Education

B.S. 2010, Hunan Normal University, Biology;
Ph.D. 2015, Central South University, Genetics;

Professional Experience

Postdoctoral Associate, University of Rochester, 2016-2022;
Assistant Professor, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Since 2022

Research Area

How innate behaviors are programmed in the nervous system, as well as how animals adjust their behavioral response and metabolic level according to the changing environment remain important scientific questions. Animals with distinct sex states could respond to identical circumstances with different behavioral patterns and metabolic levels. We are trying to uncover sex-dimorphic molecular and neural mechanisms behind the plasticity of chemotaxis and avoidance in C. elegans, and we are also interested in understanding how variable metabolites contribute to C. elegans reproduction fitness and environmental adaptability.

Selected Publications

1. Zhao C, Luo J ^*, Zhang Y, Yu Y ^*. Temperature-dependent lifespan extension is achieved in miR-80-deleted Caenorhabditis elegans by NLP-45 to modulate endoplasmic reticulum unfolded protein responses. Aging Cell. 2024 Sep 25:e14345. doi: 10.1111/acel.14345.
2. Luo J, Bainbridge C, Miller RM, Barrios A, Portman DS ^*. C. elegans males optimize mate-preference decisions via sex-specific responses to multimodal sensory cues. Curr Biol. 2024 Mar 25;34(6):1309-1323.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.02.036.
3. Luo J, Portman DS ^*. Sex-specific, pdfr-1-dependent modulation of pheromone avoidance by food abundance enables flexibility in C. elegans foraging behavior. Curr Biol. 2021 Oct 25;31(20):4449-4461.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.069.
4. Luo J, Xu Z, Tan Z, Zhang Z, Ma L ^*. Neuropeptide receptors NPR-1 and NPR-2 regulate Caenorhabditis elegans avoidance response to the plant stress hormone methyl salicylate. Genetics. 2015 Feb;199(2):523-31. doi: 10.1534/genetics.114.172239.
5. Xu C, Luo J, Yu Y ^*. A fluorescence lifetime-based novel method for accurate lipid quantification of BODIPY vital-stained C. elegans. J Lipid Res. 2024 Sep 19;65(10):100646. doi: 10.1016/j.jlr.2024.100646.
6. Burkhardt RN, Artyukhin AB, Aprison EZ, Curtis BJ, Fox BW, Ludewig AH, Palomino DF, Luo J, Chaturbedi A, Panda O, Wrobel CJJ, Baumann V, Portman DS, Lee SS, Ruvinsky I ^*, Schroeder FC ^*. Sex-specificity of the C. elegans metabolome. Nat Commun. 2023 Jan 19;14(1):320. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-36040-y.
7. Zhou C, Luo J, He X, Zhou Q, He Y, Wang X, Ma L ^*. The NALCN Channel Regulator UNC-80 Functions in a Subset of Interneurons To Regulate Caenorhabditis elegans Reversal Behavior. G3 (Bethesda) . 2020 Jan 7;10(1):199-210. doi: 10.1534/g3.119.400692.
8. Kiontke KC, Herrera RA, Vuong E, Luo J, Schwarz EM, Fitch DHA, Portman DS ^*. The Long Non-Coding RNA lep-5 Promotes the Juvenile-to-Adult Transition by Destabilizing LIN-28. Dev Cell. 2019 May 20;49(4):542-555.e9. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2019.03.003.
9. Fagan KA, Luo J, Lagoy RC, Schroeder FC, Albrecht DR, Portman DS ^*. A Single-Neuron Chemosensory Switch Determines the Valence of a Sexually Dimorphic Sensory Behavior. Curr Biol. 2018 Mar 19;28(6):902-914.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.02.029.
10. Gao X, Teng Y, Luo J, Huang L, Li M, Zhang Z, Ma YC, Ma L ^*. The survival motor neuron gene smn-1 interacts with the U2AF large subunit gene uaf-1 to regulate Caenorhabditis elegans lifespan and motor functions. RNA Biol. 2014;11(9):1148-60. doi: 10.4161/rna.36100.
11. Xu Z, Luo J, Li Y, Ma L ^*. The BLI-3/TSP-15/DOXA-1 dual oxidase complex is required for iodide toxicity in Caenorhabditis elegans. G3 (Bethesda) . 2014 Dec 4;5(2):195-203. doi: 10.1534/g3.114.015982.
12. Ma L ^*, Gao X, Luo J, Huang L, Teng Y, Horvitz HR ^*. The Caenorhabditis elegans gene mfap-1 encodes a nuclear protein that affects alternative splicing. PLoS Genet. 2012;8(7):e1002827. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002827.