Core Members

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  DOI
  0000-0003-0578-0299

  Pedro Soares-Castro

  Postdoctorate Junior Researcher

  I am a Postdoctorate Junior Researcher of the Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, at the Department of Biology of the University of Minho, with a Ph.D in Molecular Biotechnology since 2017.

  From early on, I have focused my scientific career on an Omics-driven research, towards the development of biotechnological tools based on bacteria (e.g. cell-factories, biocatalysts, biosensors), namely Pseudomonas spp.

  My Ph.D thesis aimed at the optimization of a Pseudomonas sp. (M1 strain) as biocatalyst of β-myrcene and related plant-derived volatiles, by using synthetic biology approaches, under supervision of Dr. Pedro Santos and Prof. Victor de Lorenzo (CNB-CSIC, Madrid). In this scope, I have acquired experience in high-throughput functional genomics techniques (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics pipelines), molecular/synthetic biology tools and analytical approaches towards the holistic characterization of microbial cells and communities.

  Currently, I am a team member of the funded project VALEU (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030488), which aims to explore and tune the genetic repertoire of Pseudomonas sp. M1 strain into Pseudomonas-based biocatalysts, for the valorization of monoterpenes from eucalyptus foliage raw extracts and production of fine-chemicals with great biotechnological potential.

  My research interests also include the study of the mechanisms underlying bacterial gene regulation, adaptation and evolution in hydrocarbon-rich environments, as well as the study of microbiomes as tools for biomonitoring ecosystem’s health.

  I have engaged as team member in several other FCT projects:

  1. - the Portuguese Roadmap of Research Infrastructures – Genome Portugal (ROTEIRO/0044/2013);
  2. - WRANA (Inn-INDIGO/0004/2014) , which aimed at the metagenomics-based monitoring of the microbial communities from wastewater treatment plants in India, to tackle the factors that underpin the efficiency of the water treatment and impair wastewater reuse;
  3. - CETSENTI (RECI/AAG-GLO/0470/2012), involving the analysis of cetaceans microbiomes with metagenomics approaches to monitor the health status of marine ecosystems;
  4. - Immunomics-Bcc (PTDC/BBB-BIO/1958/2012), aiming the exploitation of immunogenic proteins of the Burkholderia cepacia complex to design new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies;
  5. - BIOMYR (PTDC/EBB-BIO/104980/2008), which aimed at the characterization of the genomic and enzymatic repertoire of Pseudomonas sp. M1 strain by functional genomics and structural biochemistry approaches.

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  Projects

  • CetSenti - Cetaceans as marine ecosystem health sentinels
  • Evolution of biotechnologically-relevant genomic islands
  • Exploitation of immunogenic proteins of the Burkholderia cepacia complex to design new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies
  • GenomePT – National Laboratory for Genome Sequencing and Analysis
  • VALEU. Towards the valorization of eucalyptus waste using Pseudomonas-based biocatalysts
  • WRANA - Wastewater reuse: improving the odds by understanding natural attenuation

  Publications

  • Alves AL, Gonçalves F, Mesquita CS, Soares-Castro P, Ferreira M, Marçalo A, Vingada J, Eira C, Godoy-Vitorino F,  Cabrera B, Rodriguez A, Fabre J and Santos PM (2015). Microbiome characterization of a striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) of the coast of Portugal.

  • Castro PM and Santos PM (2010). Exploring the biotechnological potential of Pseudomonas sp. M1 using high-throughput sequencing technology.

  • Godoy-Vitorino F, Cabrera B, Rodriguez A, Fabre J, Alves AL, Gonçalves F, Mesquita CS, Soares-Castro P, Ferreira M, Marçalo A, Vingada J, Eira C and Santos PM (2015) A high-throughput look at the microbiome of a striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) of the coast of Portugal.

  • Godoy-Vitorino F, Rodriguez-Hilario A, Alves AL, Gonçalves F, Cabrera-Colon B, Mesquita CS, Soares-Castro P, Ferreira M, Marçalo A, Vingada J, Eira C and Santos PM (2017) The microbiome of a striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) stranded in Portugal. Res Microbiol, 168: 85-93. doi: 10.1016/j.resmic.2016.08.004.

  • Gonçalves F, Soares-Castro P, Afonso D, Reis F, Lino-Neto T and Santos PM (2015). Metagenomics-guided bioprospection of monoterpene biocatalysts in the rhyzosphere of coark oak trees.

  • Mesquita CS, Soares-Castro P and Santos PM (2013). Pseudomonas aeruginosa: phenotypic flexibility and antimicrobial resistance In Mendez-Vilas A, eds. Microbial pathogens and strategies for combating them: science, technology and education (Vol. 1, pp. 650-665). Formatex Research Center. doi: 10.13140/2.1.3099.2167.

  • Mesquita CS, Soares-Castro P, Faustino A, Fialho A, Winstanley C and Santos PM (2013). Phenotypic characterization and comparative genomics of two Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates.

