Scientific Committee

Members of the Scientific Committee

Indriķis Muižnieks

Uldis Kalnenieks, Dr. Biol., Professor, University of Latvia, Faculty of Medicine and Life sciences

Research interests: Bacterial bioenergetics, physiology and metabolic engineering of respiratory catabolism. Physiology, electron transport chain and regulation of aerobic metabolism of the ethanologenic bacterium Zymomonas mobilis. Modeling of bacterial central metabolism. Metabolism and cultivation of the omega fatty acid-accumulating dinoflagellates.

Teaching: Bachelor studies - Metabolism; Microbial physiology and cultivation; Industrial Biotechnology; Master studies - Microbial bioenergetics.

Main publications:

• U. Kalnenieks, N. Galinina, I. Strazdina, Z. Kravale, J.L. Pickford, R. Rutkis, R.K. Poole (2008) NADH dehydrogenase deficiency results in low respiration rate and improved aerobic growth of Zymomonas mobilis. Microbiology 154: 989-994;

• U. Kalnenieks, E. Balodite, S. Strähler, I. Strazdina, J. Rex, A. Pentjuss, K. Fuchino, P. Bruheim, R. Rutkis, K.M. Pappas, R.K. Poole, O. Sawodny and K. Bettenbrock (2019). Improvement of acetaldehyde production in Zymomonas mobilis by engineering of its aerobic metabolism. Frontiers in Microbiology 10:2533;

• R. Rutkis, Z. Ļaša, M. Rubina. R. Ščerbaka, G. Kalniņš, J. Bogans and U. Kalnenieks (2022) Antimicrobial activity of Zymomonas mobilis is related to its aerobic catabolism and acid resistance. Fermentation 8:77.

Andris Zeltiņš

Linda Mežule, Assoc.prof., head of Water Systems and Biotechnology Institute, Riga Technical University, 

The main research activities of Assoc. prof. Linda Mezule are related to environmental biotechnology and microbiological processes (including the development of novel identification methods), evaluation of engineering systems with respect to microbial activity and security, and lately she has been involved in research related to microalgae biotechnology and resource recovery from waste, including sludge. She has experience in both practical research and project coordination. She is also active in promoting science to the general public and students via popular science publications and supervision of pupil scientific work.

Main publications:

• Civzele A., Mezule L., 2025. Fungal – assisted microalgae flocculation and simultaneous lignocellulolytic enzyme production in wastewater treatment systems. Biotechnology Reports, 45, e00875;

• Zarina R., Mezule L., 2023. Opportunities for resource recovery from Latvian municipal sewage sludge. Heliyon, 9(10), e20435;

• Mezule L., Tsyfansky S., Yakushevich V., Juhna T. 2009. A Simple Technique for Water Disinfection with Hydrodynamic Cavitation: Effect on Survival of Escherichia coli. Desalination, Vol. 248(1-3), 152.-159.

Daiva Burokienė

Laura Kalinienė, PhD, Senior researcher, Vilnius University

A virologist by vocation, who has devoted more than 25 years to studying the wonderful world of viruses.

• Noreika, A., Rutkiene, R., Dumalakienė, I., Vilienė, R., Laurynėnas, A., Povilonienė, S., Skapas, M., Meškys, R., & Kaliniene, L. (2023). Insights into the Alcyoneusvirus Adsorption Complex. International journal of molecular sciences, 24(11), 9320. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24119320;

• Kaliniene, L., Šimoliūnas, E., Truncaitė, L., Zajančkauskaitė, A., Nainys, J., Kaupinis, A., Valius, M., & Meškys, R. (2017). Molecular Analysis of Arthrobacter Myovirus vB_ArtM-ArV1: We Blame It on the Tail. Journal of virology, 91(8), e00023-17. https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.00023-17;

• Zajančkauskaitė, A., Noreika, A., Rutkienė, R., Meškys, R., & Kaliniene, L. (2021). Low-Temperature Virus vB_EcoM_VR26 Shows Potential in Biocontrol of STEC O26:H11. Foods (Basel, Switzerland), 10(7), 1500. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10071500.

Ott Scheler, Associate Professor, Tallinn University of Technology

Ott Scheler has 10 years of work experience in biotechnology and microfluidics, and he is currently the head of the Microfluidics lab at TalTech. His current research interests are: developing droplet tools in biotechnology, antimicrobial susceptibility and impact of different pollutants (metals, plastic, etc), image analysis for microfluidics.

He defended his PhD in University of Tartu, Estonia in 2012 and did his postdoc in Institute of physical chemistry at Polish academy of sciences 2014-2018. He has also been a visiting researcher at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA in 2011. He is currently a PI of HE Pathfinder project Chiralforce (101046961). He has successfully supervised 6 PhD degrees and is currently supervisor of 3 PhD students.

