Walter Soares Leal (born February 2, 1954) is a Brazilian biochemist and entomologist who is known for identifying pheromones[1] and mosquito attractants,[2][3] and elucidating a mechanism of action of the insect repellent DEET.[4][5]

Leal was the first non-Japanese to earn tenure at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan.[6][7] In 2000, he accepted a position as associate professor at the University of California, Davis. Leal is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology.[8] He served as chair of the entomology department[9] at UC Davis (now Department of Entomology & Nematology).[10]

Education and early life

Leal attended the Federal University of Pernambuco, from which he graduated in 1982 with a B.Eng degree in chemical engineering.[citation needed] In 1987, he got his MS in agricultural chemistry from Mie University in Tsu-Mie, Japan.[citation needed] While still residing in Japan, Leal attended the University of Tsukuba, division of Applied Biochemistry, graduating with a Ph.D. three years later.[11] While in high school, Leal worked as a sports reporter to pay tuition and fees and later as a high school teacher – a career he started while a freshman in college, under the supervision of his favorite teacher, Aloísio Guimarães Sotero [pt].[citation needed]

Research

Leal has identified complex pheromones from many insect species, including scarab beetles,[12][13] true bugs,[14] long-horned beetles,[15] and moths.[16] Intrigued by chiral discrimination by scarab beetles,[17] he became interested in the molecular basis of insect olfaction. His laboratory discovered a pH-dependent conformational change in pheromone-binding proteins (PBPs) from moths[18] before their 3D structures were known. In collaboration with Jon Clardy and Nobel Laureate Kurt Wuthrich, they determine the first 3D structures of PBPs.[19][20] Subsequently, his laboratory studied the kinetics of pheromone binding and release by PBPs.[21] Leal laboratory fully identified the first odorant-degrading enzymes from moths[22] and scarab beetles.[23] In 2005, Leal coined the term “reverse chemical ecology” for employing olfactory proteins to identify semiochemicals of potential practical applications.[24] Using this approach, he identified oviposition attractants for mosquitoes. His laboratory identified olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) highly sensitive to nonanal, which might play a crucial role in Culex mosquitoes shifting from birds to humans, implicated in West Nile virus transmission. Leal and his collaborators identified mosquito ORNs sensitive to DEET[25][26] and subsequently identified an odorant receptor, CquiOR136, sensitive to DEET and other commercially available insect repellents.[27] Leal and collaborators discovered a receptor, CquiOR32, with dual inhibitory/excitatory properties manifested in the Xenopus oocyte recording system, in flies and mosquito behavior.[28] Leal laboratory demonstrated for the first time that mosquitoes respond to carbon dioxide with a heterodimer formed by GR2 and GR3, not as GR1/GR3 as previously hypothesized.[29] They also demonstrated that CO2 per se, not bicarbonate, activates these receptors. Leal is the author and co-author of more than 220 scientific articles.[30]

Major services to the scientific community

Leal served as Councilor and President of the International Society of Chemical Ecology. Along with Alvin Simmons, Leal served as co-chair of the 2016 International Congress of Entomology.[31] At the beginning of the COVID pandemic, Leal organized a series of COVID symposia, which drew thousands of attendees. In 2021, he organized a symposium, "Insect Olfaction and Taste in 24 Hours Around the Globe", to provide a platform for young scholars to highlight their recent work and interact with other well-established scholars in the field.[32]

