graduated PhDs

Dr lavaraj Devkota

Optimization of Seed Bean Processing; Application of Emerging Technologies in Bean Processing and By-product Utilization

Lavaraj is final year PhD student working in areas of novel food processing, functional food and by-product utilization. Lavaraj completed his Bachelor of Technology (Dairy) degree from Purbanchal University, Nepal in 2012 and Master of Science (Food Engineering and Bioprocess Technology) degree from Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand in 2016. At Monash, Lavaraj is a part of specially designed ‘graduate research industry partnership (GRIP) PhD’ program where students, apart from working on their industry sponsored project, are trained on various aspect of entrepreneurship, communication, leadership, innovation, product development and project management skills. Lavaraj works with Simplot Australia on their legume products.

Craig submitted his PhD at the end of 2018 and was recently awarded his doctorate at the July 2019 ceremony at Monash University. In his PhD, Craig investigated the evolution of methane monooxygenase enzymes that are capable of converting methane to methanol and among the most difficult reactions in biology. Craig used the knowledge gained in his evolutionary investigation to design a recombinant expression strategy for the soluble form of the enzyme, a feat not yet achieved in science.

After taking a short holiday break, Craig took up a postdoctoral position in the Department of Chemistry at Monash University to investigate novel ore processing technology with Professor Bart Folink.

Osborne, C and Haritos, V.S Beneath the surface: evolution of methane activity in the bacterial multicomponent monooxygenases. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106527

Osborne, C and Haritos, V.S (2018) Horizontal gene transfer of three co-inherited methane monooxygenase systems gave rise to methanotrophy in the Proteobacteria. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 129, 171-181

Dr Craig Osborne

Bacterial Methane Monooxygenase: from Molecular Evolution to Biotechnology

Craig submitted his PhD at the end of 2018 and was recently awarded his doctorate at the July 2019 ceremony at Monash University. In his PhD, Craig investigated the evolution of methane monooxygenase enzymes that are capable of converting methane to methanol and among the most difficult reactions in biology. Craig used the knowledge gained in his evolutionary investigation to design a recombinant expression strategy for the soluble form of the enzyme, a feat not yet achieved in science.

After taking a short holiday break, Craig took up a postdoctoral position in the Department of Chemistry at Monash University to investigate novel ore processing technology with Professor Bart Folink.

Osborne, C and Haritos, V.S Beneath the surface: evolution of methane activity in the bacterial multicomponent monooxygenases. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106527

Osborne, C and Haritos, V.S (2018) Horizontal gene transfer of three co-inherited methane monooxygenase systems gave rise to methanotrophy in the Proteobacteria. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 129, 171-181

[dr Huadong peng]

Metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for improved accumulation and storage of standard and high-value lipids and impacts on cellular physiology

Huadong did his Ph.D. project focusing on lipid pathway engineering in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae from 2015 to 2018, under the supervision of A/Prof. Victoria Haritos and Dr. Lizhong He in the Chemical Engineering Department at Monash University Clayton campus. Before starting PhD study, he obtained a Bachelor degree at China Three Gorges University in 2010 and a Master degree at the Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2013. Then, he worked as a research associate in Novozymes China Headquarter for 1.5 years.

After Ph.D., Huadong joined a new research group led by Dr. Rodrigo Ledesma Amaro as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, UK. In the coming three years, Huadong will study the latest synthetic biology tools and metabolic engineering strategies to engineer yeast to build microbial communities or consortia, which can be used for improved bioproduction.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/huadongpeng/

References

Peng H, He L, Haritos VS: Flow-cytometry-based physiological characterisation and transcriptome analyses reveal a mechanism for reduced cell viability in yeast engineered for increased lipid content. Biotechnology for Biofuels 2019, 12(1):98.

Peng H, He L, Haritos VS: Enhanced production of high-value cyclopropane fatty acid in yeast engineered for increased lipid synthesis and accumulation. Biotechnology Journal 2019, 14(4):e1800487.

Kochan K, Peng H, Gwee ESH, Pas EI, Haritos V, Wood BR: Raman spectroscopy as a tool for tracking cyclopropane fatty acids in genetically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Analyst 2019, 144(3):901-912.

Peng H, He L, Haritos VS: Metabolic engineering of lipid pathways in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and staged bioprocess for enhanced lipid production and cellular physiology. Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology 2018, 45(8):707-717.

Kochan K, Peng H, Wood BR, Haritos VS: Single cell assessment of yeast metabolic engineering for enhanced lipid production using Raman and AFM-IR imaging. Biotechnology for Biofuels 2018, 11(1):106.

Peng H, Moghaddam L, Brinin A, Williams B, Mundree S, Haritos VS: Functional assessment of plant and microalgal lipid pathway genes in yeast to enhance microbial industrial oil production. Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry 2018, 65(2):138-144.

[Dr Cameron Hunt]

Biotechnological assessment of the ferulic acid esterase for sustainable and renewable processing of lignocellulosic biomass

Cameron completed his PhD in 2018, which focused on the discovery and characterisation of novel enzymes for the deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass. He identified and recombinantly expressed two novel ferulic acid esterases, a group of enzymes that is used my many microorganisms to cleave a potentially major bond that joins lignin and hemicellulose; two of the three major components that make up woody biomass. He also used a number of bioinformatic approaches, including machine learning algorithms, to identify and classify ferulic acid esterases from large protein databases.

After completing his PhD, Cameron has been involved in a number of programming projects, including releasing the mobile app Spidentify. This app, designed to inform and educate on the amazing and varied number of Australian spiders, utilises another machine learning algorithm to help a user correctly identify a spider. Spidentify received a Whitley Certificate of Commendation from the Royal Zoological Society of NSW in 2018 and has sold over 10 thousand copies in Australia.

Cameron will be starting a postdoc potion at Denmark Technical University in late 2019, after receiving a H.C. Ørsted COFUND fellowship.

Publication list

Antonopoulou I, Hunt C, Cerullo G, Varriale S, Gerogianni A, Faraco V, Rova U, Christakopoulos P. Tailoring the specificity of the type C feruloyl esterase FoFaeC from Fusarium oxysporum towards methyl sinapate by rational redesign based on small molecule docking simulations. PLoS One. 2018 May 24;13(5):e0198127

Hunt CJ, Antonopoulou I, Tanksale A, Rova U, Christakopoulos P, Haritos VS. Insights into substrate binding of ferulic acid esterases by arabinose and methyl hydroxycinnamate esters and molecular docking. Sci Rep. 2017 Dec 11;7(1):17315.

Hunt CJ, Tanksale A, Haritos VS. Biochemical characterization of a halotolerant feruloyl esterase from Actinomyces spp.: refolding and activity following thermal deactivation. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2016 Feb;100(4):1777-87.

Gloag ES, Turnbull L, Huang A, Vallotton P, Wang H, Nolan LM, Mililli L, Hunt C, Lu J, Osvath SR, Monahan LG, Cavaliere R, Charles IG, Wand MP, Gee ML, Prabhakar R, Whitchurch CB. Self-organization of bacterial biofilms is facilitated by extracellular DNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Jul 9;110(28):11541-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1218898110.