Dominic Donkor

Concordia University
M.Sc. candidate

Supervisor: Emma Despland
Start: 2016-05-07
End: 2018-04-01

Project

How spruce budworm metabolize plant host toxins.
Two sets of phenolic compounds have been discovered to play an important role in the resistance of coniferous trees to the spruce budworm, that is the phenolic glucosides, picein and pungenin but their aglycon forms,piceol and pungenol are found at much higher levels in trees resistant to the budworm. In this project,the fate of these phenolics after ingestion by the budworm will be determined and hence uncover their mode of toxicity. The research will also involve detoxification mechanisms by the use of enzymes employed by the spruce budworm after feeding on the diet containing the acetophenones.