Postdoctoral Fellow

Contact Details:

Telephone (w): +27 (0)12 420 6978

E-mail: [email protected]

My PhD project focused on the development and evaluation of novel bacterial hosts for whole-cell biocatalysis, using the gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus carnosus as a model system.  In August 2015 I was awarded a UP postdoctoral fellowship in Prof. Don Cowan’s group, the Centre of Microbial Ecology and Genomics (CMEG) at the University of Pretoria, where I am presently employed. My research interests encompass a broad range of fields, from functional genomics to directed evolution and synthetic biology.  I am particularly fascinated by the ever-increasing potential of the Earth’s metagenome, both as a learning tool for the scientific community and as a functional tool to improve our lifestyles. As a researcher, I am therefore driven by the pursuit of knowledge that can be applied to real-life problems.

Publications in peer-reviewed journal:

2022-2018

• Cowan DA, Bixirao Neto Marinho Lebre PH, Coetzee T, de Jager PC, Greve M, Harris M, Jordaan K, Kamgan Nkuekam G, Makhalanyane TP, Olivier B, Ortiz EM, Pertierra LAR, Ramond JJ, Valverde A, Varliero G, Vikram S (2022). Biogeographical survey of soil microbiomes across sub-Saharan Africa: structure, drivers, and predicted climate-driven changes. Microbiome, 10 (131), pp. 1 - 22.
• Bosch J, Marais E, Maggs-Kolling G, Ramond J, Bixirao Neto Marinho Lebre PH, Eckardt F, Cowan DA (2022). Water inputs across the Namib Desert: implications for dryland edaphic microbiology. Frontiers of Biogeography, 14 (2), pp. 1 - 15. 
• Ueckermann V, Bixirao Neto Marinho Lebre PH, Geldenhuys J, Hoosien E, Cowan DA, Janse van Rensburg L, Ehlers van der Zel M (2022). The lung microbiome in HIV-positive patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis. Scientific Reports, 12 (8975), pp. 1 - 12.
• Bixirao Neto Marinho Lebre PH, Bottos E, Makhalanyane TP, Hogg I, Cowan DA (2021).Islands in the sand: are all hypolithic microbial communities the same?. FEMS
  Microbiology Ecology, 97 (1), pp. 1 - 11.
• Bosch J, Varliero G, Hallsworth J, Dallas T, Hopkins D, Frey B, Kong W, Bixirao Neto MarinhoLebre PH, Makhalanyane TP, Cowan DA (2021). Microbial anhydrobiosis. Environmental
  Microbiology, 23 (11), pp. 6377 - 6390.

• Gwizdala MS, Bixirao Neto Marinho Lebre PH, Maggs-Kolling G, Marais E, Cowan DA, Kruger TPJ.(2021). Sub-lithic photosynthesis in hot desert habitats. Environmental Microbiology, 23 (7), pp. 3867 - 3880.

• Ortiz EM, Bosch J, Coclet CCD, Johnson J, Bixirao Neto Marinho Lebre PH, Rotimi(Salawu)AM, Vikram S, Makhalanyane TP, Cowan DA (2020). Microbial Nitrogen Cycling in Antarctic Soils.Microorganisms, 8 (9), pp. 1 - 17.

• Bezuidt KIO, Bixirao Neto Marinho Lebre PH, Pierneef RE, Leon Sobrino C, Adriaenssens E, Cowan DA, Van de Peer YEP, Makhalanyane TP (2020). Phages Actively Challenge Niche Communities in Antarctic Soils. mSystems, 5 (3), pp. 1 - 12.

• Bixirao Neto Marinho Lebre PH, Aliyu H, De Maayer P, Cowan DA (2018). In silico characterization of the global Geobacillus and Parageobacillus secretome. Microbial Cell Factories, 17 pp. 1 -19.

Books and /or chapters in books

• Bixirao Neto Marinho Lebre PH, Cowan DA (2020). Genomics of Alkaliphiles. Edition:1st G.Mamo Mattiasson (eds.),  Alkaliphiles in Biotechnology, Switzerland, Cham: Springer. (pp.135-156). 978-3-030-49735-4.

• Cowan DA, Adriaenssens E, De Maayer P, Bixirao Neto Marinho Lebre PH, Makhalanyane TP, Ramond JJ, Trindade M, Valverde A, Vikram S (2019). Metagenomics of Extreme Environments: Methods and Applications. Edition:1st In É. Yergeau (ed.), Advanced Techniques for Studying Microorganisms in extreme Environments, Germany, Berlin: De
  Gruyter. (pp. 93-126). 978-3-11-052578-6.

• Bixirao Neto Marinho Lebre PH, Cowan DA (2019). Genomics of Alkaliphiles , Alkaliphilic Bacteria and their Applications in Biotechnology, Germany, Berlin:Springer.