Advisor
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Rafael Silva Rocha Professor Doutor – Ms 3 Tel.: (16) 3315-3229 Email: silvarochar@gmail.com |
General Outline
The main objective of the research group is to understand the molecular mechanisms related to gene regulation in prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms through synthetic and systemic biology approaches.
Research Lines
Through the unveiling of the mechanisms of gene regulation, the group aims to form new concepts and construct new tools for the engineering of regulatory circuits in living cells, aiming at various biotechnological applications. To achieve this, the group used a combination of molecular biology tools, along with computational approaches to address the various aspects of gene regulation, using from the construction and characterization of mutants to the characterization of the promoters fused to the reporter gene GFP, bioinformatic analysis of genomics and transcriptomes, and the development of mathematical models to describe the phenomena of interest. Considering the complexity and multidisciplinarity of the works carried out, students of different areas (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science) can take part in the group. Thus, the main lines of research of the group are:
1-Development of new genetic tools for microorganisms:
It aims to develop new techniques and tools for the genetic manipulation of living organisms, focusing mainly on the construction and characterization of modular vectors optimized for gram-negative bacteria and filamentous fungi.
2-Systemic Biology:
It aims to study the properties of regulatory networks of organisms of interest through bioinformatics and computational biology to integrate large-scale data, mainly structural and functional genomics and transcriptomes.
3-Synthetic Biology:
It aims at the design, construction, and characterization of new regulatory circuits through biological parts and computational models to redesign microorganisms for biotechnological applications.
Publications