Kate Thodey
Smolke Laboratory
Stanford University
CA 94305
Education
2005-2009, PhD, John Innes Centre, Norwich, United Kingdom
2000-2003, BSc(Hons), University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Research interests
Many drugs are still produced the traditional way; by extraction from medicinal plants. In many cases the alternative chemical syntheses of such compounds are low-yielding due to the complex nature of these biological molecules. In the Smolke laboratory we are interested in using new synthetic biology approaches to biosynthesize a class of drug molecules which are currently produced by extraction from opium poppies, namely the benzylisoquinoline alkaloids which include the powerful analgesics codeine and morphine. As a postdoc working together with members of the laboratory, my research focuses on metabolically engineering yeast to produce opioids and other high-value alkaloids.
Publications
Thodey K., Galanie S. and Smolke C.D. (2014). A biomanufacturing platform for natural and semisynthetic opioids. Nature Chemical Biology doi:10.1038/nchembio.1613. [Epub ahead of print].
de Jong F., Thodey K., Lejay L.V. and Bevan M.W. (2014). Glucose elevates NITRATE TRANSPORTER2.1 protein levels and nitrate transport activity independently of its HEXOKINASE1-mediated stimulation of NITRATE TRANSPORTER2.1 expression. Plant Physiology 164(1):308-320.
Siddiqui M.S., Thodey K., Trenchard I. and Smolke C.D. (2012). Advancing secondary metabolite biosynthesis in yeast with synthetic biology tools. FEMS Yeast Research 12(2):144-170.
Michener J.K., Thodey K., Liang J.C. and Smolke C.D. (2012). Applications of genetically-encoded biosensors for the construction and control of biosynthetic pathways. Metabolic Engineering 14(3):212-222.
Thodey K. and Smolke C.D. (2011). Bringing it together with RNA. Science 333(6041):412-413.
Walton E.F., Wu R.M., Richardson A.C., Davy M., Hellens R.P., Thodey K., Janssen B.J., Gleave A.P., Rae G.M., Wood M. and Schaffer R.J. (2009). A rapid transcriptional activation is induced by the dormancy-breaking chemical hydrogen cyanamide in kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) buds. Journal of Experimental Botany 60(13):3835-3848.
Janssen B.J., Thodey K., Schaffer R.J., Alba R., Balakrishnan L., Bishop R., Bowen J.H., Crowhurst R.N., Gleave A.P., Ledger S., McArtney S., Pichler F.B., Snowden K.C. and Ward S. (2008). Global gene expression analysis of apple fruit development from the floral bud to ripe fruit. BMC Plant Biology 8:16. doi: 10.1186/1471-2229-8-16.
Schaffer R.J., Friel E.N., Souleyre E.J., Bolitho K., Thodey K., Ledger S., Bowen J.H., Ma J.H., Nain B., Cohen D., Gleave A.P., Crowhurst R.N., Janssen B.J., Yao J.L. and Newcomb R.D. (2007). A genomics approach reveals that aroma production in apple is controlled by ethylene predominantly at the final step in each biosynthetic pathway. Plant Physiology 144(4):1899-1912.
Gould K.S., Thodey K., Philpott M., and Ferguson L.R. (2006). Antioxidant activities of extracts from traditional Maori food plants. New Zealand Journal of Botany 44:1-4.
