Education   

2017-2018    Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, U.S.A. Joint Ph.D. Student (with Prof. Ke Dong).  

2013-2018    Department of Plant Protection, Agricultural Insects and Pests Control, Nanjing Agricultural University. Nanjing, CHINA. Received Ph.D. Degree in December, 2018 (with Prof. Ze-wen Liu and Ke Dong).

2009-2013    Department of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, CHINA. Received B.S. Degree in June, 2013. 

(1)     Neural Mechanism of Insect Chemosensory Reception.

(2)     Pharmacology and Physiology of Insect Ion Channels.

Honors & Awards 
2022    Nankai University Hundred Young Academic Leaders Program

2017    National Scholarship, Ministry of Education

2017    Outstanding Ph.D. Students, Nanjing Agricultural University

Selected Publications

My research interests mainly focus on investigating the neural mechanism of insect chemosensory reception, such as agricultural pests and human disease vectors, to deconstruct olfactory recognition mechanisms of intraspecific and interspecific information interaction. By collaborating with the pesticide synthesis groups at SKLEOC, we aim to develop novel pest attractants/repellents for long term pests regulation and control.

1. Huahua Sun^#, Feng Liu^#, Adam Baker, H. Willi Honegger, Georg Raiser, and Laurence J. Zwiebel, Neuronal odor coding in the larval sensory cone of Anopheles coluzzii: complex responses from a simple system, Cell Reports, 2021, 36:109555.

2. Huahua Sun^#, Feng Liu^#, Zi Ye, Adam Baker, and Laurence J. Zwiebel, Mutagenesis of the orco odorant receptor co-receptor impairs olfactory function in the malaria vector Anopheles coluzzii, Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2020,127: 103497.

3. Huahua Sun, Yoshiko Nomura, Yuzhe Du, Zewen Liu, Boris S. Zhorov, and Ke Dong, Characterization of two kdr mutations at predicted pyrethroid receptor site 2 in the sodium channels of Aedes aegypti and Nilaparvata lugens, Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2022. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibmb.2022.103814.

4. Huahua Sun, Yuzhe Du, Zewen Liu, and Ke Dong, Distinct functional properties of sodium channel variants are associated with usage of alternative exons in Nilaparvata lugens, Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2020,118: 103292.

5. Huahua Sun^#, Yang Liu^#, Jian Li, Xinzhu Cang, Haibo Bao, and Zewen Liu, The potential subunits involved in two subtypes of α-Bgt-resistant nAChRs in cockroach dorsal unpaired median (DUM) neurons, Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2017, 81: 32-40.

6. Huahua Sun, Baojun Yang, Yixi Zhang, and Zewen Liu, Metabolic resistance in Nilaparvata lugens to etofenprox, a non-pyrethroid insecticide, Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology, 2017, 136: 23-28.

7. Feng Liu^#, Huahua Sun^#, and Laurence J. Zwiebel, Physiological and behavioral characterization of larval olfaction in the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles coluzzii, Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, 2022. In Press.

8. Zi Ye^#, Feng Liu^#, Huahua Sun, Adam Baker, and Laurence J. Zwiebel, Discrete roles of the Ir76b ionotropic co-receptor impact olfaction, blood feeding, and mating in the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles coluzzii, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2022, 119 (23): e2112385119.

9. Zi Ye, Feng Liu^#, Huahua Sun^#, Mackenzie Barker, R. Jason Pitts, and Laurence J. Zwiebel, Heterogeneous expression of the ammonium transporter AgAmt in chemosensory appendages of the malaria vector, Anopheles gambiae, Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2020, 120: 103360.

10. Feng Liu^#, Zi Ye^#, Adam Baker, Huahua Sun, and Laurence J. Zwiebel, Gene editing reveals obligate and modulatory components of the CO2 receptor complex in the malaria vector, Anopheles coluzzii, Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2020, 127: 103470.