Pingkalai Senthilan
Research Interest
My research focuses on how animals perceive light and convert it into biological signals. Specialized photoreceptors such as rhodopsins and cryptochromes mediate both image-forming and non-image-forming processes, including the control of circadian rhythms and other light-dependent behaviors.
In my research group, we study these systems in Drosophila melanogaster and other species, with a particular focus on other Drosophila species. We are interested in the functioning of photoreceptors, their sensitivity to environmental conditions such as temperature and internal factors such as age and sex, along with their evolutionary adaptation to different living conditions.
We combine molecular biological, genetic, and histological methods with neurobiological and behavioral analyses as well as bioinformatics to gain a comprehensive understanding of light-dependent systems.
