Full Research Professor
Laboratory for Microbial Molecular Genetics and Ecology (LMMGE)

Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering (IMGGE),
University of Belgrade (UB)

Vojvode Stepe 444a, 11042 Belgrade 152, Serbia
Mobile: +381 64 804 40 93
Phone:  +381 11 397 60 34
Fax:      +381 11 397 58 08
E-mail: jasmina.nikodinovic@imgge.bg.ac.rs

EDUCATION

2004 - PhD in Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia 
(Thesis: Molecular genetics of amphotericin biosynthesis in Streptomyces nodosus)
2000 - B.Sc. in Molecular Genetics, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, Australia

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

2020 – Eco-Biotechnology & Drug Development Group Leader, LMGGE, IMGGE and IMGGE_BioICEP team leader (www.bioicep.eu)
2014 - Principal Research Fellow, Laboratory for Microbial Molecular Genetics and Ecology, IMGGE, UB
2011 – 2014 - Senior Research Associate, LMMGE, IMGGE, UB
2006 – 2010 - Senior Research Fellow, Biocatalysis Group, University College
                       Dublin, Dublin, Ireland (www.ucd.ie)
2004 – 2006 - Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Chemistry, University of
                       Montana, Missoula, MT, USA (www.cas.umt.edu)

ONGOING COLLABORATIONS

Prof Kevin O’Connor - University College Dublin, Ireland (www.ucd.ie)
Prof Evangelos Topakas - National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece (www.ntua.gr)
Prof Nigel D Priestley – University of Montana, MT, USA (www.umt.edu)
Prof Tobias Gulder – Technical University Dresden, Germany (https://tu-dresden.de/)
Prof Miloš Đuran – Institute for Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Kragujevac, Serbia (www.kg.ac.rs)
Prof Veselin Maslak – Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade, Serbia (www.chem.bg.ac.rs)
Dr Vladimir Savic – Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Belgrade, Serbia (www.pharmacy.bg.ac.rs)
Prof Melina Kalagasidis Krušić – Faculty of Technology, University of Belgrade, Serbia (www.tmf.bg.ac.rs)

RESEARCH INTEREST

• MICROBIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY (MICROBIAL BIOREMEDIATIONS, BACTERIAL FERMENTATIONS, STRAIN IMPROVEMENT, Streptomyces spp., Pseudomonas spp.);
• BIOCATALYSIS (PROTEIN EXPRESSION and DIRECTED EVOLUTION, TAUTOMERASES, LACCASSES, AMINOTRANSFERASES, BIOTRANSFORMATIONS, BIOCATALYTIC PROCESS DEVELOPMENT AND OPTIMIZATION);
• NOVEL MATERIALS (BIOPOLYMERS, POLYHYDROXYALKANOATES, FUNCTIONALIZATION OF BIOPOLYMERS),
• BACTERIAL BIOACTIVE SECONDARY METABOLITES (BIOPIGMENTS, ANTIFUNGAL and ANTICANCER COMPOUNDS)

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Bioactive molecules

Sovari, S.N., Vojnovic, S., Bogojevic, S.S., Crochet, A., Pavic, A., Nikodinovic-Runic, J., Zobi, F. Design, synthesis and in vivo evaluation of 3-arylcoumarin derivatives of rhenium(I) tricarbonyl complexes as potent antibacterial agents against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Eur J Med Chem. (2020); 205, 112533. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32739550/

Savić, N.D., Petković, B.B., Vojnovic, S., Mojicevic, M., Wadepohl, H., Olaifa, K., Marsili, E., Nikodinovic-Runic, J., Djuran, M.I., Glišić, B.Đ. Dinuclear silver(I) complexes with a pyridine-based macrocyclic type of ligand as antimicrobial agents against clinically relevant species: The influence of the counteranion on the structure diversification of the complexes. Dalton Trans. (2020); 49, 10880-10894. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32716429/

Müller, J.I., Kusserow, K., Hertrampf, G., Pavic, A., Nikodinovic-Runic, J., Gulder, T.A.M. Synthesis and initial biological evaluation of myxocoumarin B. Org Biomol Chem. (2019);17(7):1966-1969. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30357251

Lazić J, Ajdačić V, Vojnovic S, Zlatović M, Pekmezovic M, Mogavero S, Opsenica I, Nikodinovic-Runic J. Bis-guanylhydrazones as efficient anti-Candida compounds through DNA interaction. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. (2018);102(4):1889-1901. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29330691

Warżajtis B, Glišić BĐ, Savić ND, Pavic A, Vojnovic S, Veselinović A, Nikodinovic-Runic J, Rychlewska U, Djuran MI. Mononuclear gold(III) complexes with L-histidine-containing dipeptides: tuning the structural and biological properties by variation of the N-terminal amino acid and counter anion. J Inorg Biochem. (2017); (174): 156-68. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28675847

