Raquel Castelo Branco (9D18-D7EA-AEA0)

Curriculum Vitae

Raquel Castelo Branco

Raquel Castelo Branco is a Postdoctoral Researcher on the ERC-funded GREASEDLIGHTNING project at CIIMAR, University of Porto, where she focuses on enzymatic chemistry and the discovery of novel natural products from cyanobacteria. She completed her PhD in Marine Biotechnology and Aquaculture in 2024, a joint program between the University of Porto and the University of Minho. Her doctoral research, titled “CyanoRiPPs: Genome-guided discovery of new peptides in Cyanobacteria,” was supervised by Prof. Dr. Vitor Vasconcelos (CIIMAR, University of Porto) and co-supervised by Dr. Pedro Leão (CIIMAR, University of Porto) and Dr. David Fewer (University of Helsinki, Finland). During her PhD, she spent time as a visiting researcher at the University of Helsinki, gaining valuable insights from international specialists in natural products. Her professional experience includes roles as a Research Fellow at CIIMAR on two international projects, PHARMATLANTIC and NoMorFilm, which focused on cyanobacterial biodiversity and the discovery of natural products with biotechnological applications. She was also a Research Technician on the Blue Bioeconomy Pact, where she applied her expertise in algal biomass improvement through bioprospecting and microbiome studies. Raquel’s research strengths lie in molecular genetics, synthetic biology, and biocatalysis—skills that are crucial for advancing cyanobacteria’s biosynthetic potential. She has an impressive record of 26 publications (7 as (co-)first-author) in respected journals such as ACS Synthetic Biology and Journal of Natural Products. Her contributions to the field include 15 poster presentations, 9 oral presentations at national and international conferences, and a patent application on halogenated compounds derived from cyanobacteria. Her interdisciplinary skills—from microbial genetics to biocatalytic pathway engineering—position her as a dynamic researcher in marine biotechnology and natural product discovery fields.

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Identification

Personal identification

Full name: Raquel Castelo Branco

Author identifiers

Ciência ID: 9D18-D7EA-AEA0

Addresses

CIIMAR - Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research of the University of Porto - Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões Avenida General Norton de Matos, S/N, 4450-208 , Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal (Professional)

Websites

https://twitter.com/rql_cbranco (Social media)

Knowledge fields

Engineering and Technology - Industrial Biotechnology - Bioproducts Biomaterials
Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Microbiology
Engineering and Technology - Industrial Biotechnology - Biocatalysis
Engineering and Technology - Industrial Biotechnology

Languages

Language	Speaking	Reading	Writing	Listening	Peer-review
English	Advanced (C1)	Advanced (C1)	Advanced (C1)	Advanced (C1)

Education

	Degree	Classification
2019 - 2024/05/27 Concluded	Biotecnologia Marinha e Aquacultura (Doutoramento) Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal Universidade do Minho, Portugal Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Portugal "CyanoRiPPs: Genome-guided discovery of new peptides in Cyanobacteria " (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
2009/09/01 - 2011/12/12 Concluded	Biotecnologia para as Ciências da Saúde (Mestrado) Major in Molecular genetics Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal "The relevance of HHV-6B in patients with Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy due to Hippocampal Sclerosis: implications in prevention and treatment" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)	18
2005/09/01 - 2009/09/01 Concluded	Genética e Biotecnologia (Licenciatura) Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Escola de Ciências da Vida e do Ambiente, Portugal	14

Affiliation

Science

	Category Host institution	Employer
2024/09 - Current	Postdoc (Research)	Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal

2023 - 2024	Contracted Researcher (Research)	Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal

2020/01 - 2020/03	Visiting Researcher (Research)	University of Helsinki, Finland
	Department of Microbiology, Viikki Biocenter, Viikinkaari 9, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland, Finland

Others

	Category Host institution	Employer
2019 - 2024	PhD Student	Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal
	Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal
2015 - 2018	Research fellow European Project - NoMorFilm - Novel marine molecules against biofilm - Application to medical devices (Grant agreement no: 634588).	Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal
	Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal
2014 - 2014	Researcher International project - Productivity of coastal upwelling Cabo Frio region and its potential in accumulation of organic matter: Geosphere- Biosphere interaction.	Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal
	Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal
2012 - 2014	Research Fellow European project - PHARMATLANTIC - Knowledge Transfer Network for Prevention of Mental Diseases and Cancer in the Atlantic Area (Ref: 2009-1/117).	Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal
	Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal
2012 - 2012	Estágio Voluntário	Laboratório de Patologia Clínica do Pioledo, SA, Portugal

