Warren Booth

About

Population genetics, evolutionary biology, molecular ecology, of vertebrates and invertebrates.

Research topics

• Genetics
• Biology
• Botany
• Toxicology
• Microbiology
• Demography
• Zoology
• Ecology

Selected publications

• Solving the 250-year-old mystery of the origin and global spread of the German cockroach,<i>Blattella germanica</i>

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2024-05-20 · 23 citations

  articleOpen access

  The origin of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica , is enigmatic, in part because it is ubiquitous worldwide in human-built structures but absent from any natural habitats. The first historical records of this species are from ca. 250 years ago (ya) from central Europe (hence its name). However, recent research suggests that the center of diversity of the genus is Asian, where its closest relatives are found. To solve this paradox, we sampled genome-wide markers of 281 cockroaches from 17…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Discovery of facultative parthenogenesis in a new world crocodile

  Biology Letters · 2023-06-01 · 23 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Over the past two decades, there has been an astounding growth in the documentation of vertebrate facultative parthenogenesis (FP). This unusual reproductive mode has been documented in birds, non-avian reptiles—specifically lizards and snakes—and elasmobranch fishes. Part of this growth among vertebrate taxa is attributable to awareness of the phenomenon itself and advances in molecular genetics/genomics and bioinformatics, and as such our understanding has developed considerably. Nonetheless,…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Effects of urban-induced mutations on ecology, evolution and health

  Nature Ecology & Evolution · 2024-04-19 · 17 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Population genetics as a tool to understand invasion dynamics and insecticide resistance in indoor urban pest insects

  Current Opinion in Insect Science · 2024-01-21 · 13 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Were bed bugs the first urban pest insect? Genome-wide patterns of bed bug demography mirror global human expansion

  Biology Letters · 2025-05-01 · 9 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  There are calls for research into the historical evolutionary relationships between humans and their commensals, as it would greatly inform models that predict the spread of pests and diseases under urban population expansion. The earliest civilizations emerged approximately 10 000 years ago and created conditions ideal for the establishment and spread of commensal urban pests. Commensal relations between humans and pests likely emerged with these early civilizations; however, for most species (…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative Research: Rapid and Pervasive Mitochondrial Heteroplasmy with Recombination in a Remerging Ectoparasite

  NSF · $448k · 2018–2023

Frequent coauthors

• Gordon W. Schuett

  Museum of Indian Arts and Culture

  68 shared

• Edward L. Vargo

  Texas A&M University

  60 shared

• Coby Schal

  North Carolina State University

  52 shared

• Brenna A. Levine

  Museum of Indian Arts and Culture

  34 shared

• Gordon M. Burghardt

  University of Tennessee at Knoxville

  26 shared

• R. Graham Reynolds

  University of North Carolina at Asheville

  26 shared

• Athanasia C. Tzika

  University of Geneva

  25 shared

• Larry Million

  University of Tennessee at Knoxville

  25 shared

Labs

• Booth LabPI

Education

• Ph.D, Biology and Biochemistry

  Queen's University Belfast

  2005

• B.Sc, Biology and Biochemistry

  Queen's University Belfast

  2000

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