  • Mesquita CS, Soares-Castro P, Faustino A, Ribeiro A, Gomes AC, Santos HM, Capelo JL and Santos PM (2019). Identification of genomic loci impacting the pathogenic potential of Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates from pneumonia.

  • Mesquita CS, Soares-Castro P, Faustino A, Santos HM, Capelo JL and Santos PM (2019). Identification of genomic loci associated with genotypic and phenotypic variation among Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates from pneumonia. Microb Pathog, 136: 103702. doi: 10.1016/j.micpath.2019.103702.

  • Panta-Ferreira B, Soares-Castro P, Eira C, Vingada J and Santos PM (2019). Storage time of freshwater sample may impact bacterial community profilling using 16S-based metabarcoding.

  • Reis F, Soares-Castro P, Costa D, Tavares RM, Baptista P, Santos PM and Lino-Neto T (2019). Climatic impacts on the bacterial community profiles of cork oak soils. Applied soil ecology, 143: 89-97. doi: 10.1016/j.apsoil.2019.05.031.

  • Soares F, Soares-Castro P and Santos PM (2019). Genomic-guided evaluation of long-term adaptation of Pseudomonas sp. M1 in the presence of terpenes.

  • Soares-Castro P and Santos PM (2011). Towards the metabolic engineering of myrcene pathway of Pseudomonas sp. M1 using an integrated omic approach.

  • Soares-Castro P and Santos PM (2013). Towards the description of the genome catalogue of Pseudomonas sp. strain M1. Genome Announc, 1:pii:e00146-12. doi: 10.1128/genomeA.00146-12.

  • Soares-Castro P and Santos PM (2014). Deciphering the genome repertoire of Pseudomonas sp. M1 toward ß-myrcene biotransformation. Genome Biol Evol, 7:1-17. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evu254.

  • Soares-Castro P and Santos PM (2015). Pseudomonas-based chassis towards à la carte biotransformation of plant-derived volatiles.

  • Soares-Castro P, Araújo-Rodrigues H, Godoy-Vitorino F, Ferreira M, Covelo P, López A, Vingada J, Eira C and Santos PM (2019). Health status-associated microbiota fingerprints within the oral cavity of cetaceans. doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2019.08.00056.

  • Soares-Castro P, Araújo-Rodrigues H, Godoy-Vitorino F, Ferreira M, Covelo P, López A, Vingada J, Eira C and Santos PM (2019). Microbiota fingerprints within the oral cavity of cetaceans as indicators for population biomonitoring. Sci Rep, 9:1-15. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-50139-7.

  • Soares-Castro P, Marques D, Demyanchuk S, Faustino A and Santos PM (2011). Draft genome sequences of two Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates with different antibiotic susceptibilities. J Bacteriol, 193:5573 (cover issue of The Journal of Bacteriology vol19). doi: 10.1128/JB.05446-11.

  • Soares-Castro P, Montenegro-Silva P, Heipieper HJ and Santos PM (2017). Functional characterization of a 28-kb catabolic island from Pseudomonas sp. M1 involved in biotransformation of β-myrcene and related plant-derived volatiles. Appl Environ Microbiol, 83: e03112-16. doi: 10.1128/AEM.03112-16.

  • Soares-Castro P, Soares F, Reis F, Lino-Neto T and Santos PM (2019). Bioprospection for novel functional modules towards plant monoterpene valorization.

  • Soares-Castro P, Yadav TC, Viggor S, Kivisaar M, Kapley A and Santos PM (2019). Seasonal bacterial community dynamics in a crude oil refinery wastewater treatment plant. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 103: 9131-9141. doi: 10.1007/s00253-019-10130-8.

  • Soares-Castro P, Soares F and Santos PM (2021). Current advances in the bacterial toolbox for the biotechnological production of monoterpene-based aroma compounds. Molecules, 26(1): 91. doi: 10.3390/molecules26010091.

  • Sousa SA, Soares-Castro P, Feliciano JR, Ramos CG, Santos PM, Leitão JH (2013). Unveiling the Burkholderia cenocepacia J2315 RNA chaperone Hfq2 interactome. doi: 10.1016/S1569-1993(13)60255-6.

  • Sousa SA, Soares-Castro P, Seixas AM, Feliciano JR, Balugas B, Barreto C, Pereira L, Santos PM and Leitão JH (2020). New insights into the immunoproteome of B. cenocepacia J2315 using serum samples from cystic fibrosis patients. N Biotechnol, 54: 62-70. doi: 10.1016/j.nbt.2019.08.006.

  • Viggor S, Jõesaar M, Soares-Castro P, Ilmjärv T, Santos PM, Kapley A and Kivisaar M (2020). Microbial metabolic potential of phenol degradation in wastewater treatment plant of crude oil refinery: analysis of metagenomes and characterization of isolates. Microorganisms, 8: 652. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms8050652.