2009 - 2011	Master Student Project - The relevance of HHV-6B in patients with Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy due to Hippocampal Sclerosis: implications in prevention and treatment (Ref: PTDC/ PIC/IC/83297/2007 )	Universidade do Porto Unidade Multidisciplinar de Investigação Biomédica, Portugal
	Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Portugal

Projects

Grant

	Designation	Funders
2019 - 2023	SFRH/BD/136367/2018 SFRH/BD/136367/2018 PhD Student Fellow	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
2015 - 2018	European Project - NoMorFilm - Novel marine molecules against biofilm - Application to medical devices (Grant agreement no: 634588). Funded by Horizon 2020 program 634588 Research Fellow	Concluded
2012 - 2014	PHARMATLANTIC - Knowledge Transfer Network for Prevention of Mental Diseases and Cancer in the Atlantic Area (Ref: 2009-1/117). Funded by INTERREG IV Atlantic Area 2009-1/117 Research Fellow Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal	Concluded

Contract

	Designation	Funders
2024/10 - Current	GREASEDLIGHTNING - Enzymatic chemistry acting on alkyl chains Grant agreement no: 101088806 Post-doc Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal	European Research Council Ongoing
2025/02/01 - 2026/07/31	Descoberta de produtos naturais a partir de conjuntos de genes biossintéticos órfãos de cianobactérias 2023.11884.PEX 10.54499/2023.11884.PEX Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Ongoing
2023/06 - 2024/10	Innovation Pact, Project No. C644915664-00000026, known as the Blue Bioeconomy Pact C644915664-00000026 Researcher Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal	Ongoing
2019/01/01 - 2019/12/31	Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental UID/Multi/04423/2019 Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Concluded

Other

	Designation	Funders
2024 - Current	Biosynthesis of new natural products from Cyanobacteria NA Collaboration with Pavel Hrouzek from Centre Algatech Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Centrum Algatech, Czech Republic	Not funded
2024 - Current	2023.11884.PEX - Discovery of natural products from cyanobacterial orphan biosynthetic gene clusters NA Core CV Team Member Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Ongoing
2023 - Current	Modified Peptide Discovery NA Collaboration with Anna Vagstad from ETH Zurich - Institute of Microbiology	Not funded
2020 - 2024/09	ESTUDO DE UMA NOVA CLASSE DE ENZIMAS BETA-PROPELLER PTDC/BIA-BQM/5760/2020 Team member Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal	Associação para a Inovação e Desenvolvimento da FCT Ongoing
2020 - 2023	ATLANTIDA - Platform for the monitoring of the North Atlantic Ocean and tools for the sustainable exploitation of the marine resources NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000040 Team member Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal	Concluded

