Lígia O. Martins Lab

	The research activities involve molecular biotechnology at the interface of protein science and technology. They involve the selection, structure-function characterization, and engineering of promising enzymes for environmental and industrial applications.
	Lígia O. Martins Associate Professor with “Agregação” PhD in Biotechnology, IST-UL Phone (+351) 214469534 | Extension 1534 Email lmartins@itqb.unl.pt | Lab website

Research Interests

Biocatalysis is a key component for developing a sustainable bio-economy, and enzymes are used as biocatalysts in various industries. Enzymes are sustainable, selective, and efficient, offering multiple benefits, such as cleaner reactions and increased specificity, with lower energy requirements.

In recent years, we have successfully established a research program focused on investigating a variety of bacterial oxidoreductases. The target enzymes are laccases and metallo-oxidases from the family of multicopper oxidases, azoreductases, DyP-type peroxidases from a new microbial family of heme peroxidases, isoeugenol monooxygenases that convert a lignin-related phenolic, isoeugenol into vanillin, and more recently carbohydrate oxidases with importance in diagnosis and carbohydrate chemistry. We investigate their mechanistic and structural properties and use protein-engineering methodologies, including directed evolution, to improve the enzyme's performance and robustness. Additionally, we explore these enzymes' efficiency in degrading synthetic and natural substrates and synthesizing added-value compounds using multidisciplinary approaches. The final goal is the design of biological systems for new functions, a fundamental tenet of synthetic biology, by exploring the catalytic properties of multiple and improved enzymes and cells to produce industrially relevant compounds, contributing to the intelligent and circular use of natural resources.

Group Members

• Lígia O Martins, Head of the laboratory
• Vânia Brissos, Auxiliar Investigator
• Patrícia T Borges, Junior Investigator
• Diogo Silva, Post-doc, Proj Manager
• André Taborda, Ph.D. student
• Mario De Simone, Ph.D. student
• Carolina Ferro Rodrigues, Ph.D. student
• Tomás Frazão, Ph.D. student
• Tiago Lopes, Ph.D. student
• Catarina Coelho, Ph.D. student (co-supervision Igor Tiago, Univ Coimbra)
• Catarina Barbosa, Ph.D. student (co-supervision Smilja Todorovic, ITQB NOVA)
• Constança Lorena, Project Fellow (co-supervision Patrícia Borges)
• Pedro Jesus, MS.c. student
• Paulo Durão, Associate Investigator
• Zhenjia Chen, Invited Scientist

Recent Publications

1. Taborda, A, Frazão, T, Rodrigues, MV, Fernández-Luengo, X, Sancho, F., Frazão, C, Ventura, MR, Masgrau, L, Borges, PT, Martins, LO. 2023. Mechanistic insights into glycoside 3-oxidases involved in C-glycoside metabolism in soil microorganisms. Nat Commun 14: 7289
2. Brissos, V, Borges, PT, Nunez, R, Lucas, MF, Frazão, C, Monza, E, Masgrau, L, Cordeiro, TN, Martins, LO. 2022. Distal mutations shape substrate-binding sites during the evolution of a metallo-oxidase into a laccase ACS Catal 12: 5022-5035
3. Borges, PT, Silva, D, Silva, TFD, Brissos, V., Canellas, M, Lucas, MF, Masgrau, L, Melo, EP, Machuqueiro, M, Frazão, C, Martins, LO. 2022. Unveiling Molecular Details behind Improved Activity at Neutral to Alkaline pH of an Engineered DyP-type Peroxidase. Comp Struct Biotechnol J 20:3899-3910
4. De Simone, M, Alvigini, L, Alonso-Cotchico, L, Brissos, V, Caroli, J, Lucas, MF, Monza, E, Melo, EP, Mattevi, A, Martins, LO 2022. Improving NOV1 Oxygenase for the Conversion of Lignin-Derived Isoeugenol to Vanillin. Biochemistry 62:419-428

Laboratory's Website

For further information please visit the laboratory's website

Tecnologia Microbiana e Enzimática (PT)

O nosso laboratório estuda enzimas provenientes de bactérias com potencial para aplicações biotecnológicas (ambientais e industriais). Para isso são utilizadas várias metodologias que envolvem técnicas de Microbiologia, Biologia Molecular, Bioquímica e Biofísica. Também utilizamos técnicas de mutagénese para estudar qual o efeito da substituição de resíduos de aminoácidos específicos nas características das enzimas e também para gerar enzimas mais eficazes para utilizações biotecnológicas. Tendo este objetivo em mente, estamos neste momento a otimizar técnicas de Evolução Dirigida, em que utilizamos estratégias de mutagénese aleatória seguidas de rastreio enzimáticos para melhorar as propriedades das enzimas, por exemplo, maior estabilidade e utilização mais eficiente, de substratos não naturais, de forma a encontrar biocatalisadores robustos e melhorados para utilização industrial.

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