Ellen Martinson

• Professor (Assistant) at University of New Mexico

The evolution of diverse and novel morphological traits is poorly understood, especially how symbiotic interactions can drive these adaptations. The extreme diversity of external traits in insect-induced galls is currently explained by the Enemy Hypothesis, in which these traits have selective advantage in deterring parasitism. While previous tests...

Integrative taxonomic practices that combine multiple lines of evidence for species delimitation greatly improve our understanding of intra- and inter-species variation and biodiversity. However, extended phenotypes remain underutilized despite their potential as a species-specific set of extracorporeal morphological and life history traits. Primar...

The mosquito family Culicidae is divided into two subfamilies named the Culicinae and Anophelinae. Nix, the dominant male-determining factor, has only been found in the culicines Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus, two important arboviral vectors that belong to the subgenus Stegomyia. Here we performed sex-specific whole-genome sequencing and RNAseq...

Insect-induced galls are novel structures that serve as habitat to whole communities of associate arthropods that include predators, parasitoids, and inquilines. Galling insects are generally under-described, but their associate communities, which can include many specialist organisms, are virtually unknown, particularly in the southwest United Sta...

Insect-induced galls are novel structures that serve as habitat to whole communities of associate arthropods that include predators, parasitoids and inquilines. Galling insects are generally under-described, but their associate communities, which can include many specialist organisms, are virtually unknown, particularly in the southwest United Stat...

The mosquito family Culicidae is divided into two subfamilies named the Culicinae and Anophelinae. Nix, the dominant male-determining factor, has only been found in the culicines Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus, two important arboviral vectors that belong to the subgenus Stegomyia. Here we performed sex-specific whole-genome sequencing and RNAseq...

Most mosquito species are anautogenous, which means they must blood feed on a vertebrate host to produce eggs, while a few are autogenous and can produce eggs without blood feeding. Egg formation is best understood in the anautogenous mosquito Aedes aegypti where insulin-like peptides (ILPs), ovary ecdysteroidogenic hormone (OEH) and 20-hydroxyecdy...

The parasitoid wasp Muscidifurax raptorellus (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) is a gregarious species that has received extensive attention for its potential in biological pest control against house fly, stable fly, and other filth flies. It has a high reproductive capacity and can be reared easily. However, genome assembly is not available for M. rapto...

Every organism on Earth depends on interactions with other organisms to survive. In each of these interactions, an organism must utilize the limited toolbox of genes and proteins it possesses to successfully manipulate or cooperate with another species, but it can also co‐opt the genome machinery of its partner to expand its available tools. Insect...

Following publication of the original article [1], it was reported that the article copyright was incorrect. The correct copyright statement is: © This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply 2021. The original article [1] has been corrected.

Background The stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, is a major blood-feeding pest of livestock that has near worldwide distribution, causing an annual cost of over $2 billion for control and product loss in the USA alone. Control of these flies has been limited to increased sanitary management practices and insecticide application for suppressing larva...

The New World Screwworm fly, Cochliomyia hominivorax, is a major pest of livestock in South America and Caribbean. However, few genomic resources have been available for this species. A genome of 534 Mb was assembled from long read PacBio DNA sequencing of DNA from a highly inbred strain. Analysis of molecular evolution identified 40 genes that are...

Jewel wasps in the genus of Nasonia are parasitoids with haplodiploidy sex determination, rapid development and are easy to culture in the laboratory. They are excellent models for insect genetics, genomics, epigenetics, development, and evolution. Nasonia vitripennis ( Nv ) and N. giraulti ( Ng ) are closely-related species that can be intercrosse...

Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) are a megadiverse superfamily of wasps with astounding variation in both morphology and biology. Most species are parasitoids and important natural enemies of insects in terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, we present a transcriptome‐based phylogeny of Chalcidoidea; we found that poorly resolved relationships could only...

Background: The stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, is a major blood-feeding pest of livestock that has near worldwide distribution, causing an annual cost of over $2 billion for control and product loss in the United States alone. Control of these flies has been limited to increased sanitary management practices and insecticide application for suppre...

The flesh fly, Sarcophaga bullata, is a widely-used model for examining the physiology of insect diapause, development, stress tolerance, neurobiology, and host-parasitoid interactions. Flies in this taxon are implicated in myiasis (larval infection of vertebrates) and feed on carrion, aspects that are important in forensic studies. Here we present...

Venom of the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis changes the metabolism and gene expression in its fly host Sarcophaga bullata to induce developmental arrest, suppression of the immune response, and various other venom effects. Yet, the venom of ectoparasitoid wasps has not been fully characterized. A major component of N. vitripennis venom is an u...

Egan et al. introduce the reader to gall wasps, including a description of their life cycle and complex ecological interactions with host plants and natural enemies.

Background: Trichogrammatids are minute parasitoid wasps that develop within other insect eggs. They are less than half a millimeter long, smaller than some protozoans. The Trichogrammatidae are one of the earliest branching families of Chalcidoidea: a diverse superfamily of approximately half a million species of parasitoid wasps, proposed to hav...

1. Parasitoid wasps sting and inject venom into arthropod hosts, which alters host metabolism and development while keeping the host alive for several days, presumably to induce benefits for the parasitoid young. 2. This study investigates the consequences of host envenomation on development and fitness of wasp larvae in the ectoparasitoid Nasonia...

The classic model for the evolution of novel gene function is through gene duplication followed by evolution of a new function by one of the copies (neofunctionalization) [ 1, 2 ]. However, other modes have also been found, such as novel genes arising from non-coding DNA, chimeric fusions, and lateral gene transfers from other organisms [ 3–7 ]. He...

Parasitoid wasps use venom to manipulate the immunity and metabolism of their host insects in a variety of ways to provide resources for their offspring. Yet, how genes are recruited and evolve to perform venom functions remain open questions. A recently recognized source of eukaryotic genome innovation is lateral gene transfer (LGT). Glycoside hyd...

A striking property of the mutualism between figs and their pollinating wasps is that wasps consistently oviposit in the inner flowers of the fig syconium, which develop into galls that house developing larvae. Wasps typically do not use the outer ring of flowers, which develop into seeds. To better understand differences between gall and seed flow...

Parasitoid wasps are diverse and ecologically important insects that use venom to modify their host's metabolism for the benefit of the parasitoid's offspring. Thus venom can be considered an “extended phenotype” of the wasp. The model parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis has approximately 100 venom proteins, 23 of which do not have sequence similar...

Parasitoid wasps inject insect hosts with a cocktail of venoms to manipulate the physiology, development, and immunity of the hosts and to promote development of the parasitoid offspring. The jewel wasp Nasonia vitripennis is a model parasitoid with at least 79 venom proteins. We conducted a high-throughput analysis of Nasonia venom effects on temp...

The ancient association of figs (Ficus spp.) and their pollinating wasps (fig wasps; Chalcidoidea, Hymenoptera) is one of the most interdependent plant-insect mutualisms known. In addition to pollinating wasps, a diverse community of organisms develops within the microcosm of the fig inflorescence and fruit. To better understand the multipartite co...