Dr. Daniel A. Hahn
Professor and Associate Department Chair
Evolutionary Physiology, Genetics, & Pest Management
Dan Hahn specializes in ecological and evolutionary physiology, genetics, and application of these principles to pest management. His scientific work focuses on rapid adaptation, phenotypic plasticity, genetics of performance, mechanisms regulating dormancy, and seasonal biology of insects; both from basic research and applied agricultural perspectives. Our lab is particularly interested in understanding the fundamental mechanisms underlying hardiness to environmental stress, understanding and manipulating insect dormancy/diapause (i.e., hibernation), predicting what species will thrive vs. contract in the face of changing land use patterns/urbanization – including invasive species, and improving non-chemical methods for insect pest control including biological control, sterile insect technique, and phytosanitary treatments for commodities.
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Research
Our research aims to understand how animals work at a fundamental level by studying the physiological and genetic bases of insect adaptation to their environments. We use the evolution of extreme phenotypes in insects to probe questions like: how can some insects go dormant for months or years and come out at the right time?, how can insects survive 10x more radiation exposure than mammals and how can some insects survive 10x more radiation exposure than others (100x humans)?, how can some insects reproduce faster, live longer, or attract mates better?
We apply our knowledge about the physiological and genetic mechanisms of stress hardiness, dormancy, and seasonal biology to improve biologically based, environmentally friendly methods of pest management.
We are particularly interested in:
1) improving the performance of sterile males in the sterile insect technique,
2) improving non-chemical post-harvest phytosanitary treatments for commodities,
3) applying knowledge of seasonal biology to improve the selection and performance of biological control agents in the field as well as to predict the spread/impacts of invasive species,
4) improving the production of biological control agents and beneficial insects to support the bioeconomy,
5) manipulating insect dormancy to enhance the shelf life of beneficial insects to support storage/stockpiling of beneficial insects and the ability to distribute these insects through supply chains to the field when needed.
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Teaching
Graduate Insect Physiology:
The over-arching learning goal for this course is for students to achieve a level of knowledge and a deep enough understanding of selected insect physiological systems for the student to recognize opportunities to extend this learning to improve their own current or future work, from basic perspectives in physiological ecology & evolution to practical applications in pest management. This course is not designed to be a brief survey of insect physiological systems; we will not cover everything in the textbook. Instead, my goal is for you to learn enough about select physiological systems so that you are comfortable in your ability to learn about any physiological system on your own in the future.
Contact
PO Box 110620
Steinmetz Hall (Bldg #970)
1881 Natural Area Drive
Gainesville, FL 32611-0620
(352) 273-3968
dahahn@ufl.edu
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Education
- Postdoctoral Studies, Insect Physiology & Molecular Biology, Ohio State University 2003-2005
- Ph.D., Insect Science, University of Arizona, 2003
- B.S., Biological Sciences, Florida State University, 1996
- Google Scholar Publications
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Selected Publications
Seasonal Adaptation:
Gerken, A.R., Eller, O.C., Hahn, D.A., and Morgan T.J. 2015. Constraints, independence, and evolution of thermal plasticity; probing the genetic architecture of long and short-term thermal acclimation. PNAS. 112: 4399-4404.
Williams, C.M., M. Watanabe, M. Guarracino, M.B. Ferraro, A.S. Edison, T.J. Morgan, A. Boroujerdi, and D.A. Hahn. 2014. Cold adaptation shapes the robustness of metabolic networks in Drosophila melanogaster. Evolution. 68:3505-3523.
Clemmensen, S.F., and D.A. Hahn. 2015. Dormancy cues alter insect temperature-size relationships. Oecologia. 177: 113-121.
Hahn, D.A., and D.L. Denlinger. 2011. Energetics of Diapause. Annual Review of Entomology. 56:103-121.
Adaptive Radiation in Insect-Host Relationships:
Ragland, G.J. Almaskaar, K., Vertacnick, K.L. Gough, H.M., Feder, J.L., Hahn, D.A., and Schwarz D. 2015. Differences in performance and transcriptome-wide gene expression associated with Rhagoletis (Diptera: Tephritidae) larvae feeding in alternative host fruit environments. Molecular Ecology. 24: 2759-2776.
Wadsworth, C. B., W. A. Woods, D. A. Hahn, and E. B. Dopman. 2013. One phase of the dormancy developmental pathway is critical for the evolution of insect seasonality. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 26:2359-2368.
Ragland, G.J., S.B. Sim, S. Goudarzi, J.L. Feder, and D.A. Hahn. 2012. Environmental interactions during host race formation: host fruit environment moderates a seasonal shift in phenology in host races of Rhagoletis pomonella. Functional Ecology, 26:921-931.
Applications to Pest Management:
Lopez-Martinez, G., J.E. Carpenter, S.D. Hight, and D.A. Hahn. 2014. Low-oxygen atmospheric treatment improves the performance of irradiation-sterilized male cactus moths used in SIT. Journal of Economic Entomology. 107:185-197.
Knutson, A., A. Mukherjee, D.A. Hahn, and K.M. Heinz. 2014. Biological control of giant salvinia (Salvinia molesta) in a temperate region: cold tolerance and low temperature oviposition of Cyrtobagous salviniae. BioControl. 59:781-790.
Lopez-Martinez, G., and D.A. Hahn. 2012 Short-term anoxic conditioning hormesis boosts antioxidant defenses, lowers oxidative damage following irradiation, and enhances male sexual performance in the Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspensa. Journal of Experimental Biology, 215:2150-2161.
Other Projects in Life-History Physiology: Folks in our lab have broad interests and most of our work is collaborative in nature, so we love to bring our expertise to bear in helping other answer important questions in their research programs.
Hatle, J. D., J. W. Kellenberger, E. Viray, A. M. Smith, and D. A. Hahn. 2013. Life-extending ovariectomy in grasshoppers increases somatic storage, but dietary restriction with an equivalent feeding rate does not. Experimental Gerontology 48:966-972.
Visser, B., D. Roelofs, D.A. Hahn, P.E.A. Teal, M. Janine and J. Ellers. 2012. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of evolutionary trait loss: Lacking lipid synthesis in parasitoids. Genome Biology and Evolution, 4:752-762.
Judd, E.B., M. Drewery, F.J. Wessels, D.A. Hahn, and J.D. Hatle. 2011. Ovariectomy in grasshoppers increases somatic storage, but proportional allocation of ingested nutrients to somatic tissues is unchanged. Aging Cell. 10:972-979.