Outputs

Publications

Conference abstract	Ferreira, Leonor; Sousa, Maria Ligía; Ribeiro, Tiago; Morais, João; Forero, Abel; Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Leão, Pedro N.; et al. Corresponding author: Reis, Mariana. "Uncovering the Cyanobacterial Chemical Diversity: The Search for Novel Anticancer Compounds". Paper presented in 7th Iberian Congress on Cyanotoxins/3rd Iberoamerican Congress on Cyanotoxins, Ponta Delgada, 2022. Accepted • 10.3390/blsf2022014049 Vasconcelos, Vitor; Martins, Joana; Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Leão, Pedro N.; Ramos, Vitor. "Cyanobacterial diversity in microbial mats from the hypersaline lagoon system of Araruama, Brazil: biotechnological implications". Paper presented in International Symposium “Extreme Ecosystems & Extremophile Organisms” Biodiversity, Physiology, Biochemistry & Biotechnology”., Morelos, 2017. Published
Conference poster	Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Ouyang, X; Fewer, D. P.; Leão, Pedro N.. "Discovery of a new post-translational modification in cyanobactin biosynthesis". Paper presented in Directing Biosynthesis VII, 2024. Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Rego, Adriana; Fewer, D.; Leão, Pedro N.. "Unveiling the Genetic and Chemical Diversity of Cyanobactin Family". Paper presented in 3rd international conference on Microbial Secondary Metabolites in Microbiomes 2024, 2024. Castelo-Branco,R. "Mining the Biosynthetic Potential for Specialized Metabolism of LEGE Culture Collection". Paper presented in Microbiotec'23, 2023. Maria Lígia Sousa; Ferreira, Leonor; Abel Forero; Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Gabriella Spengler; Carlos Jiménez; Jaime Rodriguez; et al. Corresponding author: Reis, Mariana. "Discovery and isolation of new cyanobacterial salicyl capped-thiazol(in)e siderophores". Paper presented in 7th Iberian Congress on Cyanotoxins/3rd Iberoamerican Congress on Cyanotoxins, 2022. Freitas, Sara; Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Wenzel-Storjohann, Arlette; Vasconcelos, Vitor; Leão, Pedro N.; Tasdemir, Deniz. "Discovery of Desmamides A-C, New Lipoglycopeptides from the Endophytic Cyanobacterium Desmonostoc muscorum LEGE 12446". Paper presented in 3rd Synthetic Biology of Natural Products Conference, 2022. Sousa, Maria Lígia; Abel Forero; Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Gabriella Spengler; Carlos Jiménez; Jaime Rodriguez; Vasconcelos, Vitor; Leão, Pedro N.; Reis, Mariana. Corresponding author: Reis, Mariana. "Lusichelins: a story of cyanobacterial siderophores unveiled through bioassay guided discovery". Paper presented in Gordon Research Conferences, Ventura, USA,, 2022. Castelo-Branco, R.; D’Agostino, P.M.; Gulder, A.M.T. ; Vasconcelos, V.; Fewer, D. P.; Leão, P. N.. "Discovery and heterologous expression of new microviridins from a Portuguese Culture Collection". Paper presented in Directing biosynthesis VI, 27-29 June 2022, Edinburgh, United Kingdom., 2022. Raquel Castelo-Banco; Paul M. D' Agostino; Tobias A. M. Gulder; Vitor Vasconcelos; David Fewer; Leão, Pedro N.. "Heterologous expression of new microviridins from a Portuguese Culture Collection of cyanobacteria". Paper presented in XII European Conference on Marine Natural Products, 2021. Maria Lígia Sousa; Leonor Ferreira; Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Vítor Vasconcelos; Ralph Urbatzka; Leão, Pedro N.; Reis, Mariana. Corresponding author: Reis, Mariana. "Isolation of new cyanobacterial phenolate-type siderophores with activity against cancer spheroids". Paper presented in XII European Conference on Marine Natural Products - ECMNP 2021, 2021. Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Vasconcelos, Vitor; Fewer, D. P.; Leão, Pedro N.. "Exploring cyanobacterial genomes for post-translationally modified peptides discover". Paper presented in Blue Think Conference 2020, 2020. Castelo-Branco, Raquel. "Genome Mining for Discovery of New Post-Translationally Modified Peptides in Cyanobacteria from LEGE Culture Collection". Paper presented in XVI International Symposium on Marine Natural Products\|XI European Conference on Marine Natural Products, 2019. Castelo-Branco, Raquel. "Uncovering the diversity of post-translationally modified peptides in cyanobacterial strains from LEGE Culture Collection". Paper presented in First International Conference on RiPPs, 2019. Castelo-Branco, Raquel. "Isolation, synthesis and biosynthesis of hierridin C, a novel antiplasmodial compound from Cyanobium sp. LEGE 06113". Paper presented in 10th European Conference on Marine Natural Products, 2017. Castelo-Branco, Raquel. "First data on the biodiversity and potential toxicity of cyanobacteria from Dominican Republic ecosystems". Paper presented in INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM - Extreme Ecosystems & Extremophile Organisms: Biodiversity, Physiology, Biochemistry & Biotechnology, 2017. Castelo-Branco, Raquel. "Cyanobacterial diversity as a promising biotechnological asset: reflection on outcomes from the usage of LEGE Culture Collection’ strains". Paper presented in PHYCONET Annual Conference, 2016. Castelo-Branco, Raquel. "Testing and improving simple cryopreservation methods for biotechnological-important cyanobacterial strains from a Culture Collection". Paper presented in BioIberoAmerica, 2016. Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Moreira, Cristiana; Azevedo, Joana; Martins, Joana; Vasconcelos, V. "Detection of anaC gene in Microcystis aeruginosa isolates from Pampulha Reservoir, Belo Horizonte, Brazil". Paper presented in 9th International Conference On Toxic Cyanobacteria. South Africa, 2013. Castelo-Branco, Raquel. "Cyanobacterial Diversity in Hypersaline Microbial Mats: a Molecular-Based Evaluation of its Toxigenic and Bioactive Potential". Paper presented in 3rd Congreso Ibérico de Cianotoxinas, 2013.
Journal article	Ângela Brito; Teresa Martins; Sara Freitas; Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Rego, Adriana; Vitor Vasconcelos; William Gerwick; Paula Tamagnini; Pedro N. Leão. "Isolation and Biosynthesis of Hyellamide, a Glycosylated N-Acyltyrosine Derivative, from the Cyanobacterium Hyella patelloides LEGE 07179". Journal of Natural Products (2025): Accepted Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Xiaodan Ouyang; David P. Fewer; Pedro N. Leão. "Phosphorylation in cyanobactin natural products biosynthesis". Nature Communications (2025): Under revision Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Pereira, João P.; Freitas, Sara; Preto, Marco; Vieira, Ana R.; Morais, João; Leão, Pedro N.. "Genome-informed Discovery of Monchicamides A–K: Cyanobactins from the Microcoleaceae Cyanobacterium LEGE 16532". Journal of Natural Products 88 1 (2024): 86-93. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.4c01063. 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.4c01063 Zdouc, Mitja M; Blin, Kai; Louwen, Nico L L; Navarro, Jorge; Loureiro, Catarina; Bader, Chantal D; Bailey, Constance B; et al. "MIBiG 4.0: advancing biosynthetic gene cluster curation through global collaboration". Nucleic Acids Research 53 D1 (2024): D678-D690. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkae1115. 10.1093/nar/gkae1115 Terlouw, B.R.; Blin, K.; Navarro-Muñoz, J.C.; Avalon, N.E.; Chevrette, M.G.; Egbert, S.; Lee, S.; et al. "MIBiG 3.0: a community-driven effort to annotate experimentally validated biosynthetic gene clusters". Nucleic Acids Research 51 D1 (2023): D603-D610. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85146851279&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.1093/nar/gkac1049 Leão, P.N.; Martins, T.P.; Abt, K.; Reis, J.P.A.; Figueiredo, S.; Castelo-Branco, R.; Freitas, S.. "Incorporation and modification of fatty acids in cyanobacterial natural products biosynthesis". Chemical Communications 59 30 (2023): 4436-4446. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85151346110&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.1039/d3cc00136a Eusebio, Nadia; Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Diana Sousa; Marco Preto; Paul D’Agostino; Tobias A. M. Gulder; Leão, Pedro N.. "Discovery and heterologous expression of microginins from Microcystis aeruginosa LEGE 91341". Preprint (2022): 10.26434/chemrxiv-2022-7bsz1 Sara Freitas; Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Arlette Wenzel-Storjohann ; Vitor Vasconcelos ; Deniz Tasdemir; Leão, Pedro N.. "Structure and biosynthesis of desmamides A-C, lipoglycopeptides from the endophytic cyanobacterium Desmonostoc muscorum LEGE 12446". preprint (2022): https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/61fc672a0c0bf072b2ddd033. 