EDUCATION
1983 Ph.D. Cornell University
M.S.
1976 B.A./B.S. Hobart College

ACADEMIC RANKS
Associate Professor: 1991
Assistant Professor: 1983

AREAS OF EXPERTISE ; molecular genetics, multi-gene families, integral membrane proteins, ion channels, acyl-CoA desaturases

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
1975 Staff Intern, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.

1983-85 Postdoctoral Fellow, Max-Planck-Institut für Entwicklungsbiologie, Tübingen, Germany

Current Research Professionals Supervised
Claire-Lise Rosenfield (Senior Research Associate III)

Patricia Marsella-Herrick (Research Support Specialist I)

TEACHING AND ADVISING RESPONSIBILITIES
Course Taught
CS/BSCB/PB726 (Spring 2002) Problems and Perspectives in Computational Molecular Biology

GRADUATE FIELD MEMBERSHIPS
Entomology
Genetics and Development

My research program employs molecular genetic, biochemical and bioinformatic approaches to investigate gene families encoding integral membrane proteins that influence insect behavior, development, or physiology. One project area focuses on ion channels of the insect nervous and neuromuscular systems, specifically, ligand-gated chloride channels, which mediate synaptic inhibition in response to neurotransmitters such as g-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and the voltage-sensitive sodium channel, which mediates the transient flux of sodium ions during the nerve action potential. Several drugs and neurotoxins, including important classes of insecticides, exert their effects through specific interactions with these nerve membrane macromolecules. Major objectives in this area of research are to elucidate the normal subunit composition of native ligand-gated chloride channels during insect development and to relate specific structural elements of wildtype and mutant channels to their neurotoxin recognition properties. A practical goal of this research is to develop molecular tools that can be used for the development of new insect control compounds with improved specificity.

A second area of investigation focuses on enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of lepidopteran sex pheromones, which occur in specialized glands of adult female moths. Key steps in pheromone biosynthesis are the formation of unsaturated fatty acyl intermediates by acyl-CoA desaturases and limited chain-shortening by b-oxidation enzymes. These enzyme families have evolved novel functional properties that contribute to the diversity of structures of pheromone active components in different moth species. Major objectives of this project area are to characterize the gene families encoding these enzymes, to identify the structural correlates of unique catalytic functions, and to elucidate the genetic mechanisms by which they have arisen. A practical goal of this research is to develop enzymatic process steps that can be used for the synthesis of pheromone precursors, which could enhance the cost-effectiveness of pheromone products for the control of insect pests by mating disruption.

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Chemical Society
Entomological Society of America
Genetics Society of America

COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
University:
Cornell Genomics Initiative: Genomics Services and Instrumentation
Cornell Proteomics Users Group

College:
Geneva Genomics Group
Geneva Genomics-Related Instrumentation Committee
Faculty Search Committee for Plant Genomics Position at Geneva

CONFERENCES/WORKSHOPS/IN-SERVICE PARTICIPATION
2001 NPLC Symposium on Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plant Fatty Acids and Glycerolipids, Stanford Sierra Camp, South Lake Tahoe, CA, June 6-10, 2001

United Engineering Foundation Conference: Metabolic Engineering III, Colorado Springs, Colorado, October 22-27, 2000.

RECENT INVITED PRESENTATIONS
"Structure and Function of Acyl-CoA Desaturases of Moths and the Fly Drosophila melanogaster," 2001 NPLC Symposium on Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plant Fatty Acids and Glycerolipids, Stanford Sierra Camp, South Lake Tahoe, CA, June 6-10, 2001

RESEARCH AND EXTENSION PUBLICATIONS
Jeong, S. E., C.-L Rosenfield, P. Marsella-Herrick, K. M. You and D. C. Knipple. 2003. Multiple acyl-CoA desaturase-encoding transcripts in pheromone glands of Helicoverpa assulta, the oriental tobacco budworm. Insect Biochem. Molec. Biol. 33, 609-622.

