David Denlinger

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David Denlinger

Professor Emeritus and Distinguished University Professor

denlinger.1@osu.edu

https://u.osu.edu/denlingerlab/

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Degrees & Credentials:

Ph.D. 1971 University of Illinois

Interests & Expertise:

Insect molecular physiology

Insect diapause and cold hardiness

Photoperiodism

Biography:

David Denlinger received his undergraduate degree in zoology from the Pennsylvania State University and his Ph.D. in entomology from the University of Illinois. He received a postdoctoral fellowship from the Agricultural University, Wageningen, the Netherlands, an NIH postdoctoral fellowship for work at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Nairobi, Kenya, and then returned to the US as a Research Scientist at Harvard before joining the faculty of Ohio State University, where he advanced from the rank of Assistant Professor to Distinguished University Professor and served as Chair of the Department of Entomology for 11 years.

Dr. Denlinger’s research focuses on the molecular physiology of insect development, especially the mechanisms used by insects to enter dormancy (diapause) to survive adverse seasons such as winter or tropical dry seasons. His interests range from an ecological understanding of seasonal development, to mechanisms of photoperiodism, to the downstream gene pathways that result in the manifestation of dormancy. His interests in overwintering include probing cold hardiness physiology, experiments that examine the molecules that enable low temperature survival in temperate latitude winters as well as in Antarctica. He has also maintained an active interest in the reproductive physiology of the tsetse fly, vector of African sleeping sickness. He has authored over 300 scientific publications, several books, and has been supported by grants from NIH, NSF and USDA.

He is the recipient of numerous awards including election to the National Academy of Sciences, recipient of the Gregor Mendel Medal from the Czech Academy of Sciences; Outstanding Alumnus Award from Penn State; Honorary Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society; Recognition Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology, Founders Memorial Award, C.V. Riley Achievement Award, and Fellow of the Entomological Society of America; Antarctic Service Medal; Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Honorary Professor of Chinese Academy of Sciences. He served as editor of the Journal of Insect Physiology for 20 years, currently edits Current Opinion in Insect Science, and serves on the editorial boards of seven additional journals.

Research in our laboratory focuses primarily on molecular mechanisms involved in insect overwintering. For most insects, seasonal changes in daylength provide the environmental signal that winter is coming. This, in turn, prompts preparative steps that eventually lead to a developmental arrest (diapause) as well as enhanced cold tolerance. Our interests range from the use of clock genes to perceive these environmental signals through to the endocrine and molecular events that result in expression of the diapause phenotype. Currently, our model systems for diapause studies include flesh flies (Sarcophaga crassipalpis and S. bullata which both have a pupal diapause), members of the Heliothis/Helicoverpa complex of agricultural pests, which all have a pupal diapause), the Asian tiger mosquito (dengue vector Aedes albopictus which has an embryonic diapause), and the Northern house mosquito (West Nile virus vector Culex pipiens, which diapauses as an adult). In addition, we are engaged in research in Antarctica, where we are examining how a midge, Belgica antarctica, survives in this hostile environment. Our laboratory has also maintained a long-term interest in reproductive physiology of the tsetse fly, vector of African sleeping sickness.

Works

Key Publications:

Sim, C. and D.L. Denlinger. 2008. Insulin signaling and FOXO regulate the overwintering diapause of the mosquito Culex pipiens. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 105:6777-6781.

Hahn, D.A. and D.L. Denlinger. 2011. Energetics of insect diapause. Annual Review of Entomology 56:103-121.

Benoit, J.B., G. Lopez-Martinez, K.R. Patrick, Z.P. Phillips, T.B. Krause and D.L. Denlinger. 2011. Drinking a hot blood meal elicits a protective heat shock response in mosquitoes Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 108:8026-8029. Also featured in “In This Issue, PNAS” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 108:7653.

Zhang, Q., R.J. Nachman, K. Kaczmarek, J. Zabrocki and D.L. Denlinger. 2011. Disruption of insect diapause using agonists and an antagonist of diapause hormone. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 108:16922-16926.

Poelchau, M.F., J.A. Reynolds, D.L. Denlinger, C.G. Elsik and P.A. Armbruster. 2011. A de nova transcriptome of the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, to identify candidate transcripts for diapause preparation. BMC Genomics 12:619. Faculty of 1000 Recommended.

Denlinger, D.L., G.D. Yocum and J.P. Rinehart. 2012. Hormonal control of diapause. In: Insect Endocrinology, L.I. Gilbert (ed.), pp. 430-463, Academic Press, San Diego.

Teets, N.M., J.T. Peyton, G.J. Ragland, H. Colinet, D. Renault, D.A. Hahn and D.L. Denlinger. 2012. Combined transcriptomic and metabolomics approach uncovers molecular mechanisms of cold tolerance in a temperate flesh fly. Physiological Genomics 44:764-777. Faculty of 1000 Recommended.

Xu, W.-H., Y.-X. Lu and D.L. Denlinger. 2012. Cross-talk between the fat body and brain regulates insect developmental arrest. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 109:14687-14692.

Teets, N.M., J.T. Peyton, H. Colinet, D. Renault, J. Kelley, Y. Kawarasaki, R.E. Lee and D.L. Denlinger. 2012. Gene expression changes governing extreme dehydration tolerance in an Antarctic insect. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 109:20744-20749. Faculty of 1000 Recommended.

Sim, C. and D.L. Denlinger. 2013. Juvenile hormone III suppresses forkhead of transcription factor in the fat body and reduces fat accumulation in the diapausing mosquito Culex pipiens. Insect Molecular Biology 22:1-11.

Poelchau, M.F., J.A. Reynolds, C. G. Elsik, D.L. Denlinger and P.A. Armbruster. 2013. Deep sequencing reveals complex mechanisms of diapause preparation in the invasive mosquito, Aedes albopictus. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 280:20130143.

2013 Reynolds, J.A., J. Clark, S.J. Diakoff and D.L. Denlinger. 2013. Transcriptional evidence for small RNA regulation of pupal diapause in the flesh fly, Sarcophaga bullata. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (in press).

2014 Denlinger, D.L. and P.A. Armbruster. 2014. Mosquito diapause. Annual Review of Entomology (in press).

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