Julia Kubanek Associate Professor Office: 2242 ES&T Phone: 404-894-8424 Fax: 404-894-0519 E-mail Julia Kubanek Research Group Web site

B.S., Queen's University; Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Postdoctoral, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Blanchard Fellowship - 2005; PECASE Award - 2004; NSF CAREER Award - 2002

Research Interests

Chemical ecology; harmful algal bloom toxins; marine natural products chemistry and biosynthesis; ecological roles and consequences of secondary metabolites.

Chemical Ecology

Research in Professor Julia Kubanek's laboratory explores mechanisms of chemical communication and signaling in aquatic environments. Using both chemical and biological experimentation in the laboratory and at field sites around the world, we examine the ecological roles and consequences of plant and animal natural products. Ongoing projects include: 1) harmful algal bloom toxin function and effects on food webs and competition; 2) pheromones and sex attraction of crabs, lobsters, and zooplankton; 3) marine sponge chemical defenses against coral reef fishes, against competing sponges, against settling larvae, and against biofilm-forming bacteria; 4) chemical defenses of tropical algae against pathogenic marine fungi; 5) freshwater community structure mediated by plant antifeedant chemical compounds.

Selected Publications

Prusak A. C., O’Neal J., Kubanek J., "Prevalence of chemical defenses in freshwater macrophytes," Journal of Chemical Ecology 2005, 31:1145-1160.

Barsby, T,, Kubanek J., "Isolation and structure elucidation of feeding deterrent diterpenoids from the sea pansy Renilla reniformis," Journal of Natural Products 2005, 68:511-516.

Kubanek J., Hicks M . K., Naar J., Villareal T., "Does the red tide dinoflagellate Karenia brevis use allelopathy to out-compete other phytoplankton?" Limnology and Oceanography 2005, 50: 883-895.

John E. A. , Pollet P. , Gelbaum L , Kubanek J. "Synthesis and antifeedant effect of 2,3,4-tribromopyrrole," Journal of Natural Products 2004, 67:1929-1931.

Kubanek J., Lester S., Fenical W., Hay M. E. "Ambiguous role of phlorotannins as chemical defenses in the brown alga Fucus vesiculosus," Marine Ecology Progress Series 2004, 277:79-93.

Kicklighter C., Kubanek J., Hay M. E. "Do brominated natural products defend marine worms from consumers? Some do, most don’t," Limnology and Oceanography 2004, 49:430-441.

Fuller M. D., Zhang Z. R., Cui G., Kubanek J., McCarty N. A., "Inhibition of CFTR channels by a peptide toxin of scorpion venom," American Journal of Physiology Cell Physiology 2004, 287:C1328-C1341.

Kubanek J., Jensen P. R., Keifer P. A., Sullards C., Collins D. O., Fenical W., "Seaweed resistance to microbial attack: A targeted chemical defense against marine fungi," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 2003, 100: 6916-6921.

Barsby T., Kicklighter C., Hay M. E., Sullards M. C., Kubanek J., "Defensive 2-alkylpyrrole sulfamates from the marine annelid Cirriformia tentaculata [Polychaeta: Cirratulidae]," Journal of Natural Products 2003, 66:1110-1112.

Kicklighter C., Kubanek J., Barsby T., Hay M. E., "Palatability and defense of some tropical marine worms: Alykylpyrrole sulfamates as deterrents to fish feeding," Marine Ecology Progress Series 2003, 263:299-306.

Taylor R. B., Lindquist N., Kubanek J., Hay M. E., "Intraspecific variation in palatability and defensive chemistry of brown seaweeds: effects on herbivore fitness," Oecologia 2003, 136:412-423.

Kubanek J., Whalen K. E., Engel S., Kelly S. R., Henkel T. P., Fenical W., Pawlik J. R. "Multiple defensive roles for triterpene glycosides from two Caribbean sponges," Oecologia 2002, 131:125-136.

Hay M. E. , Kubanek J. "Community and ecosystem level consequences of chemical signaling in the plankton," Journal of Chemical Ecology 2002, 28:2001-2016.

Bourdelais A. J., Tomas C. R., Naar J., Kubanek J., Baden D. G., "New fish-killing alga in coastal Delaware produces neurotoxins," Environmental Health Perspectives 2002, 110:465:470.

Naar J., Bourdelais A., Tomas C. R., Kubanek J., Whitney P. L., Flewelling L., Steidinger K., Lancaster J., Baden D. G., "A competitive ELISA to detect brevetoxin from Karenia brevis (formerly Gymnodinium breve) in seawater, shellfish, and mammalian body fluid," Environmental Health Perspectives 2002, 110:179-186.