Soderlund, D. M. and D. C. Knipple. 2003. The molecular biology of knockdown resistance to pyrethroid insecticides. Insect Biochem. Molec. Biol. 33, 563-577

Knipple, D. C. and W. L. Roelofs. 2003. Molecular Biological Investigations of Pheromone Desaturases. In "Insect Pheromone Biochemistry and Molecular Biology" (Blomquist, G. J. and R. Vogt, Eds.), Elsevier, Oxford, UK, pp. 81-106.

You, K. M., C.-L. Rosenfield and D. C. Knipple. 2003. Ethanol tolerance in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is dependent on cellular oleic acid content. Applied Envir. Microb. 69, 1499-1503.

Knipple, D. C., C.-L Rosenfield, K. M. You and S. E. Jeong. 2002. Evolution of the integral membrane desaturase gene family in moths and flies. Genetics 162 1737-1752.

Lee, S. H., P. J. Ingles, D. C. Knipple and D. M. Soderlund. 2002. Developmental regulation of alternative exon usage in the house fly Vssc1 sodium channel gene. Invert. Neurosci. 4: 125-133.

Soderlund, D. M., P. J. Ingles, S. H. Lee, T. J. Smith and D. C. Knipple. 2002. The molecular mechanism of knockdown resistance. In: "Agrochemical Resistance, Extent, Mechanism, and Detection" (J. M. Clark and I. Yamaguchi, Eds.), American Chemical Society Symposium Series, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., pp. 77-89.

Rosenfield, C.-L., K. M. You, P. Marsella-Herrick, W. L. Roelofs and D. C. Knipple. 2001. Structural and functional conservation and divergence among acyl-CoA desaturase-encoding genes of two noctuid species, the corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea, and the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni. Insect Biochem. Molec. Biol. 31, 949-964.

Jeong, S. E., J. E. Hwang and D. C. Knipple. 2001. Effects of the sap of the common oleander Nerium indicum (Apocyanacea) on male fertility and spermatogenesis in the oriental tobacco budworm Helicoverpa assulta (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae). J. Exp. Biol. 204, 3935-3942.

Dallerac, R., C. Labeur, J.-M. Jallon, D. C. Knipple, W. L. Roelofs and C. Wicker-Thomas. 2000. A D9 desaturase gene with a different substrate specificity is responsible for the cuticular diene hydrocarbon polymorphism in Drosophila melanogaster. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97, 9449-9454.

Knipple, D. C., W. L. Roelofs, C.-L. Rosenfield, P. Marsella-Herrick and S. J. Miller. 2000. In vivo synthesis in yeast of insect sex pheromone precursors: An alternative synthetic route for the production of environmentally benign insect control agents. In: "Green Chemistry: Recent Advances in Chemical Processing" (P. Anastas, L. Bartlett, L. and T. Williamson, Eds.) American Chemical Society Symposium Series, American Chemical Society Books, Washington, D.C., pp. 33-42.

Lee, S. H., T. J. Smith, D. C. Knipple and D. M. Soderlund. 1999. Mutations in the house fly Vssc1 sodium channel gene associated with super-kdr resistance abolish the pyrethroid sensitivity of Vssc1/tipE sodium channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Insect Biochem. Molec. Biol. 29, 185-194.

Liu, W., P.W. K. Ma, P. Marsella-Herrick, C.-L. Rosenfield, D. C. Knipple and W. L. Roelofs. 1999. Cloning and functional expression of a cDNA encoding a metabolic acyl-CoA D9-desaturase of the cabbage looper moth, Trichoplusia ni. Insect Biochem. Molec. Biol. 29, 435-443.

Soderlund, D. M., T. J. Smith, S. H. Lee, P. J. Ingles and D. C. Knipple. 1999. Expression of cloned house fly sodium channels in Xenopus oocytes: action of pyrethroids and analysis of resistance associated mutations. In: "Progress in Neuropharmacology and Neurotoxicology of Pesticides and Drugs" (D. Beadle, Ed.), Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, pp.46-55.

Soderlund, D. M. and D. C. Knipple. 1999. Knockdown resistance to DDT and pyrethroids in the house fly, Musca domestica L. (Diptera:Muscidae): From genetic trait to molecular mechanism. Annals Entom. Soc. Am. 92, 909-915.

