EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
University of Chicago, Postdoctoral Research Associate, 1997-1999, Sponsor: Joy BergelsonPennsylvania State University, 1997, Ph.D. Ecology, Advisor: Jack C. Schultz
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1993, M.S. Biology, Advisor: Sandra J. Newell Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1990, B.S. Biology
RESEARCH INTERESTS
I study the physiology, ecology, and evolution of plant defenses to herbivores, pathogens and other environmental stresses, in the context of phenotypic plasticity. Research in my lab has focused on mechanisms, costs, and benefits of inducible chemical defenses in wild and agricultural Brassica species, in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, and in the invasive weed Alliaria petiolata. Current foci include costs and benefits of jasmonate- and salicylate-inducible responses in A. thaliana, interactions between inducible responses to competitors and herbivores, and the chemical ecology of A. petiolata and its interactions with beneficial and pathogenic fungi, herbivorous insects, and competing plants. Other projects include the chemical ecology of inducible defenses in woody plants, including Austrian pine (Pinus nigra), ash (Fraxinus spp.), and bush honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), with an emerging interest in the broader effects of secondary compounds (including allelopathic effects) in natural and agricultural ecosystems. Where possible, our studies are placed in a cost-benefit framework and incorporate genetic mutants, transgenic plants, and phenotypic manipulations (using phytohormones, for example) into studies in order to better address ecological questions. Work in my laboratory includes the isolation and quantification of plant chemical defenses and defense genes at the biochemical and molecular level, bioassays of the effect of plant defenses on insects, microbes, and other plants, and the manipulation and measurement of experimental plant material in the greenhouse and in the field. I am a member of the Graduate Faculty and participate in the Biology M.S. program and the interdisciplinary Environmental Sciences Ph.D. program.RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Cipollini, D. and B. Gruner. 200x. Cyanide in the chemical arsenal of garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata. Journal of Chemical Ecology (in press)Cipollini, D. 2006. Consequences of the overproduction of methyl jasmonate on seed production, tolerance to defoliation, and competitive effect and response of Arabidopsis thaliana. New Phytologist DOI:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2006.01882.x
Dorning, M., and D. Cipollini. 2006. Leaf and root extracts of the invasive shrub, Lonicera maackii, inhibit seed germination of three herbs with no autotoxic effects. Plant Ecology 184: 287-296, DOI: 10.1007/s11258-005-9073-4
Cipollini, D. 2005. Interactive effects of lateral shading and jasmonic acid on morphology, phenology, seed production, and chemical defense responses in Arabidopsis thaliana. International Journal of Plant Sciences 166: 955-959.
Barto, K., and D. Cipollini. 2005. Testing the optimal defense theory and growth- differentiation balance hypothesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. Oecologia 146: 169-178 doi: 10.1007/s00442-005-0207-0
Cipollini, D., J. Mbagwu, C. Hillstrom, K. Barto, and S. Enright. 2005. Expression of constitutive and inducible chemical defenses in native and invasive populations of Alliara petiolata. Journal of Chemical Ecology 31: 1243-1255.
R.O. Musser, D. F. Cipollini, S.M. Hum-Musser, S.A. Williams, J.K. Brown, and G.W. Felton. 2005. Evidence that the caterpillar salivary enzyme glucose oxidase provides herbivore offense in Solanaceous plants. Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology 58: 128-137.
Cipollini, D. F., S. Enright, B. Traw, and J. Bergelson. 2004. Salicylic acid inhibits jasmonic acid-induced resistance of Arabidopsis thaliana to Spodoptera exigua. Molecular Ecology 13: 1643-1653.
Cipollini, D.F. 2004. Stretching the limits of plasticity: can a plant defend itself from both competitors and herbivores? Ecology 85: 28-37 (Special Feature on Phytohormonal Ecology)
WSU Main
COSM