Aaron Gross
· Associate ProfessorVerifiedVirginia Tech · Entomology
Active 1952–2025
About
Aaron Gross is an Associate Professor in the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech. His research focuses on controlling arthropod pests that impact human health, animal health, and agriculture. His primary research themes include understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in insecticide and acaricide resistance, discovering and elucidating the mode of action of novel synthetic and natural insecticides and acaricides, and studying tick-host interactions. Gross's work aims to inform pest control decisions by exploring the molecular basis of resistance, utilizing underexplored targets such as G-Protein-Coupled Receptors and ion channels for insecticide development, and investigating how ticks evade mammalian immune responses during feeding. He holds a B.S. in Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences from St. Cloud State University, an M.S. and Ph.D. in Toxicology from Iowa State University, and completed postdoctoral training at the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida. Gross is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Chemical Society, Entomological Society of America, and Sigma Xi, and is actively involved in teaching and research within his laboratory.
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Research topics
- Biology
- Ecology
- Botany
- Toxicology
- Medicine
- Agronomy
- Zoology
- Immunology
- Virology
Selected publications
Journal of Investigative Dermatology · 2025-07-21
articleOpen accessJournal of Experimental Biology · 2025-05-01 · 4 citations
articleOpen accessGlyphosate is a broad-spectrum herbicide that inhibits the shikimate pathway, which honey bees (Apis mellifera), a non-target beneficial pollinator, do not endogenously express. Nonetheless, sublethal glyphosate exposure in honey bees has been correlated to impairments in gustation, learning, memory and navigation. While these impacted physiologies underpin honey bee foraging and recruitment, the effects of sublethal glyphosate exposure on these important behaviors remain unclear, and any proximate mechanism of action in the honey bee is poorly understood. We trained cohorts of honey bees from the same hives to forage at one of two artificial feeders offering 1 mol l-1 sucrose solution, either unaltered (N=40) or containing glyphosate at 5 mg acid equivalent (a.e.) l-1 (N=46). We then compared key foraging behaviors and, on a smaller subset of bees, recruitment behaviors. Next, we quantified protein levels of octopamine, tyramine and dopamine, and levels of the amino acid precursor tyrosine in the brains of experimental bees collected 3 days after the exposure. We found that glyphosate treatment bees reduced their foraging by 13.4% (P=0.022), and the brain content of tyramine was modulated by a crossover interaction between glyphosate treatment and the number of feeder visits (P=0.004). Levels of octopamine were significantly correlated with its precursors tyramine (P=0.011) and tyrosine (P=0.018) in glyphosate treatment bees, but not in control bees. Our findings emphasize the critical need to investigate impacts of the world's most-applied herbicide and to elucidate its non-target mechanism of action in insects to create better-informed pollinator protection strategies.
Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology · 2025-01-01
articleOpen accessSenior authorCorrespondingABSTRACT European honey bee ( Apis mellifera ) colonies are an ideal host to the invasive beetle Aethina tumida , providing a nutrient rich environment that is protected from the elements and facilitates beetle reproduction. Although various management techniques and chemical treatments for A. tumida have been developed, understanding the efficacy of these treatments and techniques is limited. Throughout this study, several methods for impairing A. tumida development and delivering insecticidal, repellent, or antifungal treatments were examined. A series of A. tumida larval feeding bioassays developed and optimized feeding gel pellet for delivery of insecticidal treatments, revealing that A. tumida larvae are sensitive to the two common in‐hive varroa mite ( Varroa destructor ) treatments: coumaphos (EC 50 = 25.6 ppm) and tau ‐fluvalinate (EC 50 = 21.2 ppm). Feeding bioassays also demonstrated that A. tumida were more sensitive to the pyrethroid compounds permethrin (EC 50 = 3.37 ppm), deltamethrin (EC 50 = 2.69 ppm), and bifenthrin (EC 50 = 0.365 ppm), which have been previously used to control this beetle. Feeding bioassays also revealed that the antifungal drug Amphotericin B was palatable to A. tumida larvae via feeding, but was also injected into A. tumida larvae and adults. Two types of pupation bioassays were also developed to test the effects of several insecticidal and repellent treatments on pupation burrowing and pupation success. Overall, this work details specific toxicity information regarding common insecticidal treatments found in the apiary setting study and provides groundwork and methods for testing insecticidal compounds on A. tumida larvae in in the future.
SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01
preprintOpen accessSenior authorPesticide Biochemistry and Physiology · 2024-06-03 · 8 citations
articleSenior authorCorrespondingAgricultural and Forest Entomology · 2024-08-21 · 1 citations
articleOpen accessAbstract 1. The invasive hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA), Adelges tsugae (Annand) (Hemiptera: Adelgidae), has spread throughout most of the range of eastern hemlock, Tsuga canandensis (L.), and the entire range of Carolina hemlock, Tsuga caroliniana (Engelman), in the United States. 2. Integrated pest management (IPM) of HWA combines chemical applications with the release of biological control agents on untreated trees within the same stand. Laricobius spp., Rosenhauer (Coleoptera: Derodontidae), have been used as biological control agents of HWA since 2003 and have subterranean and arboreal life phases that are synchronous with HWA's lifecycle. When utilizing IPM tactics, there is potential for Laricobius spp. to settle below an insecticide‐treated tree for its subterranean phase. 3. Field investigations assessed the impact of historical (five years post treatment in 2017) and recent imidacloprid soil treatments (via soil injection, soil drench, and tablet in November 2020) on the subterranean survivorship of Laricobius spp. by quantifying concentrations of imidacloprid and its metabolites to determine its potential impact on percent adult emergence from the soil. 4. We observed a significant treatment effect on mean soil concentration among application methods at the recent treatment site, but not the historical treatment site. Additionally, at the more recently treated site, significantly lower mean percent emergence was observed from soil drench and tablet imidacloprid applications after one year (2021), but by the following year (2022), that effect was no longer present. 5. This study supports recent recommendations to delay releases of Laricobius spp. for one‐year post‐treatment with imidacloprid. Furthermore, these data suggest when applying imidacloprid to a stand established with Laricobius spp., soil injection techniques pose the least risk to their subterranean survivorship.
Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology · 2023-03-09 · 2 citations
articleSenior authorCorrespondingInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences · 2023-04-22 · 2 citations
articleOpen accessA cDNA encoding a novel cholinesterase (ChE, EC 3.1.1.8) from the larvae of Amblyomma americanum (Linnaeus) was identified, sequenced, and expressed in Sf21 insect cell culture using the baculoviral expression vector pBlueBac4.5/V5-His. The open reading frame (1746 nucleotides) of the cDNA encoded 581 amino acids beginning with the initiation codon. Identical cDNA sequences were amplified from the total RNA of adult tick synganglion and salivary gland, strongly suggesting expression in both tick synganglion and saliva. The recombinant enzyme (rAaChE1) was highly sensitive to eserine and BW284c51, relatively insensitive to tetraisopropyl pyrophosphoramide (iso-OMPA) and ethopropazine, and hydrolyzed butyrylthiocholine (BuTCh) 5.7 times as fast as acetylthiocholine (ATCh) at 120 µM, with calculated KM values for acetylthiocholine (ATCh) and butyrylthiocholine of 6.39 µM and 14.18 µM, respectively. The recombinant enzyme was highly sensitive to inhibition by malaoxon, paraoxon, and coroxon in either substrate. Western blots using polyclonal rabbit antibody produced by immunization with a peptide specific for rAaChE1 exhibited reactivity in salivary and synganglial extract blots, indicating the presence of AaChE1 antigenic protein. Total cholinesterase activities of synganglial or salivary gland extracts from adult ticks exhibited biochemical properties very different from the expressed rAaACh1 enzyme, evidencing the substantial presence of additional cholinesterase activities in tick synganglion and saliva. The biological function of AaChE1 remains to be elucidated, but its presence in tick saliva is suggestive of functions in hydrolysis of cholinergic substrates present in the large blood mean and potential involvement in the modulation of host immune responses to tick feeding and introduced pathogens.