Knipple, D. C., C.-L. Rosenfield, S. J. Miller, W. Liu, J. Tang, P. W. K. Ma and W. L. Roelofs. 1998. Cloning and functional expression of a cDNA encoding a pheromone gland-specific acyl-CoA D11-desaturase of the cabbage looper moth, Trichoplusia ni. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95, 15287-15292.

Ma, P. W. K., T. R. Davis, H. A. Wood, D. C. Knipple and W. L. Roelofs. 1998. Baculovirus expression of an insect gene that encodes multiple neuropeptides. Insect Biochem. Molec. Biol. 28, 239-249.

Ma, P. W. K., D. C. Knipple and W. L. Roelofs. 1998. Expression of a gene that encodes pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide in the central nervous system of corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea. Insect Biochem. Molec. Biol. 28, 373-385.

Smith, T., S. H. Lee, P. J. Ingles, D. C., Knipple and D. M. Soderlund. 1997. The L1014F point mutation in the house fly Vssc1 sodium channel confers knockdown resistance to pyrethroids. Insect Biochem. Molec. Biol. 27, 807-812.

Ingles, P. J., P. M. Adams, D. C. Knipple and D. M. Soderlund. 1996. Characterization of voltage-sensitive sodium channel gene coding sequences from insecticide-susceptible and Knockdown-resistant house fly strains. Insect Biochem. Molec. Biol. 26, 319-326.

Soderlund, D. M. and D. C. Knipple. 1995. Actions of insecticides on sodium channels: multiple target sites and site-specific resistance. In: "Molecular Action and Pharmacology of Insecticides on Ion Channels" (J. M. Clark, Ed.), American Chemical Society Symposium Series, American Chemical Society Books, Washington, D. C., pp. 97-108.

Knipple, D. C., J. E. Henderson and D. M. Soderlund. 1995. Structural and functional characterization of insect genes encoding ligand-gated chloride channel subunits. In: "Molecular Action and Pharmacology of Insecticides on Ion Channels" (J. M. Clark, Ed.), American Chemical Society Symposium Series, American Chemical Society Books, Washington, D.C., pp. 205-215.

Knipple, D. C., K. E. Doyle, P. A. Marsella-Herrick and D. M. Soderlund. 1994. Tight genetic linkage between the kdr insecticide resistance trait and a voltage-sensitive sodium channel gene in the house fly. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91, 2483-2487.

Henderson, J. E., D. C. Knipple and D. M. Soderlund. 1994. PCR-based homology probing reveals a family of GABA receptor-like genes in Drosophila melanogaster. Insect Biochem. Molec. Biol. 24, 363-371.

Ma, P. W. K., D. C. Knipple and W. L. Roelofs. 1994. Structural organization of the Helicoverpa zea gene encoding the precursor protein for PBAN and other neuropeptides. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91, 6506-6510.

Henderson, J. E., D. M. Soderlund and D. C. Knipple. 1993. Characterization of a putative g-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor b subunit gene from Drosophila melanogaster. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 193, 474-482.

Knipple, D. C., K. E. Doyle, J. E. Henderson and D. M. Soderlund. 1992. Isolation of insect genes coding for voltage-sensitive sodium channels and ligand-gated chloride channels by PCR-based homology probing, In: "Neurotox '91: Molecular Basis of Drug and Pesticide Action" (I. R. Duce, Ed.), Elsevier, New York, pp. 271-283.

Lin , Y., M. T. Hamblin, M. R. Kanost, D. C. Knipple, M. F. Wolfner and H. H. Hagedorn. 1992. Structure, expression and hormonal control of genes from the mosquito, Aedes aegypti, which encode proteins similar to the vitelline membrane proteins of Drosophila melanogaster. Develop. Biol. 155, 558-568.

Pang, S., S. Oberhaus, J. Rasmussen, D. C. Knipple, J. R. Bloomquist, D. Dean and J. Sanford. 1992. Expression of a scorpion insectotoxin peptide in bacteria, yeast and plant. Gene 116, 165-172.

Knipple, D. C., L. L. Payne and D. M. Soderlund. 1991. PCR-generated conspecific sodium channel gene probe for the house fly homologue of the para locus of Drosophila melanogaster. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 16, 45-53.

