André Antunes

Official Title: Associate Research Professor

Faculty: Institute of Science and Environment

Short Bio

I am an Associate Professor at Institute of Science and Environment of the University of Saint Joseph. I am an expert in microbiology of marine and extreme environments, having specialized in deep-sea and high salinity locations.

I have done my undergraduate studies in Biology at the University of Coimbra (Portugal), followed by a PhD in Biochemistry (Microbiology) at the same institution. My PhD research work was conducted at one of the most prestigious research centers in the field of Microbiology- the Lehrstuhl für Mikrobiologie und Archaeenzentrum of the University of Regensburg (Germany). My research career has included periods of work in several countries in Europe, as well as in Africa, and in the Middle East. Before my current appointment I had previous faculty positions in Cabo Verde, in the UK, and at the State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences at Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), where I was the leader of the Astrobiology Research Group and the coordinator of the Astrobiology and Cosmochemistry Experimental Platforms.

I have extensive experience with international collaborations, having participated as PI and team member of several research projects across the globe and having joined and lead several research expeditions and cruises. As part of these, I have previously worked as project manager, being involved in the national and European coordination of the ESFRI EU-funded project MIRRI (Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure), as well as being involved with the ESFRI EU-funded project RItrain (Reseach Infrastructures Training Programme).

I have also acted as consultant and invited committee member for NASA, ESA, and the European Science Foundation. Furthermore, I am an elected member of the Communications Committee of the Microbiology Society, Chair of the Ocean Sustainability Advisory Group and Global Ambassador for Applied Microbiology International, and editorial member for a variety of leading journals in his field.

GoogleScholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=blJPHy4AAAAJ&hl=en
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andre-Antunes-3
OrcID: https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0001-7668-9842

Selected research highlights:

i) New species and higher-ranked taxa: two new orders, one possible new phylum;

ii) Novel characteristics relevant for biotechnology and cellular physiology: New cellular contractility cycle; first Halobacteria preferring anaerobiosis; first prokaryotes accumulating glycerol;

iii) -Omics based analysis: first genomics and proteomics studies in deep-sea brines;

iv) Microbial and viral communities surveys: first report of virology of deep-sea brines; unique insights into Thaumarchaea;

v) Astrobiology: Proposal of new terrestrial analogue site for icy moons; definition of new model organism; new habitability models for astrobiology; experimental and simulation efforts of exooceans (a Nature 2020 research highlight).

vi) Bioprospection: New strains with cytotoxic and apoptotic activity; in silico-based exploration for biosynthetic gene clusters.

vii) Contributions to Policy: EU-funded PPOSS project and white book on planetary protection for missions to icy moons; Report of the Committee on Planetary Protection Requirements for Sample-Return Missions from Martian Moons (National Academies and ESF); policy briefing on Marine Microbiomes; policy brief on “Climate Change and Microbiology”.

viii) New computer-based and experimental tools: Portal for microbial knowledge exploration; data analysis tool for microbial genomes; database on halophilic archaea, as well as an innovative microbial isolation technique).

Publications

Papers in international scientific periodicals with referees

69. Gao, L., Liu, L., Lv, A. P., Fu, L., Lian, Z. H., Nunoura, T., Hedlund, B. P., Xu, Q.-Y., Wu, D., Yang, J., Ali, M., Li, M.-M., Liu, Y.-H., Antunes, A., Jiang, H.-C., Cheng, L., Jiao, J.-Y., Li, W.-J., & Fang, B. Z. (2024). Reversed oxidative TCA (roTCA) for carbon fixation by an Acidimicrobiia strain from a saline lake. The ISME Journal, wrae147.

68. Antunes, A., de la Haba, Jebbar, M., & Hedlund, B. P. (2024). Community Series-Extremophiles: Microbial Genomics and Taxogenomics, Volume II. Frontiers in Microbiology 15, 1371210.

