Xianhui "Nitrol" Liu, who completed her doctorate in September 2020, will deliver her exit seminar virtually at 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 4 in a seminar scheduled by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

Her topic is "How Does the Time of Eating Affecting Our Circadian Physiology?" Access this form for the Zoom link.

The abstract: "The integration of circadian and metabolic signals is essential for maintaining robust circadian rhythms and ensuring efficient metabolism and energy use. Using Drosophila as an animal model, we showed that clock-controlled feeding-fasting cycles is strongly correlated to daily protein O-GlcNAcylation rhythms, which may represent a key post-translational mechanism that regulates circadian physiology. Our results could shed light on the benefits of TRE (or intermittent fasting) and the extent to which modern human lifestyles contribute to the current epidemic of metabolic disorders."

The host is her major professor, Joanna Chiu, a molecular geneticist and physiologist,  vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and a Chancellor's Fellow. Liu is currently working in the Chiu lab as a postdoctoral fellow. 

For her thesis, Liu explored the interplay between circadian clock and metabolism in maintaining animal health using Drosophila melanogaster as a model. Specifically, she investigated the regulation of cellular protein O-GlcNAcylation by circadian clock and metabolic signals. O-GlcNAcylation is a nutrient senstive post-translational modification that can alter the structure and function of thousands of cellular proteins. She is fascinated by how circadian biology can be shaped by multiple factors through complex mechanisms. Her long-term goal is to understand how molecular pathways are coordinated temporally to maintain animal health and wellness.

Liu received her bachelor's degree in biological sciences in 2014 from Beijing Forestry University, China. She was a recipient of a CSC-UC Davis Joint Fellowship.  

Coordinating the fall seminars is Cooperative Extension specialist and agricultural entomologist Ian Grettenberg, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. He may be reached at imgrettenberger@ucdavis for any technical issues.