Journal of Integrated Pest Management · 2022 · 16 citations
Senior authorCorresponding- Biology
- Ecology
- Botany
Abstract Small hive beetle (Aethina tumida Murray) control has become an issue of increasing importance for North American apiculturists throughout the past two decades. Aethina tumida was discovered in Florida in 1989, presumably transported from its native habitat of sub-Saharan Africa through the shipment of European honey bee (Apis mellifera L) queens. Estimates of damage from A. tumida were as high as $3 million annually in the United States by the year 2004, and A. tumida was found in nearly every state by 2008. When adult beetles emerge from pupation in soil surrounding the hive, they are attracted to A. mellifera hives through a variety of pheromones and volatile organic compounds from bees and hive products. Aethina tumida larvae and adults consume hive products and bee brood, generating fermenting waste (or slime), which can eventually lead to hive abandonment in cases of severe infestation. Pest management efforts for A. tumida have focused on trapping adults, applying lime, diatomaceous earth, pyrethroid soil drenches, and entomopathogenic nematodes to the soil surrounding A. mellifera hives. Understanding the biology and life history of A. tumida, along with current control methods, can aid apiculturists in making informed integrated pest management decisions. Additionally, understanding critical knowledge gaps in the current research is an important step in identifying promising future management tactics in the ongoing efforts to manage this invasive pest.
Pest Management Science · 2022-07-16 · 9 citations
articleOpen accessSenior authorCorrespondingAbstract BACKGROUND Pest management requires continual identification of new physiological targets and strategies to control pests affecting agriculture and public/animal health. We propose the muscarinic system as a target for agrochemicals because of its physiological importance. Unlike the muscarinic system, gamma‐amino butyric acid (GABA) receptors are an established insecticide target. Here, we investigated target‐site synergism using small molecule probes (agonist and antagonist) against the muscarinic system and their ability to enhance the toxicity of GABAergic insecticides in Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen). RESULTS Oral delivery of pilocarpine (muscarinic agonist) enhanced the toxicity of dieldrin, fipronil, and lindane, resulting in synergist ratios (SRs) between 4–32‐fold (orally delivered) or between 2–67‐fold when insecticides were topically applied. The synergism between pilocarpine and the GABA‐insecticides was greater than the synergism observed with atropine (muscarinic antagonist), and was greater, or comparable, to the synergism observed with the metabolic inhibitor piperonyl butoxide. In addition to lethality, pilocarpine increased the knockdown of lindane. The mechanism of synergism was also investigated in the central nervous system using extracellular electrophysiology, where pilocarpine (3 μmo/L) lowered the half‐maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) of lindane from 1.3 (0.86–1.98) μmol/L to 0.17 (0.14–0.21) μmol/L and fipronil's IC 50 from 2.2 (1.54–3.29) μmol/L to 0.56 (0.40–0.77) μmol/L. CONCLUSION Convergence of the cellular function between the muscarinic and GABAergic systems enhanced the insecticidal activity of GABA receptor blocking insecticides through the modulation of the central nervous system (CNS). The future impact of the findings could be the reduction of the active ingredient needed in a formulation with the development of muscarinic synergists. © 2022 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
Frequent coauthors
- 26 shared
Joel R. Coats
Iowa State University
- 17 shared
Jeffrey R. Bloomquist
University of Florida
- 16 shared
Lyric C. Bartholomay
University of Wisconsin–Madison
- 13 shared
Michael J. Kimber
Iowa State University
- 10 shared
Edmund J. Norris
Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology
- 10 shared
Tim A. Day
Iowa State University
- 8 shared
Kevin B. Temeyer
Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory
- 8 shared
Paula Ribeiro
McGill University
Labs
Education
B.S. Biochemistry, Biochemistry
Saint Cloud State University
- 2014
Ph.D. Toxicology (Minors: Neuroscience and Entomology), Entomolgoy
Iowa State University
- 2010
M.S. Toxicology (Minor: Entomology), Entomology
Iowa State University
- 2007
Biomedical Sciences, Biology
Saint Cloud State University
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