Education

  2011-2014 China Agricultural University, Master

  2014-2018 Hohenheim University, PhD

  2018-2025 MPG-ICE, PostDoc

Working Experience

  2018-2025 MPG-ICE, PostDoc

  2025-to date CEMPS, independent PI

Chemosensation in insects, particularly precise olfactory perception, is one of the key guarantees for their survival, reproduction, and diversity of ecological behaviors. Elucidating the olfactory transduction pathways in insects, establishing a fundamental molecular and cellular framework, and deciphering the neural coding and regulatory mechanisms of olfaction can provide a strong theoretical basis for the development of green pest control technologies in agriculture. We use locusts as our primary research subjects, with a focus on olfactory coding mechanisms as well as the molecular and cellular basis of chemosensation.

Current main research directions:

  1.Olfactory coding mechanisms in the higher olfactory centers of the migratory locust (Locusta migratoria);

  2.Evolutionary patterns of “gene–neural–function” in the insect olfactory system;

  3.Discovery and utilization of olfactory behavioral inhibitors for agricultural pest insects.

At the central nervous system level, we discovered a “non‑canonical” ring‑shaped olfactory coding mechanism in the antennal lobe of the migratory locust. At the peripheral nervous system level, we systematically characterized the spatial localization features of olfactory receptors and odorant‑binding protein families in the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), and predicted pheromone‑associated protein families. In total, we have published 12 SCI‑indexed papers, with related findings appearing in Cell, eLife, Frontiers in Physiology, Insects, International Journal of Biological Sciences, Journal of Pest Science, and others. 

1、Xingcong Jiang; Eleftherios Dimitriou; Veit Grabe; Ruo Sun; Hetan Chang; Yifu Zhang; Jonathan Gershenzon; Jürgen Rybak; Bill S. Hansson; Silke Sachse ; Ring-shaped odor coding in the antennal lobe of migratory locusts, Cell, 2024, 187(15): 3973-3991

2、Xingcong Jiang; Haozhi Xu; Nan Zheng; Xuewei Yin; Long Zhang ; A Chemosensory Protein Detects Antifeedant in Locust (Locusta migratoria), INSECTS, 2021, 12(1)

3、Xingcong Jiang; Jürgen Krieger; Heinz Breer; Pablo Pregitzer ; Distinct Subfamilies of Odorant Binding Proteins in Locust (Orthoptera, Acrididae): Molecular Evolution, Structural Variation, and Sensilla-Specific Expression, Frontiers in Physiology, 2017, 8: 734

4、Xingcong Jiang; Miriam Ryl; Jürgen Krieger; Heinz Breer; Pablo Pregitzer ; Odorant Binding Proteins of the Desert Locust Schistocerca gregaria (Orthoptera, Acrididae): Topographic Expression Patterns in the Antennae, Frontiers in Physiology, 2018, 9: 417

5、Xingcong Jiang; Heinz Breer; Pablo Pregitzer ; Sensilla-Specific Expression of Odorant Receptors in the Desert Locust Schistocerca gregaria, Frontiers in Physiology, 2019, 10:1052

6、Xingcong Jiang; Pablo Pregitzer; Ewald Grosse-Wilde; Heinz Breer; Jürgen Krieger; Identification and Characterization of Two “Sensory Neuron Membrane Proteins” (SNMPs) of the Desert Locust, Schistocerca gregaria (Orthoptera: Acrididae), Journal of Insect Science, 2016, 16(1): 33 

7、Ruo Sun#; Xingcong Jiang#; Michael Reichelt; Jonathan Gershenzon; Daniel Giddings Vassao; The selective sequestration of glucosinolates by the cabbage aphid severely impacts a predatory lacewing, Journal of Pest Science, 2020, 94(4): 1147-1160

8、Ruo Sun; Xingcong Jiang; Michael Reichelt; Jonathan Gershenzon; Sagar Subhash Pandit; Daniel Giddings Vassão ; Tritrophic metabolism of plant chemical defenses and its effects on herbivore and predator performance, eLife, 2019, 8(e51029)

9、Pablo Pregitzer; Xingcong Jiang; René-Sebastian Lemke; Jürgen Krieger; Jörg Fleischer; Heinz Breer ; A Subset of Odorant Receptors from the Desert Locust Schistocerca gregaria Is Co-Expressed with the Sensory Neuron Membrane Protein 1, Insects, 2019, 10(10): 350

10、Pablo Pregitzer; Xingcong Jiang; Ewald Grosse-Wilde; Heinz Breer; Jürgen Krieger; Joerg Fleischer; In Search for Pheromone Receptors: Certain Members of the Odorant Receptor Family in the Desert Locust Schistocerca gregaria (Orthoptera: Acrididae) Are Co-expressed with SNMP1, International Journal of Biological Sciences, 2017, 13(7): 911-922

11、Ruo Sun; Benke Hong; Michael Reichelt; Katrin Luck; Duc Tam Mai; Xingcong Jiang; Jonathan Gershenzon; Daniel Giddings Vassão ; Metabolism of plant-derived toxins from its insect host increases the success of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana, The ISME Journal, 2023, 17(10): 1693-1704

12、P. Pregitzer; M. Zielonka; A.‐S. Eichhorn; X. Jiang; J. Krieger; H. Breer ; Expression of odorant‐binding proteins in mouthpart palps of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria, Insect Molecular Biology, 2019, 28(2): 264-276