Vilja Siitonen
PhD (FT)
vksiit@utu.fi Tykistökatu 6 Turku Office: 6108 ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1444-2622 |
Molecular biology; Protein biology; Bioactive small metabolites; Microbiology; Biotransformation, HPLC, MS, NMR, GC
Photosynthetic Microbes group
I am working as a postdoctoral researcher at photomicrobes research group led by Prof. Yagut Allahverdiyeva-Rinne (www.utu.fi/photo-microbes). I study biotransformations and production of compounds by Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. During my first postdoc I was studying secondary metabolites, purified and elucidated their structures by NMR. I finished my PhD in 2016 in which my focus was the biosynthesis of an anthracycline antibiotic Nogalamycin. Before starting my PhD I was studying fat production of Streptomyces and my Master thesis was about that. Before graduating as a M.Sc 2010, I spent an exchange year 2005-2006 in Austria, Salzburg.
I study biotransformations and production of compounds by Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. In have also studied secondary metabolism of Streptomyces and related micro-organisms. I studied the genes and proteins in vitro and in vivo as well as the compounds produced by the strains or reactions and solved structures of bioactive compounds by using MS and NMR.
I taught hydrogen production, measuring and biotransformation as a part of a photosynthetis course (2022).
I taught a biotransformation course as a part of a photosynthetic laboratory course (2022).
I taught a HPLC laboratory course as a part of a photosynthetic laboratory course (2021).
I taught a course on molecular biology using Streptomyces (2011).
In addition to that, I am supervising one master thesis at the moment, I have supervised 2 Master thesis works (experimental section in one and the whole work in the other), 3 Bachelor of Science works and planned and supervised 12 project workers works in the laboratory (1–6 months each).
- ActVI-ORFA directs metabolic flux towards actinorhodin by preventing intermediate degradation (2024)
- PLoS ONE
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Employing photocurable biopolymers to engineer photosynthetic 3D-printed living materials for production of chemicals (2024)
- Green Chemistry
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Mechanism of Two-Component Mono-Oxygenases Involved in Anthracycline 1-Hydroxylation (2024)
- ACS Catalysis
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Sucrose as an electron source for cofactor regeneration in recombinant Escherichia coli expressing invertase and a Baeyer Villiger monooxygenase (2024)
- Microbial Cell Factories
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Bakteerien avulla antibiootteja mikrobi- ja syöpälääkkeiksi (2023)
- Duodecim
(A2 Refereed review article in a scientific journal ) - Bioinspired mechanically stable all-polysaccharide based scaffold for photosynthetic production (2023)
- Journal of Materials Chemistry B
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Co-factor independent oxidases ncnN and actVA-3 are involved in the dimerization of benzoisochromanequinone antibiotics in naphthocyclinone and actinorhodin biosynthesis (2023)
- FEMS Microbiology Letters
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Engineered green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as a whole-cell photosynthetic biocatalyst for stepwise photoproduction of H-2 and ε-caprolactone (2023)
- Green Chemistry
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Evolution-inspired engineering of anthracycline methyltransferases (2023)
- PNAS nexus
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Mapping Nanocellulose- and Alginate-Based Photosynthetic Cell Factory Scaffolds: Interlinking Porosity, Wet Strength, and Gas Exchange (2023)
- Biomacromolecules
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Photosynthetically produced sucrose by immobilized Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 drives biotransformation in E. coli (2022)
- Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Single cell mutant selection for metabolic engineering of actinomycetes (2022)
- Metabolic Engineering
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Biosynthesis of Diverse Type II Polyketide Core Structures in Streptomyces coelicolor M1152 (2021)
- ACS Synthetic Biology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Differential regulation of undecylprodigiosin biosynthesis in the yeast-scavenging Streptomyces strain MBK6 (2021)
- FEMS Microbiology Letters
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Evolution‐Guided Engineering of Non‐Heme Iron Enzymes Involved in Nogalamycin Biosynthesis (2020)
- FEBS Journal
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Genotyping-Guided Discovery of Persiamycin A From Sponge-Associated Halophilic Streptomonospora sp. PA3 (2020)
- Frontiers in Microbiology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Structural characterization of three noncanonical NTF2-like superfamily proteins: implications for polyketide biosynthesis (2020)
- Acta Crystallographica Section F: Structural Biology Communications
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - The Rieske Oxygenase SnoT Catalyzes 2''-Hydroxylation of L-Rhodosamine in Nogalamycin Biosynthesis (2020)
- ChemBioChem
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Enzymatic Synthesis of the C-glycosidic Moiety of Nogalamycin R (2018)
- ACS Chemical Biology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Discovery of the Showdomycin Gene Cluster from Streptomyces showdoensis ATCC 15227 Yields Insight into the Biosynthetic Logic of C-Nucleoside Antibiotics (2017)
- ACS Chemical Biology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)