Basil Nikolau

Dr. Basil Nikolau is the Frances M. Craig Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry at Iowa State University (ISU), affiliated with the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on plant lipid metabolism, biotin enzyme biochemistry, and metabolomics. He leads the Center for Metabolic Biology and directs the W.M. Keck Metabolomic Research Laboratory, fostering interdisciplinary collaborations across multiple departments and institutes.

Education: B.S. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Massey University (New Zealand, 1977–1982), followed by postdoctoral fellowships at UC Davis (1982–1983) and the University of Utah (1983–1985). He has been at ISU since 1988, contributing to initiatives like the NSF-funded Engineering Research Center for Biorenewable Chemicals (CBiRC) and NIH-funded Center for Research on Botanical Dietary Supplements.

Research Interests: Biotin enzyme structure/function, cuticular wax biosynthesis, acetyl-CoA metabolic networks, and advancing metabolomics technologies. His work integrates omics data to uncover novel metabolic pathways and biocatalysts, with applications in bioengineering and sustainable bioproducts.

Labs: Research is conducted in the Molecular Biology Building and the 4th floor of the Biorenewables Research Laboratory (BRL 4th). Collaborations include projects on plant metabolite flux, enzyme engineering, and metabolic modeling of Arabidopsis root systems.