Connecticut State The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

Hany K Dweck

Hany K Dweck

 

Department of Entomology
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
123 Huntington Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Voice: (203) 974-8531 Fax: (203) 974-8502
Email: Hany.Dweck@ct.gov

Website: Dweck Laboratory

Expertise: 

Dr. Dweck is an expert in how insects use chemicals to sense their environment and how they respond to those signals.
 

Education:
B.Sc. Cairo University, Egypt (2004) Entomology and Chemistry

M.Sc. Cairo University, Egypt (2004) Entomology and Sensory Biology

Ph.D. Friedrich Schiller University/Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany (2014), Chemical Ecology

 

Station Career:

Assistant Agricultural Scientist II, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station: 2023-present 

 

Post Graduate Career:

Research Associate, Yale University: 2023-present 

Research Scientist, Yale University: 2021-2023

LSRF Postdoctoral fellow, Yale University: 2018-2021

Postdoctoral Associate, Yale University: 2016-2018

Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology: 2014-2015

Scientist, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology: 2014-2015

 

Current Research:

Our lab studies how insects use their senses and how this affects the way they interact with plants and adjust to new environments. We are trying to understand an important problem: how insects’ sensory systems change over time in ways that can turn them into agricultural pests.
  

Spotted-wing Drosophila (SWD):

We study the unusual egg‑laying behavior of the spotted‑wing fruit fly (Drosophila suzukii). Most related species lay their eggs on rotting fruit, but this fly lays its eggs much earlier, even in ripe or still‑ripening fruit. Because of this, it has become a major pest that damages many fruit crops, including strawberries, blueberries, peaches, cherries, and grapes.
 

Spotted lanternfly (SLF):

The spotted lanternfly is a new insect pest in the United States and is a threat to Connecticut’s environment, neighborhoods, and farms, especially forests, orchards, vineyards, and plant nurseries. Like many insects, it uses its sense of smell to find the plants it feeds on. It also uses smell to avoid predators, gather in groups, find mates, and choose places to lay eggs. We want to understand how the spotted lanternfly uses smell to interact with its surroundings. Our goal is to find the odors that matter most to this insect, the sensors in its body that detect those smells, and the behaviors those smells cause. This research may help us develop safer, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly ways to control pests that harm crops and forests.
 

We use several scientific methods in our research, including measuring activity in living nerve cells, studying insect behavior, analyzing chemicals, studying gene activity, and editing genes.

 

Past Research:

Previous research looked closely at how chemical-sensing systems work and how they have changed over time. Because of his hard work and discoveries, Dr. Dweck received the well‑known Otto Hahn Medal from the Max Planck Society.

Publications:

  • Dweck, H. K. M., Rutledge, C. C. (2024). The subapical labial sensory organ in spotted lanternfly. Open Biology 14. DOI: 10.1098/rsob.230438
  • Dweck, H. K. M., Carlson, J. R. (2024). Base Recording: A technique for analyzing responses of taste neurons in Drosophila. Journal of Visualized Experiments, (205). DOI: 10.3791/66665
  • Dweck, H. K. M., Carlson, J. R. (2023). Diverse mechanisms of taste coding in Drosophila. Science Advances, 9. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adj7032
  • Dweck, H. K. M. (2023). Q &A Interview. Current Biology, 33, R884-R946. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.08.012
  • Zhang, L., Sun, H., Grosse-Wilde, E., Zhang, L., Hansson, B. S., Dweck, H. K. M. (2023). Cross-generation pheromonal communication drives Drosophila oviposition site choice. Current Biology 33, pp. 1 – 9. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.03.090
  • Ebrahim, S. A. M., Dweck, H. K. M., Weiss, B., and Carlson, J. R. (2023). A volatile sex attractant of tsetse flies. Science 379. DOI: 10.1126/science.ade1877
  • Wang, W., Dweck, H. K. M., Talross, G. J., Zaidi, A., Gendron, J., and Carlson, J. R. (2022). Sugar sensation and mechanosensation in the egg-laying preference shift of Drosophila suzukii. eLife, 11, e81703.
  • Dweck, H. K. M., Talross, G. J., Lou, Y., Ebrahim, S. A. M., and Carlson, J. R. (2022). IR56b is an atypical ionotropic receptor that underlies appetitive salt response in Drosophila. Current Biology, 32, 1776-1787.
  • Xia, S., Dweck, H. K. M., Lutomiah, J., Sang, R., McBride, C. S., Rose, N. H., Ayala, D., and Powell, J. R. (2021). Larval sites of the mosquito Aedes aegypti formosus in forest and domestic habitats in Africa and the potential association with oviposition evolution. Ecology and Evolution, 11(22), 16327-16343.
  • Khallaf, M. A., Cui, R., Weißflog, J., Svatoš, A., Dweck, H. K. M., Valenzano, D. R., Hansson, B. S., and Knaden, M. (2021). Large-scale characterization of sex pheromone communication systems in Drosophila. Nature Communications, 12(1), 4165.
  • Dweck, H. K. M., Talross, G. J., Wang, W., and Carlson, J. R. (2021). Evolutionary shifts in taste coding of the fruit pest Drosophila suzukii. eLife, 10, e64317.
  • Khallaf, M. A., Auer, T. O., Grabe, V., Depetris-Chauvin, A., Ammagarahalli, B., Zhang, D.-D., Lavista-Llanos, S., Kaftan, F., Weißflog, J., Matzkin, L. M., Rollmann, S. M., Löfstedt, C., Svatoš, A., Dweck, H. K. M., Sachse, S., Benton, R., Hansson, B. S., and Knaden, M. (2020). Mate discrimination among subspecies through a conserved olfactory pathway. Science Advances, 6, eaba5279.
  • Dweck, H. K. M., and Carlson, J. R. (2020). Molecular logic and evolution of bitter taste in Drosophila. Current Biology, 30, 1-14.
  • Dweck, H. K. M., Ebrahim, S. A. M., Retzke, T., Grabe, V., Weißflog, J., Svatoš, A., Hansson, B. S., and Knaden, M. (2018). The olfactory logic behind fruit odor preferences in larval and adult Drosophila. Cell Reports, 23(8), 2524-2531.
  • Lebreton, S., Borrero-Echeverry, F., Gonzalez, F., Solum, M., Wallin, E., Hedenström, E., Hansson, B. S., Gustavsson, A., Bengtsson, M., Birgersson, G., Walker, W. B., Dweck, H. K. M., Becher, P. G., and Witzgall, P. (2017). The Drosophila melanogaster female pheromone is encoded together with food odor and mediates species-specific attraction. BMC Biology, 15, 88.
  • Seki, Y., Dweck, H. K. M., Rybak, J., Wicher, D., Sachse, S., and Hansson, B. S. (2017). Olfactory coding from the periphery to higher brain centers in the Drosophila brain. BMC Biology, 15, 56.
  • Dweck, H. K. M., Ebrahim, S., Khallaf, M. A., Köni, C., Farhan, A., Stieber, R., Weißflog, J., Svatoš, A., Grosse-Wild, E., Knaden, M., and Hansson, B. S. (2016). Olfactory channels associated with the Drosophila maxillary palp mediate short- and long-range attraction. eLife, 5, e14925.
  • Grabe, V., Baschwitz A., Dweck, H. K. M., Lavista Llanos, S., Hansson, B. S., and Sachse, S. (2016). Elucidating the neuronal architecture of olfactory glomeruli in the Drosophila antennal lobe. Cell Reports, 16, 3401-3413.
  • Rezával, C., Pattnaik, S., Pavlou, H. J., Nojima, T., Brüggemeier, B., D’Souza, L. A. D., Dweck, H. K. M., and Goodwin, S. F. (2016). Activation of Latent Courtship Circuitry in the Brain of Drosophila Females Induces Male-like Behaviors. Current Biology, 26, 2508-2515.
  • Ebrahim, S. A. M., Dweck, H. K. M., Stökl, J., Hofferberth, J. E., Trona, F., Rybak, J., Yoichi, S., Stensmyr, M. C., Sachse, S., Hansson, B. S., and Knaden, M. (2015). Drosophila avoids parasitoids by sensing their semiochemicals via a dedicated olfactory circuit. PlosBiology, 13(12), e1002318.
  • Dweck, H. K. M., Ebrahim, S. A. M., Thoma, M., Mohamed, A. A. M., Keesey, I. W., Trona, F., Lavista-Llanos, S., Svatos, A., Sachse, S., Knaden, M., and Hansson, B. S. (2015). Pheromones Mediate Copulation and Attraction in Drosophila. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112(21), E2829-E2835.
  • Dweck, H. K. M., Knaden, M., and Hansson, B. S. (2015). Functional loss of yeast detectors parallels transition to herbivory (commentary). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112(10), 2927-2928.
  • Dweck, H. K. M., Ebrahim, S. A. M., Farhan, A., Hansson, B. S., and Stensmyr, M. C. (2015). Olfactory proxy detection of dietary antioxidants in Drosophila. Current Biology, 25, 455-466.
  • Mißbach, C., Dweck, H. K. M., Vogel, H., Vilcinskas, A., Stensmyr, M. C., Hansson, B. S., and Grosse-Wilde, E. (2014). Evolution of insect olfactory receptors. eLife, 3, e02115.
  • Date, P., Dweck, H. K. M., Stensmyr, M. C., Shann, J., Hansson, B. S., and Rollmann, S. M. (2013). Divergence in olfactory host plant preference in D. mojavensis in response to cactus host use. PLoS One, 8(7), e70027.
  • Dweck, H. K. M., Ebrahim, S. A. M., Kromann, S., Bown, D., Hillbur, Y., Sachse, S., Hansson, B. S., and Stensmyr, M. C. (2013). Olfactory Preference for Egg Laying on Citrus Substrates in Drosophila. Current Biology, 23, 2472-2480.
  • Linz, J., Baschwitz, A., Strutz, A., Dweck, H. K. M., Sachse, S., Hansson, B. S., and Stensmyr, M. C. (2013). Host plant-driven sensory specialization in Drosophila erecta. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 280, 20130626.
  • Stensmyr, M. C., Dweck, H. K. M., Farhan, A., Ibba, I., Strutz, A., Mukunda, L., Linz, J., Grabe, V., Steck, K., Lavista Llanos, S., Wicher, D., Sachse, S., Knaden, M., Becher, P. G., Seki, Y., and Hansson, B. S. (2012). A conserved dedicated olfactory circuit for detecting harmful microbes in Drosophila. Cell, 151(6), 1345-1357.
  • Dweck, H. K. M., Svensson, G. P., Gündüz, E. A., and Anderbrant, O. (2010). Kairomonal response of the parasitoid, Bracon hebetor Say, to the male-produced sex pheromone of its host, the greater waxmoth, Galleria mellonella (L.). Journal of Chemical Ecology, 36, 171-178.
  • Dweck, H. K. M. (2009). Antennal sensory receptors of Pteromalus puparum (hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) a gregarious pupal endoparasitoid of Pieris rapae. Micron, 40, 769-774.
  • Dweck, H. K. M., and Gadallah, N. S. (2008). Description of the antennal sensilla of Habrobracon hebetor. Biological Control, 53, 841-856.
  • Dweck, H. K. M., Gadallah, N. S., and Darwish, E. (2008). Structure and sensory receptors of the ovipositor of Habrobracon hebetor (Say) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Micron, 39, 1255-1261.