Natalia
| vCard Natalia Gennadievna Li | |
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| Affiliation: | Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone |
| Phone: | +79241696137 |
The extremely low winter temperatures of Yakutia provide excellent opportunities to study adaptations of animals to extreme cold. My study deals with adaptations to extreme cold which are studied in insects, with particular emphasis on the roles of ice nucleating proteins, polyols and antifreeze proteins. Also, I am interested in the physiological and biochemical looking into the cold hardening mechanisms to see which parameters has been modified to secure the required strong cold hardiness. Another interest links with studying of evolution of freeze-tolerance in the coldest regions on earth. Currently I do focus on the physiology of insect cold adaptation and practical application of the knowledge. The basic hypothesis, on which the given insight is based, is that evolution of cold adaptation strategies of insects has led to production of highly specialized molecules which not only protect an organism from lethal ice nucleation, but also control a metabolism at low temperatures, and remove the stress caused by a cold. Many of these mechanisms are unknown to a science. Currently, I am working with two species: Upis ceramboides and Aporia crataegi and would like to nominate both for sequencing. The species are characterized by high tolerance to super low temperatures, around -196C .
