Kristina Kshatriya

Kristina Kshatriya is a Researcher at the Department for Biochemistry, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, and a member of the Project Group Conifer Defense at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology. She began her PhD thesis in 2020, focusing on biochemical interactions in conifer defense mechanisms via the pine weevil (Hylobius abietis).

Research Areas:

• Chemical Ecology
• Insect Physiology
• Plant-Insect Interactions
• Detoxification Mechanisms
• Conifer Defense
• Biochemical Pathways

Her work examines how pine weevils metabolize diterpene resin acids, a critical area in forest entomology and ecological biochemistry. She was awarded the IMPRS presentation award in 2021 for her poster on this topic.

Scientific Awards:

• IMPRS presentation award (2021): Best poster at the 20th IMPRS Symposium for research on pine weevil detoxification processes.

Kristina is supervised by Dr. Axel Schmidt, Prof. Dr. Erika Kothe, and Prof. Jonathan Gershenzon, and her research contributes to understanding enzymatic adaptations in pest species and plant defense systems.