Tanya Renner

Associate Professor of Entomology

Tanya Renner

Research Summary

Evolution of chemical and structural defense. Molecular evolution, evolutionary genomics, and transcriptomics. Origins and evolution of carnivorous plants.

Huck Graduate Students

Huck Affiliations

Links

Most Recent Publications

Are carnivorous plants mixotrophic?

Qianshi Lin, Shuhan Sarah Yin, Martín Mata-Rosas, Enrique Ibarra-Laclette, Tanya Renner, 2025, New Phytologist on p. 445-449

The molecular mechanisms of defensive-grade organic acid biosynthesis in ground beetles

Adam M. Rork, Sihang Xu, Athula Attygalle, Tanya Renner, 2025, Insect Molecular Biology

Genome evolution following an ecological shift in nectar-dwelling Acinetobacter

Vivianna A. Sanchez, Tanya Renner, Lydia J. Baker, Tory A. Hendry, 2025, mSphere

Dynamic evolution of the mTHF gene family associated with primary metabolism across life

Adam M. Rork, Arthi S. Bala, Tanya Renner, 2024, BMC Genomics

New records of Micromegistus bakeri, Trägårdh 1948 (Acari: Mesostigmata: Parantennulidae), a mite symbiotic on carabid beetles, and notes on the species’ distribution and host specificity

Nia Riggins, Monica R. Young, Tanya Renner, Frédéric Beaulieu, Michael Skvarla, 2024, Acarologia on p. 575-591

Subgenome dominance shapes novel gene evolution in the decaploid pitcher plant Nepenthes gracilis

Franziska Saul, Mathias Scharmann, Takanori Wakatake, Sitaram Rajaraman, André Marques, Matthias Freund, Gerhard Bringmann, Louisa Channon, Dirk Becker, Emily Carroll, Yee Wen Low, Charlotte Lindqvist, Kadeem J. Gilbert, Tanya Renner, Sachiko Masuda, Michaela Richter, Gerd Vogg, Ken Shirasu, Todd P. Michael, Rainer Hedrich, Victor A. Albert, Kenji Fukushima, 2023, Nature Plants on p. 2000-2015

The digestive systems of carnivorous plants

Matthias Freund, Dorothea Graus, Andreas Fleischmann, Kadeem J. Gilbert, Qianshi Lin, Tanya Renner, Christian Stigloher, Victor A. Albert, Rainer Hedrich, Kenji Fukushima, 2022, Plant Physiology on p. 44-59

Genomic insights into the evolution of plant chemical defense

Chloe P. Drummond, Tanya Renner, 2022, Current Opinion in Plant Biology

Acid or base? How do plants regulate the ecology of their phylloplane?

Kadeem J. Gilbert, Tanya Renner, 2021, AoB PLANTS

Author Correction: Primary Metabolism Co-Opted for Defensive Chemical Production in the Carabid Beetle, Harpalus pensylvanicus (Journal of Chemical Ecology, (2021), 47, 3, (334-349), 10.1007/s10886-021-01253-2)

Adam M. Rork, Sihang Xu, Athula Attygalle, Tanya Renner, 2021, Journal of Chemical Ecology on p. 350

Most-Cited Papers

Long-read sequencing uncovers the adaptive topography of a carnivorous plant genome

Tianying Lan, Tanya Renner, Enrique Ibarra-Laclette, Kimberly M. Farr, Tien Hao Chang, Sergio Alan Cervantes-Pérez, Chunfang Zheng, David Sankoff, Haibao Tang, Rikky W. Purbojati, Alexander Putra, Daniela I. Drautz-Moses, Stephan C. Schuster, Luis Herrera-Estrella, Victor A. Albert, 2017, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on p. E4435-E4441

Independent co-option of a tailed bacteriophage into a killing complex in Pseudomonas

Kevin L. Hockett, Tanya Renner, David A. Baltrus, 2015, mBio on p. 11

Patterns of alternative splicing vary between species during heat stress

Sumetha Kannan, Gillian Halter, Tanya Renner, Elizabeth R. Waters, 2018, AoB PLANTS

