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An accomplished researcher with a PhD in Molecular Plant Biology from the University of Turku, I have a strong foundation in photosynthesis research, specializing in both plant and sea slug biology. My academic journey began with a bachelor’s in physiology and genetics, followed by extensive hands-on experience as a research assistant and instrument technician. I developed expertise in biophysical tools such as chlorophyll fluorescence, P700 oxidation, and oxygen measurement techniques, applied across studies on plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. My PhD research, supported by multiple grants, focused on photoprotection mechanisms in photosynthetic sea slugs and resulted in several first-author publications that contributed new insights into chloroplast functionality under high light stress. Since 2022, I have worked as a postdoctoral researcher with Dr. Sónia Cruz, exploring how kleptoplasts in sea slugs remain functional without algal nuclear support. This multidisciplinary background, combined with a diverse portfolio of publications, underscores my dedication to advancing photosynthesis research across different organisms.
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Identification

Personal identification

Full name
Vesa Tapio Havurinne
Date of birth
1986/09/08

Citation names

  • Havurinne, Vesa

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
3713-AF9E-E0AB
ORCID iD
0000-0001-5213-0905

Addresses

  • DEPARTAMENTO DE BIOLOGIA, UNIVERSIDADE DE AVEIRO. Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal (Professional)

Websites

  • https://mplab-kleptoslug.com/vesa-havurinne/ (Professional)

Knowledge fields

  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Biophysics
  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Plant sciences
  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Molecular Biology

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
Finnish (Mother tongue)
English Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2)
Education
Degree Classification
2015/06/01 - 2022/03/31
Concluded
 Molecular plant biology (Postgraduate Certificate)
Turun yliopisto Biokemian laitos, Finland
" Photoprotection and Genetic Autonomy of Plastids in Photosynthetic Sea Slugs" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
2015/04/30
Concluded
 Molecular plant biology and bioenergetics (Maisteri)
Major in Molecular plant biology
Turun yliopisto Biokemian laitos, Finland
"Photoinhibition in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
2014/01/31
Concluded
 Biology (Bachelor)
Major in Physiology and genetics
Turun yliopisto Biologian laitos, Finland
"Kleptoplastic sea slug Elysia chlorotica" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2022/08/01 - Current Postdoc (Research) Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal
Universidade de Aveiro Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar, Portugal
2015/06/18 - 2022/03/31 Research Trainee (Research) Turun yliopisto, Finland
Turun yliopisto Biokemian laitos, Finland
2011/05/01 - 2014/12/31 Research Assistant (Research) Turun yliopisto Biokemian laitos, Finland
Projects

Grant

Designation Funders
2016/06/01 - 2022/03/31 Factors underpinning the longevity of chloroplasts in photosynthetic sea slugs
N/A
PhD Student Fellow
Turun yliopisto Biokemian laitos, Finland
 Turun yliopisto

Suomen Kulttuurirahasto

Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia

Turun Yliopistosäätiö

Koneen Säätiö
Concluded
2015/06/18 - 2016/05/31 Elucidating the mechanisms of dynamic photoinhibition
00150207
PhD Student Fellow
Turun yliopisto Biokemian laitos, Finland
 Suomen Kulttuurirahasto
Concluded

Contract

Designation Funders
2022/08/01 - Current KleptoSlug - Kleptoplasty: The sea slug that got away with stolen chloroplasts
ERC-2020-STG/949880
Post-doc
Universidade de Aveiro Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar, Portugal
 European Research Council
Ongoing
Outputs

