Gabriela Henriques

This PhD project is part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie ITN programme: ProteinFactory - "Engineering of New-Generation Protein Secretion Systems''. A consortium, coordinated by Prof. Jan Maarten van Dijl and manage by Dr. Sierd Bron, brings together 6 leading academic and 5 industrial partners with the main objective of develop new-generation platforms for bacterial protein secretion (including biotherapeutics and industrial enzymes). To more project details and partners involved see http://proteinfactory-msca-itn.eu/. My PhD was developed at the MICALIS institute in the Systems Biology for bacterial Engineering and Redesign (SyBER) group, under the supervision of Dr. Matthieu Jules. My work focused on describing and studying the membrane protein complexes involved in protein secretion in Bacillus subtilis. • Identified in vivo and in vitro for the first time a novel membrane protein complex of B. subtilis, involving the regulation of a membrane protease by other membrane protein. • Extensive hands-on experience with bacterial cell cultures, strains construction, protein (including membrane proteins) purification and activity characterization. Assured consistent protocol reproducibility without exceeding the predefined laboratory budget. • Gained project management and organization experience by the management of the PhD project (hierarchy of objectives, milestones, SOPs, stakeholders and risk management). During 3 years of PhD Also acquired skills about Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Patenting and licensing.

Department of Microbial Proteomics and Mass Spectrometry Hands-on experience on sample preparation for mass spectrometry injection and data processing and analysis.

Hands-on experience on protein (antigen) characterization and purification for antibodies production. Including experience with cell culture, ÄKTA system, analysis, mass spectrometry, iCE3 Capillary IEF System and endotoxin free removal method.

The Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology, Baddiley-Clark Building Medical School of Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, (United Kingdom) Researcher in the AMBER (Advanced Multidisciplinary Training in Molecular Bacteriology) project, under the supervision of Dr. Richard Daniel. The project was focus on the study of the metabolism and cell wall metabolism of Bacillus subtilis. Acquired experience on large microbial screening assays, metabolism and strains construction.

Researcher in Bacterial cell Biology Lab, participation in the following project- "Study of the role of the cytoskeleton-associated proteins of gram-positive bacteria". Head: Dr. Mariana G. Pinho Extensive experience in multiple molecular biology techniques, including cloning and genetic manipulation, sequencing, fluorescent microscopy, cell culture and phage transduction. Consolidated experience in laboratory management, including successful phone calls and meetings negotiator with biotechnology companies for free-of-charge replacement of different consumables or reduced prices for equipment repairs.

Researcher in Bacterial cell Biology Lab. Head: Dr. Mariana G. Pinho

Researcher in Structural Genomics lab, in the Macromolecular Crystallography Unit. Participation in the following project-"Structural features of proteins related with nitrosative and oxidative stress", in collaboration with Metalloproteins and Bioenergetics Laboratory. Advisor/Supervisor: Dr. Célia V. Romão Head: Prof. Maria Arménia Carrondo Hands-on experience on biochemical techniques (from buffer preparation, SDS-PAGE up to protein purification) and protein crystallography. Note: This type of fellowship has a final evaluation, in which I ended up with a final score of 18 marks out of 20.

The theme of my master's thesis was “Study of the role of Wall teichoic acids in the localization Staphylococcus aureus cell wall synthesis protein PBP4” , developed at the Bacterial Cell Biology Lab under the supervision of Dr. Mariana G. Pinho. I ended my master thesis with a score of 18 marks out of 20.