Unique enzyme solutions for obtaining products of added value from cornUniCorn

UniCorn team

Dr Nataša Božić
member UniCorn team

natasa-bozic

Dr Nataša Božić

ORCID ID 0000-0001-8735-5506

Principal Research Fellow at ICTM

Coordinator of WP2. Participates in the implementation of WP1, WP2 and WP4 of the UniCorn project.

She received а PhD in Biochemistry in 2007 at the University of Belgrade - Faculty of Chemistry. In 2009, she conducted a postdoctoral research study in the field of fermentation technology at the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, as a postdoctoral scholarship holder of the Ministry of Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. She continued her training at the same University, in the field of molecular biotechnology through several two-month research stays: in 2010 as a Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) grantee, and in 2011 and 2012 within the bilateral project. In addition, she realized international cooperation with the Center for Proteomics of the University of Gothenburg (Sweden), the Institute of the Molecular Biology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (Slovakia), and the Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute of the University of Groningen (Netherlands). In 2010, the Serbian Chemical Society awarded her a Medal for efforts and achievements in science.

Scientific interests

Industrial enzymology with a focus on the enzymatic hydrolysis of raw starch and other carbohydrates, as well as their enzymatic modifications, which is important for many biological and industrial processes, primarily for obtaining food with a positive effect on human health, as well as for obtaining biofuels. Investigation of the structure-function relationships of enzymes that are able to modify carbohydrates as well as their direct application, which includes upstream and downstream processing of glycoside hydrolases, cloning, expression, production, purification, protein engineering and immobilization.

Engagement on projects

She managed two international projects; a bilateral project between Serbia and Spain, and a CRP - ICGEB research project and one project financed by the Innovation Fund of the Republic of Serbia. She participated in several other projects financed by the Ministry of Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, the Innovation Fund of the Republic of Serbia, in the COST action CM1303, and was Secondary proposer and currently the Grant Awarding Coordinator of the COST action COZYME CA21162.

Staff education

She has been participating as a guest lecturer in the Molecular Biotechnology course for master's studies since 2010 and is one of the lecturers in the course Writing and publication of scientific papers 2 in doctoral academic studies since 2022 for the Biochemistry study group, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Chemistry. In 2020, she held a semester-long undergraduate course by invitation, entitled Practical Applications of New Industrial Enzymes, at the Gdansk University of Technology (Poland). She was the mentor of several doctoral theses, graduate and master theses.

Membership in committees

She actively participates in the work of ICTM – as a member of the Scientific Council and Scientific Board, and the transformation team within the SAIGE (Serbia Accelerating Innovation and Growth Entrepreneurship) ICTM transformation project.

UniCorn | Program PRISMA | Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia
Selected publications

Dr Nataša Božić - Selected publications

01
Selected publications

M. Šokarda Slavić, A. Margetić, B. Dojnov, M. Vujčić, M. Mišić, N. Božić, Z. Vujčić, Modified simultaneous saccharification and fermentation for the production of bioethanol from highly concentrated raw corn starch, Fuel, 2023, 338, 127363.

doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2022.127363
02

N. Božić, H. Rozeboom, N. Lončar, M. Šokarda Slavić, D. Janssen, Z. Vujčić, Characterization of the starch surface binding site on Bacillus paralicheniformis α-amylase, Int J Biol Macromol, 2020, 165, 1529-1539.

doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.10.025
03

M. Šokarda Slavić, M. Pešić, Z. Vujčić, N. Božić, Overcoming hydrolysis of raw corn starch under industrial conditions with Bacillus licheniformis ATCC 9945a α-amylase, Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 2016, 100(6), 2709-2719 (2016).

doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-7101-4
04

N. Božić, J-M. Puertas, N. Lončar, C.S. Duran, J. López-Santín, Z. Vujčić, The DsbA signal peptide-mediated secretion of a highly efficient raw-starch-digesting, recombinant α-amylase from Bacillus licheniformis ATCC 9945a, Process Biochem, 2013, 48, 438–442.

doi.org/10.1016/j.procbio.2013.01.016
05

N. Božić, J. Ruiz, J. López-Santín, Z. Vujčić, Production and properties of the highly efficient raw starch digesting α-amylase from a Bacillus licheniformis ATCC 9945a, Biochem Eng J, 2011, 53(2), 203-209.

doi.org/10.1016/j.bej.2010.10.014
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