Donald Beasley
| Program: | M.S. |
| Major Professor: | William Walton |
| E-Mail: | |
| Office Location: | ENTMU 208 |
| Lab Location: | ENTMU 203 |
| Phone (office): | (951) 827-3918 |
| Web Site: |  |
Education
- B.S. Entomology, Texas A&M University, 2006
Research Focus
Unlike most animals, mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) are not capable of desaturating and elongating C18 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) into C20 PUFA. C20 PUFA are important because they are the precursors of eicosanoids. Eicosanoids play important physiological roles in immunity, reproduction, and ion transport, to name a few. If mosquitoes cannot synthesize C20 PUFA themselves, they must acquire them in their diet. My research focuses on elucidating the source of C20 PUFA in the diet of Anopheles hermsi larvae.