Publications

Journal article
  1. Luca Morelli; Vesa Havurinne; Diana Madeira; Patrícia Martins; Paulo Cartaxana; Sónia Cruz. "Photoprotective mechanisms in Elysia species hosting Acetabularia chloroplasts shed light on host-donor compatibility in photosynthetic sea slugs". Physiologia Plantarum (2024): http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ppl.14273.
    10.1111/ppl.14273
  2. Cartaxana, P.; Luca Morelli; Elena Cassin; Vesa Havurinne; Miguel Cabral; Sonia Cruz. "Prey species and abundance affect growth and photosynthetic performance of the polyphagous sea slugElysia crispata". Royal Society Open Science (2023): http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230810.
    10.1098/rsos.230810
  3. MATTILA, H.; HAVURINNE, V.; ANTAL, T.; TYYSTJÄRVI, E.. "Evaluation of visible-light wavelengths that reduce or oxidize the plastoquinone pool in green algae with the activated F0 rise method". Photosynthetica 60 4 (2022): 529-538. http://dx.doi.org/10.32615/ps.2022.049.
    10.32615/ps.2022.049
  4. MATTILA, H.; VALEV, D.; MISHRA, K.B.; HAVURINNE, V.; VIRTANEN, O.; ANTINLUOMA, M.; TYYSTJÄRVI, E.. "Differences in susceptibility to photoinhibition do not determine growth rate under moderate light in batch or turbidostat - a study with five green algae". Photosynthetica 60 SPECIAL IS (2022): 10-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.32615/ps.2021.054.
    10.32615/ps.2021.054
  5. Vesa Havurinne; Riina Aitokari; Heta Mattila; Ville Käpylä; Esa Tyystjärvi. "Ultraviolet screening by slug tissue and tight packing of plastids protect photosynthetic sea slugs from photoinhibition". Photosynthesis Research 152 3 (2021): 373-387. https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs11120-021-00883-7.
    10.1007/s11120-021-00883-7
  6. Vesa Havurinne; Maria Handrich; Mikko Antinluoma; Sergey Khorobrykh; Sven B Gould; Esa Tyystjärvi; Nick Smirnoff. "Genetic autonomy and low singlet oxygen yield support kleptoplast functionality in photosynthetic sea slugs". Journal of Experimental Botany 72 15 (2021): 5553-5568. https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fjxb%2Ferab216.
    10.1093/jxb/erab216
  7. Vesa Havurinne; Esa Tyystjärvi. "Photosynthetic sea slugs induce protective changes to the light reactions of the chloroplasts they steal from algae". eLife 9 (2020): https://doi.org/10.7554%2Felife.57389.
    10.7554/elife.57389
  8. Mattila H; Khorobrykh S; Hakala-Yatkin M; Havurinne V; Kuusisto I; Antal T; Tyystjärvi T; Tyystjärvi E. "Action spectrum of the redox state of the plastoquinone pool defines its function in plant acclimation.". The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology (2020): http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/32889743.
    10.1111/tpj.14983
  9. Sergey Khorobrykh; Vesa Havurinne; Heta Mattila; Esa Tyystjärvi. "Oxygen and ROS in Photosynthesis". Plants 9 1 (2020): 91-91. https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fplants9010091.
    10.3390/plants9010091
  10. Havurinne, V.; Mattila, H.; Antinluoma, M.; Tyystjärvi, E.. "Unresolved quenching mechanisms of chlorophyll fluorescence may invalidate MT saturating pulse analyses of photosynthetic electron transfer in microalgae". Physiologia Plantarum 166 1 (2019): 365-379. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85054195313&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1111/ppl.12829
  11. Antonacci, A.; Lambreva, M.D.; Margonelli, A.; Sobolev, A.P.; Pastorelli, S.; Bertalan, I.; Johanningmeier, U.; et al. "Photosystem-II D1 protein mutants of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in relation to metabolic rewiring and remodelling of H-bond network at QB site". Scientific Reports 8 1 (2018): http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85054294312&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1038/s41598-018-33146-y
  12. Mattila, H.; Valev, D.; Havurinne, V.; Khorobrykh, S.; Virtanen, O.; Antinluoma, M.; Mishra, K.B.; Tyystjärvi, E.. "Degradation of chlorophyll and synthesis of flavonols during autumn senescence-the story told by individual leaves". AoB PLANTS 10 3 (2018): http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85055542117&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1093/aobpla/ply028
  13. Havurinne, V.; Tyystjärvi, E.. "Action spectrum of photoinhibition in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum". Plant and Cell Physiology 58 12 (2017): 2217-2225. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85044339182&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1093/pcp/pcx156
  14. Soitamo, A.; Havurinne, V.; Tyystjärvi, E.. "Photoinhibition in marine picocyanobacteria". Physiologia Plantarum 161 1 (2017): 97-108. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85019954111&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1111/ppl.12571
  15. Mattila, H.; Khorobrykh, S.; Havurinne, V.; Tyystjärvi, E.. "Reactive oxygen species: Reactions and detection from photosynthetic tissues". Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology 152 (2015): 176-214. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84947750909&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2015.10.001
Thesis / Dissertation
  1. "Photoprotection and genetic autonomy of plastids in photosynthetic sea slugs". PhD, Turun yliopisto, 2022. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-29-8798-6.
Activities

Oral presentation

Presentation title Event name
Host (Event location)
2024/08/05 Chloroplast sphericity as means to long-term photosynthesis in solar-powered sea slugs 90th annual meeting of the American Malacological Society
(Los Angeles, United States)
2024/06/24 State transitions in ulvophytes: loss through evolution and theft 2nd European Congress for Photosynthesis Research & ePS Young
(Padova, Italy)
2023/07/04 Photoinhibition Atlas of photosynthetic sea slugs New Phytologist Next Generation Scientists
(Singapore, Singapore)
2023/06/20 Photoinhibition Atlas of photosynthetic sea slugs Nordic Photosynthesis Congress and Nordic Algae Symposium
(Umeå, Sweden)
2019/05/22 Photosynthetic sea slugs: insights from P700 oxidation kinetics in Elysia timida The 14th Nordic Photosynthesis Congress (NPC-14)
(Turku, Finland)
2018/06/24 Intrinsic traits of the chloroplasts of photosynthetic sea slugs 1st European Congress on Photosynthesis Research (ePS-1) and ePS-1 Young
(Uppsala, Sweden)
2017/10/18 Presentation about photosynthetic sea slugs and the life of a researcher to high school students in Parainen, Finland
(Parainen, Finland)
2017/08/23 Photosynthetic sea slugs Erasmus summer school “Deep history of everything”
(Piikkiö, Finland)
2017/08/16 Intrinsic traits of the chloroplasts of photosynthetic sea slugs Nordic Plant Biology days 2017, 27th SPPS congress
(Naantali, Finland)
2015/04/24 Action spectrum of photoinhibition in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum Aquafeed workshop - Metabolic Innovations and Novel Materials for Biofuels
(Uppsala, Sweden)