67. Zhang, J., Deng, J., He, Y., Wu, J., Simões, M. F., Zhang, S. & Antunes, A. (2024). A review of biomineralization in healing concrete: Mechanism, biodiversity, and application. Science of the Total Environment, 170445.

66. Antunes, A., Simões, M. F., McCulloch, B., Santos-Pereira, C., He, Y., Silvério, S. C., Rocha, H., da Moura, A. & Rodrigues, L. R. (2023). Microbial biodiversity of hypersaline environments as a target for bioprospection: Results from sampling in Cabo Verde and Portugal. Chinese Medicine 18(S2), 137(A1).

65. Antunes, A. and Meyer-Dombard, D. (2023). Rising stars in space microbiology: 2022. Frontiers in Microbiology 14, 1322924.

64, Zhang, J., Simões, M. F., Deng, J., Shi, Z., He, Y., Wen, Q., Shen, H., Antunes, A. & Zhang, S. (2023). Isothermal foaming-nucleation-crystallization of glass ceramic foams with hierarchical pore structure: a sustainable approach for disposal of secondary aluminum ash. Journal of Materials Research and Technology 26, 5638-5650.

63. Antunes, A., Lau Vetter, M.C.Y., Flannery, D. & Li, Y. (2023). Mars analogs: Environment, habitability and biodiversity. Front. Astron. Space Sci. 10, 1208367. doi: 10.3389/fspas.2023.1208367

62. Chen Chen, Ruiqin Yi, Motoko Igisu, Chie Sakaguchi, Rehana Afrin, Christian Potiszil, Tak Kunihiro, Katsura Kobayashi, Eizo Nakamura, Yuichiro Ueno, André Antunes, Anna Wang, Kuhan Chandru, Jihua Hao & Tony Z. Jia (2023). Spectroscopic and Biophysical Methods to Determine Differential Salt‐Uptake by Primitive Membraneless Polyester Microdroplets. Small methods, 2300119.

61. Simões, M. F., Cortesão, M., Azua-Bustos, A., Bai, F.-Y., Canini, F., Casadevall, A., Cassaro, A., Cordero, R. J. B., Fairén, A. G., González-Silva, C., Gunde-Cimerman, N., Koch, S., Liu, X.-Z., Onofri, S., Pacelli, C., Selbmann, L., Tesei, D., Waghmode, A., Wang, T., Zucconi, L. & Antunes, A. (2023). The relevance of fungi in astrobiology research – Astromycology. Mycosphere 14(1), 1190–1253.

60. Lian, W.-H., Mohamad, O. A. A., Dong, L., Zhang, L.-Y., Wang, D., Liu, L., Han, M.-X., Li, S., Wang, S., Antunes, A., Fang, B.-Z., Jiao, J.-Y. & Li W.-J. (2022). Culturomics- and metagenomics-based insights into the microbial community and function of rhizosphere soils in Sinai desert farming systems. Environmental Microbiome 18(1), 1-13.

59. de la Haba, R. R., Antunes, A. & Hedlund, B. P. (2022). Extremophiles: Microbial genomics and taxogenomics. Frontiers in Microbiology 13, 984632.

58. Santos-Pereira, C., Silvério, S. C., Simões, M. F., Antunes, A. & Rodrigues, L. R. (2022). Bioprospection of biosurfactant-producing microbes from Portuguese salterns. FEBS Open Bio 12 (Suppl. S1), 67–336 (P-02.4-002). DOI: 10.1002/2211-5463.13440

57. Gao, L., Fang, B.-Z., Liu, Y.-H., Jiao, J.-Y., Li, L., Antunes, A. & Li, W.-J. (2022). Rhabdothermincola salaria sp. nov., a novel actinobacterium isolated from a saline lake sediment. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 72(5), 005361.

