Brier, T.A., Cournoyer, J.E., Gilbert, B.R., Glass, S.A., Gao, Y.L., Yu, Y., Thornburg, Z.R., Goglin, K., John, G., Mamaghani, T., Shivakumar, S., Fields, C.J., Glass, J.I., Mehta, A.P., Luthey-Schulten, Z. Unraveling the Transcriptional Landscape within a Minimized Bacterium via Comparative Analysis (under review)
Rozum, J.C., Sineath, W., Bohutskyi, P., Quenneville, J., Kim, D.N., Johnson, C., Mehta, A.P., Evans, J., Pollock, D., Qian, W.J., Cheung, M.S., Wu, R., Song, F. Synergy and antagonism in a genome-scale model of metabolic hijacking by bacteriophages (under revision)
Thornburg, Z.; Maytin, A.; Kwon, J.; Brier, T.A.; Gilbert, B.R.; Fu, E.; Gao, Y.; Quenneville, J.; Wu, T.; Li, H.; Long, T.; Pezeshkian, W.; Sun, L.; Glass, J.I.; Mehta, A.P.; Ha, T.; Luthey-Schulten, Z. Bringing the Genetically Minimal Cell to Life on a Computer in 4D (under review)
Bram, S., Quenneville, J., Lindsey, G., Leach, S., Guthmiller, J.J., Mehta, A.P.* Virus-free continuous directed evolution in human cells using somatic hypermutation (under revision)
Cournoyer, J.E., De, B.C., Mehta, A.P.* Molecular Insights from Natural and Synthetic Endosymbiotic Systems. Current Opinion in Chemical Biology Volume 87, August 2025, 102598 (2025) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2025.102598
De, B.C., Cournoyer, J.E., Gao, Y., Wallace, C.L., Bram, S., Mehta, A.P.* Photosynthetic, directed endosymbiosis to investigate the role of bioenergetics in chloroplast function and evolution Nature Communications 15, Article number: 10622 (2024) (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-54051-1)
- Press article: Study offers insight into chloroplast evolution
- EurekAlert: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1067268
Bram, S., Lindsey, G.W., Drnevich, J., Xu, F., Wozniak, M.K., Medina, G.N., Mehta, A.P.* Parallel Single-B cell Transcriptomics to Elucidate Pig B-cell Repertoire. Scientific Reports (Nature Portfolio), 14, Article number: 15997 (2024) (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-65263-2).
Gao, Y., Cournoyer, J.E., De, B.C., Wallace, C.L., Ulanov, A., La Frano, M., Mehta, A.P.* Introducing carbon assimilation in yeasts using photosynthetic directed endosymbiosis. Nature Communications, 15, Article number: 5947 (2024) (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-49585-3).
- Commentary on this work: Autotrophic yeast, Dr. Jens Nielsen (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-49586-2)
- Added to the Nature Portfolio Collection of Biotechnology for a circular economy – https://www.nature.com/collections/cbeagjfefg
- Spotlight article: Spotlight on “Introducing carbon assimilation in yeasts using photosynthetic directed endosymbiosis” by Gao et al. (2024): https://doi.org/10.1080/28347056.2025.2456856
- Illinois News Bureau: https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/780695696?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yksphyseng&utm_source=nbtwitter
- UIUC Chemistry: https://chemistry.illinois.edu/news/2024-08-26t180649/scientists-use-evolution-bioengineer-new-pathways-sustainable-energy
- EurekAlert: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1055725
- MSN news: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/techandscience/engineering-cyanobacteria-yeast-systems-for-synthetic-biology/ar-AA1pvQv0
Ornelas, M.Y., Thomas, A.Y., L. Idalee Johnson Rosas, Medina, G.N. , Mehta, A.P.* Characterization, Directed Evolution and Targeting of DNA Virus-Encoded RNA capping enzymes using Phenotypic Yeast Platforms ACS Chemical Biology 2023 18, 8, 1808–1820 (https://doi.org/10.1021/acschembio.3c00243)
Ornelas, M.Y., Cournoyer, J.E., Bram, S., Mehta, A.P.* Evolution and Synthetic Biology Current Opinion in Microbiology Volume 76, December 2023, 102394 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mib.2023.102394)
Ornelas, M.Y., Thomas, A.Y., L. Idalee Johnson Rosas, Scoville, R.O., Mehta A.P.* Synthetic Platforms for Characterization and Targeting of SARS-CoV-2 Genome-Capping Enzymes. ACS Synthetic Biology (2022) 11 (11), 3759-3771 (https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.2c00359, open access PMC link)
Cournoyer, J.E.; Altman, S.D.; Gao, Y.; Wallace, C.L.; Zhang, D.; Lo, G.H.; Haskin, N.T.; Mehta, A.P.* Engineering artificial photosynthetic life-forms through endosymbiosis. Nature Communications 13, Article number: 2254 (2022) (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-29961-7, open access PDF link )
- Recommended in Faculty Opinions as being of special significance in its field by Faculty Member Dr. Dario Leister
- Recommended in Faculty Opinions as being of special significance in its field by Faculty Member Dr. Xinguang Zhu
- UIUC: https://chemistry.illinois.edu/news/2022-05-02t154001/scientists-create-viable-reproducing-yeast-cyanobacterial-hybrids
- EurekAlert: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/951354
*Corresponding author
Patents:
U.S. Patent Application No.: 63/493,639 – Synthetic biology approaches to target RNA capping enzymes from viruses. (Mehta, A.P., Ornelas, M.Y., Thomas, A.Y.)
U.S. Patent Application No. 63/700,867: Continuous directed evolution of proteins in human cells (Mehta A.P., Bram, S.)