Supervision

Thesis Title
Role 		Degree Subject (Type)
Institution / Organization
2024/02/12 - 2024/05/24 Quantifying ROS formation from photosynthesis in E. timida and E. crispata by optimizing DCF staining
Co-supervisor
 Bachelor's thesis project (Degree)
Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal

Thomas More, Belgium
2023/10/01 - 2023/10/31 The study of phosphate importation into the kleptoplasts of Sacoglossan sea slugs and its importance to photosynthesis
Supervisor
Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal

Universidade do Algarve, Portugal
2023/03/01 - 2023/07/31 State transitions in photosynthetic sea slugs and their prey algae
Supervisor
Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal

Nantes Université, France
2020/06/01 - 2021/08/31 Action spectrum of photoinhibition in the sea slug Elysia timida and its prey alga
Supervisor
Turun yliopisto, Finland
2019/08/01 - 2019/09/09 Light response of photoinhibition in the sea slug Elysia timida and its prey alga
Supervisor
Turun yliopisto, Finland
2018/01/01 - 2018/09/21 Light-induced oxidative damage in yellow-green algae Vaucheria litorea
Co-supervisor
 Molecular plant biology (Master)
Turun yliopisto Biokemian laitos, Finland

Event participation

Activity description
Type of event 		Event name
Institution / Organization
2019/11/06 - 2019/11/08 Poster presentation; title "Fast kinetics of PSI and PSII in the photosynthetic sea slug Elysia timida"
Conference
 Plants in a Changing World – Integration of Photosynthesis, Adaptation and Development
2016/08/07 - 2016/08/12 Poster presentation; title "Action spectrum of photoinhibition in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum"
Congress
 17th International Congress on Photosynthesis Research
2016/05/25 - 2016/05/26 Poster presentation; title "Action spectrum of photoinhibition in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum"
Conference
 Kasvitieteen päivät
2015/10/07 - 2015/10/09 Poster presentation; title "Photoinhibition of Photosystem II: From cyanobacteria to photosynthetic sea slugs"
Conference
 Phototech 2015 Towards a photosynthesis-biobased economy

Ad Hoc journal article review

Journal title (ISSN) Publisher
2024/11/25 - 2024/12/09 Physiologia Plantarum (1399-3054) Wiley
2023/12/07 - 2023/12/12 Photosynthesis Research (1573-5079) Springer Nature
2023/08/24 - 2023/09/19 Journal of the Royal Society Interface (1742-5662) The Royal Society
2021/12/20 - 2022/03/28 Journal of Experimental Botany (1460-2431) Oxford University Press
2020/10/23 - 2020/11/20 Plants (2223-7747) MDPI
2020/02/18 - 2020/05/18 Plants (2223-7747) MDPI

Course / Discipline taught

Academic session Degree Subject (Type) Institution / Organization
2018/03/01 - 2018/05/31 Biophysics of photosynthesis course. Preparing and teaching the practical work on flash O2 evolution and EPR Biophysics of photosynthesis (Master) Turun yliopisto Biokemian laitos, Finland
2016/01/01 - 2016/12/31 Plant biotechnology course. Preparing and teaching the practical lab work on biolistic transformation (Bachelor) Turun yliopisto Biokemian laitos, Finland

Interview (newspaper / magazine)

Activity description Newspaper / Forum
2022/03/11 Viherhiukkasia varastava merietana yhteyttää kuin kasvi - lajien tutkimus voi vastata jopa elämän kehityksen suuriin kysymyksiin YLE (Finnish Broadcasting Company)

Interview (tv / radio show)

Program Topic
2020/12/01 - 2020/12/01 eLife podcast The secrets of photosynthetic sea slugs

Other jury / evaluation

Activity description Institution / Organization
2024/06/20 - 2024/06/20 A member of the evaluation committee for a students (Lucas Vaes) bachelor's thesis. Thomas More, Belgium
Distinctions

Award

2023 Best oral presentation in Nordic Photosynthesis Congress and Nordic Algae Symposium
2017 Best poster award in Plant Biology Scandinavia 2017 - 27th SPPS Congress
2016 Best poster award in Kasvitieteen päivät conference