Dr. Paul Nabity
Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology
Education
PhD University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana
MS University of Nebraska
BS University of Nebraska
Research
Insects co-opt plant gene networks in ways that provide optimal nutrients, reduce toxins, and often build structural protection against abiotic or biotic stressors. The triggers or effectors that reprogram plant form and function remain unknown for most plant-insect interactions. Our research focuses on the identification of candidate effectors using bioinformatics approaches, whereupon we use functional molecular genetics to identify the interacting protein networks. Our ultimate goal is to continue to resolve how major regulators of plant growth and defense interact to produce optimal, inducible phenotypes for insects. We seek to link the underlying genes that facilitate plant-insect interactions with the ultimate phenotype, whether defensive, nutritionally altered, or morphologically complex.
Selected Publications
Nabity PD, MJ Haus, MR Berenbaum, EH DeLucia. 2013. Leaf-galling phylloxera on grapes reprograms host metabolism and morphology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110:16663-16668.
Nabity PD, JA Zavala, EH DeLucia. 2013. Herbivore induction of jasmonic acid and chemical defenses reduces photosynthesis in Nicotiana attenuata. Journal of Experimental Botany 64:685-694.
Zavala JA, PD Nabity, EH DeLucia. 2013. An emerging understanding of mechanisms governing insect herbivory under elevated CO2. Annual Review of Entomology 58:79-97.
DeLucia EH, PD Nabity, JA Zavala, MR Berenbaum. 2012. Climate change: resetting plant insect interactions. Plant Physiology 160:1677-1685.
Donovan MD, PD Nabity EH DeLucia. 2012. Salicylic acid mediated reductions in yield in Nicotiana attenuata challenged by aphid herbivory. Arthropod Plant Interactions 7:45-52.
Nabity PD, ML Hillstrom, RL Lindroth, EH DeLucia. 2012. Elevated CO2 interacts with herbivory to alter chlorophyll fluorescence and leaf temperature in Betula papyrifera and Populus tremuloides. Oecologia 169:905-91
Zavala JA, CL Casteel, PD Nabity, MR Berenbaum, EH DeLucia. 2009. Role of cysteine proteinase inhibitors in preference of Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica) for soybean (Glycine max) leaves of different ages and grown under elevated CO2. Oecologia 161:1432-1439
Nabity PD, JA Zavala, EH DeLucia. 2009. Indirect effects of arthropod herbivory on leaf-level photosynthesis. Annals of Botany 103:655–663 (Cover photo)
DeLucia EH, CL Casteel, PD Nabity, BF O’Neill. 2008. Insects take a bigger bite out of plants in a warmer, higher carbon dioxide world. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105:1781-1782