

Walter Leal Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Current Members Walter S. Leal (Principal Investigator) My eCV is Here Zainulabeuddin (Zain) Syed (Postdoctoral Scholar) My eCV is Here Julien Pelletier (Postdoctoral Scholar) My eCV is Here Ana Claudia do Amaral Melo (Scholar on sabbatical leave) My eCV is Here Wei Xu (Graduate Student) My eCV is Here Zhao Liu (Graduate Student-CHINA) My eCV is Here Ruben Palma (Graduate Student-CHILE) My eCV is Here Derrick Stacy (Undergraduate Student-ABI Program) My eCV is Here Charles Assare (Undergraduate Student-MCB) My eCV is Here Gabriel (6th Grader-School Science Project) My eCV is Here Former Members Yuko Ishida (PostDoc) Ana Lia Parra (Graduate Student) Stephanie DeBorde Dickey (Research Assistant) Armenak (Armen) Margaryan (Senior Research Scientist) Melissa L. Erickson (PGR) Jennifer Tsuruda (PGR) Scott McCluen (Junior Scientist) Chris Pagan (Undergraduate Student) Allison Manko (Undergraduate Student) Brooke Pannell (Student) Melissa Hardstone (Student) Tania Morgan (Graduate Student) Catherine Richardson (Student) Göde Schüler (PostDoc) Ning Li (GradStudent) Vicky Chiang (Student) Chunpei Wang (Student) Carol Chen (Student) Helen Wong (Student) Chris Bahr (PostDoc) John Garden (Senior Research Associate) Angela Chen (PGR) Justin Bonetto (Undergraduate Student) Shinichi Tebayashi (Visiting Scientist)

Research Activities in our Lab are Sponsored by:

National Institutes of Health-NIH
National Science Foundation-NSF
WHERE DISCOVERIES BEGIN
USDA-AFRI
Gifts from Various Donors, including
Bedoukian Research Incorporation
Fuji Flavor Co.

Address

Walter S. Leal
Maeda-Duffey Lab
37 Briggs Hall
UC Davis / Entomology see map

Phone: +1-530-752-7755
FAX: +1-530-752-1537
wsleal@ucdavis.edu

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Site maintained by Walter S. Leal wsleal@ucdavis.edu.
Design was was adapted from http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/ (by namnguyen@ucdavis.edu)
Last Updated: 1/2/13