University of Belgrade - Institute for Multidisciplinary Research

Sonja Milić Komić

PhD in Chemistry

Research Associate Professor

Address: Bulevar despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade

Telephone: (+381) 11 2078 465

Research area

Antioxidants and pro-oxidants (ROS) and redox regulation; Hydroxyl radical; Biochemical mechanisms of abiotic stress response in plants (PAR, UV-B radiation and drought); Primary and secondary metabolites; LEA proteins.

Skills

HPLC (determination of primary and secondary metabolites), Antioxidant activity, EPR, Biochemistry techniques: Protein Purification, Homogenization, Differential Centrifugation, Protein assays, Ligation and transformation, Enzyme Kinetics and Electrophoresis (native, SDS and IEF).

  • Biography
  • Projects
  • Selected publications

1.Work experience:

  • 2019–present: Research Fellow (Research Assistant Professor), Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade;
  • 2012–2019: Research Assistant, Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade;
  • 2011–2012: Research Trainee, Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade.

2.Education:

  • 2010–2018: PhD in Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade;
  • 2008–2010: MSc in Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade;
  • 1999–2008: Diploma in Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade.

3.Awards and certificates:

  • Scholarship provided by the DAAD foundation programme for Research Internship at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden, Germany (July – September, 2009)

4.Other professional activities

Courses taught:

  • Teaching Assistant at the Faculty of Agriculture (part-time), undergraduate courses.

Editorial and Reviewer’s activity (journals, books, projects):

  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Memberships:

  • UV4Plants International Association
  • Cost Action FA0906 – UV4growth
  • COST Action: CA18210 – Oxygen sensing a novel mean for biology and technology of fruit quality.
  • Serbian Plant Physiology Society
  • Serbian Biochemical Society
  • Serbian Society for Mitochondrial and Free Radical Physiology (SSMFRP)

Current: 

  • 2020–2022: Participant in PROMIS project “LEAPSyn-SCI – Late Embryogenesis Abundant Proteins: Structural Characterisation and Interaction with α-synuclein”, funded by the Science Fund of Republic of Serbia (RS). https://leapsynsci.com/
  • 2020–2022: Participant in Bilateral project with Slovenia: “The usage of silicon fertilisation in order to mitigate the oxidative stress and to improve the resilience of barley subjected to UV and drought”, funded by Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development (MESTD), RS and Slovenian Research Agency.
  • 2019–2021: Participant in Bilateral project with Croatia: “Exploring a regulatory role of TROL protein in electron partitioning in UVB‐induced mechanism of flavonoid and anthocyanins accumulation in Arabidopsis leaf“, funded by MESTD RS and Croatian Science Foundation.
  • 2019–2020: Participant in Bilateral project with Germany: “Barley genotypes with contrasting tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses: Do chloroplast derived redox signals mediate the trade-off strategy“, funded by MESTD RS and DAAD.

Past:

  • 2011–2019: Participant in III43010 “Modulation of antioxidative metabolism in plants for improvement of plant abiotic stress tolerance and identification of new biomarkers for application in remediation and monitoring of degraded biotopes”, funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia.
  • 2011–2014: Participant in “Investigation of the effect of the plant biofilters in the areas of high pollution in the city of Belgrade”, funded by Secretariat for Environmental protection, City of Belgrade, Serbia
  • 2011–2014: Participant in “The application of bio-indicators of oxidative stress in plants”, funded by Secretariat for Environmental protection, City of Belgrade, Serbia.
  1. Živanović B, Milić Komić S, Tosti T, Vidović M, Prokić Lj, Veljović Jovanović S (2020) Leaf Soluble Sugars and Free Amino Acids as Important Components of Abscisic Acid—Mediated Drought Response in Tomato. Plants 9, no. 9: 1147. DOI: 10.3390/plants9091147
  2. Živanović B, Vidović M, Milić Komić S, Jovanović Lj, Kolarž P, Morina F, Veljović Jovanović S (2017) Contents of phenolics and carotenoids in tomato grown under polytunnels with different UV-transmission rates. Turk. J. Agric. For. 41, 113−20. DOI: 10.3906/tar-1612-56.
  3. Milić Komić S, Bogdanović Pristov J, Popović-Bijelić A, Zakrzewska J, Stanić M, Kalauzi A, Spasojević I (2016) Photo-redox reactions of indole and ferric iron in water. Appl Catal B: Environ, 185, 174–180. DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2015.12.018.
  4. Vidović M, Morina F, Milić Komić S, Vuleta A, Zechmann B, Prokić Lj, Veljović Jovanović S (2016) Characterisation of antioxidants in photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic leaf tissues of variegated Pelargonium zonale Plant Biol, 18, 669–680. DOI: 10.1111/plb.12429.
  5. Vidović M, Morina F, Prokić L, Milić-Komić S, Živanović B, Veljović Jovanović S (2016) Antioxidative response in variegated Pelargonium zonale leaves and generation of extracellular H2O2 in (peri)vascular tissue induced by sunlight and paraquat. J. Plant Physiol. 206, 25–39. DOI: 10.1016/j.jplph.2016.07.017
  6. Vidović M, Morina F, Milić S, Albert A, Zechmann B, Tosti T, Winkler JB, Veljović Jovanović S (2015) Carbon allocation from source to sink leaf tissue in relation to flavonoid biosynthesis in variegated Pelargonium zonale under UV-B radiation and high PAR intensity. Plant Physiol. Bioch. 93, 44–55. DOI: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2015.01.008.
  7. Vidović M, Morina F, Milić S, Zechmann B, Albert A, Winkler JB , Veljović Jovanović S (2015) Ultraviolet-B component of sunlight stimulates photosynthesis and flavonoid accumulation in variegated Plectranthus coleoides leaves depending on background light. Plant Cell. Environ. 38, 968–979. DOI: 10.1111/pce.12471.
  8. Milić S, Bogdanović Pristov J, Mutavdžić D, Savić A, Spasić M , Spasojević I (2015) The relationship of physicochemical properties to the antioxidative activity of free amino acids in Fenton system. Environ Sci and Technol, 49, 4245–4254. DOI: 10.1021/es5053396.
  9. Gorjanović S, Pastor F, Vasić R, Novaković M, Simonović M, Milić S , Sužnjević D (2013). Electrochemical versus spectrophotometric assessment of antioxidant activity of hop (Humulus lupulus) products and individual compounds. J. Agr. Food Chem. 61, 9089–9096. DOI: 10.1021/jf401718z.
  10. Milić S, Potkonjak N, Gorjanović S, Veljović-Jovanović S, Pastor F, Sužnjević D (2011). A polarographic study of chlorogenic acid and its interaction with some heavy metal ions. Electroanal. 23, 2935–2940. DOI: 10.1002/elan.201100476.