U.S. Patent Application No.: 63/844,509: Introducing Carbon Assimilation in Yeasts using Photosynthetic Directed Endosymbiosis (Mehta A.P., Gao Y., De B.C.)
Before Illinois:
Mehta, A.P.; Ko, Y.; Supekova, L.; Pestonjamasp, K.; Li, J.; Schultz, P.G., Towards a synthetic yeast endosymbiont with minimal genome. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2019, 141, 13799-13802
Mehta, A.P.; Supekova, L.; Chen, J.; Pestonjamasp, K.; Webster, P.; Ko, Y.; Henderson, S.C.; McDermott, G.; Supek, F.; Schultz, P.G., Engineering yeast endosymbionts as a first step towards the evolution of mitochondria. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2018, 115(46), 11796-11801
Mehta, A.P.; Wang, Y.; Reed, S. A.; Supekova, L.; Javahishvili, T.; Chaput, J.C.; Schultz, P.G., Bacterial Genome Containing Chimeric DNA–RNA Sequences. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2018, 140 (36), 11464-11473.
Mehta, A.P.; Li, H.; Reed, S.A.; Supekova, L.; Javahishvili, T.; Schultz, P.G., Replacement of 2′-Deoxycytidine by 2′-Deoxycytidine Analogues in the E. coli Genome. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2016, 138 (43), 14230-14233.
Mehta, A.P.; Li, H.; Reed, S. A.; Supekova, L.; Javahishvili, T.; Schultz, P. G., Replacement of Thymidine by a Modified Base in the Escherichia coli Genome. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2016, 138 (23), 7272-7275.
Mehta, A.P.; Abdelwahed, S. H.; Fenwick, M. K.; Hazra, A. B.; Taga, M. E.; Zhang, Y.; Ealick, S. E.; Begley, T. P., Anaerobic 5-hydroxybenzimidazole formation from aminoimidazole ribotide: an unanticipated intersection of thiamin and vitamin B12 biosynthesis. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2015, 137 (33), 10444-10447.
Mehta, A.P.; Abdelwahed, S. H.; Begley, T. P., Molybdopterin biosynthesis—Mechanistic studies on a novel MoaA catalyzed insertion of a purine carbon into the ribose of GTP. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA)-Proteins and Proteomics 2015, 1854 (9), 1073-1077.
Mehta, A.P.; Abdelwahed, S. H.; Xu, H.; Begley, T. P., Molybdopterin Biosynthesis: Trapping of Intermediates for the MoaA-Catalyzed Reaction Using 2′-DeoxyGTP and 2′-ChloroGTP as Substrate Analogues. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2014, 136 (30), 10609-10614.
Mehta, A.P.; Abdelwahed, S.; Mahanta, N.; Fedoseyenko, D.; Philmus, B.; Cooper, L.; Liu, Y.; Jhulki, I.; Ealick, S. E.; Begley, T. P., Radical SAM Enzymes in Cofactor Biosynthesis: a treasure trove of complex organic radical rearrangement reactions. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2014, jbc. R114. 623793.
Mehta, A.P.; Hanes, J. W.; Abdelwahed, S. H.; Hilmey, D. G.; Hänzelmann, P.; Begley, T. P., Catalysis of a new ribose carbon-insertion reaction by the molybdenum cofactor biosynthetic enzyme MoaA. Biochemistry 2013, 52 (7), 1134-1136.
Mehta, A.P.; Abdelwahed, S. H.; Begley, T. P., Molybdopterin biosynthesis: trapping an unusual purine ribose adduct in the MoaA-catalyzed reaction. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2013, 135 (30), 10883-10885.
Fenwick, M. K.; Mehta, A.P.; Zhang, Y.; Abdelwahed, S. H.; Begley, T. P.; Ealick, S. E., Non-canonical active site architecture of the radical SAM thiamin pyrimidine synthase. Nature communications 2015, 6.
Zambaldo, C.; Luo, X.; Mehta, A.P.; Schultz, P. G., Recombinant Macrocyclic Lanthipeptides Incorporating Non-Canonical Amino Acids. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2017, 139 (34), 11646-11649.
Yao, A.; Reed, S. A.; Koh, M.; Yu, C.; Luo, X.; Mehta, A.P.; Schultz, P. G., Progress toward a reduced phage genetic code. Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry 2018.
Xu, H.; Chakrabarty, Y.; Philmus, B.; Mehta, A.P.; Bhandari, D.; Hohmann, H.-P.; Begley, T. P., Identification of the first riboflavin catabolic gene cluster isolated from Microbacterium maritypicum G10. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2016, 291 (45), 23506-23515.
Hazra, A.B.; Han, A.W.; Mehta, A.P.; Mok, K.C.; Osadchiy, V.; Begley, T.P.; Taga, M. E., Anaerobic biosynthesis of the lower ligand of vitamin B12. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2015, 112 (34), 10792-10797.
Coquille, S.; Roux, C.; Mehta, A.; Begley, T. P.; Fitzpatrick, T. B.; Thore, S., High-resolution crystal structure of the eukaryotic HMP-P synthase (THIC) from Arabidopsis thaliana. Journal of structural biology 2013, 184 (3), 438-444.
Li, J.; Liu, T.; Wang, Y.; Mehta, A.P.; Schultz P.G., Enhancing Protein Stability with Genetically Encoded Noncanonical Amino Acids. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2018, 140(47), 15997-16000
Gagnon, D.M.; Stich T.A.; Mehta, A.P.; Abdelwahed S.H.; Begley T.P.; Britt, R.D., An aminoimidazole radical in the anaerobic biosynthesis of 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole Ligand of Vitamin B12 Journal of the American Chemical Society 2018, 140(36), 12798-12807