56. Gao, L., Fang, B.-Z., Liu, Y.-H., Huang, Y., Jiao, J.-Y., Li, L., Antunes, A. & Li, W.-J. (2022). Ornithinimicrobium sediminis sp. nov., a novel actinobacterium isolated from a saline lake sediment. Archives of Microbiology 204(5), 277. doi: 10.1007/s00203-022-02898-7

55. Wu, J.-H., McGenity, T., Rettberg, P., Simões, M. F., Li, W.-J. & Antunes, A. (2022). The archaeal class Halobacteria and astrobiology: Knowledge gaps and research opportunities. Frontiers in Microbiology 13, 1023625.

54. Beblo-Vrasnesvic, K., Piepjohn, J., Antunes, A. & Rettberg, P. (2022). Surviving Mars: new insights into the persistence of facultative anaerobic microbes from analogue sites. International Journal of Astrobiology, 21(2), 110-127.

53. Oliver, J., Kelbrick, M., Ramkissoon, N. K., Dugdale, A., Stephen, B. P., Kucukkilic-Stephens, E., Fox-Powell, M., Schwenzer, S. P., Antunes, A. & Macey, M. C. (2022). Sulfur Cycling as a Viable Metabolism during the Noachian/Hesperian transition. Life 2(4), 523. https://doi.org/10.3390/life12040523

52. Kelbrick, Oliver, J., Ramkissoon, N. K., Dugdale, A., Stephen, B. P.,Kucukkilic-Stephens, E., Fox-Powell, M., Schwenzer, S. P., Antunes, A. & Macey, M. C. (2021). Microbes from brine systems with fluctuating salinity can thrive under simulated Martian chemical conditions. Life 12(1), 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/life12010012

51. Changela, H., Chatzitheodoridis, E., Antunes, A., Beaty, D., Bouw, K., Bridges, J. C., Capova, K. A., Cockell, C. S., Conley, C. A., Dadachova, E., Dallas T. D., de Mey, S., Dong, C., Ellery, A., Ferus, M., Foing, B., Fu, X., Fujita, K., Lin, Y., Jheeta, S., Hicks, L. J., Hu, S., Kereszturi, A., Krassakis, A., Liu, Y., Oberst, J., Michalski, J., Ranjith, P. M., Rinaldi, T., Rothery, D., Stavrakakis, H. A., Selbmann, L., Sinha, R. K., Wang, A., Williford, K., Vaci, Z., Vago, J. L., Waltermathe, M. & Hallsworth, J. (2021). Mars: New Insights and Unresolved Questions. International Journal of Astrobiology 20(6), 394-426. doi:10.1017/S1473550421000276

50. Méndez, A., Rivera-Valentín, E. G., Schulze-Makuch, D., Filiberto, J., Ramírez, R., Wood, T. E., Dávila, A., McKay, C., Ceballos, K. O., Jusino-Maldonado, M., Torres-Santiago, N., Nery, G., Heller, R., Byrne, P., Malaska, M. J., Nathan, E., Simões, M. F., Antunes, A., Martínez-Frías, J., Carone, L., Izenberg, N. R., Atri, D., Chitty, H. I. C., Nowajewski-Barra, P., Rivera-Hernández, F., Brown, C., Lynch, K., Catling, D., Zuluaga, J. I., Salazar, J. F., Chen, H., González, G., Jagadeesh, M. K., Haqq-Misra, J., Barnes, R. & Cockell, C. S. (2021). Habitability Models for Planetary Sciences. Bulletin of the AAS, 53(4). https://doi.org/10.3847/25c2cfeb.20609a88

49. Kelbrick, M., Abed, R. M. M., & Antunes, A. (2021). Motilimonas cestriensis sp. nov., isolated from na Inland Brine Spring in Northern England. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 71(3), 004763.