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.2c00162 Schorn, Michelle A.; Verhoeven, Stefan; Ridder, Lars; Huber, Florian; Acharya, Deepa D.; Aksenov, Alexander A.; Aleti, Gajender; et al. "A community resource for paired genomic and metabolomic data mining". Nature Chemical Biology (2021): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41589-020-00724-z. 10.1038/s41589-020-00724-z Abt, K.; Castelo-Branco, R.; Leão, P.N.. "Biosynthesis of Chlorinated Lactylates in Sphaerospermopsis sp. LEGE 00249". Journal of Natural Products (2021): http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85099834827&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c00950 Eusebio, N.; Rego, A.; Glasser, N.R.; Castelo-Branco, R.; Balskus, E.P.; Leão, P.N.. "Distribution and diversity of dimetal-carboxylate halogenases in cyanobacteria". BMC Genomics 22 1 (2021): http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85113825650&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.1186/s12864-021-07939-x Popin, R.V.; Alvarenga, D.O.; Castelo-Branco, R.; Fewer, D.P.; Sivonen, K.. "Mining of Cyanobacterial Genomes Indicates Natural Product Biosynthetic Gene Clusters Located in Conjugative Plasmids". Frontiers in Microbiology 12 (2021): http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85119454748&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.3389/fmicb.2021.684565 Cepas, V.; Gutiérrez-Del-río, I.; López, Y.; Redondo-Blanco, S.; Gabasa, Y.; Iglesias, M.J.; Soengas, R.; et al. "Microalgae and cyanobacteria strains as producers of lipids with antibacterial and antibiofilm activity". Marine Drugs 19 12 (2021): http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85120563438&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.3390/md19120675 Garduño-Solórzano, G.; Martínez-García, M.; Scotta Hentschke, G.; Lopes, G.; Castelo Branco, R.; Vasconcelos, V.M.O.; Campos, J.E.; López-Cano, R.; Quintanar-Zúñiga, R.E.. "The phylogenetic placement of Temnogametum (Zygnemataceae) and description of Temnogametum iztacalense sp. nov., from a tropical high mountain lake in Mexico". European Journal of Phycology (2020): http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85089991720&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.1080/09670262.2020.1789226 Galetovic, A.; Azevedo, J.; Castelo-Branco, R.; Oliveira, F.; Gómez-Silva, B.; Vasconcelos, V.. "Absence of cyanotoxins in llayta, edible nostocaceae colonies from the andes highlands". Toxins 12 6 (2020): http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85086424146&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.3390/toxins12060382 Gutiérrez-Del-Río, I.; de Fraissinette, N.B.; Castelo-Branco, R.; Oliveira, F.; Morais, J.; Redondo-Blanco, S.; Villar, C.J.; et al. "Chlorosphaerolactylates A-D: Natural lactylates of chlorinated fatty acids isolated from the cyanobacterium sphaerospermopsis sp. Lege 00249". Journal of Natural Products 83 6 (2020): 1885-1890. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85087110508&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c00072 Oliveira, E.D.C.; Castelo-Branco, R.; Silva, L.; Silva, N.; Azevedo, J.; Vasconcelos, V.; Faustino, S.; Cunha, A.. "First detection of microcystin-lr in the amazon river at the drinking water treatment plant of the municipality of Macapá, Brazil". Toxins 11 11 (2019): http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85075061486&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.3390/toxins11110669 Martins, T.P.; Ramos, V.; Hentschke, G.S.; Castelo-Branco, R.; Rego, A.; Monteiro, M.; Brito, Â.; et al. "The Extremophile Endolithella mcmurdoensis gen. et sp. nov. (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorellaceae), A New Chlorella-like Endolithic Alga From Antarctica". Journal of Phycology (2019): http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85075373575&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.1111/jpy.12940 Cepas, V.; López, Y.; Gabasa, Y.; Martins, C.B.; Ferreira, J.D.; Correia, M.J.; Santos, L.M.A.; et al. "Inhibition of bacterial and fungal biofilm formation by 675 extracts from microalgae and cyanobacteria". Antibiotics 8 2 (2019): http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85070193760&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.3390/antibiotics8020077 CUNHA DE OLIVEIRA, E.D.; DA CUNHA, A.C.; DA SILVA, N.B.; Castelo-Branco, R.; Morais, J.; Schneider, M.P.C.; Faustino, S.M.M.; Ramos, V.; Vasconcelos, V.. "Morphological and molecular characterization of cyanobacterial isolates from the mouth of the amazon river". Phytotaxa 387 4 (2019): 269-288. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85065848914&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.11646/phytotaxa.387.4.1 Costa, M.; Sampaio-Dias, I.E.; Castelo-Branco, R.; Scharfenstein, H.; Rezende De Castro, R.; Silva, A.; Schneider, M.P.C.; et al. "Structure of hierridin c, synthesis of hierridins b and c, and evidence for prevalent alkylresorcinol biosynthesis in picocyanobacteria". Journal of Natural Products 82 2 (2019): 393-402. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85061266922&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.8b01038 Pereira, A.L.; Santos, C.; Azevedo, J.; Martins, T.P.; Castelo-Branco, R.; Ramos, V.; Vasconcelos, V.; Campos, A.. "Effects of two toxic cyanobacterial crude extracts containing microcystin-LR and cylindrospermopsin on the growth and photosynthetic capacity of the microalga Parachlorella kessleri". Algal Research 34 (2018): 198-208. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85050923630&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.1016/j.algal.2018.07.016 Ramos, V.; Morais, J.; Castelo-Branco, R.; Pinheiro, Â.; Martins, J.; Regueiras, A.; Pereira, A.L.; et al. "Cyanobacterial diversity held in microbial biological resource centers as a biotechnological asset: the case study of the newly established LEGE culture collection". Journal of Applied Phycology (2018): 1-15. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85040077018&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.1007/s10811-017-1369-y Antas, P.; Carneiro, M.; Reis, B.; Castelo-Branco, R.; Azevedo, J.; Urbatzka, R.; Campos, A.; Vasconcelos, V.; Martins, J.C.. "GST transcriptional changes induced by a toxic Microcystis aeruginosa strain in two bivalve species during exposure and recovery phases". Ecotoxicology 27 9 (2018): 1272-1280. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85053668791&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.1007/s10646-018-1980-y Vitor M. C. Ramos; Raquel Castelo-Branco; Pedro N. Leão; Joana Martins; Sinda Carvalhal-Gomes; Frederico Sobrinho da Silva; João G. Mendonça Filho; Vitor M. Vasconcelos. "Cyanobacterial Diversity in Microbial Mats from the Hypersaline Lagoon System of Araruama, Brazil: An In-depth Polyphasic Study". Frontiers in Microbiology 8 (2017): https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffmicb.2017.01233. 10.3389/fmicb.2017.01233 Nimptsch, J.; Woelfl, S.; Osorio, S.; Valenzuela, J.; Moreira, C.; Ramos, V.; Castelo-Branco, R.; Leão, P.N.; Vasconcelos, V.. "First record of toxins associated with cyanobacterial blooms in oligotrophic North Patagonian lakes of Chile-a genomic approach". International Review of Hydrobiology 101 1-2 (2016): 57-68. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84963652571&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.1002/iroh.201401780 Castelo-Branco, R.; Barreiro, A.; Silva, F.S.; Carvalhal-Gomes, S.B.V.; Fontana, L.F.; Mendonça-Filho, J.G.; Vasconcelos, V.. "Bacterial community characterization and biogeochemistry of sediments from a tropical upwelling system (Cabo Frio, Southeastern Brazil)". Continental Shelf Research 130 (2016): 1-13. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85000417046&partnerID=MN8TOARS. 10.1016/j.csr.2016.10.001
Preprint	Sousa, Maria Lígia; Ferreira, Leonor; Ferreira, Dora; Forero, Abel M; Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Szemerédi, Nikoletta; Spengler, Gabriella; et al. "Decoding Lusichelins A-E: An In-Depth Look at the Metallophores of Lusitaniella coriacea LEGE 07167 – Structure, Production, and Functionality". 2025. https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-63fgd. 10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-63fgd

