LABORATÓRIO DE ECOLOGIA QUÍMICA DAS INTERAÇÕES INSETO-PLANTA (LEQIIP)
Chemical Ecology | Peñaflor's group
LABORATÓRIO DE ECOLOGIA QUÍMICA DAS INTERAÇÕES INSETO-PLANTA (LEQIIP)
The lab is led by Professor Maria Fernanda Peñaflor and located in the Entomology Department of Lavras Federal University, Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Since 2015, the lab has been composed of several undergraduate, MSc. and PhD. students, and a postdoctoral researcher. The abbreviature LEQIIP means Laboratório de Ecologia Química das Interações Inseto-Planta, the lab name in Portuguese, and refers to L'ÉQUIPE (the team in French) because the lab spirits is team work. The lab investigates both basic and applied questions on chemical ecology of insect-plant interactions.
O laboratório é coordenado pela Professora Maria Fernanda Peñaflor e localiza-se no Departamento de Entomologia da Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Desde 2015, o lab tem sido composto por estudantes de graduação, Mestrado, Doutorado, e pesquisadores posdoc. A abreviatura LEQIIP significa Laboratório de Ecologia Química das Interações Inseto-Planta e refere-se a L'ÉQUIPE (a equipe em Francês) porque o espírito do lab é colaborativo e cooperativo. O grupo investiga tanto questões básicas quanto aplicadas sobre a ecologia química das interações inseto-planta.
Bruna Correa da Silva student at LEQIIP, received a grant to develop part of her thesis at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (Jena, Germany), under supervision of Dr. Axel Mithöfer. She has been studying the influence of heavy metal pollution in chemically-mediated multitrophic interactions involving kale plants, their herbivores and the third trophic level. At the Max Planck Institute, she will carry out advanced chemical analyses of her ongoing project and study in another system the effects of pollutants in chemically-mediated interactions. Her 6-month stay will be cover by a Brazilian finnacial agency (CAPES). She will be back in March, 2025. We wish a successful stay in Jena, Bruna!
Bruna Correa da Silva has presented her work on the heavy metal impact in chemically-mediated plant-insect interactions. Congratulations, Bruna!
The principal investigator of LEQIIP has contributed to the Congress programming with the lecture about early signals of herbivory and transgenerational heritance in induced plant defeses (PhD. works by Sofia Pimenta and Livia A. Souza).
Bianca Pitaluga Magalhães - First best oral presentation of the XXIX Brazilian Entomology Congress 2024! Congratulations, Bianca!
Ph.D. student Liliana Celly has presented her results on her project about aphid's preference across among plants of Brassicacea family. Congratulations, Liliana!
We also presented our lab mate Milena Souza's undergraduate monograph! She couldn't be present, so we represented her!
LEQIIP Team represented at the meeting!
M. Fernanda has contributed to the program in a symposium organized by Milena Mansur y Florencia to discuss chemically-mediated plant-insect interactions in agroecosystem.
End of the day in the Meeting in Buenos Aires
Enggel do Carmo has received ALAEQ's student travel award to participate in the event!
Grad and undergraduate students from LEQIIP have presented their research in the Latin America's most important event in Chemical Ecology! It was a great event organized by Alaeq members at Universidad de Buenos Aires!
Maria Fernanda has organized a symposium about Chemical Ecology involving pest biological control agents with emerging Brazilian female scientists in the 17th Siconbiol, in Petrolina, PE, Brazil. July 2023
Lara Sales and Fernanda Andrade successfully defended their Ph.D. theses in March 2023. The theses were about (i) how biostimulants alter coffee chemical direct and indirect defenses to mealybugs; (ii) how herbivory by a phytophagous mite and the coffee leaf miner shapes chemically-mediated multitrophic interactions.
Sofia Pimenta, phD student of LEQIIP, presented her thesis work in collaboration with Dr. Anjel Helms (Texas A&M University), at the Gordon Research Conference in Ventura, CA, USA!
Visit of Dr. Emma Sayer (Lancaster University) at LEQIIP - Nov/22
Bruna Côrrea da Silva, PhD. Student of LEQIIP went to the Brazilian Congress of Entomology in Fortaleza to present part of the work she developed for her Master dissertation (September 2022).
Bianca Pitaluga Magalhães has defended the work developed during her scientific trainee at LEQIIP. She got 98 out of 100! She is now a Bsc. in Biological Sciences! Good work, Bianca!
Enggel Carmo, Ph.D. student at LEQIIP, received a grant to develop part of her thesis in UK, at the Rothamsted Institute, under supervision of Dr. John Caulfield. She has been studying chemically-mediated multitrophic interactions involving mealybugs and coffee plants. At the Rothamsted Institute, she will carry out advanced chemical analyses of the ongoing project. Her 9-month stay will be cover by a Brazilian finnacial agency (CAPES). At the same time, she has also been successfuly at her application for a student travel award to present her results in the International Society of Chemical Ecology meeting in Prague, in July 2024. Congratulations, Enggel!!