Jeff Scott

Our research is characterized by the five major areas below and seeks answers to both applied and basic questions.  The techniques we use are varied and wide ranging.

Research foci

Insecticide resistance and evolutionary biology

Resistance is one of the major problems facing public health and agriculture. Resistance has been referred to as "instant evolution" and causes major disruption whenever vectors of human disease or pests of agriculture can no longer be controlled. We study resistance as both a problem for which we need practical solutions, as well as an intensely interesting problem in basic evolutionary biology. We specialize in investigating the mechanisms (biochemical and genetic), inheritance, management, fitness costs and population genetics of insecticide resistance. 

 

Insect genetics and molecular biology

These are active areas of research in our laboratory. We examine the genetic control and linkage of important traits (such as insecticide resistance), and we are now investigating the transcriptional control of genes responsible for insecticide resistance. We are also investigating the role of RNA editing of genes coding for proteins of importance to insecticide action.

 

Sex determination in house flies

We are studying sex deterination to understand the factors responsible for variation in the linkage of the male determining factor in field populations. Clines in the distribution of autosomal males exist and appear to be stable. Some populations have males with multiple copies of M and we have recently detected the female determining factor F in house flies from the USA.

 

Insecticide toxicology and metabolism

Studies are carried out to better understand the target sites of current and novel insecticides, as well as their pharmacodynamics (movement and fate within the organism). Studies have involved neuophysiological investigations into insecticide action as well as efforts to identify the enzymes involved in the metabolism of the insecticide.

 

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases

These proteins are a vital biochemical system because they metabolize xenobiotics such as drugs, pesticides and plant toxins, and because they regulate the titers of endogenous compounds such as hormones, fatty acids and steroids. Cytochrome P450 (P450) is a hemoprotein which acts as the terminal oxidase in monooxygenase systems and there are multiple P450s in eukaryotic species. Monooxygenases are remarkable in that they can oxidize widely diverse substrates and are capable of producing a bewildering array of reactions. Our studies involve identification of novel P450s, identification of P450s involved in metabolism of specific substrates, and the role of P450s in insect reproduction.

A selection of recent publications

Hamm RL, Gao J-R, Lin G. and Scott JG 2009. Selective advantage for IIIM males over YM males in competition over 12 generations in Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae) Environmental Entomology 38, 499-504. Pubmed

Scott JG, Liu N, Kristensen M. and Clark AG 2009. A case for sequencing the genome of the house fly, Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae). Journal of Medical Entomology 46, 175-82. Pubmed

Rinkevich FD and Scott JG 2009. Transcriptional diversity and allelic variation in nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. Insect Molecular Biology 18, 233-242. Pubmed

Hardstone MC, Lazzaro BP and Scott JG 2009. The effect of three environmental conditions on the fitness of cytochrome P450 monooxygenase-mediated permethrin resistance in Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus. BMC Evolutionary Biology 9, 42. Pubmed

Tribolium Genome Sequencing Consortium 2008. The genome of the model beetle and pest Tribolium castaneum. Nature 452, 949-955. Pubmed