Angharad M. R. Gatehouse is an

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

in the UK. Gatehouse is Professor of Invertebrate Molecular Biology at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...

, is on the Council of the

International Congress of Entomology The International Congress of Entomology (ICE) is the largest in-person conference for the science of entomology. It generally meets every 4 years, and has been held in locations around the world since 1910. Initially conferences were organized by ...

, and is the Director of Expertise for BioEconomy.

Research

Gatehouse's research examines plant and

pest insect Economic entomology is a field of entomology, which involves the study of insects that benefit or harm humans, domestic animals, and crops. Insects that cause losses are termed as pests. Some species can cause indirect damage by spreading diseases ...

interactions at the molecular level, and how this can be used for

integrated pest management Integrated pest management (IPM), also known as integrated pest control (IPC) is a broad-based approach that integrates both chemical and non-chemical practices for economic control of pests. IPM aims to suppress pest populations below the econ ...

. She has researched compounds for novel

biopesticide A Biopesticide is a biological substance or organism that damages, kills, or repels organisms seens as pests. Biological pest management intervention involves predatory, parasitic, or chemical relationships. They are obtained from organisms inclu ...

s which may have less or no impact on non target organisms such as pollinators and predators. Her team tested the Hv1a/GNA

fusion protein Fusion proteins or chimeric (kī-ˈmir-ik) proteins (literally, made of parts from different sources) are proteins created through the joining of two or more genes that originally coded for separate proteins. Translation of this ''fusion gene'' r ...

as a potential biopesticide, the compound combines a venom toxin of an Australian funnel web spider and

snowdrop ''Galanthus'' (from Ancient Greek , (, "milk") + (, "flower")), or snowdrop, is a small genus of approximately 20 species of bulbous perennial herbaceous plants in the family Amaryllidaceae. The plants have two linear leaves and a single sm ...

lectin Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that are highly specific for sugar groups that are part of other molecules, so cause agglutination of particular cells or precipitation of glycoconjugates and polysaccharides. Lectins have a role in rec ...

and they found it did not have detrimental effects on honeybees. Her work has looked at how plants interact with insects and how this can be manipulated to reduce the attraction of crop plants to insect pests. She tested gene edited rice plants which suppress the production of serotonin with an inactivated ''CYP71A1'' gene, the plants were more resistant to the brown plant-hopper and the striped stem borer. Her team identified that the compound

limonene Limonene is a colorless liquid aliphatic hydrocarbon classified as a cyclic monoterpene, and is the major component in the oil of citrus fruit peels. The -isomer, occurring more commonly in nature as the fragrance of oranges, is a flavoring ag ...

makes Marigold plants good companion plants with

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

es, as they repel the insect pest the glasshouse whitefly.

Books

* ''Environmental Impact of Genetically Modified Crops'', edited with Natalie Ferry, published by CABI in 2009.

Honours and awards

* Awarded the Certificate of Distinction by the International Congress of Entomology in 2016, the 'world's top honour for entomology'. * Fellow of the

Royal Society of Biology The Royal Society of Biology (RSB), previously called the Society of Biology, is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom created to advance the interests of biology in academia, industry, education, and research. Fo ...

in 2016.

External links

Newcastle University profile
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gatehouse, Angharad Living people Year of birth missing (living people) British entomologists Women entomologists British scientists