Dalida Darazy-Choubaya  now in Lebanon, teaching at the university of Saint Esprit in Beyrouth

Dalida joined our group in 1999 to start a PhD thesis at INA P-G. She defended her thesis on December 19th 2002 (in front of a jury composed of Joop van Loon, Denis Thiéry, René Lafont, Charles Descoins, Michel Renou, Frédéric Marion-Poll): 

Effects of phytoecdysteroids on the taste receptors of Ostrinia nubilalis larvae (European corn borer).

Most of her work concerned the detection of ecdysteroids, by means of electrophysiology. The major question she wanted to answer was whether ecdysteroids are detected by a deterrent cell in O. nubilalis larvae.

Ostrinia nubilalis larvae are deterred by 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E). While 20E is well-known as a moulting hormone, many plants are producing phytoecdysteroids, i.e. structural analogs of ecdysteroids in insects which have either an agonist or an antagonist effect. Plants enriched in ecdysteroids are protected against non-resistant herbivorous insects because they cross the intestinal tract and induce uncomplete moults in the animals. O. nubilalis larvae are able to detect ecdysteroids in its diet before being intoxicated, using taste receptors located near the oral cavity. These receptors have specific properties that she studied using electrophysiological techniques.

After her PhD thesis, she moved to Beyrouth (Lebanon) where she started as an assistant professor at the Faculté de Saint Esprit, teaching zoology and developing researches on botanical antifeedants.

 Last revised:  janvier 19, 2014