Sean Putnam

University of Nebraska at Lincoln | NU · Department of Entomology

Field and laboratory studies were conducted in 2000 and 2001 to determine the feasibility of mass marking western corn rootworm adults, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, with RbCl in the field. Results showed that application of rubidium (Rb) in solution to both the soil (1 g Rb/plant) and whorl (1 g Rb/plant) of corn plants was optimal for l...

The bacterium, Xenorhabdus nematophilus, is a virulent insect pathogen. We tested the hypothesis that this bacterium impairs insect cellular immune defense reactions by inhibiting biosynthesis of eicosanoids involved in mediating cellular defense reactions. Fifth instar tobacco hornworms, Manduca sexta, produced melanized nodules in reaction to cha...

Prostaglandins and related eicosanoids are oxygenated metabolites of certain C20 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Eicosanoids are best understood in the context of their clinical significance in human medicine. We suggest a new and broader view of eicosanoids, which we have been calling a 'biological paradigm'. Under this view, we note that eicosanoids...

We describe prostaglandin (PG) biosynthesis by microsomal-enriched fractions of fat body prepared from larvae of the tenebrionid beetle, Zophobas atratus. PG biosynthesis was sensitive to incubation time, temperature, pH, substrate and protein concentration. Optimal PG biosynthesis conditions of those we examined included 2 mg of microsomal-enriche...

Nodulation is the first, and qualitatively predominant, cellular defense reaction to bacterial infections in insects. We tested the hypothesis that eicosanoids also mediate nodulation reactions to bacterial challenge in adults of a social insect, the honey bee, Apis mellifera. Treating newly-emerged experimental bees with the eicosanoid biosynthesi...