Nikos Hontzeas, Ph.D.
Research Investigator
Punch Worthington Research Laboratory
Room 64-125 Center for the Health Science
UCLA Medical Center
10833 Le Conte Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Phone: (310) 206-7015
Email: nhontzeas@phlbi.org
Biography
Nikos was born in Athens, Greece and immigrated to Canada as a young child. He received his BSc degree in Microbiology/ Immunology from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, followed by his MSc degree from the University of Guelph in Guelph, Canada. He completed his PhD studies with Professor Bernard Glick in biology, specializing in biotechnology, at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Canada, where he also received a graduate fellowship and a postdoctoral Industrial fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research (NSERC) council of Canada.
Subsequently, Nikos pursued postdoctoral studies in the department of Chemistry at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana for one year and then moved to California at the UCLA Medical School in Los Angeles to pursue postdoctoral studies before joining the Pacific Heart, Lung & Blood Institute. Nikos has over fourteen peer-reviewed publications and one provisional patent.
Nikos fervently believes in PHLBI’s mission as he lost his mother due to mesothelioma when he was only 10 and his father from metastatic colon cancer when he was in his early 20s. Furthermore, Nikos’s wife, Catherine, is an ovarian cancer survivor. Nikos is an amateur musician and plays the violin. He is also a huge fan of classical operatic and orchestral music. He is a history buff with particular interests in classical and modern European history as well as American civil war history. In his free time Nikos enjoys motorcycling down the PCH highway, playing golf, and traveling the world with his wife.
Articles & Publications
Research Papers:
1. Hontzeas, N., K. Hafer and R.H. Schiestl. Development of a microtiter plate version of the yeast DEL assay amenable to high-throughput toxicity screening of chemical libraries. Mutational Research. Accepted on 6-14-07.
2. Belimov, A.A., I.C. Dodd, V.I. Safronova, N. Hontzeas, and W.J. Davies. Pseudomonas brassicacearum strain Am3 containing 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase can act as either a phytopathogenic or plant growth-promoting bacterium for tomato. J. Exp. Bot. 58(6), 1485-1495, 2007.
3. Jesudhasan, P.R.R., C.W. Tan, N. Hontzeas, and P.T.K. Woo. A cathepsin L-like cysteine proteinase gene from the protozoan parasite, Cryptobia salmositica. Parasitol. Res. 100(4), 881-886, 2007.
4. Hontzeas, N., A. Richardson, A. Belimov, V. Safronova, M.M. Abu-Omar, and B.R. Glick. Evidence for horizontal gene transfer of 1- aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase genes. Appl. Env. Microbiol. 71(11), 7556-7558, 2005.
5. Belimov, A.A., N. Hontzeas, V.I. Safronova, S.V. Demchinskaya, G. Piluzza, S. Bullitta, and B.R. Glick. Cadmium-tolerant plant growth-promoting bacteria associated with the roots of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L. Czern.). Soil Biol. Biochem. 37:241-250, 2005.
6. Hontzeas, N., J. Zoidakis, B.R. Glick, and M.M. Abu-Omar. Expression and characterization of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase from the rhizobacterium Pseudomonas putida UW4: a key enzyme in bacterial plant growth promotion. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1703:11-19, 2004.
7. Hontzeas, N., S. Saleh, and B.R. Glick. Changes in gene expression in canola roots induced by ACC-deaminase-containing plant-growth-promoting bacteria. Mol. Plant-Microbe Interact. 12:951-959, 2004.
8. Hontzeas, N., S. Feng, and P.T.K. Woo. Inhibitory effects of a monoclonal antibody (MAb-001) on in vitro oxygen consumption and multiplication of the pathogenic haemoflagellate, Cryptobia salmositica Katz. J. Fish Dis. 24: 391-398, 2001.
9. Kim, T.S., B.K. Na, P.H. Park, K.J. Song, N. Hontzeas and C.Y. Song. Cloning and expression of a cysteine proteinase gene from Paragonimus westermani adult worms. J. Parasitol. 86:333-9, 2000.
Review Papers:
1. Hontzeas, N., C. E. Hontzeas, and B.R. Glick. Reaction mechanisms of the bacterial enzyme 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase. Biotechnol. Adv. 24:420-426, 2006.
