Sónia Martins
PhD student
Contact:
Centre for Systems Biology
School of Biosciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham B15 2TT
UK
Tel: 0044 121 41 48850
Fax: 0044 121 41 48844
E-Mail: scm808 [AT] bham [DOT] ac [DOT] uk
About me
I joined Jan's group on October 2008. I come from Portugal and I'm a Biochemist by training. However, I’ve been interested in microbiology since my undergraduate studies and especially fascinated with the metabolic diversity and versatility found in the prokaryotes, which allows them to survive and colonize very different ecological niches. In particular, I’ve been interested on the possibilities of introducing new metabolic functions in well adapted microorganisms for bioremediation purposes. Having the opportunity to study various aspects of microbial ecology and evolution during the last year has been a fulfilling experience that I intend to exploit in the years to come as part of my research interests.
When I'm not doing science, I'm most likely travelling or enjoying the company of my friends and family.
Research
My research focus on horizontal gene transfer, which is a major mechanism of bacterial evolution that facilitates rapid adaptation to environmental changes. For more details about my research, see the page on plasmid dynamics.
Sponsors
My research is supported by a doctoral degree grant awarded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), and Academia Siemens and Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC).
Publications
England P, Wehenkel A, Martins S, Hoos S, André-Leroux G, Villarino A, Alzari PM. (2009) "The FHA-containing protein GarA acts as a phosphorylation-dependent molecular switch in mycobacterial signaling." FEBS Letters, 583:301-7.
Pessoa J, Sarkany Z, Silva FF, Martins S, Almeida MR, Li J, Damas AM (2010) "Functional characterization of Arabidopsis thaliana transthyretin-like protein" BMC Plant Biology 10:30.
Brief CV
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October 2008 - now: Kreft Group
I have joined the Kreft group at the University of Birmingham as a PhD student studying plasmid dynamics.
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September 2007 - September 2008: PhD program in Computational Biology, IGC, Oeiras, Portugal
I was selected to undertake the PhD Program in Computational Biology which is a four-year program divided into one year of full-time courses and three years of doctoral research financed by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT). The first year consists of workshops and projects on the main aspects of computational biology from a biological, computational, mathematical, chemical and physical point of view brought to us by a diverse group of outstanding national and international researchers. Main areas of study and program syllabus can be found here
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September 2006 - August 2007: Scholarship, IBMC, Porto, Portugal
During this period I worked on the structural characterization of amyloid proteins in the unity of molecular structure at IBMC, specifically a transthyretin-like protein from A. thaliana.
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March - August 2006: Trainee period, Pasteur Institute, Paris, France
As an ERASMUS student I spent six months at the platform of biophysics of macromolecules and their interactions in the Unity of Structural Biochemistry at the Pasteur Institute in Paris working on the structural and physico-chemical characterization of an FHA-domain containing protein form M. tuberculosis, under the supervision of Dr Patrick England. I had the opportunity to learn several biophysical techniques like microcalorimetry, SPR, CD, analytical ultracentrifugation, DLS and crystallography. I also used fundamental molecular biology techniques to clone and ultimately produce the protein of interest.
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2001 -2006: Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Diploma in Biochemistry by the Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto.