Sarris Lab

Panagiotis Sarris received his PhD at the University of Crete (2004-2009) where he analyzed the roles of bacterial secretory systems during host colonization in the field of Molecular Pathogen-Host Interactions. Starting from 2011 until late 2015 he was a Senior Research Associate at the University of East Anglia and in 2015 he was elected as Associate Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Plant Immunity, at the University of Exeter, (School of Biosciences), where he remains until today as Honorary Professor. In September 2017 he was elected as Principal Researcher at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) of Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), while also serving as an Affiliated Professor of Microbiology in the University of Crete

During my undergraduate studies in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, under the supervision of Professor Eleftheriou Eleftheriou, I studied the effects of the hexavalent chromium in five species of the Fabaceae family. Afterwards, I did my Master Thesis in the University of Crete in the laboratory of Plant Molecular Biology, under the supervision of Professor Kriton Kalantidis and studied the role of the plant protein Virp1 and its role during the infection with the Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd). In my PhD thesis in the laboratory of the Associate Professor Panagiotis Sarris, I focused on the virulence targets of the host cells, when plants are affected by bacterial phytopathogens, such as Xanthomonas species. My PhD study was funded by the HFRI and GSRT fellowship, as well as the IMBB PhD fellowship. As a Post-Doc, I continue to study the plant-microbe interactions, focusing on effectors’ manipulation of the exocyst complex.

During my undergraduate studies in the National and Kapodestrian University of Athens, under the supervision of Associate Professor Dimitris Hatzinikolaou, I researched the production of bioethanol from hemicellulose-rich substrates by the fungus Paecilomyces variotii. Afterwards, I did my MSc thesis (Microbial Biotechnology program of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens) and therefore, I joined the Laboratory of virology in the Benaki Phytopathological Institute, under the supervision of Associate Research Scientist Nikon Vassilakos, where I investigated the role of a protein derived from Capsicum annum (pepper) and its involvement in intercellular and systemic movement of Potato virus Y (PVY). Now, in my PhD thesis in the laboratory of Researcher Panagiotis Sarris, I focus on the development of novel molecular techniques for plant protection against bacterial pathogens of the Xanthomonadaceae family.

My undergraduate thesis was carried out under the supervision of Assistant Professor George Grammatikopoulos at the Laboratory of Plant Physiology (University of Patras), where we studied the effects of temperature and photoperiod on the photosynthetic apparatus of the green alga Scenedesmus obliquus. My postgraduate studies in University of Crete were focused on Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and I did my Master thesis in the Plant Biotechnology and Microbiology lab, under the supervision of Associate Professor Panagiotis Sarris (SarrisLab, IMBB- FORTH & UoC). During my MSc thesis I screened for putative subcellular targets of Ralstonia solanacearum core type III effectors. I am currently doing my PhD in SarrisLab, evaluating the results of my MSc thesis in planta and investigating the molecular mechanism by which a particular R. solanacearum type III effector subverts plant immunity via targeting several plant proteins.

Savvas Paragkamian completed his BSc (2015) in Biology at the University of Crete and his MSc (2017) in Complex Systems and Networks at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Since 2020, he has been a member of Sarris Lab at IMBB-FORTH where he is conducting his PhD on “Deciphering the relation of microbiome metabolic functions with environmental biogeochemical processes” . His PhD is a collaborative project with Dr. E. Pafilis at IMBBC-HCMR. His main research interests include using complex network analysis, spatial analysis and text mining to study ecosystems from metabolism to microbes to biogeochemical processes. In addition, he is interested in sampling microbes from isolated environments, like caves, canyons and mountains.

I conducted my Bachelor thesis at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) under the associate professor Charalampos Spilianakis. There, I studied the role of lncRNAs SeT and AseT in the development, function and physiology of murine T lymphocytes. I got hands-on experience with the treatment of animals, plants, and microorganisms for experimental purposes in my MSc program
while I trained in basic molecular biology methods. During my MSc thesis, in the laboratory of the assistant professor Panagiotis Sarris, I attempted to detect intracellular targets of Shigella/Salmonella bacterial species. In my PhD I seek to isolate, culture, and identify plant-associated microbial communities from halophytes (plants that thrive under increased salinity conditions), to investigate whether they possess biocontrol traits of interest, and to unravel the molecular basis of the plant-endophyte interactions.

George Angelakis is an undergraduate student of Biology in the University of Crete with a track specialization in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. He has a plethora of interests in many scientific fields such as microbial ecology and extremophile biology and laboratory experience in the fields of environmental microbiology and synthetic biology through his current participation as an undergraduate student in Prof. Sarris’ lab and his participation (for two consecutive years) in the iGEM Crete scientific team, which has won two silver medals in the international synthetic biology competition of the same name (iGEM). His thesis revolves around extremophilic adaptations of beneficial endophytes with a particular focus in salinity tolerance and nitrogen fixation. Moreover he was included in the 30 Under 30 list of Forbes Greece for 2021. His mother tongue is Greek and he has a full proficiency in English and a working proficiency in French

Sotiris is an undergraduate student of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology in Department of Biology at the University of Crete. Although he has a wide variety of scientific interests, his main focus as a member of Dr. Sarris’ Lab is Plant host-microbe interactions. He also participated in iGEM Crete 2021 team as Head of Wet Lab and in iGEM Crete 2022 team as Team Leader. Furthermore he was included in Forbes Greece 30 under 30 List of 2021. He speaks English (C2), German and his native language is Greek.

Georgios Antonopoulos is an undergraduate student at the Biology Department of the University of Crete, with a specialization in Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology. He is a member of the Microbiology and Plant Biotechnology Group (P.I.: Dr P.Sarris) at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB-FORTH). His project focuses on host – microbe interactions in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, a collaborative project with P.I. Dr D. Bazopoulou.