• Neurobiology
• Metabolism
• Molecular biology
• Computer vision
• Computer modeling

Glucose metabolism and behavior:
I am interested in how animals coordinate their behavior with metabolism during aging process. I am using C. elegans male mating behavior as the model to address this question. I found out the deletion of one of the three hexokinases in the worms improves their mating efficiency in aged males. Evidence suggests hexokinases deletion in the intestine of the worm regulates the system metabolism and the neuromuscular circuitry.
C. elegans male mating modeling:
C. elegans male mating behavior is a multi-step behavior. I want to computer model this behavior to understand neuromuscular circuit basis of the behavior and decode the effects of mutations and aging on the behavior. I took videos of males expressing fluorescent Calcium sensor (GCaMP) in their muscles mating with no fluorescent hermaphrodites. With deep-learning technology, I am able to write programs that allow computer to visualize and analyze the posture as well as the muscle activity of the males in the videos. The goal of this project is to extract and collect the statistics of the parameters that define each step of the mating behavior.

Publications:

1. Goncalves J*, Wan Y*, Guo X, Rha K, LeBoeuf B, Zhang L, Estler K, Garcia LR. 2020 Succinate Dehydrogenase-Regulated Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase Sustains Copulation Fitness in Aging C. elegans Males. iScience. 23(4):100990. *Co-first Author
2. Ma H, Zhang L, Yu X, Wan Y, Wang D, Shi W, Huang M, Xu M, Shen E, Gao M, Guo J. 2019 Regulation of the Neurospora circadian clock by the spliceosome component PRP5. G3. 9(11):3653-3661.
3. Zhang L, Wan Y, Huang G, Wang D, Yu X, Huang G, Guo J. 2015 The exosome controls alternative splicing by mediating the gene expression and assembly of the spliceosome complex. Scientific Reports. 5:13403.
4. Wan Y, Zhang L, Yu X, Guo Y, Yu J, Li H, Wu Y, Ke Y, Wang Z, Xiao Y, Tan C, Tian Y, Wang C, Chen X, Chen S, Guo J. 2015 Influence of 45 d -6° Head-down Bed Rest on Concentration and Circadian Rhythms of Urinal Calcium and Phosphorus. Space Medicine & Medical Engineering. 28(1):11-15.
5. Wan Y, Zheng G, Zhang L, Shen H, Chen X, Wang D, GuoJ. 2015 The Cloning and characterization of Neurospora crassa snRNA genes. Mycosystema. 34(1):98-107.
6. Liu Z, Wan Y, Zhang L, Tian Y, Lv K, Li Y, Wang C, Chen X, Chen S, Guo J. 2015 Alterations in the heart rate and activity rhythms of three orbital astronauts on a space mission. Life Sciences in Space Research. 4:62-66.
7. Liang X, Zhang L, Shen H, Chen X, Wan Y, Li L, Liang Y, Yu X, Guo Y, Yu J, Shu W, Tan C, Lv K, Xiao Y, Chen X, Chen S, Guo J. 2014 Effects of a 45-day head-down bed rest on the diurnal rhythms of activity, sleep, and heart rate. Biological Rhythm Research. 45(4):591-601.
8. Liang X, Zhang L, Wan Y, Yu X, Guo Y, Chen X, Tan C, Huang T, Shen H, Chen X, Li H, Lv K, Sun F, Chen S, Guo J.2012 Changes in the Diurnal Rhythms during a 45-Day Head-Down Bed Rest. PLoS One. 7(10):e47984.

Presentations:

Bidirectional regulation of male mating behavior in C. elegans by glucose metabolism. Student/Postdoc Research Conference (SPRC), Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 9/29/2018, poster

Automatic posture and muscle activity profiling from C. elegans copulation videos. 22nd International C.elegans Conference, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 6/23/2019, poster

Glucose metabolism among different tissues regulates mating performance and durability. 22nd International C.elegans Conference, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 6/24/2019, poster

“Dissecting glucose metabolism’s involvement in mating behavioral decay during aging process in C. elegans males.”, University of California, Los Angels, CA, 6/24/2017, Poster