Knipple, D. C., T. R. Fuerst and R. J. MacIntyre. 1991. Molecular cloning and analysis of the chromosomal region 26A of Drosophila melanogaster. Mol. Gen. Genet. 226, 241-249.

Bloomquist, J. R., R. E. Grubs, D. M. Soderlund and D. C. Knipple. 1991. Prolonged exposure to GABA activates GABA-gated chloride channels in the presence of channel-blocking convulsants. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 99C, 391-402.

Doyle, K. E. and D. C. Knipple. 1991. PCR-based phylogenetic walking: Isolation of sodium channel gene sequences from insects and mites by DNA amplification. Insect Biochem. 21, 689-696.

Tang, J. D., W. A. Wolf, W. L. Roelofs and D. C. Knipple. 1991. Development of functionally competent cabbage looper moth sex pheromone glands. Insect Biochem. 21, 573-581.

Bloomquist, J. R., D. M. Soderlund and D. C. Knipple. 1989. Knockdown resistance to DDT and pyrethroid insecticides in the napts mutant of Drosophila melanogaster is correlated with reduced neuronal sensitivity. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 10, 293-302.

Soderlund, D. M., J. R. Bloomquist, F. Wong, L. L. Payne and D. C. Knipple. 1989. Molecular neurobiology: implications for insecticide action and resistance. Pestic. Sci. 26, 359-374.

Knipple, D. C. and P. Marsella-Herrick. 1988. Versatile plasmid vectors for the construction, analysis, and heat-inducible expression of hybrid genes in eukaryotic cells. Nucleic Acids Res. 16, 7748.

Knipple, D. C., J. R. Bloomquist and D. M. Soderlund. 1988. Molecular genetic approach to the study of target site resistance to pyrethroids and DDT, In: "Biotechnology in Crop Protection" (P. A. Hedin, J. J. Menn, and R. Hollingworth, Eds.), American Chemical Society Symposium Series, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., pp. 199-214.

Soderlund, D. M. and D. C. Knipple. 1988. Neuoropharmacology and molecular genetics of nerve insensitivity resistance to pyrethroids, In: "Neurotox. '88: Molecular Basis of Drug and Pesticide Action" (G. G. Lunt, Ed.), Elsevier/North Holland, Amsterdam, pp. 553-561.

Fuerst, T. R., D. C. Knipple and R. J. MacIntyre. 1987. Purification and characterization of b-galactosidase-1 from Drosophila melanogaster. Insect Biochem. 17, 1163-1171.

Jäckle, H., U. B. Rosenberg, A. Preiss, E. Seifert, D. C. Knipple, A. Keinlin and R. Lehmann. 1986. Molecular analysis of Krüppel, a segmentation gene of Drosophila melanogaster. Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol. 50, 465-474.

Rosenberg, U., A. Preiss, E. Seifert, H. Jäckle and D. C. Knipple. 1985. Production of phenocopies by Krüppel antisense RNA injection into Drosophila embryos. Nature 313, 703-706.

Muller-Holtkamp, F., D. C. Knipple, E. Seifert and H. Jäckle. 1985. An early role of maternal mRNA in establishing the dorso-ventral pattern in pelle mutant Drosophila embryos. Develop. Biol. 110, 238-246.

Knipple, D. C., E. Seifert, U. Rosenberg, A. Preiss and H. Jäckle. 1985. Spatial and temporal patterns of Krüppel gene expression in early Drosophila embryos. Nature 317, 40-44.

Knipple, D. C. and R. J. MacIntyre. 1984. Cytogenetic mapping and isolation of mutants of the b-Gal-1 locus of Drosophila melanogaster. Mol. Gen. Genet. 198, 75-83.

Lis, J. T., N. Costlow, J. de Banzie, D. C. Knipple, D. O'Connor and L. Sinclair. 1982. Transcription and chromatin structure of Drosophila heat-shock genes in yeast, In: "Heat Shock, From Bacteria to Man" (M. J. Schlesinger, M. Ashburner and A. Tissieres, Eds.), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., pp. 57-62.