Plant secondary metabolism – synthetic biology tools

Plants produce a vast diversity of compounds collectively known as specialized (or secondary) metabolites.

Our research focuses on the specialized (secondary) metabolism in plants, and particularly in the biosynthesis and functional role of triterpenes. These compounds play essential roles both in plant growth, development, environmental adaptation and defense as well as have many applications in human nutrition and health, serving as a rich source of pharmaceuticals and other bioactive molecules. We mainly study legume plants (both model and crop plants) and through omics approaches, microscopy, targeted metabolite analysis, use of synthetic biology tools, genome editing and metabolic engineering we aim to (a) elucidate biosynthetic pathways, (b) redesign them to enhance plant resilience and crop productivity to support sustainable agriculture and (c) use them as green platforms to produce high-value compounds with industrial and medicinal applications.

Personnel

Kalliope Papadopoulou

, Professor in Plant Biotechnology

Publications

Ribeiro, H., Papadopoulou, E. S., Zhang, K., Kanellopoulos, A. E., Papadopoulou, K. K., & Karpouzas, D. G. (2026). The potential of plant-derived triterpenoids as biological nitrification inhibitors. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 110(1), 107. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-026-13776-3

Markou, P., Garagounis, C., Fasoula, D. A., Ioannides, I. M., Omirou, M., & Papadopoulou, K. K. (2024). Identification, functional characterization and expression profiling of three triterpene synthases from the legume plant Vigna unguiculata. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 738, 150935. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2024.150935

Solovou, T. G. A., Stravodimos, G., Papadopoulos, G. E., Skamnaki, V. T., Papadopoulou, K., & Leonidas, D. D. (2024). Biochemical and Structural Studies of LjSK1, a Lotus japonicus GSK3β/SHAGGY-like Kinase, Reveal Its Functional Role. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 72(7), 3763–3772. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.3c07101

Koukara, J., & Papadopoulou, K. K. (2023). Advances in plant synthetic biology approaches to control expression of gene circuits. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 654, 55–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2023.02.061

Garagounis, C., Delkis, N., & Papadopoulou, K. K. (2021). Unraveling the roles of plant specialized metabolites: Using synthetic biology to design molecular biosensors. New Phytologist, 231(4), 1338–1352. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17470

Solovou, T. G. A., Garagounis, C., Kyriakis, E., Bobas, C., Papadopoulos, G. E., Skamnaki, V. T., Papadopoulou, K. K., & Leonidas, D. D. (2021). Mutagenesis of a Lotus japonicus GSK3β/Shaggy-like kinase reveals functionally conserved regulatory residues. Phytochemistry, 186, 112707. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phytochem.2021.112707

Garagounis, C., Beritza, K., Georgopoulou, M.-E., Sonawane, P., Haralampidis, K., Goossens, A., Aharoni, A., & Papadopoulou, K. K. (2020). A hairy-root transformation protocol for Trigonella foenum-graecum L. as a tool for metabolic engineering and specialised metabolite pathway elucidation. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 154, 451–462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2020.06.011

Fatemi, F., Abdollahi, M. R., Mirzaie-asl, A., Dastan, D., & Papadopoulou, K. (2020). Phytochemical, antioxidant, enzyme activity and antifungal properties of Satureja khuzistanica in vitro and in vivo explants stimulated by some chemical elicitors. Pharmaceutical Biology, 58(1), 286–296. https://doi.org/10.1080/13880209.2020.1743324

Jozwiak, A., Sonawane, P. D., Panda, S., Garagounis, C., Papadopoulou, K. K., Abebie, B., Massalha, H., Almekias-Siegl, E., Scherf, T., & Aharoni, A. (2020). Plant terpenoid metabolism co-opts a component of the cell wall biosynthesis machinery. Nature Chemical Biology, 16(7), 740–748. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-020-0541-x

Garagounis, C., Tsikou, D., Plitsi, P. K., Psarrakou, I. S., Avramidou, M., Stedel, C., Anagnostou, M., Georgopoulou, M. E., & Papadopoulou, K. K. (2019). Lotus SHAGGY‐like kinase 1 is required to suppress nodulation in Lotus japonicus. The Plant Journal, 98(2), 228–242. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.14207

Georgatza D, Gorgogietas VA, KylindriP, Charalambous MCh, Papadopoulou KK, Hayes JM, Psarra AMG. (2016) The triterpene echinocystic acid and its 3-O-glucoside derivative are revealed as potent and selective glucocorticoid receptor agonists. The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 79: 277–287 DOI: 10.1016/j.biocel.2016.08.028

Mosses T, Papadopoulou KK, Osbourn AE (2014) Metabolic and functional diversity of saponins, biosynthetic intermediates and semi-synthetic derivatives. Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology DOI: 10.3109/10409238.2014.953628

Krokida A, Delis C, Geisler K, Garagkounis C, Tsikou D, Peña-Rodríguez LM, Field B, Osbourn AE, Papadopoulou KK (2013) A metabolic gene cluster in Lotus japonicus discloses novel enzyme functions and products in triterpene biosynthesis New Phytologist 200: 675-690 DOI: 10.1111/nph.12414

Delis C, Krokida A, Georgiou S, Peña-Rodríguez LM, Kavroulakis N, Ioannou E, Roussis V, Osbourn AE, Papadopoulou KK (2011) Role of lupeol synthase in Lotus japonicus nodule formation. New Phytologist 189:335-346 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03463.x.