Dr. Richard Beeman Research Entomologist Biological Research Unit Grain Marketing & Production Research Center 1515 College Ave. Manhattan, KS 66502 Voice: (785) 776-2710 Fax: (785) 537-5584 richard.beeman@ars.usda.gov ars.usda.gov/npa/gmprc/bru/beeman

Research Interests

My research emphasis is on the genetics and molecular biology of insect pests of stored products.

I am currently involved in efforts to characterize genes that regulate resistance to insecticides and pathogens, develop DNA vectors for genetic engineering of pest and beneficial insects, discover and evaluate parasitic and lethal genes that occur naturally in pest insect populations, and develop molecular markers for population monitoring and resistance diagnosis.

Project Information

Positional cloning of the maternally-acting, selfish gene, medea, in Tribolium castaneum

This poster documents the positional cloning of target genes in Tribolium by chromosome walking in a BAC library. Two genes, aureate and the unique, maternal selfish gene Medea, defined only by phenotypic effect, were cloned and mapped to the scabrous and highwire regions, respectively, using very high-resolution recombinational mapping. Confirmation will include molecular mapping of seven Medea revertant (knockout) lesions induced by radiation, mapping of one spontaneous and one radiation-induced mutant lesion in aureate, expression analysis of the candidate genes in mutant beetles, and molecular characterization of gene mutations.
     Poster

Tribolium molecular genetics

This site contains data and articles about the genetics of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, and related species. Work being done in Dr. Beeman's laboratory involves both standard and molecular approaches.
     Web Page

Which Phenoloxidase Catalyzes Insect Cuticle Tanning, Laccase or Tyrosinase?

Tanning or sclerotization is a vital process during insect development in which N-acylcatecholamines are oxidatively conjugated to cross-link proteins and stabilize the exoskeleton. The phenoloxidases laccase (Lac) and tyrosinase (Tyr) have been proposed to catalyze tanning, but evidence reported to date identifying the actual tanning enzyme has been inconclusive. To establish the involvement of either or both of these phenoloxidases in cuticle tanning, we performed RNA interference (RNAi) experiments using the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. RNAi can be used to suppress specific messenger RNAs and generate loss-of-function phenotypes. We have knocked down phenoloxidase mRNAs and examined the phenotypes for effects on adult cuticle tanning. The results reported here demonstrate that laccase and not tyrosinase plays the major role in cuticle tanning.
     Poster

Agricultural Research Magazine

Magazine Articles

Beetle Mania  (Also available as pdf)

