Petra Gawalek - Research Information System | University of Kassel

Petra Gawalek

Research Areas

Mathematics, Natural Sciences

Research Interest

During my PhD I investigate the processes in olfaction using the tabacco hawk moth Manduca sexta. I'm mainly interested in the transduction of olfactory information from the chemical odor molcule into the electrical signal that is processed to the brain. Therefore I perform electrophysiological recordings from single olfactory receptor neurons, e.g. tip recordings and patch clamp. Here I can investigate the effect of different pharmacological substances on the odor-dependent response of these neurons.

Academic background

january 2011 - PhD student at the department of Animal Physiology at the University of Kassel

01-01 until 06-30-2014 Scholarship from the Max-Planck-Society

2003 - 2010 Biology studies at the University of Kassel; Degree: Diploma

Publications

2025	Schneider, A.C., Schröder, K., Chang, Y., Nolte, A., Gawalek, P., Stengl, M., 2025. Hawkmoth pheromone transduction involves G protein-dependent phospholipase Cβ signaling. eNeuro 12, ENEURO.0376–24.2024. https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0376-24.2024
2018	Gawalek, P., Stengl, M., 2018. The diacylglycerol analogues OAG and DOG differentially affect primary events of pheromone transduction in the hawkmoth Manduca sexta in a Zeitgebertime-dependent manner apparently targeting TRP channels. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience 12:218. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2018.00218
2016	Nolte, A., Gawalek, P., Körte, S., Wei, H.-Y., Schumann, R., Werckenthin, A., Krieger, J., Stengl, M., 2016. No Evidence for Ionotropic Pheromone Transduction in the Hawkmoth Manduca sexta. PLoS ONE 2016, e0166060. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0166060
2013	Nolte, A., Funk, N., Mukunda, L., Gawalek, P., Werckenthin, A., Hansson, B., Wicher, D., Stengl, M., 2013. In situ tip-recordings found no evidence for an Orco-based ionotropic mechanism of pheromone-transduction in Manduca sexta. PLoS ONE 8, e62648. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0062648
2010	Gawalek, P., 2010. Untersuchungen zur Geruchstransduktion bei Manduca sexta -Der Einfluss von Diacylglycerol auf die pheromonabhängigeSignaltransduktion.

Lectures

09/2014

Daytime-dependent modulation of pheromone detection in the hawkmoth
Manduca sexta
107th annual meeting of the German Zoological Society, Göttingen