Email:

anaafonsofe.up.pt

Phone: +351 22 041 4871

Room: E319

Laboratory: E007

Junior Researcher

Research group: Biotechnology

Background: PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering – Faculty of Engineering of Porto, Portugal

Ana Cristina Afonso

Major research topics

• Antimicrobial resistance
• Biofilms
• Bacterial coaggregation
• Cell-cell interactions
• Drinking water

Selected Publications

Afonso, A. C., Saavedra, M. J., Simões, M., & Simões, L. C. The role of the proteosurfaceome and exoproteome in bacterial coaggregation. Biotechnology advances, (2024), 79, 108505. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biotechadv.2024.108505

Afonso, A. C., Gomes, I. B., Massano, F., Saavedra, M. J., Simões, M., & Simões, L. C. Coaggregation dynamics in drinking water biofilms and implications for chlorine disinfection. Journal of hazardous materials, (2024), 480, 135948. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.135948

Afonso, A. C., Botting, J., Gomes, I. B., Saavedra, M. J., Simões, L. C., Liu, J., & Simões, M. Elucidating bacterial coaggregation through a physicochemical and imaging surface characterization. The Science of the total environment, (2024), 948, 174872. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174872

Afonso, A. C., Gomes, I. B., Saavedra, M. J., C Simões, L., & Simões, M. Drinking-water isolated Delftia acidovorans selectively coaggregates with partner bacteria and facilitates multispecies biofilm development. The Science of the total environment, (2023), 875, 162646. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162646

Sousa, M., Afonso, A. C., Saavedra, M. J., Simões, L. C., & Simões, M. Hydrocinnamic acid and perillyl alcohol are effective against Escherichia coli biofilms when used alone and combined with antibiotics. Journal of applied microbiology, (2023), 134(10), lxad234. https://doi.org/10.1093/jambio/lxad234

Selected Projects

InnovAntiBiofilm - Boosting Sustainable Innovation in Developing New Antibiotic Adjuvants to Control Biofilm Resistance (Grant agreement No. 101157363), funded by Horizon Europe (Horizon-Widera 2023-Acess-02/Horizon-CSA) | Twinning. Beginning: 2024. Duration: 36 months. Role: Researcher.

Biocides_for_Biofilms - Development of novel biocide solutions for effective biofilm control (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028397), funded by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). Beginning: 2018. Duration: 36 months. Role: Researcher.