Bruce McPheron
Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Director of
PA Ag Experiment Station

The Pennsylvania State University
217 Ag Administration Building
557 Ag Sciences & Industries Building
University Park, PA 16802

Phone: 814-865-5410
Email: bam10@psu.edu

Current Graduate Students:

Raul Ruiz

Link to:

Dr. McPheron's Population Genetics Lab

Education:

B.S., Ohio State University, 1976
M.S., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1980
Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1987

Department Focus Areas:

Ecological Applications

Research Interests:

Insect population genetics; genetics of insecticide resistance; molecular systematics

Teaching:

Introduction to Entomology
Insect Taxonomy

Administrative Responsibilities:

Administrative Fellow (50% time) in the College of Agricultural Sciences
Duties in the Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station include intellectual property issues, facilitation of interdisciplinary research/education projects, and accountability assessment relative to Experiment Station Research Plan of Work.

Research Activities and Interests:

The research conducted in our lab focuses mainly on insect ecology and genetics by combining molecular biology with subjects like pest management, insect-plant interactions, and basic insect biology. We are examining population genetics problems in fruit flies (Tephritidae) using mitochondrial DNA, isozymes, and microsatellite DNA. We also use DNA sequences for molecular systematic studies of insects, particularly the Tephritidae and their relatives.

Some of our current fruit fly population genetics projects include:

• mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA analysis of Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, population structure on a global scale (funded by the California Citrus Research Board)
  
  
• developing molecular diagnostic tools to examine invasive potential of Ceratitis species (funded by USDA-IFAFS)
  
  
• examining the population structure of the Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens, throughout its range and using molecular tools to evaluate the possibility of cryptic species (funded by the California Department of Food and Agriculture)
  
  
• clarifying the cryptic species complex within the nominal species Anastrepha fraterculus, the South American fruit fly (funded by the International Atomic Energy Agency)
  
  
• study of the apple-infesting race of the apple maggot fly, Rhagoletis pomonella, throughout eastern North America (funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture)
  
  
• examining a case of natural hybridization in the Rhagoletis pomonella species complex that appears to involve a host shift

Some of our current systematics projects include:

• molecular systematics of the fruit fly genus Anastrepha
  
  
• molecular systematics of the family Tephritidae and the superfamily Tephritoidea
  
  
• systematics of the microcaddisflies (Trichoptera: Hydroptilidae: Neotrichia and relatives)

Another aspect of insect population genetics that we have studied for some years is the evolution of insecticide resistance in an apple pest, the tufted apple bud moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae: Platynota idaeusalis). Our earliest work was with the problem of organophosphate resistance, particularly resistance to azinphosmethyl. Subsequently, we have been looking at the potential for resistance to insect growth regulators using a laboratory selection approach. We have isolated a glutathione transferase gene that shows some activity toward azinphosmethyl in vitro, and we are now looking at ecdysone receptor genes in this insect.

Students in my laboratory share approaches to answer research questions. They also have opportunities to interact with students and faculty in the Intercollege Graduate Program in Genetics and the Institute for Molecular Evolutionary Genetics at Penn State.

Relevant Publications:

Thomas, M. A., K. A. Walsh, M. R. Wolfe, B. A. McPheron, and J. H. Marden. 2000. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of evolutionary trends in stonefly wing structure and locomotor behavior.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 97: 13178-13183. (abstract)

McPheron, B. A., H.-Y. Han, J. G. Silva, and A. L. Norrbom. 1999. Phylogeny of Anastrepha and Toxotrypana based upon 16S rRNA mitochondrial DNA sequences. Pp. 343-361 in Fruit Flies (Tephritidae): Phylogeny and Evolution of Behavior, M. Aluja and A. L. Norrbom, eds., CRC Press.

Han, H.-Y. and B. A. McPheron. 1999. Molecular data as a tool to test phylogenetic relationships among higher groups of Tephritidae: A case study using mitochondrial ribosomal DNA sequences. Pp. 115-132 in Fruit Flies (Tephritidae): Phylogeny and Evolution of Behavior, M. Aluja and A. L. Norrbom, eds., CRC Press.

Feder, J. L., S. M. Williams, S. H. Berlocher, B. A. McPheron, and G. L. Bush. 1999. The population genetics of the apple maggot fly, Rhagoletis pomonella, and the snowberry maggot, R. zephyria: implications for models of sympatric speciation. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 90: 9-24. (abstract)

Gasparich, G. E., J. G. Silva, H.-Y. Han, B. A. McPheron, G. J. Steck, and W. S. Sheppard. 1997. Population genetic structure of Mediterranean fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) and implications for worldwide colonization patterns. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 90:790-797.

Hull, L. A., B. A. McPheron, and A. M. Lake. 1997. Insecticide resistance management and integrated mite management in orchards: can they coexist? Pesticide Science 51:359-366. (abstract)

Ro, K.-E., C. S. Keener, and B. A. McPheron. 1997. Molecular phylogenetic study of the Ranunculaceae: Utility of the nuclear 26S ribosomal DNA in inferring intrafamilial relationships. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 8:117-127. (abstract)

Han, H.-Y. and B. A. McPheron. 1997. Molecular phylogenetic study of Tephritidae (Insecta: Diptera) using partial sequences of the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 7:17-32. (abstract)

McPheron, B. A. and H.-Y. Han. 1997. Phylogenetic analysis of North American Rhagoletis (Diptera: Tephritidae) and related genera using mitochondrial DNA sequence data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 7:1-16. (abstract)

Berlocher, S. H. and B. A. McPheron. 1996. Population structure of Rhagoletis pomonella, the apple maggot fly. Heredity 77: 83-99. (abstract)

Carlini, E. J., B. A. McPheron, C. M. Felland, and L. A. Hull. 1995. Biochemical mechanisms of azinphosmethyl resistance in the tufted apple bud moth Platynota idaeusalis. Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology 51:38-47. (abstract)