Intellectual property

Patent

Vasconcelos, Vitor; Leão, Pedro N.; Ramos, Vitor; Morais, João; Castelo-Branco, Raquel; Oliveira, Flavio; Reis, Mariana; et al. 2020. "Halogenated compounds, process and uses thereof - nº WO/2021/038506".
Granted/Issued

Activities

Oral presentation

	Presentation title	Event name Host (Event location)
2024	Discovery of a new post-translational modification in cyanobactin biosynthesis	Directing Biosynthesis VII, 2024 (Birmingham, United Kingdom)
2023	Discovery and biosynthesis of phosphorylated macrocyclic cyanobactins	MaNaPro/ECMNP (Granada, Spain)
2023	Discovery of a new post-translational modification in cyanobactin biosynthesis	Blue Think Conference 2023 CIIMAR (Portugal)
2022	Discovery and heterologous expression of new microviridins from a Portuguese Culture Collection	Directing Biosynthesis VI (Edinburgh, United Kingdom)
2021	Direct pathway cloning of RiPPs gene clusters and its production in E. coli	Blue Think Conference 2021 CIIMAR (Portugal)
2020	Exploring cyanobacterial genomes for post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) discovery - Summer School in Applied Molecular Microbiology (John Innes Centre)	Summer School in Applied Molecular Microbiology John Innes Centre (Online, United Kingdom)
2018	Extraction of cyanobacterial natural products for bioactivity screening - The NoMorFilm Experience.	Workshop on Microalgae: Cultivation and Products Universidade de Coimbra (Coimbra, Portugal)
2018	Polycultures development. Bioactivities and next steps	7th NoMorFilm Consortium Meeting (Greece)
2017/11/15	Cultivation and extraction of bioactive compounds of LEGE Culture Collection strains and Scaling-Up of promising strains	6th NoMorFilm Consortium Meeting University of Oviedo (Oviedo, Spain)
2017	Cyanobacterial diversity as a promising biotechnological asset: the use of LEGE Culture Collection strains as a source for bioprospecting - 2nd International Summer School of Natural Products	2nd International Summer School of Natural Products University of Naples (Naples, Italy)

Event organisation

	Event name Type of event (Role)	Institution / Organization
2024 - 2024	Open Day - Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões (2024 - 2024) Exhibition	Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal
2023 - 2023	Open Day - Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões (2023) Exhibition	Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal

Event participation

	Activity description Type of event	Event name Institution / Organization
2025/02/13 - Current	Event CIIMAR@E2S - the synergies between the two institutions Symposium	CIIMAR@E2S
2023 - 2023	Mostra U.Porto 2024 Exhibition	Mostra U. Porto Universidade do Porto, Portugal

Association member

	Society Organization name	Role
2020 - Current	Portuguese Microbiology Society
2015 - 2018	Member of Blue Biotechnology and Ecotoxicology Culture Collection (acronym LEGE-CC)	Molecular identification of cyanobacterial strains, mantainance of cultures, dissemination

Course / Discipline taught

	Academic session	Degree Subject (Type)	Institution / Organization
2025/03/17 - 2025/03/19	Bioinformatics Short Course - Decoding (Meta)Genomes for Natural Products Discovery	(Outros)	Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal
2014 - 2019	Master in Contamination and environmental toxicology	(Mestrado)	Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal

Evaluation committee

	Activity description Role	Institution / Organization	Funding entity
2024/09/10 - 2024/09/11	Member of the evaluation committee in Blue Think Conference Evaluator	Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal

Interview (tv / radio show)

	Program	Topic
2024 - 2024	Algae Vertical - programa TECH 3, na RTP3

Mentoring / Tutoring

	Topic	Student name
2022 - 2023	Discovery of Ribosomally Synthesized Lipopeptides from Cyanobacteria	João Pedro Teixeira Pereira
2019 - 2021	Molecular Biology of cyanobacteria	Luiz Carlos Montenegro (National University of Colombia)
2017 - 2018	Molecular Biology	Elane Cunha
2017 - 2017	Molecular Biology of cyanobacteria	Angela Quintero (Uniandes, Colombia)

Distinctions

Award

2024	Doctorate Distinction Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
2023	Best Oral Presentation - Marine Biotechnology Session Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental da Madeira, Portugal
2023	Meeting Attendance Grant - Miocrobiotec'23 Federation Of European Microbiological Societies, Netherlands
2020	Meeting Attendance Grant for John Innes Centre Summer School in Applied Molecular Microbiology - Microbial Specialised Metabolites: Discovery, Biosynthesis and Evolution, FEMS-GO-2020-062 Federation Of European Microbiological Societies, Netherlands
2018	FCT PhD grant SFRH/BD/136367/2018 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
2017	Scholarship for the ISSNP 2017. 2nd International Summer School in Natural Products (ISSNP)
2013	Best Poster Presentation Award - 3rd Iberian Congress of Cyanotoxins, Blanes (Spain) - Cyanobacterial diversity in hypersaline microbial mats: a molecular-based evaluation of its toxigenic and bioative potential ZEULAB - Zaragoza (SPAIN), Spain

Other distinction

2024	Selection to participate in Microbial Secondary Metabolites in Microbiomes 2024 Conference Københavns Universitet Center for Subjektivitetsforskning, Denmark
2020	Selection to participate in Summer School in Applied Molecular Microbiology John Innes Centre (Online, United Kingdom)