The digestive systems of carnivorous plants

Matthias Freund, Dorothea Graus, Andreas Fleischmann, Kadeem J. Gilbert, Qianshi Lin, Tanya Renner, Christian Stigloher, Victor A. Albert, Rainer Hedrich, Kenji Fukushima, 2022, Plant Physiology on p. 44-59

Spiraling into history: a molecular phylogeny and investigation of biogeographic origins and floral evolution for the genus costus

Shayla Salzman, Heather E. Driscoll, Tanya Renner, Thiago André, Stacy Shen, Chelsea D. Specht, 2015, Systematic Botany on p. 104-115

Carabidae Semiochemistry: Current and Future Directions

Adam M. Rork, Tanya Renner, 2018, Journal of Chemical Ecology on p. 1069-1083

Acid or base? How do plants regulate the ecology of their phylloplane?

Kadeem J. Gilbert, Tanya Renner, 2021, AoB PLANTS

Biochemistry of prey digestion and nutrient absorption

Ildiko Matusikova, Andrej Pavlovic, Tanya Renner, 2018, CARNIVOROUS PLANTS: PHYSIOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND EVOLUTION on p. 207-220

Molecular characterization and evolution of carnivorous sundew (Drosera rotundifolia L.) class V β-1,3-glucanase

Jaroslav Michalko, Tanya Renner, Patrik Mészáros, Peter Socha, Jana Moravčíková, Alžbeta Blehová, Jana Libantová, Zuzana Polóniová, Ildikó Matušíková, 2017, Planta on p. 77-91

Carnivorous plant genomes

Tanya Renner, Tianying Lan, Kimberly Farr, Enrique Ibarra-Laclette, Luis Herrera-Estrella, Stephan Schuster, Mitsuyasu Hasebe, Kenji Fukushima, Victor Albert, 2018, CARNIVOROUS PLANTS: PHYSIOLOGY, ECOLOGY, AND EVOLUTION on p. 135-153

News Articles Featuring Tanya Renner

Sep 11, 2024

Three projects receive Huck Innovative and Transformational Seed Fund grants

Three potentially high-impact, high-risk research projects have been selected to receive seed funding for the latest round of the Huck Innovative and Transformational Seed (HITS) Fund initiative.

Full Article

Oct 05, 2023

How some plants became carnivorous predators

The history and science behind carnivorous plants

Full Article

Jun 12, 2023

Penn State announces tenure-line faculty promotions, effective July 1, 2023

The following is a list of academic promotions for tenured and tenure-line faculty members at Penn State, effective July 1, 2023.

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Nov 01, 2022

This Carnivorous Plant Has a Rain-Powered Trap

A biological “spring” helps a pitcher plant fling insects to their doom

Full Article

Mar 13, 2022

How in the World Did We Get Venus Flytraps?

Scientists are closing in on one of botany’s great riddles.

Full Article

Mar 09, 2022

How Carnivorous Plants Evolved

Botanists are beginning to trace the origins of their gruesome appetites

Full Article

Mar 02, 2022

How plants turned predator

Carnivorous plants fascinate as much now as when their gruesome diet was first discovered. Molecular biology is helping botanists trace the origins of their predatory ways.

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Apr 21, 2021

Little crop of horrors

An international team of researchers has received a grant from the Human Frontier Science Program to investigate how carnivory-related genes, such as those involved in digestion, could help crops not only avoid pests, but also thrive in low-nutrient environments.

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Oct 14, 2020

Grant supports study of how carnivorous plants repurpose genes to digest prey

A Penn State researcher has received funding to examine the genetic mechanisms that enable carnivorous plants to repurpose defense proteins to digest their insect prey.

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Feb 26, 2019

Material protecting beetle could have medical, engineering applications

Ground beetles spray chemical weapons at their enemies. To protect themselves from their own toxins, carabid beetles rely on a unique compound -- a compound new research suggests could have biomedical and bioengineering applications.

Full Article