Sibongile Mafu

Dr. Sibongile Mafu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She holds a PhD from Iowa State University and completed postdoctoral training at the University of California, Davis. Her research explores the biochemical diversity of plant natural products, with a focus on terpene biosynthesis, enzyme characterization, and metabolic engineering.

Research interests center on elucidating biosynthetic pathways of specialized metabolites, investigating enzyme diversity and evolution, and developing biotechnological applications for plant-derived compounds. Her work utilizes plant cell culture libraries to study metabolic diversity across species.

Her publication record demonstrates strong focus on diterpene biochemistry in both plants and fungi, with applications in agriculture and pharmaceuticals. Research employs techniques including protein engineering, heterologous expression, and metabolic profiling.

Laboratory research investigates:

• Functional characterization of biosynthetic genes
• Enzyme evolutionary mechanisms
• Metabolic engineering strategies