The research mainly focuses on:

• Halophilic (Halomonas smyrnensis AAD6^T) and thermophilic (Brevibacillus thermoruber) microorganisms to optimize production of industrially and medically important exopolysaccharides and enzymes via systems biology approaches.
• Chromohalobacter salexigens as a model organism for halophilic bacteria.
• Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Baker’s yeast) as a model organism for eukaryotic cells.

Current research is financially supported by:

• TUBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) through projects MAG-110M613 and MAG-111M232; 
• Marmara University Research Fund through projects FEN-A-130511-0163, FEN-C-YLP-060911-0280, FEN-C-YLP-090113-0010, FEN-C-YLP-101013-0403, and FEN-C-YLP-101013-0404.

Research Topics are:

• Purification, characterization and recombinant production of levansucrase enzyme by Halomonas smyrnensis AAD6^T
• Investigation of the fructose uptake system in Halomonas smyrnensis AAD6^T to design strategies for enhanced levan biosynthesis
• Investigation of quorum sensing mechanisms of halophilic prokaryotes
• Comparative genomics of halophilic bacteria
• Brevibacillus thermoruber as a microbial cell factory for exopolysaccharide production (in collaboration with Bulgaria Academy of Sciences)
• Reconstruction and analysis of comprehensive protein-protein and signal transduction networks in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and human
• Development of novel network metrics for topological analysis of complex biological networks
• Investigation of the structure of levan polysaccharide chains via molecular dynamics simulations (in collaboration with Yeditepe University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)

Completed researchs are:

• Whole genome sequencing and genome annotation of levan producing Halomonas smyrnensis AAD6^T (in collaboration with Istanbul University DETAE)
• Bioinformatics based metabolic network reconstruction of levan producing Halomonas smyrnensis AAD6^T
• Genome-scale reconstruction and analysis of metabolic network for halophilic extremophile, Chromohalobacter salexigens DSM 3043
• System-based network approach to develop hypotheses for ethanol tolerant yeast strains (in collaboration with Boğaziçi University Department of Chemical Engineering)