Agricultural and Life Sciences (IFAS)
Voiniciuc Lab
Led by Catalin Voiniciuc · Horticultural Sciences
What we study
The Voiniciuc Lab studies how plants make and break down carbohydrates like hemicelluloses and pectin, using experiments and lab automation to improve plant-based products and health applications.
What working here is like
- Wet lab
- Computational
- Plants
- Yeast
- No organisms (data only)
- Bacteria & microbes
- Coding required
- Projects
- 4
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Project The effects of homologous CSLA genes in rescuing seed mucilage beta-mannans
The lab tests whether CSLA genes from other plants can fix the thin seed coating seen in an Arabidopsis mutant. The student will insert the best gene versions, grow the plants, and measure sugar composition and germination to see if the coating is restored.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 602
Fine-Tuning the Maximum Entropy Model Using Direct Preference Optimization for Enhancing CSLA Enzyme β-Mannan Polysaccharide Synthesis
The lab works on improving an enzyme that makes β‑mannan polysaccharides, which are useful for food and materials. Students will refine a computational model that predicts how enzyme mutations affect performance, and will use a robot to assemble DNA and test the predicted mutations in yeast, measuring how much β‑mannan is produced.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 352
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Yeast Screening for Putative Hemicellulose Synthases to Produce Novel Polymers for Bioenergy Applications
The lab tests 25 candidate genes from algae, monocots, and flowering plants in a yeast called Pichia pastoris to see if they make useful sugar polymers, using a fluorescent probe to detect the products. Results will help understand these genes and how they could be used in plants for bioenergy.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 343
Engineering Pichia pastoris for antimicrobial peptide production: evaluating bacterial growth inhibition against gram‑positive and gram‑negative bacteria
The researchers engineered the yeast Pichia pastoris to produce and secrete several antimicrobial peptides and then tested their ability to inhibit Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli using inhibition zone and liquid co‑culture assays, showing the peptides can block bacterial growth.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 201
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Rethinking Suicide Thi4 Thiazole Synthases: Comparative Genomic Insights and Pilot Functional Evidence
2026 · ACS Omega
Explores how enzymes make thiamin, suggesting they may work differently than expected.
- Hypobaric Resilience of Matrix Polysaccharide Biosynthesis in Plants
2026 · Plant Direct
Studies how low-pressure space conditions change plant cell wall structures.
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- Understanding cell wall enzyme function: from classical approaches to new biotechnology
2026 · Journal of Experimental Botany
Reviews ways to study plant enzymes that break down cell walls, which are key for plant growth and human health.
- Hydroxycinnamoyl compounds, flavonols, anthocyanins, sugar profiles, and antioxidant activity of low-chill peach, nectarine, and plum cultivars grown in Florida, USA
2026 · Food Chemistry
- Genome association of carbohydrate metabolites provides new insights toward functional breeding in coffee
2026 · The Plant Genome
Looks at genes linked to sugar in coffee beans to help improve coffee farming.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Catalin Voiniciuc hasn't set up this page yet. Their UF Scholars profile lists their publications.