Awards

References

  1. ^ Watry, Greg (May 30, 2019). "Discovering Curiosity: The Buggy Scent of Desire with Distinguished Professor Walter Leal". College of Biological Sciences. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  2. ^ "No more stink". Daily Democrat. September 1, 2008. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  3. ^ Marlene Cimons (January 22, 2010). "Why Human Blood Drives Mosquitoes Wild". livescience.com. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  4. ^ "UC Davis Scientists Discover Exact Receptor that Repels DEET in Mosquitoes". ANR Blogs. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  5. ^ "Groundbreaking UC Davis Research Shows DEET'S Not Sweet to Mosquitoes". ANR Blogs. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  6. ^ "Brazilian Researcher Get Govt Posting" (PDF). The Daily Yomiuri.
  7. ^ "Unreserved seat" (PDF). Mainichi Shimbun.
  8. ^ wsleal (February 14, 2018). "Walter S. Leal". College of Biological Sciences. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  9. ^ "Walter Leal Named Chair of UC Davis Department of Entomology". ANR Blogs. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  10. ^ "UC Davis Entomology Program Ranked No. 1 in the Country". ANR Blogs. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  11. ^ "Why Human Blood Drives Mosquitoes Wild". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  12. ^ Leal, W. S. (October 29, 1996). "Chemical communication in scarab beetles: reciprocal behavioral agonist-antagonist activities of chiral pheromones". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 93 (22): 12112–12115. Bibcode:1996PNAS...9312112L. doi:10.1073/pnas.93.22.12112. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 37951. PMID 8901541.
  13. ^ Leal, Walter Scares; Zarbin, Paulo H. G.; Wojtasek, Hubert; Kuwahara, Shigefumi; Hasegawa, Makoto; Ueda, Yasuo (January 16, 1997). "Medicinal alkaloid as a sex pheromone". Nature. 385 (6613): 213. Bibcode:1997Natur.385..213L. doi:10.1038/385213a0. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 9000070. S2CID 1633919.
  14. ^ Leal, Walter Soares; Higuchi, Hiroya; Mizutani, Nobuo; Nakamori, Hiroaki; Kadosawa, Toshihiro; Ono, Mikio (July 10, 1995). "Multifunctional communication inRiptortus clavatus (Heteroptera: Alydidae): Conspecific nymphs and egg parasitoidOoencyrtus nezarae use the same adult attractant pheromone as chemical cue". Journal of Chemical Ecology. 21 (7): 973–985. doi:10.1007/BF02033802. ISSN 0098-0331. PMID 24234413. S2CID 23283671.
  15. ^ Leal, Walter (1994). "Female sex pheromone of the longhorn beetle Migdolus fryanus Westwood: N-(2′S)-methylbutanoyl 2-methylbutylamine". Experientia. 50 (9): 853–856. doi:10.1007/BF01956471. S2CID 36650293.
  16. ^ Leal, W. S.; Parra-Pedrazzoli, A. L.; Kaissling, K.-E.; Morgan, T. I.; Zalom, F. G.; Pesak, D. J.; Dundulis, E. A.; Burks, C. S.; Higbee, B. S. (January 25, 2005). "Unusual pheromone chemistry in the navel orangeworm: novel sex attractants and a behavioral antagonist". Naturwissenschaften. 92 (3): 139–146. Bibcode:2005NW.....92..139L. doi:10.1007/s00114-004-0598-5. ISSN 0028-1042. PMID 15668783. S2CID 41154563.
  17. ^ Leal, WS (October 29, 1996). "Chemical communication in scarab beetles: reciprocal behavioral agonist-antagonist activities of chiral pheromones". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 93 (22): 12112–5. Bibcode:1996PNAS...9312112L. doi:10.1073/pnas.93.22.12112. PMC 37951. PMID 8901541.
  18. ^ Wojtasek, Hubert; Leal, Walter S. (October 22, 1999). "Conformational Change in the Pheromone-binding Protein fromBombyx mori Induced by pH and by Interaction with Membranes". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 274 (43): 30950–30956. doi:10.1074/jbc.274.43.30950. PMID 10521490.
  19. ^ Horst, R.; Damberger, F.; Luginbuhl, P.; Guntert, P.; Peng, G.; Nikonova, L.; Leal, W. S.; Wuthrich, K. (December 4, 2001). "NMR structure reveals intramolecular regulation mechanism for pheromone binding and release". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 98 (25): 14374–14379. Bibcode:2001PNAS...9814374H. doi:10.1073/pnas.251532998. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 64689. PMID 11724947.
  20. ^ Sandler, B. H.; Nikonova, L.; Leal, W. S.; Clardy, J. (February 1, 2000). "Sexual attraction in the silkworm moth: structure of the pheromone-binding-protein-bombykol complex". Chemistry & Biology. 7 (2): 143–151. doi:10.1016/s1074-5521(00)00078-8. ISSN 1074-5521. PMID 10662696.
  21. ^ Leal, W. S.; Chen, A. M.; Ishida, Y.; Chiang, V. P.; Erickson, M. L.; Morgan, T. I.; Tsuruda, J. M. (April 12, 2005). "Kinetics and molecular properties of pheromone binding and release". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102 (15): 5386–5391. Bibcode:2005PNAS..102.5386L. doi:10.1073/pnas.0501447102. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 555038. PMID 15784736.
