Jim Tumlinson
Ralph O. Mumma Professor of Entomology
Director, Center for Chemical Ecology

The Pennsylvania State University
111 Chemical Ecology Lab
University Park, PA 16802

Phone: 814-863-1770
FAX: 814-863-4439
Email: jht2@psu.edu

Current Graduate Students:

Nurian Badillo
Liz Bosak
Tracy Conklin
Sean Halloran
Christy Harris
Emily Kuhns
Daniel Schmehl
Ezra Schwartzberg

Link to: Center for Chemical Ecology

Education:

B.S. Virginia Military Institute 1960 - Chemistry
M.S. Mississippi State University 1966 - Organic Chemistry, Entomology minor
Ph.D . Mississippi State University 1969 - Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry minor

International Programs/Experience:

Collaborating with scientists in Brazil and in S. Africa on investigations to identify an attractant for Sirex noctilio, an invasive species of woodwasp that attacks pine trees and was recently discovered in Oswego, NY.  This research is supported by USDA, APHIS. Collaborating with Professor Naoki Mori, University of Kyoto, Japan, on research to determine the role of insect produced elicitors of plant defenses in the digestion and metabolic processes of the caterpillars that produce the elicitors.

Department Focus Area:

Chemical Ecology

Research Interests:

Chemicals that affect insect behavior, plant-insect interactions, plant signaling, and plant defenses

Research:

As a chemist interested in biological and agricultural systems, I have studied chemicals that affect insect behavior. My laboratory has identified insect pheromones and other semiochemicals, investigated the biochemical mechanisms by which chemical signals are produced and released by insects, and studied the behavioral responses, including learned responses, of insects to chemical cues. More recently, we have been investigating the interactions among herbivorous insects, their host plants, and their natural enemies. We found that plants damaged by caterpillar feeding synthesize and release volatile chemicals. Small wasps use these released volatiles as cues to locate and parasitize the caterpillars. The chemical defenses of the plant are induced by a compound, which we identified and named volicitin, in the oral secretion of the caterpillars. We are now investigating the biochemical mechanisms by which volicitin triggers the plant chemical defense, the source of volicitin in the caterpillars, its role in insect metabolism, the structures of similar molecules in other insect species, and the responses of the parasitic wasps to plant volatile chemicals. Emphasis is on developing fundamental knowledge and principles that can be applied in environmentally safe pest management programs.

Recent Publications:

Turlings, T. C. J., Alborn, H. T., Loughrin, J. H., and Tumlinson, J. H. Volicitin, an elicitor of maize volatiles in the oral secretion of Spodoptera exigua: its isolation and bio-activity. J. Chem. Ecol. 26(1): 189-202. 2000.

Alborn, H. T., Jones, T. H., Stenhagen, G. S., and Tumlinson, J. H. Identification and synthesis of volic-itin and related components from beet armyworm oral secretions. J. Chem. Ecol. 26(1): 203-220. 2000.

Tumlinson, J. H., Paré, P. W., Alborn, H. T., and Lewis, W. J. Chemically mediated tritrophic plant-insect interactions. In de Wit, P. J. G. M., Bisseling, T., and Stiekema, W. J. (Eds.) Biology of Plant-Microbe Interactions, Vol. 2. Proc. 9th Intl. Cong. on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, pp 378-383. 1999.

De Moraes, C. M., Lewis, W. J., and Tumlinson, J. H. Examining plant-parasitoid interactions in tritro-phic systems. An. Soc. Entomol. Brasil 29(2): 189-203. 2000.

Tumlinson, J. H., Alborn, H. T., Loughrin, J. H., Turlings, T. C. J., and Jones, T. H. Plant Volatile Elici-tor from Insects. U. S. Patent # 6,054,483; April 25, 2000; U. S. Patent # 6,207,712 B1; March 27, 2001.

Frey, M., Stettner, C., Paré, P. W., Schmelz, E. A., Tumlinson, J. H., and Gierl, A. An herbivore elicitor activates the gene for indole emission in maize. PNAS 97(26): 14801-14806. 2000.

Mori, N., Alborn, H. T., Teal, P. E. A., and Tumlinson, J. H. Enzymatic decomposition of elicitors of plant volatiles in Heliothis virescens and Helicoverpa zea. J. Ins. Phys. 47: 749-757. 2001.

