Publication . Martins, Maria Santos Carlos; Teixeira, Miguel; Folgosa, Filipe
"Oxygen, nitric oxide and their derived species play key roles in life.
Whereas O2 is essential in many organisms to survive, others use NO as
defence mechanisms against pathogens. For example, the human
immune system releases NO and H2O2, leading to the inhibition of
multiple metabolic microbial processes. Flavodiiron proteins (FDPs)
constitute a widespread family of enzymes present in all life domains
with a crucial role in O2/ROS and/or NO detoxification, through the
reduction of these species either to H2O or N2O, respectively. Therefore,
flavodiiron proteins are key players in host-microbe interactions, from
a host-pathogen strife viewpoint, and for survival of the human
microbiota within challenging environments. (...) This thesis is focused on the study of FDPs mainly from human
pathogens, in special Clostridia, the phylogenetic group with the larger
diversity of FDPs’ classes and a widespread class of organisms among
the human gut microbiome.(...)"