  22. ^ Ishida, Y.; Leal, W. S. (September 27, 2005). "From The Cover: Rapid inactivation of a moth pheromone". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102 (39): 14075–14079. doi:10.1073/pnas.0505340102. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 1216831. PMID 16172410.
  23. ^ Ishida, Yuko; Leal, Walter S. (July 1, 2008). "Chiral discrimination of the Japanese beetle sex pheromone and a behavioral antagonist by a pheromone-degrading enzyme". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105 (26): 9076–9080. Bibcode:2008PNAS..105.9076I. doi:10.1073/pnas.0802610105. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 2440356. PMID 18579770.
  24. ^ Leal, Walter. "Pheromone reception". Top. Curr. Chem. 240: 1–36.
  25. ^ Pickett, J. A.; Birkett, M. A.; Logan, J. G. (September 9, 2008). "DEET repels ORNery mosquitoes". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105 (36): 13195–13196. Bibcode:2008PNAS..10513195P. doi:10.1073/pnas.0807167105. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 2533167. PMID 18772369.
  26. ^ Syed, Z.; Leal, W. S. (September 9, 2008). "Mosquitoes smell and avoid the insect repellent DEET". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105 (36): 13598–13603. doi:10.1073/pnas.0805312105. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 2518096. PMID 18711137.
  27. ^ Xu, Pingxi; Choo, Young-Moo; De La Rosa, Alyssa; Leal, Walter S. (November 18, 2014). "Mosquito odorant receptor for DEET and methyl jasmonate". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111 (46): 16592–16597. Bibcode:2014PNAS..11116592X. doi:10.1073/pnas.1417244111. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 4246313. PMID 25349401.
  28. ^ Xu, Pingxi; Choo, Young-Moo; Chen, Zhou; Zeng, Fangfang; Tan, Kaiming; Chen, Tsung-Yu; Cornel, Anthony J.; Liu, Nannan; Leal, Walter S. (September 27, 2019). "Odorant Inhibition in Mosquito Olfaction". iScience. 19: 25–38. Bibcode:2019iSci...19...25X. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2019.07.008. PMC 6660600. PMID 31349189.
  29. ^ Xu, Pingxi; Wen, Xiaolan; Leal, Walter S. (February 2, 2020). "CO2 per se activates carbon dioxide receptors". Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 117: 103284. doi:10.1016/j.ibmb.2019.103284. PMC 6980743. PMID 31760135.
  30. ^ "My Bibliography - NCBI". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  31. ^ Simmons, Alvin M; Leal, Walter S (March 8, 2018). "Twenty-Fifth International Congress of Entomology: The ICE 2016 Journey". American Entomologist. 64 (1): 32–43. doi:10.1093/ae/tmy008. hdl:11572/382549. ISSN 1046-2821.
  32. ^ "Insect Olfaction and Taste in 24 Hours Around the Globe". Entomological Society of Canada. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  33. ^ "National Academy of Sciences Elects Members and International Members". www.nasonline.org. April 30, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  34. ^ "UC Davis Distinguished Professor Walter Leal Selected Honorary Member of ESA". ANR Blogs. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  35. ^ "Walter Leal Receives Academic Senate's Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award". ANR Blogs. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  36. ^ Garvey, Kathy Keatley (February 24, 2020). "Distinguished Professor Walter Leal Wins 2020 Distinguished Teaching Award for Undergraduate Teaching". College of Biological Sciences. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  37. ^ "PBESA Award Winners Honored in Virtual Ceremony". ANR Blogs. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  38. ^ "Founders' Memorial Award Recipients". www.entsoc.org. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  39. ^ "Walter Leal Selected Fellow of National Academy of Inventors". ANR Blogs. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  40. ^ Jones, Dave (October 13, 2015). "Walter Leal Elected to California Academy of Sciences". College of Biological Sciences. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  41. ^ "Professor Walter Leal". Royal Entomological Society. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  42. ^ "Walter Leal Elected to Brazilian Academy of Sciences". University of California, Davis. December 11, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  43. ^ "Equivalent to an Olympic Gold Medal". ANR Blogs. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  44. ^ "Winners of the Nan-Yao Su Award for Innovation and Creativity in Entomology". Entomological Society of America. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  45. ^ "Walter S. Leal, ESA Fellow (2009)". www.entsoc.org. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  46. ^ "Walter Leal has a nose for insects' sense of smell | American Association for the Advancement of Science". www.aaas.org. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Leal
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