• Scheler, O., Makuch, K., Debski, P. R., Horka, M., Ruszczak, A., Pacocha, N., ... & Garstecki, P. (2020). Droplet-based digital antibiotic susceptibility screen reveals single-cell clonal heteroresistance in an isogenic bacterial population. Scientific reports, 10(1), 3282;

• Scheler, O., Pacocha, N., Debski, P. R., Ruszczak, A., Kaminski, T. S., & Garstecki, P. (2017). Optimized droplet digital CFU assay (ddCFU) provides precise quantification of bacteria over a dynamic range of 6logs and beyond. Lab on a Chip, 17(11), 1980-1987;

• Sanka, I., Bartkova, S., Pata, P., Ernits, M., Meinberg, M. M., Agu, N., ... & Scheler, O. (2023). User-friendly analysis of droplet array images. Analytica Chimica Acta, 1272, 341397.

   

Triinu Visnapuu, Associate Professor, University of Tartu, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology

Triinu Visnapuu obtained her PhD in Genetics from the University of Tartu (UT) in 2012. She conducted postdoctoral research on protein chemistry in the group of Professor B. Svensson at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Since 2020, she has held the position of Associate Professor of Microbiology at the University of Tartu and has been actively involved in teaching several courses: general microbiology, microbial systematics and diversity, and food microbiology.

Her primary research interests are connected to carbohydrate-active enzymes from bacteria and fungi – levansucrases, levanases, α-glucosidases, and lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases. She investigates their biochemical properties, biotechnological applications, and their roles in the synthesis and modification of oligo- and polysaccharides (e.g., levan). Her work also explores the functional properties of these carbohydrates and their potential applications in functional food technology and as plant protection agents.

In addition, she serves as the Estonian Delegate to the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS).

• Jiao, Jiao; Tran-Minh, Trang; Nasir, Anam; Guo, Qinggang; Stülke, Jörg; Visnapuu, Triinu; De Zutter, Noémie; De Coninck, Barbara; Van den Ende, Wim (2024). Exploring Synergistic Effects of Levan and Levan-Metabolizing Bacillaceae in Promoting Growth and Enhancing Immunity of Tomato and Wheat. Physiologia Plantarum, 176 (3), e14325. DOI: 10.1111/ppl.14325;

• Ernits, Karin; Kjeldsen, Christian; Persson, Karina; Grigor, Eliis; Alamäe, Tiina; Visnapuu, Triinu (2021). Structural Insight into a Yeast Maltase—The BaAG2 from Blastobotrys adeninivorans with Transglycosylating Activity. Journal of Fungi, 7 (10), 816. DOI: 10.3390/jof7100816;

• Visnapuu, Triinu; Teze, David; Kjeldsen, Christian; Lie, Aleksander; Duus, Jens Ollgaard; Andre-Miral, Corinne; Pedersen, Lars Haastrup; Stougaard, Peter; Svensson, Birte (2020). Identification and Characterization of a β-N-Acetylhexosaminidase with a Biosynthetic Activity from the Marine Bacterium Paraglaciecola hydrolytica S66T. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 21 (2), ARTN 417. DOI: 10.3390/ijms21020417.

Jānis Liepiņš

Aleksandrs Rapoports, Prof., Head of Laboratory of Cell Biology, University of Latvia, Institute of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences

Main research interests are linked with the studies of yeast cell biology, cytology, physiology, biochemistry and biotechnology. Current studies are directed to the understanding of mechaniams of yeast cells dehydration and transfer into the state of anhydrobiosis and intracellular protective reactions at various stress conditions as well as to the development of new approaches for waste-less simultaneous production of bioethanol, furfural and other valuable products from local agricultural and industrial waste material, studies of importance of carotenoids and bioactive peptides derived from whey proteins.

• A.Rapoport, E.A.Golovina, P.Gervais, S,Dupont, L.Beney. Anhydrobiosis: Inside yeast cells (Review).- Biotechnology Advances, 2019, 37, 51-67 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biotechadv.2018.11.003;

• A.Rapoport, I.Guzhova, L.Bernetti, P.Buzzini, M.Kieliszek, A.M.Kot. Carotenoids and some other pigments from fungi and yeasts. Metabolites, 2021, 11 (2), 92 https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo11020092;

• M.Saubenova, Y.Oleinikova, A.Rapoport, S.Maksimovich, Z.Yermekbay, E.Khamedova. Bioactive peptides derived from whey proteins for health and functional beverages. Fermentation, 2024, 10, 359. doi.org 10.3390/fermentation10070359