Kontakt
Prof. Dr. Henrik Mouritsen
AG Neurosensorik/Animal Navigation
Institut für Biologie und Umweltwissenschaften (IBU)
Carl-von-Ossietzky-Universität Oldenburg
Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 9-11
26129 Oldenburg
Deutschland
Telefon: +49 (0) 441 798 3081
+49 (0) 441 798 3095
Dr. Jingjing Xu, PostDoc

Jingjing Xu, PostDoc
Personal Data
Address: AG Neurosensorik/Animal Navigation, IBU
Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
Carl-von-Ossietzky-Strasse 9-11,
D-26129 Oldenburg
Germany
Born 1991 in Shandong, China
Tel: +49 0441 798 3180
Email:
Google Scholar Entry: scholar.google.de/citations?hl=de&user=-UD8k-UAAAAJ
First author of a Nature paper (cover story)
Mother of a 2-year-old daughter
Major Academic Achievements
Within international collaboration, she and her worldwide colleagues experimentally validated the radical-pair mechanism of animal magnetoreception. They found Cryptochrome 4 from the nightmigratory European robin displays magnetically sensitive photochemistry in vitro, in which four successive flavin–tryptophan radical pairs generate magnetic-field effects and stabilize potential signaling states. This discovery has a strong impact on the emerging new field of “quantum biology”. It was published as a cover story in the Nature journal on 24th June 2021.
Current position
01. September 2022 - present Postdoctoral researcher, University of Oldenburg
Funded by ERC Synergy grant ‘QuantumBirds’
Education
18. April. 2018 – 31. August. 2022
Doctoral study at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany.
Thesis: Experimental validation on the radical pair mechanism of avian magnetoreception in cryptochrome 4 proteins. (Summa cum laude)
01. September. 2015 – 13. June. 2018
Ph.D. candidate at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. Undergraduate
Project: Investigation of the animal magnetoreception mechanism in cryptochrome 4 protein (I terminated this program because I got the unique chance to work with the two world-leading labs in the field in Oldenburg and Oxford instead)
01. September. 2012 – 01. June. 2015
Master student, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. Passed with great distinction
Thesis: Molecular cloning and spatiotemporal expression analysis of cryptochrome genes in wing
dimorphic brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens)
13. September. 2008 – 01. July. 2012
Bachelor student, Shandong Institute of Physical Education, China. Passed with distinction
Majored in Kinesiology.
Honors & Awards
2022 Chinese government award for outstanding self-finance students abroad (6000 USD)
2021 Short presentation award in the Fourth International Forum Quantum Metrology and Sensing
2021 DAAD-Prize 2021 for the outstanding achievement of a foreign student
2016 Joint PhD Training Program Scholarship in University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
2014 National Scholarship for Graduate Students (for Top 10% students)
2013 The Honorary Title of Merit Students in University of Chinese Academy
2012 College Scholarships in University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Skills
- Molecular biology: Gene cloning, RACE, qPCR, RNAi,
- Biochemistry: Affinity Chromatography, Anion exchange Chromatography
- Microinjection, confocal and electron microscopy, animal handle
- Bioinformation: BioEdit, DNAMAN, Beacon Designer, Primer Premier
- Drawing: GraphPad, Origin, Solidworks
Publications
1. Jingjing Xu, Lauren Jarocha, Tilo Zollitsch, et al., (2021) Magnetic sensitivity of cryptochrome 4 from a migratory songbird. Nature. 594(7864), 535-540
2. Daniel C Lünemann, Anitta R Thomas, Jingjing Xu, et al. Distinguishing between coherent and incoherent signals in excitation-emission spectroscopy[J]. Optics Express, 2021, 29(15): 24326-24337
3. Rabea Bartölke, Heide Behrmann, Katharina Görtemaker, Chad Yee, Jingjing Xu, et al., The secrets of cryptochromes: photoreceptors, clock proteins, and magnetic sensors. Neuroforum 27.3 (2021): 151-157.
4. Jingjing Xu, Yingchao Zhang, Jianqi Wu, et al. (2019) Molecular characterization, spatial-temporal expression and magnetic response patterns of the iron-sulfur cluster assembly1 (IscA1) in rice planthopper, Nilaparvata lugen[J]. Insect Science.26(3):413-423
5. Jingjing Xu, Wei Pan, Yingchao Zhang, et al. (2017) Behavioral evidence for a magnetic sense in the oriental armyworm, Mythimna separata. Biology Open, 6(3), 340-347
6. Dmitry Kobylkov, Joe Wynn, Michael Winklhofer, Raisa Chetverikova, Jingjing Xu, et al. Electromagnetic 0.1–100 kHz noise does not disrupt orientation in a night-migrating songbird implying a spin coherence lifetime of less than 10 µs. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 16.161 (2019): 20190716.
7. Jingjing Xu, Guijun Wan, Dingbang Hu, et al. (2016). Molecular characterization, tissue and developmental expression profiles of cryptochrome genes in wing dimorphic brown planthoppers, Nilaparvata lugens. Insect Science, 23(6), 805-818.
8. Weidong Pan, Guijun Wan, Jingjing Xu, et al. (2016). Evidence for the presence of biogenic magnetic particles in the nocturnal migratory brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens. Scientific Reports, 6.
9. Guijun Wan, Shoulin Jiang, Zongchao Zhao, Jingjing Xu, et al. (2014). Bio-effects of near-zero magnetic fields on the growth, development and reproduction of small brown planthopper, Laodelphax striatellus and brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens. Journal of Insect Physiology, 68, 7-15.
10. Guijun Wan, Wenjing Wang, Jingjing Xu, et al. (2015). Cryptochromes and hormone signal transduction under near-zero magnetic fields: New clues to magnetic field effects in a rice planthopper. PloS ONE, 10(7), e0132966.
Scholarships
2018 – 2022 DAAD Graduate School Scholarship Programme
2016 – 2017 Joint Ph.D. Training Program Scholarship at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences