The Kristiina Mäkinen Lab
PLANT VIROLOGY
CURRENT GROUP MEMBERS
Principal investigator Kristiina Mäkinen
University lecturer in applied biochemistry
Areas of specialization
Molecular biology, biochemistry, plant virology, plant-virus interactions; viruses in nanobiotechnology; plant virus as a gene vector
My research has focused on cellular and molecular biology of plant virus infection already over 20 years. I am PI and research group leader and I have supervised 6 PhDs and the work of 4 post docs on the subject area of plant virology. Currently the group comprise one post doc and four PhDs are underway.
My teaching consists of basic lecture and laboratory courses in biochemistry and gene technology. I also give lectures in virology and biotechnology and have organized several post graduate courses e.g. on plant virology, heterologous protein production in plants, plant-pathogen co-evolution and RNA silencing.
kristiina.makinen (at) helsinki.fi
PhD student Shreya Saha
Research interests: protein determination in PVA translation, mechanism of CI function in PVA translation.
I come from the northeast part of India. I qualified for a master’s degree in Botany (M.Sc ) from the University Of Calcutta, Kolkata, India. Upon completion my M.Sc, I joined as junior research fellow (JRF) in Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India and worked on plant pathology. Later I joined a short term research internship in the Max Planck Institute for terrestrial microbiology, Marburg, Germany. I worked there on plant fungal interaction. I achieved a BRAVE Erasmus Mundus Scholarship and started a PhD on plant virology under the Doctoral program in Plant Science (DPPS) in the University of Helsinki.
My major research focus is divided into two aspects, one is to understand the molecular mechanism of function of CI protein in Potato Virus A (PVA) translation. Another is understanding the protein determinants in Potyvirus translation.
shreya.saha (at) helsinki.fi
Post doctoral researcher Swarnalok De
Research interests: Molecular cues behind PVA translation, PVX-PVA synergism
I come from West Bengal, India. I did my Bachelor degree in Food Technology and then worked as Sr. Executive (quality assurance) in M/S Keventer Group (Foods division). I was always interested in higher studies, so I kept looking for options. Fortunately, I received ONGC, a New Delhi sponsored scholarship for studying bioconversion of lignite into humic acid and biomethane. I carried out my Master’s degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. Afterwards I received Erasmus Mundus (BRAVE) scholarship for pursuing Doctoral studies in the field of plant virology. Currently I am enrolled in the Doctoral Program in Plant Science (DPPS) at the University of Helsinki. My research focuses on the elucidation of the potyviral translational mechanism.
swarnalok.de (at) helsinki.fi
PhD student Pinky Dutta
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I'm from Assam, India and I joined the University of Helsinki as a visiting student in 2015. I am doing my masters' thesis in plant virology in Kristiina's group under Andres' supervision.
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pinky.dutta (at) helsinki.fi
GROUP ALUMNI
Dr. Adel el Morsi, visiting researcher (2019)
Dr. Maija Pollari (2016-2019)
MSci. Säde Virkki (2016-2018)
Dr. Andred Lõhmus (2011-2018)
Dr. Jane Besong-Ndika (2011-2016)
Dr. Konstantin Ivanov (1998-2005, 2011-2015)
MSc Gabriela Chavez Calvillo (visiting PhD student, 2014-2015)
BSc Marta Bašić (2014-2015)
Dr. Katri Eskelin (1998-2014)
Dr. Anders Hafrén (2006-2012)
Dr. Taina Suntio (2007-2011)
Dr. Kimmo Rantalainen (2005-2010)
Dr. Rasa Gabrenaite-Verkhovskaya (2001-2008)
Dr. Eeva Wahlström (2002-2006)
Dr. Pietri Puustinen (1999-2004)