World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Chemistry

D-Index
94
Citations
33966
World Ranking
1696
National Ranking
642

Biology and Biochemistry

D-Index
94
Citations
33826
World Ranking
2000
National Ranking
1089

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2014 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 2011 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 2001 - Fellow of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Overview

Wilfred A. van der Donk is affiliated with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the United States. Their research spans the fields of Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, with significant contributions to Medicine. Within these domains, their work particularly focuses on the subfields of Molecular Biology, Pharmacology, and Organic Chemistry, alongside engagements in Oncology and Food Science.

The scientist's main research topics include:

  • Microbial Natural Products and Biosynthesis
  • RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
  • Chemical Synthesis and Analysis
  • Carbohydrate Chemistry and Synthesis
  • Peptidase Inhibition and Analysis
  • Biochemical and Structural Characterization
  • Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies

They have published extensively in various scientific venues. The most frequent publication outlets are:

  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • Journal of the American Chemical Society
  • ACS Chemical Biology
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Chemical Science

Frequent coauthors collaborating with Wilfred A. van der Donk include:

  • Lingyang Zhu
  • Douglas A. Mitchell
  • Youran Luo
  • Raymond Sarksian
  • Satish K. Nair

Selected recent papers demonstrate the focus and scope of their work:

  • "New developments in RiPP discovery, enzymology and engineering", 2020, Natural Product Reports
  • "Precursor peptide-targeted mining of more than one hundred thousand genomes expands the lanthipeptide natural product family", 2020, BMC Genomics
  • "Mechanism of Action of Ribosomally Synthesized and Post-Translationally Modified Peptides", 2022, Chemical Reviews
  • "A scalable platform to discover antimicrobials of ribosomal origin", 2022, Nature Communications
  • "Engineering of new-to-nature ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide natural products", 2021, Current Opinion in Biotechnology

Throughout their academic career, Wilfred A. van der Donk has received several recognitions, including:

  • Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2014
  • Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2011
  • Fellow of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, 2001

Best Publications

  • Ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide natural products: Overview and recommendations for a universal nomenclature

    Paul G. Arnison;Mervyn J. Bibb;Gabriele Bierbaum;Albert Alexander Bowers

  • Protein Radicals in Enzyme Catalysis.

    Jo Anne Stubbe;Wilfred Adrianus van der Donk

  • Biosynthesis and mode of action of lantibiotics.

    Champak Chatterjee;Moushumi Paul;Lili Xie;Wilfred A. van der Donk

  • Minimum Information about a Biosynthetic Gene cluster.

    Marnix H. Medema;Marnix H. Medema;Renzo Kottmann;Pelin Yilmaz;Matthew Cummings

  • Lantibiotics: Peptides of Diverse Structure and Function

    Joanne M. Willey;Wilfred A. van der Donk;Wilfred A. van der Donk

  • Bacteriophage targeting of gut bacterium attenuates alcoholic liver disease

    Yi Duan;Yi Duan;Cristina Llorente;Cristina Llorente;Sonja Lang;Katharina Brandl

  • New developments in RiPP discovery, enzymology and engineering

    Manuel Montalbán-López;Thomas A Scott;Sangeetha Ramesh;Imran R Rahman

  • Follow the leader: The use of leader peptides to guide natural product biosynthesis

    Trent J Oman;Wilfred A van der Donk

  • Mechanistic Understanding of Lanthipeptide Biosynthetic Enzymes

    Lindsay M. Repka;Jonathan R. Chekan;Satish K. Nair;Wilfred A. van der Donk

  • Recent developments in pyridine nucleotide regeneration.

    Wilfred A van der Donk;Huimin Zhao

  • Regeneration of cofactors for use in biocatalysis

    Huimin Zhao;Wilfred Adrianus van der Donk

  • Discovery, Biosynthesis, and Engineering of Lantipeptides

    Patrick J. Knerr;Wilfred A. van der Donk;Wilfred A. van der Donk

  • Biosynthesis of Phosphonic and Phosphinic Acid Natural Products

    William W. Metcalf;Wilfred A. van der Donk;Wilfred A. van der Donk

  • Reactions of catecholborane with Wilkinson's catalyst: implications for transition metal-catalyzed hydroborations of alkenes

    Kevin Burgess;Kevin Burgess;Kevin Burgess;Wilfred Adrianus van der Donk;Wilfred Adrianus van der Donk;Wilfred Adrianus van der Donk;Stephen A. Westcott;Stephen A. Westcott;Stephen A. Westcott;Todd B. Marder;Todd B. Marder;Todd B. Marder

  • Structure and mechanism of the lantibiotic cyclase involved in nisin biosynthesis.

    Bo Li;John Paul J. Yu;Joseph S. Brunzelle;Gert N. Moll

  • Synthesis of Methylphosphonic Acid by Marine Microbes: A Source for Methane in the Aerobic Ocean

    William W Metcalf;Benjamin M. Griffin;Robert M. Cicchillo;Jiangtao Gao

  • Structure and mechanism of the tRNA-dependent lantibiotic dehydratase NisB

    Manuel A. Ortega;Yue Hao;Qi Zhang;Mark C. Walker

  • Lacticin 481: in vitro reconstitution of lantibiotic synthetase activity.

    Lili Xie;Leah M. Miller;Champak Chatterjee;Olga Averin

  • Catalytic promiscuity in the biosynthesis of cyclic peptide secondary metabolites in planktonic marine cyanobacteria.

    Bo Li;Daniel Sher;Libusha Kelly;Yanxiang Shi

  • Discovery and in vitro biosynthesis of haloduracin, a two-component lantibiotic

    Amanda L. McClerren;Lisa E. Cooper;Chao Quan;Paul P. Thomas

Frequent Co-Authors

Satish K. Nair
Satish K. Nair University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
William W. Metcalf
William W. Metcalf University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Huimin Zhao
Huimin Zhao University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Douglas A. Mitchell
Douglas A. Mitchell University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Kevin Burgess
Kevin Burgess Texas A&M University
Neil L. Kelleher
Neil L. Kelleher Northwestern University
Ah-Lim Tsai
Ah-Lim Tsai The University of Texas at Austin
Yi Lu
Yi Lu University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Gang Wu
Gang Wu Washington University in St. Louis

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