2. Abu-Omar, M.M., A. Loaiza, and N. Hontzeas. Reaction mechanisms of mononuclear non-heme iron oxygenases. Chem. Rev. 105(6):2227-52, 2005.
3. Hontzeas, N., and B.R. Glick. Analyzing DNA sequences. Biotechnol. Adv. 19:319-20, 2001.
Book Chapters:
1. Saleh. S., N. Hontzeas, and B.R. Glick. “Physiological and genetic effects of bacterial ACC deaminase on plants”. In: Microbial Biotechnology in Agriculture and Aquaculture, Volume II, Science Publishers, Enfield, NH, pp. 199-224, 2006.
2. Hontzeas, N., and B.R. Glick. “The isolation and characterization of genes induced by ACC deaminase-containing plant growth-promoting bacteria”. In: Biology and Biotechnology of the Plant Hormone Ethylene III. (Ed.) M. Vendrell, H. Klee, J.C. Pech and F. Romojaro. IOS Press, Amsterdam, pp. 149-150, 2003.
Conference Participation (poster presentations):
1. Hafer, K., N. Hontzeas and R.H. Schiestl. Adaptation of the DEL assay for rapid identification of radiation protectors and sensitizers. 13th International Congress of Radiation Research, San Francisco, California, USA, July 8-12, 2007.
2. Hontzeas, N., K. Hafer and R. H. Schiestl. Development of a microtiter plate version of the yeast DEL assay amenable to high-throughput, to identify carcinogens. American Association of Cancer Research annual meeting. Los Angeles, California, USA, April 14-18, 2007.
3. Hontzeas, N., K. Hafer and R. H. Schiestl. Development of a microtiter plate version of the yeast DEL assay amenable to high-throughput toxicity screening of chemical libraries. The 46th annual meeting of the Society of Toxicology. Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, March 25-29, 2007.
4. Kirpnick-Sobol, Z., N. Hontzeas, R. Reliene and R. H. Schiestl. The DEL assay detects carcinogens. The 36th annual European Environmental Mutagen Society meeting, Prague, Czech Republic, July 2-6, 2006.
5. Dodd, I.C., W.J. Davies, N. Hontzeas, V.I. Safranova, and A.A. Belimov. Enhancing growth and yielding of crops in drying soil using rhizobacteria that disrupt stress perception. Society for Experimental Biology, Barcelona, Spain, July 11-15, 2005.
6. Hontzeas, N., J. Zoidakis, B.R. Glick, and M.M. Abu-Omar. Expression and characterization of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase from the rhizobacterium Enterobacte cloacea UW4. American Society for Microbiology 101st general meeting, New Orleans, USA, May 23-27, 2004.
7. Hontzeas, N., and B.R. Glick. Isolation and characterization of genes induced by ACC deaminase-containing plant growth promoting bacteria. 11th International Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, St. Petersburg, Russia, July 18-26, 2003.
8. Belimov, A.A., N. Hontzeas, V.I. Safronova, S.V. Demchinskaya, I.C. Dodd, S. Bullitta, W.J. Davies, and B.R. Glick. Cadmium tolerant root growth-promoting bacteria of the rhizoplane of Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. 11th International Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, St. Petersburg, Russia, July 18-26, 2003.
9. Belimov, A.A., I.C. Dodd, V.I. Safronova, N. Hontzeas, B.R. Glick, and W.J. Davies. Rhizobacterial mediation of plant drought stress responses in Pisum sativum L. 11th International Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, St. Petersburg, Russia, July 18-26, 2003.
10. Hontzeas, N., and B.R. Glick. The isolation and characterization of genes induced by ACC deaminase-containing plant growth promoting bacteria. NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Biology and Biotechnology of the Plant Hormone Ethylene, Murcia, Spain, April 23-27, 2002.
11. Kim, T.S., B.K. Na, P.H. Park, K.J. Song, N. Hontzeas and C.Y. Song. Cloning and expression of a cysteine proteinase gene from Paragonimus westermani adult worms. American Society of
Parasitologists, general meeting, Kona, USA, August 18-21, 1998.