News, Miscellaneous

How the Beetle Gets Its Shell

Probing the Genes of an Eccentric Beetle Pest

ARS Scientist Leads National Effort To Decipher Beetle's Genes

Selected Publications

To list all publications and request reprints for which no PDF file is available, click here.
PDF	Aikins, M.J., D.A. Schooley, K. Begum, M. Detheux, R.W. Beeman, and Y. Park. 2008. Vasopressin-like peptide and its receptor function in an indirect diuretic signaling pathway in the red flour beetle. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 38: 740-748.
PDF	Arakane, Y., C.A. Specht, K.J. Kramer, S. Muthukrishnan, and R.W. Beeman. 2008. Chitin synthases are required for survival, fecundity and egg hatch in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 38: 959-962.
PDF	Dixit, R., Y. Arakane, C.A. Specht, C. Richard, K.J. Kramer, R.W. Beeman, and S. Muthukrishnan. 2008. Domain organization and phylogenetic analysis of proteins from the chitin deacetylase gene family of Tribolium castaneum and three other species of insects. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 38: 440-451.
PDF	Hogenkamp, D.G., Y. Arakane, K.J. Kramer, S. Muthukrishnan, and R.W. Beeman. 2008. Characterization and expression of the B-N-Acetylhexosaminidase gene family of Tribolium castaneum. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 38: 478-489.
PDF	Lorenzen, M.D., A. Gnirke, J. Margolis, J. Garnes, M. Campbell, J.J. Stuart, R. Aggarwal, S. Richards, Y. Park, and R.W. Beeman. 2008. The maternal-effect, selfish genetic element Medea is associated with a composite Tc1 transposon. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105: 10085-10089.
	Park, Y., and R.W. Beeman. 2008. Postgenomics of Tribolium: Targeting the endocrine regulation of diuresis. Entomol. Res. 38: 93-100. (Link to article)
PDF	Park, Y., J. Aikins, L.J. Wang, R.W. Beeman, B. Oppert, J.C. Lord, S.J. Brown, M.D. Lorenzen, S. Richards, G.M. Weinstock, and R.A. Gibbs. 2008. Analysis of transcriptome data in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 38: 380-386.
PDF	Siebert, K.S., M.D. Lorenzen, S.J. Brown, Y. Park, and R.W. Beeman. 2008. Tubulin superfamily genes in Tribolium castaneum and the use of a tubulin promoter to drive transgene expression. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 38: 749-755.
PDF	Tribolium Sequencing Consortium (includes R.W. Beeman, M.D. Lorenzen, B. Oppert, J. Lord, K. Kramer, Y. Arakane). 2008. The genome of the model beetle and pest Tribolium castaneum. Nature 452: 949-955.
PDF	Wang, S., M.D. Lorenzen, R.W. Beeman, and S.J. Brown. 2008. Analysis of repetitive DNA distribution patterns in the Tribolium castaneum genome. Genome Biol. 9: R61.
PDF	Zhu, Q., Y. Arakane, K.J. Kramer, R.W. Beeman, and S. Muthukrishnan. 2008. Domain organization and phylogenetic analysis of the chitinase-like family of proteins in three species of insects. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 38: 452-466.
PDF	Zhu, Q., Y. Arakane, R.W. Beeman, K.J. Kramer, and S. Muthukrishnan. 2008. Functional specialization among insect chitinase family genes revealed by RNA interference. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105: 6650-6655.
PDF	Zhu, Q., Y. Arakane, R.W. Beeman, K.J. Kramer, and S. Muthukrishnan. 2008. Characterization of recombinant chitinase-like proteins of Drosophila melanogaster and Tribolium castaneum. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 38:467-477.
PDF	Lorenzen, M.D., T. Kimzey, T.D. Shippy, S.J. Brown, R.E. Denell, and R.W. Beeman. 2007. piggyBac-based insertional mutagenesis in Tribolium castaneum using donor/helper hybrids. Insect Mol. Biol. 16: 265-275.
PDF	Arakane, Y., S. Muthukrishnan, K.J. Kramer, C.A. Specht, Y. Tomoyasu, M.D. Lorenzen, M. Kanost, and R.W. Beeman. 2005. The Tribolium chitin synthase genes TcCHS1 and TcCHS2 are specialized for synthesis of epidermal cuticle and midgut peritrophic matrix. Insect Mol. Biol. 14: 453-463.
PDF	Arakane, Y., S. Muthukrishnan, R.W. Beeman, M.R. Kanost, and K.J. Kramer. 2005. Laccase 2 is the phenoloxidase gene required for beetle cuticle tanning. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102: 11337-11342.
PDF	Hogenkamp, D.G., Y. Arakane, L. Zimoch, H. Merzendorfer, K.J. Kramer, R.W. Beeman, M.R. Kanost, C.A. Specht, and S. Muthukrishnan. 2005. Chitin synthase genes in Manduca sexta: characterization of a gut-specific transcript and differential tissue expression of alternatively spliced mRNAs during development. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 35: 529-540.
PDF	Lewis, S.M., A. Kobel, T. Fedina, and R.W. Beeman. 2005. Sperm stratification and paternity success in red flour beetles. Physiol. Entomol. 30: 303-307.
PDF	Lorenzen, M.D., Z. Doyungan, J. Savard, K. Snow, L.R. Crumly, T.D. Shippy, J.J. Stuart, S.J. Brown, and R.W. Beeman. 2005. Genetic linkage maps of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, based on bacterial artificial chromosomes and expressed sequence tags. Genetics 170: 741-747.
PDF	Arakane, Y., D.G. Hogenkamp, Y.C. Zhu, K.J. Kramer, C.A. Specht, R.W. Beeman, M.R. Kanost, and S. Muthukrishnan. 2004. Characterization of two chitin synthase genes of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, and alternate exon usage in one of the genes during development. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 34: 291-304.
PDF	Goodwin, T.J.D., R.T.M. Poulter, M.D. Lorenzen, and R.W. Beeman. 2004. DIRS retroelements in arthropods: identification of the recently active TcDirs1 element in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. Mol. Genet. Genom. 272: 47-56.
PDF	Ayala, J., A.K. Dowdy, R.W. Beeman, and K.Y. Zhu. 2003. Molecular cloning and characterization of a cDNA encoding cytochrome c oxidase subunit Va from the lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae). Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 54: 47-54.
PDF	Beeman, R.W. 2003. Distribution of the Medea factor M4 in populations of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) in the United States. J. Stored Prod. Res. 39: 45-51.
PDF	Brown, S.J., R.E. Denell, and R.W. Beeman. 2003. Beetling around the genome. Genet. Res. 82: 155-161.
PDF	Handler, A.M., and R.W. Beeman. 2003. United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service: advances in the molecular genetic analysis of insects and their application to pest management. Pest Man. Sci. 59: 728-735.
PDF	Lorenzen, M.D., A.J. Berghammer, S.J. Brown, R.E. Denell, M. Klingler, and R.W. Beeman. 2003. piggyBac-mediated germline transformation in the beetle Tribolium castaneum. Insect Mol. Biol. 12: 433-440.
PDF	Brown, S.J., T.D. Shippy, R.W. Beeman, and R.E. Denell. 2002. Tribolium hox genes repress antennal development in the gnathos and trunk. Mol. Phyl. Evol. 24: 384-387.
PDF	Lorenzen, M.D., S.J. Brown, R.E. Denell, and R.W. Beeman. 2002. Cloning and characterization of the Tribolium castaneum eye-color genes encoding tryptophan oxygenase and kynurenine 3-monooxygenase. Genetics 160: 225-234.
PDF	Lorenzen, M.D., S.J. Brown, R.E. Denell, and R.W. Beeman. 2002. Transgene expression from the Tribolium castaneum Polyubiquitin promoter. Insect Mol. Biol. 11: 399-407.
PDF	Haas, M.S., S.J. Brown, and R.W. Beeman. 2001. Pondering the procephalon: the segmental origin of the labrum. Dev. Genes Evol. 211: 89-95.
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