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Robert A. RagusoAssistant Professor of Biological Sciences
(Get Real at: www.real.com) |
Dept. of Biological Sciences
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Robert A. RagusoAssistant Professor of Biological Sciences
(Get Real at: www.real.com) |
My research focuses on the ecological role(s) of floral scent as a mode of chemical communication between plants and their insect pollinators, especially between night-blooming plants and hawkmoths. I am interested in the roles played by plant volatiles in mediating plant-pollinator dynamics in ecological and evolutionary time, the physiological mechanisms by which plants produce volatiles, the phylogenetic distribution of variation in scent chemistry and its underlying biosynthetic pathways, and the diversity of physiological and behavioral responses of animals, whether pollinators or opportunistic predators, to these chemical signals. Currently funded projects include a phylogenetic analysis of hawkmoth pollination in the Solanaceae, Onagraceae and Nyctaginaceae, and behavioral responses of hawkmoths to different odor blends. Collaborative work includes biochemical and genetic studies of floral scent biosynthesis (with Eran Pichersky) and integrated chemical and behavioral analyses of Yuccas and Yucca Moths (with Olle Pellmyr and Jim Leebens-Mack), flower-mimicking Puccinia rust fungi and their unwitting bee and fly pollinators (with Barbara Roy), and scent changes associated with floral color change (with Martha Weiss).
Selected Publications:
Levin, R.A., L.A. McDade and R.A. Raguso. 2003. The systematic utility of floral and vegetative fragrance in two genera of Nyctaginaceae. Systematic Biology 52: 334-351.Raguso, R.A. , R. A. Levin, S.E. Foose, M.W. Holmberg & L.A. McDade. 2003. Fragrance chemistry, nocturnal rhythms and pollination "syndromes" in Nicotiana. Phytochemistry 265-284.
Ojeda-Avila, T., H.A. Woods and R.A. Raguso. 2003. Effects of dietary variation on growth, composition, and maturation of Manduca sexta. Journal of Insect Physiology 49: 293-306.
Henneman, M.L., E.G. Dyreson, J. Takabayashi & R.A. Raguso. 2002. Response to walnut olfactory and visual cues by the parasitic wasp Diachasmimorpha juglandis (Braconidae). Journal of Chemical Ecology 28: 2221-2244.
Raguso, R.A. & M.A. Willis. 2002. Synergy between visual and olfactory cues in nectar feeding by naïve hawkmoths. Animal Behaviour 63: 685-695.
Levin, R.A., R.A. Raguso and L.A. McDade. 2001. Fragrance chemistry and pollinator affinities in Nyctaginaceae. Phytochemistry 58: 429-440.
Raguso, R. and B. Roy. 1998 Floral scent production by Puccinia rust fungi that mimic flowers. Molecular Ecology 7: 1127-1136.
Dudareva, N., J. D'Auria, R. Raguso and E. Pichersky. 1998. Acetyl CoA: Benzylalcohol Acetyltransferase - an enzyme involved in floral scent production in Clarkia breweri. Plant Journal 14: 297-304.
Raguso, R. and D. M. Light. 1998. Electroantennogram responses of Sphinx perelegans (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) to floral and vegetative compounds. Entomologica Experimentalis et Applicata 86: 287-293
Dudareva, N., R. Raguso, J. Wang, J. Ross and E. Pichersky. 1998. Floral scent production in Clarkia breweri III: Biosynthesis and emission of benzenoid esters. Plant Physiology 116: 599-604.
Raguso, R. and O. Pellmyr. 1998. Dynamic headspace analysis of floral volatiles: a comparison of methods. Oikos 81: 238-254.
Wang, J., N. Dudareva, S. Bhakta, R. Raguso and E. Pichersky. 1997. Floral scent production in Clarkia breweri II. Localization and developmental modulation of the novel enzyme SAM:(Iso)eugenol O-methyltransferase and phenylpropanoid emission. Plant Physiology 114: 213-221.
Roy, B. and R. Raguso. 1997. Olfactory vs. visual cues in a floral mimicry system. Oecologia 109:414-426.
Raguso, R. , D. M. Light and E. Pichersky. 1996. Electroantennogram responses of Hyles lineata (Sphingidae: Lepidoptera) to floral volatile compounds from Clarkia breweri (Onagraceae) and other moth-pollinated flowers. Journal of Chemical Ecology 22: 1735-1766.
Raguso, R. and E. Pichersky. 1995. Floral volatiles of Clarkia breweri and C. concinna (Onagraceae): recent evolution of floral aroma and moth pollination. Plant Systematics and Evolution 194: 55-67.