James Marden

Associate Director of Operations, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences; Professor of Biology

James Marden

Research Summary

How physiological variation within species affects their ecology and evolution. Primarily with insects, but recently also with plants, and a particular interest in allelic variation in the pathogen resistance genes of tropical trees.

Huck Graduate Students

Huck Affiliations

Links

Most Recent Publications

Teaching RNAseq at undergraduate institutions: A tutorial and R package from the Genome Consortium for Active Teaching

James Marden, Mark Peterson, John Malloy, Vincent Buonaccorsi, CourseSource, Vol 2. on p. online journal with no page numbers

Insect Flight: State of the Field and Future Directions

Lisa A. Treidel, Kevin D. Deem, Mary K. Salcedo, Michael H. Dickinson, Heather S. Bruce, Charles A. Darveau, Bradley H. Dickerson, Olaf Ellers, Jordan R. Glass, Caleb M. Gordon, Jon F. Harrison, Tyson L. Hedrick, Meredith G. Johnson, Jacqueline E. Lebenzon, James H. Marden, Kristjan Niitepõld, Sanjay P. Sane, Simon Sponberg, Stav Talal, Caroline M. Williams, Ethan S. Wold, 2024, Integrative and Comparative Biology on p. 533-555

ABCG2 transporter reduces protein aggregation in cigarette smoke condensate-exposed A549 lung cancer cells

Emmanuella O. Ajenu, Ashley M. Seideneck, Esh Pandellapalli, Emily M. Shinsky, Casey L. Humphries, Nicholas L. Aparicio, Mahak Sharma, James H. Marden, Maria M. Krasilnikova, 2024, PLoS One

A combination of conserved and diverged responses underlies Theobroma cacao’s defense response to Phytophthora palmivora

N Winters, E Wafula, B Knollenberg, T Hämälä, P Timilsena, M Perryman, D Zhang, L Sheaffer, C Praul, P Ralph, S Prewitt, M Leandro-Muñoz, D Delgadillo-Duran, N Altman, P Tiffin, Siela Maximova, Claude W. dePamphilis, James H. Marden, Mark J. Guiltinan, 2024, BMC Biology on p. 38

Alleles in metabolic and oxygen-sensing genes are associated with antagonistic pleiotropic effects on life history traits and population fitness in an ecological model insect*

James H. Marden, Erica A. Langford, Molly A. Robertson, Howard W. Fescemyer, 2021, Evolution; international journal of organic evolution on p. 116-129

Enhanced heat tolerance of viral-infected aphids leads to niche expansion and reduced interspecific competition

Mitzy F. Porras, Carlos A. Navas, James H. Marden, Mark C. Mescher, Consuelo M. De Moraes, Sylvain Pincebourde, Andrés Sandoval-Mojica, Juan A. Raygoza-Garay, German A. Holguin, Edwin G. Rajotte, Tomás A. Carlo, 2020, Nature Communications

Resistance genes affect how pathogens maintain plant abundance and diversity

Simon Maccracken Stump, James H. Marden, Noelle G. Beckman, Scott A. Mangan, Liza S. Comita, 2020, American Naturalist on p. 472-486

Host plant defense produces species-specific alterations to flight muscle protein structure and flight-related fitness traits of two armyworms

Scott L. Portman, Gary W. Felton, Rupesh R. Kariyat, James H. Marden, 2020, Journal of Experimental Biology

Widely distributed variation in tolerance to Phytophthora palmivora in four genetic groups of cacao

Andrew Fister, Mariela Leandro-Muñoz, Dapeng Zhang, James H. Marden, Peter Tiffin, Claude dePamphilis, Siela Maximova, Mark J. Guiltinan, 2020, Tree Genetics and Genomes

Gene Expression Modularity Reveals Footprints of Polygenic Adaptation in Theobroma cacao

Tuomas Hämälä, Mark J. Guiltinan, James H. Marden, Siela N. Maximova, Claude dePamphilis, Peter Tiffin, 2020, Molecular Biology and Evolution on p. 110-123

Most-Cited Papers

Two genomes of highly polyphagous lepidopteran pests (Spodoptera frugiperda, Noctuidae) with different host-plant ranges

Anaïs Gouin, Anthony Bretaudeau, Kiwoong Nam, Sylvie Gimenez, Jean Marc Aury, Bernard Duvic, Frédérique Hilliou, Nicolas Durand, Nicolas Montagné, Isabelle Darboux, Suyog Kuwar, Thomas Chertemps, David Siaussat, Anne Bretschneider, Yves Moné, Seung Joon Ahn, Sabine Hänniger, Anne Sophie Gosselin Grenet, David Neunemann, Florian Maumus, Isabelle Luyten, Karine Labadie, Wei Xu, Fotini Koutroumpa, Jean Michel Escoubas, Angel Llopis, Martine Maïbèche-Coisne, Fanny Salasc, Archana Tomar, Alisha R. Anderson, Sher Afzal Khan, Pascaline Dumas, Marion Orsucci, Julie Guy, Caroline Belser, Adriana Alberti, Benjamin Noel, Arnaud Couloux, Jonathan Mercier, Sabine Nidelet, Emeric Dubois, Nai Yong Liu, Isabelle Boulogne, Olivier Mirabeau, Gaelle Le Goff, Karl Gordon, John Oakeshott, Fernando L. Consoli, Anne Nathalie Volkoff, Howard W. Fescemyer, James H. Marden, Dawn S. Luthe, Salvador Herrero, David G. Heckel, Patrick Wincker, Gael J. Kergoat, Joelle Amselem, Hadi Quesneville, Astrid T. Groot, Emmanuelle Jacquin-Joly, Nicolas Nègre, Claire Lemaitre, Fabrice Legeai, Emmanuelle D'Alençon, Philippe Fournier, 2017, Scientific Reports