Radivojevic J, Skaro S, Senerovic L, Vasiljevic B, Guzik M, Kenny ST, Maslak V, O'Connor KE, Nikodinovic-Runic J. Polyhydroxyalkanoate-based 3-hydroxyoctanoic acid and its derivatives as a platform of bioactive compounds. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. (2016); 100(1):161-72. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26399414

Simic M, Paunovic N, Boric I, Randjelovic J, Vojnovic S, Nikodinovic-Runic J, Pekmezovic M, Savic V. Functionalised isocoumarins as antifungal compounds: Synthesis and biological studies. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. (2016); 26(1):235-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26586600

Senerovic L, Zivkovic MD, Veselinovic A, Pavic A, Djuran MI, Rajkovic S, Nikodinovic-Runic J. Synthesis and evaluation of series of diazine-bridged dinuclear platinum(II) complexes through in vitro toxicity and molecular modeling: correlation between structure and activity of Pt(II) complexes. J. Med. Chem. (2015); 58(3):1442-51. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25551180

Stankovic N, Senerovic L, Ilic-Tomic T, Vasiljevic B, Nikodinovic-Runic J. Properties and applications of undecylprodigiosin and other bacterial prodigiosins. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. (2014); 98, 3841-58. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24562326

O'Connor, S., Szwej, E., Nikodinovic-Runic, J., O'Connor, A., Byrne, A.T., Devocelle, M., O'Donovan, N., Gallagher, W.M., Babu, R., Kenny, S.T., Zinn, M., Zulian, Q.R., O'Connor, K.E. The anti-cancer activity of a cationic anti-microbial peptide derived from monomers of polyhydroxyalkanoate. Biomaterials (2013); 34, 2710–18. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23343631

Biocatalysis and Biopolymers

Simic, S., Jeremic, S., Djokic, L., Bozic, N., Vujcic, Z., Loncar, N., Senthamaraikannan, R., Babu, R., Opsenica, I.M., Nikodinovic-Runic, J. Development of an efficient biocatalytic system based on bacterial laccase for the oxidation of selected 1,4-dihydropyridines. Enzyme Microb Technol. (2020) 132, 109411. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31731971/

Stojanović, G., Nikodinović-Runić, J., Švenderman, S., Kojić, T., Radovanović, M., Mikov, M., Ranđelović, D. Comprehensive characterization of elastomeric polyhydroxyalkanoate and its sensor applications. Mat Sci Eng C. (2020) 111091. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32600695/

Malagurski, I., Frison, R., Maurya, A.K., Neels, A., Andjelkovic, B., Senthamaraikannan, R., Babu, R.P., O'Connor, K.E., Witko, T., Solarz, D., Nikodinovic-Runic, J. Polyhydroxyoctanoate films reinforced with titanium dioxide microfibers for biomedical application. Materials Lett. (2021); 285:129100. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167577X20318073?via%3Dihub

Jeremic, S., Djokic, L., Ajdačić, V., Božinović, N., Pavlovic, V., Manojlović, D.D., Babu, R., Senthamaraikannan, R., Rojas, O., Opsenica, I., Nikodinovic-Runic, J. Production of bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) and its application as a solid support in transition metal catalysed cross-coupling reactions. Int J Biol Macromol. (2019); 129:351-360. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30710586

Spasic J, Mandic M, Djokic L, Nikodinovic-Runic J. Streptomyces spp. in the biocatalysis toolbox. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2018;102(8):3513-3536. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29502181

Narancic T, Davis R, Nikodinovic-Runic J, O' Connor KE. Recent developments in biocatalysis beyond the laboratory. Biotechnol Lett. 2015; 37(5):943-54. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25555685

Guzik MW, Kenny ST, Duane GF, Casey E, Woods T, Babu RP, Nikodinovic-Runic J, Murrey M, O’Connor K. Conversion of post consumer polyethylene to the biodegradable polymer polyhydroxyalkanoate. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. (2014); 98, 4223-32. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24413975

Molloy, S., Nikodinovic-Runic, J., Martin, L.B., Hartmann, H., Solano, F., Decker, H., O'Connor, K.E. Engineering of a bacterial tyrosinase for improved catalytic efficiency towards D-tyrosine using random and site directed mutagenesis approaches. Biotechnol. Bioeng. (2013); 110, 1849–57. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23381872

Narancic, T., Radivojevic, J., Jovanovic, P., Francuski, D., Bigovic, M., Maslak, V., Savic, V., Vasiljevic, B., O'Connor, K.E., Nikodinovic-Runic, J. Highly efficient Michael-type addition of acetaldehyde to b-nitrostyrenes by whole resting cells of Escherichia coli expressing 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase. Biores. Technol. (2013); 142, 462–68. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23759430

Nikodinovic-Runic, J., Guzik, M., Kenny, S.T., Babu, R., Werker, A., O'Connor, K.E. Carbon-rich wastes as feedstocks for biodegradable polymer (polyhydroxyalkanoate) production using bacteria. Adv. Appl. Microbiol. (2013); 84, 139-200. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23763760