Paul Becher Postdoctoral Fellow   paul.becher@slu.se

 

Education - academic degrees

2006 – 2007 Postdoctoral fellowship, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland

2002– 2006 PhD studies, Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zürich, Switzerland

2001 Diploma in biology/Thesis, University of Freiburg/University of Konstanz, Germany

 

Research

The induction of flight in insects is a powerful indicator for odours of behavioural and ecological relevance. The identification of decisive odours like pheromones and food cues is essential for the understanding of peripheral and central nervous processing of  chemical signals. Currently I'm studying physiological and behavioural processes in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster and the cotton leaf worm Spodoptera litoralis.  

 

Previous projects focused  on compounds produced by plants, cyanobacteria or algae, influencing the development and behaviour of other organisms like herbivore insects. In many cases such compounds are active in minimum amounts. Identification of the bioactive compounds and the related interactions between organisms is a great challenge that can be met by combination of bioassays and chemical analyses.

 

Selected publications

Becher P. G., Guerin P. M. (2009) – Oriented responses of grapevine moth larvae Lobesia botrana to volatiles from host plants and their artificial diet on a locomotion compensator. Journal of Insect Physiology 55 (4): 384–393.

 

Höckelmann C., Becher P. G., von Reuß S. H., Jüttner F. (2009) – Sesqui­terpenes of the geosmin-producing cyanobacterium Calothrix PCC 7507 and their toxicity to invertebrates. Zeitschrift für Naturforschung 64c (1/2): 49–55.

 

Becher P. G., Baumann H. I., Gademann K., Jüttner F. (2009) – The cyanobacterial alkaloid nostocarboline: An acetylcholinesterase and trypsin inhibitor. Journal of Applied Phycology 21 (1): 103–110.

 

Becher P.G., Keller S., Jung G., Süssmuth R. D., Jüttner F. (2007) Insecticidal activity of 12-epi-hapalindole J isonitrile. Phytochemistry 68: 2493–2497.

 

Becher P.G., Jüttner F.; (2006) Insecticidal activity – a new bioactive property of the cyanobacterium Fischerella. Polish Journal of Ecology 54 (4): 653–662.

 

Becher P.G., Beuchat J., Gademann K., Jüttner F.; (2005) Nostocarboline: Isolation and synthesis of a new cholinesterase inhibitor from Nostoc 78-12A. Journal of Natural Products 68 (12): 1793–1795.

(Awarded by the American Chemical Society – Hot Article, January 2006)

 

Becher P.G., Jüttner F.; (2005) Insecticidal compounds of the biofilm-forming cyanobacterium Fischerella sp. (ATCC 43239). Environmental Toxicology 20 (3): 363–372.

 

Wacker A., Becher P., Von Elert E.; (2002) Food quality effects of unsaturated fatty acids on larvae of the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha. Limnology and Oceanography, 47 (4): 1242–1248.