Origin and diversification of wings: Insights from a neopteran insect

Victor Medved, James H. Marden, Howard W. Fescemyer, Joshua P. Der, Jin Liu, Najmus Mahfooz, Aleksandar Popadić, 2015, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on p. 15946-15951

Ecological genomics of tropical trees: how local population size and allelic diversity of resistance genes relate to immune responses, cosusceptibility to pathogens, and negative density dependence

J. H. Marden, S. A. Mangan, M. P. Peterson, E. Wafula, H. W. Fescemyer, J. P. Der, C. W. dePamphilis, L. S. Comita, 2017, Molecular Ecology on p. 2498-2513

A pathway analysis of melanin patterning in a hemimetabolous insect

Jin Liu, Thomas R. Lemonds, James H. Marden, Aleksandar Popadić, 2016, Genetics on p. 403-413

Enhanced heat tolerance of viral-infected aphids leads to niche expansion and reduced interspecific competition

Mitzy F. Porras, Carlos A. Navas, James H. Marden, Mark C. Mescher, Consuelo M. De Moraes, Sylvain Pincebourde, Andrés Sandoval-Mojica, Juan A. Raygoza-Garay, German A. Holguin, Edwin G. Rajotte, Tomás A. Carlo, 2020, Nature Communications

Filling Adeno-Associated Virus Capsids: Estimating Success by Cryo-Electron Microscopy

Suriyasri Subramanian, Anna C. Maurer, Carol M. Bator, Alexander M. Makhov, James F. Conway, Kevin B. Turner, James H. Marden, Luk H. Vandenberghe, Susan L. Hafenstein, 2019, Human Gene Therapy on p. 1449-1460

Cascading effects of host plant inbreeding on the larval growth, muscle molecular composition, and flight capacity of an adult herbivorous insect

Scott L. Portman, Rupesh R. Kariyat, Michelle A. Johnston, Andrew G. Stephenson, James H. Marden, 2015, Functional Ecology on p. 328-337

Resistant and susceptible cacao genotypes exhibit defense gene polymorphism and unique early responses to Phytophthora megakarya inoculation

Désiré N. Pokou, Andrew S. Fister, Noah Winters, Mathias Tahi, Coulibaly Klotioloma, Aswathy Sebastian, James H. Marden, Siela N. Maximova, Mark J. Guiltinan, 2019, Plant Molecular Biology on p. 499-516

Inbreeding compromises host plant defense gene expression and improves herbivore survival

Scott L. Portman, Rupesh R. Kariyat, Michelle A. Johnston, Andrew G. Stephenson, James H. Marden, 2015, Plant Signaling and Behavior on p. 1-4

Gene Expression Modularity Reveals Footprints of Polygenic Adaptation in Theobroma cacao

Tuomas Hämälä, Mark J. Guiltinan, James H. Marden, Siela N. Maximova, Claude dePamphilis, Peter Tiffin, 2020, Molecular Biology and Evolution on p. 110-123

News Articles Featuring James Marden

Apr 30, 2025

Celebrating James Marden: A Decade of Impact and a Lifetime of Achievement

After a decade of exceptional service to the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and a distinguished academic career spanning four decades, James Marden, professor of biology and associate director of operations, will retire from Penn State at the end of June 2025.

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Mar 06, 2024

Lung cancer cells protected from cigarette smoke damage, researchers find

New research by a team of undergraduate students led by a Penn State molecular biologist may have revealed how lung cancer cells can persist in smoke. The mechanism could be related to how cancer cells develop resistance to pharmaceutical treatments as well.

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Oct 30, 2023

Genomics Research Incubator expands assay and training options for scientists

The Genomics Core Facility technology allows researchers to process genetic material much quicker and in larger quantities, producing more detailed data for more in-depth analyzes.

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Apr 07, 2023

Penn State Global announces 2022-23 faculty, staff, student awards

Penn State Global has announced the 2022-23 recipients of its annual awards that recognize the outstanding contributions of individuals and academic programs at Penn State who have helped to advance the University’s global engagement goals.

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Nov 03, 2022

Study abroad returns to the Eberly College of Science

After a nearly two-year hiatus, study abroad programming has returned for Penn State students in the Eberly College of Science. Students across a variety of majors had opportunities in both Costa Rica and Italy in the 2021-22 academic year.

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Jul 07, 2021

Two honored with 2021 Eberly College of Science Distinguished Service Awards

The Eberly College of Science has honored James Marden, professor of biology and associate director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, with one of two Distinguished Service Awards in 2021. The award was established in 1978 to recognize faculty and staff who have made significant and outstanding leadership and service contributions to the Eberly College of Science over a sustained period of time.

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Dec 06, 2019

Novel way to ID disease-resistance genes in chocolate-producing trees found

Chocolate-producing cacao trees that are resistant to a major pathogen were identified by an international team of plant geneticists. The findings point the way for plant breeders to develop trees that are tolerant of the disease.

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