Institute of Cell Biology National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

Department of Analytical Biotechnology

Head of the Department – Mykhailo Gonchar, PhD, DrSc, Prof.

The history of the Department began in 1969, when at the Lviv branch of O.V. Palladin Institute of Biochemistry NAS of Ukraine was established the department of regulation of cellular synthesis of low molecular weight compounds headed by honored scientist of Ukraine, DrSc, and Prof. G.M. Shavlovsky. In this department (from 2002 - in the department of molecular genetics and biotechnology) researches on flavin biosynthesis, particular enzymology, genetic metabolic control and regulation of synthesis and biotechnology of some compounds in yeast, where conducted this study began in the 50th of the last century and held until Prof. Shavlovsky death (1996).

3 Habilitation theses (DrSc degree) and about 20 candidate thesis (PhD) have been fulfilled in the Department. Over 500 scientific papers devoted to various aspects of the biosynthesis and transport of riboflavin (RF), in national and international journals were published and copyright certificates of the former USSR, patents of Ukraine, the European Union and the United States were received.

Prof. Shavlovsky first established riboflavin biosynthesis pathway and characterized key enzymes of this pathway, detected the role of iron in flavinogenesis regulation and the influence of various factors on the biosynthesis of RF, including some genes (G.M. Shavlovsky, A.A. Sibirny, O.M. Logvinenko, D.V. Fedorovych., V.E. Kashchenko, L.V. Koltun, G.P. Ksheminska, L.P. Struhovschykova, J.R. Boretskyi, V.M. Trach, M.N. Stenchuk, A.E. Zakalsky, L.Y. Babyak, O.V. Protchenko etc.).

From 1996 Department was headed by PhD D.V. Fedorovych. Since 2001, the head of the Department is Prof. M.V. Gonchar. The new name (Analytical Biotechnology) department received in 2007.

The 8 PhD theses were defensed protected by the employees of department of analytical biotechnology (G.M. Pavlishko (Klepach), O.V. Smutok, V.I. Kutsyaba, O.M. Demkiv, G.I. Nechay, N.YE. Stasyuk, T.M. Prokopiv).

The scientific interest of the Department involved homeostasis of some transient biometals and metalloids (chromium, selenium) in yeasts, study of the mechanisms of chromate reductive detoxification and formation of elemental Se by yeast cells.

During last years, the main research scope of the Department is microbial enzymology and bioanalytics: selection and genetic construction of the microbial strains overproducing enzymes of analytical interest, purification and characterization of the novel and recombinant proteins, development of enzymatic and biosensors' approaches for assay of practically important analytes.