De Moraes, C. M., Mescher, M. C., and Tumlinson, J. H. Caterpillar-induced nocturnal plant volatiles repel conspecific females. Nature. 410: 577-580. 2001.

Schmelz, E.A., Alborn, H. T., and Tumlinson, J. H. The influence of intact-plant and excised-leaf bioas-say designs on voliticitin- and jasmonic acid-induced sesquiterpene volatile release in Zea mays. Planta. 214: 171-179. 2001.

Cardoza, Y. J., Alborn, H. T., and Tumlinson, J. H. In vivo volatile emissions from peanut plants induced by simultaneous fungal infection and insect damage. J. Chem. Ecol. 28(1): 161-174. 2002.

Engelberth, J., Schmelz, E.A., Alborn, H. T., Cardoza, Y. J., Huang, J. and Tumlinson, J. H. Simultane-ous quantification of jasmonic acid and salicylic acid in plants by vapor-phase extraction and gas chroma-tography-chemical ionization-mass spectrometry. Anal. Biochem. 312: 242-250. 2003.

Schmelz, E. A., Alborn, H. T., Banchio, E., and Tumlinson, J. H. Quantitative relationships between in-duced jasmonic acid levels and volatile emission in Zea mays during Spodoptera exigua herbivory. Planta. 216:665-673. 2003.

Schmelz, E. A., Alborn, H. T., and Tumlinson, J. H. Synergistic interactions between volicitin, jasmonic acid and ethylene mediate insect-induced volatile emission in Zea mays. Physiologia Plantarum. 117:403-412. 2003.

Cardoza, Y. J., Lait, C. G., Schmelz, E. A., Huang, J., and Tumlinson, J. H. Fungus-induced biochemical changes in peanut plants and their effect on development of beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua Hubner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae. Environ. Entomol. 32: 220-228, 2003.

Suazo, A., Torto, B., Teal, P.E.A. and Tumlinson, J. H. Response of the small hive beetle (Aethina tu-mida Murray) to honey bee (Aphis Mellifera L.) - and beehive-produced volatiles. Apidologie. 34: xxx-yyy. 2003.

Aldrich, J. R., Bartelt, R. J., Dickens, J. C., Knight, A. L., Light, D. M., and Tumlinson, J. H. Insect Chemical Ecology. Pest Management Science. 59:777-787. 2003.

Alborn, H.T., Brennan, M.M. and Tumlinson, J.H. Differential activity and degradation of plant volatile elicitors present in the regurgitant of tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta) larvae. Journal of Chemical Ecology. 29: 1357-1372. 2003.

Huang, J., Cardoza, Y.J., Schmelz, E.A., Raina, R., Engelberth, J.E. and Tumlinson, J.H. Differential volatile emissions and salicylic acid levels from tobacco plants in response to different strains of pseudo-monas syringae. Planta. 217: 767-775. 2003.

Lait, C.G., Alborn, H.T, Teal, P.E.A., and Tumlinson, J.H. Rapid biosynthesis of N-linolenoyl-L-glutamine, an elicitor of plant volatiles, by membrane associated enzyme(s) in Manduca sexta. PNAS. 100: 7027-7032. 2003.

Schmelz, E.A., Alborn, H.T. and Tumlinson, J.H. Nitrogen deficiency increases volicitin-induced volatile emission by altering ethylene sensitivity and the kinetics of JA accumulation in Zea mays. Plant Physiol-ogy. 133: 295-306. 2003

Cardoza, Y.J., Teal, P. E. A., Tumlinson, J. H. Effect of Peanut Plant Fungal Infection on Oviposition Preference by Spodoptera exigua and on Host-Searching Behavior by Cotesia marginiventris. Environmental Entomology. 32: 970-976. 2003.

Schmelz, E. A., Engelberth, J., Alborn, H. T., O'Donnell, P., Sammons, M., Toshima, H. and Tumlinson, J. H. Simultaneous analysis of phytohormones, phytotoxins, and volatile organic compounds in plants. PNAS, 100: 10552-10557. 2003.

Engelberth, J., Alborn, H. T., Schmelz, E. A., and Tumlinson J. H. Airborne signals prime plants against insect herbivore attack. PNAS, 101: 1781-1785. 2004.

Rose, U. S. R. and Tumlinson J. H. Volatiles released from cotton plants in response to Helicoverpa zea feeding damage on cotton flower buds. Planta 218: 824–832. 2004.