Bioengineering Team
Leader
Prof. Tomasz Pniewski
Staff
Post-doctoral degree Katarzyna Głowacka
Joanna Cerazy-Waliszewska, PhD Eng.
Karolina Sobańska, PhD
Hanna Pudelska, MSc Eng.
The research field of the team is genetic engineering of plants. Obtaining biophramaceuticals in transgenic plants is the predominant topic. The main project is a preventive vaccine against Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), also undergoing research involves a therapeutic vaccine against chronic hepatitis B, a bivalent anti-HBV/HIV vaccine and exploitation of VLPs and CLPs as carriers for immunogenic epitopes.
Additional research field concernes genetic modification of Miscanthus sp. towards the alteration of carbohydrates content as well as the composition and structure of cell walls to increase efficiency of bioethanol production from lignic-cellulose biomass.
Research profile
- Production of antigenic proteins in plants.
- Plant material processing toward oral and injection formulas of vaccines.
- Development of effective methodology of oral and injection-oral immunisation.
- Utilisation of VLPs and CLPs as carriers for immunogenic epitopes.
- Development of methods of transformation and regenetration of Miscanthus.
- Obtaining of transgenic Miscanthus with altered biomass traits.
Methods:
- DNA in vitro recombination techniques,
- Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation,
- in vitro plant tissuecultures,
- protein analyses,
- analyses of immune response.
Current research activities
- Processing of plant material containing S-HBsAg toward oral and injection formulas of anti-HBV vaccines.
- Development of effective immunisation against HBV by injection-oral pattern using lyophilised plant tissue.
- Processing of plant material containing fusion antigen PE-SHBsAg towards a prototype oral bivalent vaccine.
- Development of Miscanthus transformation and regeneration methods.
- Modification of cell wall composition and structure of model plants.
Selected papers
- Pyrski M., Rugowska A., Wierzbiński K.R., Kasprzyk A., Bogusiewicz M., Bociąg P., Samardakiewicz S., Czyż M., Kurpisz M., Pniewski T. (2017). HBcAg produced in transgenic tobacco triggers Th1 and Th2 response when intramuscularly delivered. Vaccine DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.07.082
- Jeżowski S., Mos M., Buckby S., Cerazy-Waliszewska J., Owczarzak W., Mocek A., Kaczmarek Z., McCalmont J.P. (2017). Establishment, Growth, and Yield Potential of the Perennial Grass Miscanthus x Giganteus on Degraded Coal Mine Soils. Frontiers in Plant Science DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2017.00726
- Ślusarkiewicz-Jarzina A., Pudelska H., Woźna J., Pniewski T. (2017). Improved production of doubled haploids of winter and spring triticale hybrids via combination of colchicine treatments on anthers and regenerated plants. Journal of Applied Genetics 58:287–295
- Pniewski T., Czyż M., Wyrwa K., Bociąg P., Krajewski P., Kapusta J. (2017). Micropropagation of transgenic lettuce containing HBsAg as a method of mass-scale production of standardised plant material for biofarming purposes. Plant Cell Reports 36(1): 1-12.DOI: 10.1007/s00299-016-2056-1
- Clifton-Brown J., Hastings A., Mos M., McCalmont J.P., Ashman Ch., Awty-Carroll D., Cerazy J., Chiang Y-Ch., Cosentino S., Cracroft-Eley W., Scurlock J., Donnison I.S., Glover Ch., Gołąb I., Greef J.M., Gwyn J., Harding G., Hayes Ch., Helios W., Hsu T-W., Huang L.S., Jeżowski S., Kim D-S., Kiesel A., Kotecki A., Krzyzak J., Lewandowski I., Lim S.H., Liu J., Loosely M., Meyer H., Murphy-Bokern D., Nelson W., Pogrzeba M., Robinson G., Robson P., Rogers Ch., Scalici G., Schuele H., Shafiei R., Shevchuk O., Schwarz K-U., Squance M., Swaller T., Thornton J., Truckses T., Botnari V., Vizir I., Wagner M., Warren R., Yamada T., Youell S., Xi Q., Zong J., Flavell R. (2017). Progress in upscaling Miscanthus biomass production for the European bio-economy with seed based hybrids. Global Change Biology Bioenergy 9 (1): 6-17. DOI: 10.1111/gcbb.12357
- Kwiatek M., Wiśniewska H., Ślusarkiewicz-Jarzina A., Majka J., Majka M., Belter J., Pudelska H. (2017) Gametocidal Factor Transferred from Aegilops geniculata Roth Can Be Adapted for Large-Scale Chromosome Manipulations in Cereals. Frontiers in Plants Science, 8: 409 doi: 10.3389/fpls.2017.00409
Grants