48. Al-Mahrouqi, N., Muthukrishnan, T., Nallusamy, S., Antunes, A., & Abed, R. M. M. (2021). Utilization of food wastes for the production of bioethanol using moderately halophilic bacteria isolated from a hypersaline microbial mat. Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects, 1-12. DOI: 10.1080/15567036.2021.1910384

47. Méndez, A., Rivera-Valentín, E. G., Schulze-Makuch, D., Filiberto, J., Ramírez, R., Wood, T. E., Dávila, A., McKay, C., Ceballos, K. O., Jusino-Maldonado, M., Torres-Santiago, N., Nery, G., Heller, R., Byrne, P., Malaska, M. J., Nathan, E., Simões, M. F., Antunes, A., Martínez-Frías, J., Carone, L., Izenberg, N. R., Atri, D., Chitty, H. I. C., Nowajewski-Barra, P., Rivera-Hernández, F., Brown, C., Lynch, K., Catling, D., Zuluaga, J. I., Salazar, J. F., Chen, H., González, G., Jagadeesh, M. K., & Haqq-Misra, J. (2021). Habitability Models for Astrobiology. Astrobiology 21(8), 1017-.1027.

46. Zhang, G., Dong, X., Sun, Y., Antunes, A., Hikmawan, A., Haroon, M. F., Wang, J. & Stingl, U. (2020). Haloferax profundi sp. nov. and Haloferax marisrubri sp. nov., isolated from the Discovery Deep brine-seawater interface in the Red Sea. Microorganisms 8(10), 1475.

45. Simões, M. F., Ottoni, C. A., & Antunes, A. (2020). Mycogenic metal nanoparticles for the treatment of mycobacteriosis. Antibiotics, 9(9), 569.

44. Antunes, A. (2020). Out of this World: From the bottom of the Red Sea to the Red Planet. Frontiers for Young Minds (accepted).

43. McGenity, T. J., Gessesse, A., Hallsworth, J. E., Garcia Cela, E., Verheecke‐Vaessen, C., Wang, F., Chavarría, M., Haggblom, M. M., Molin, S., Danchin, A., Smid, E. J., Lood, C., Cockell, C. S., Whitby, C., Liu, S.‐J., Keller, N. P., Stein, L. Y., Bordenstein, S. R., Lal, R., Nunes, O. C., Gram, L., Singh, B. K., Webster, N. S., Morris, C., Sivinski, S., Bindschedler, S., Junier, P., Antunes, A., Baxter, B. K., Scavone, P., & Timmis, K. (2020). Visualizing the invisible: class excursions to ignite children’s enthusiasm for microbes. Microbial Biotechnology, 13, 844-887.

42. Simões, M. F., Ottoni, C. A., & Antunes, A. (2020). Biogenic Metal Nanoparticles: A New Approach to Detect Life on Mars?. Life, 10(3), 28.

41. DasSarma, P., Antunes, A., Simões, M. F., & DasSarma, S. (2020). Earth's Stratosphere and Microbial Life. Current Issues in Molecular Biology, 38, 197-244.

40. Antunes, A., Olsson-Francis, K., & McGennity, T. (2019). Exploring deep-sea brines as potential terrestrial analogues of oceans in the icy moons of the outer solar system. Current Issues in Molecular Biology, 38,123-162

39. Jebbar, M., Hickman-Lewis, K., Cavalazzi, B., Taubner, R. S., Simon, K. M. R., & Antunes, A. (2020). Microbial Diversity and Biosignatures: An Icy Moons Perspective. Space Science Reviews, 216(1), 10.

38. Taubner, R.S., Olsson-Francis, K., Vance, S.D., Ramkissoon, N.K., Postberg, F., de Vera, J.P., Antunes, A., Casas, E.C., Sekine, Y., Noack, L., & Barge, L. (2020). Experimental and simulation efforts in the astrobiological exploration of exooceans. Space science reviews, 216(1), 9.

37. Kelbrick, M., Abed, R. & Antunes, A. (2019). Motilimonas cestriensis sp. nov., isolated from a Cheshire Brine Spring. Access Microbiology 1(1A). doi:10.1099/acmi.ac2019.po0227

36. McCulloch, B., Rowson, J., da Moura, A., Rocha, H., Simões, M. F. & Antunes, A. (2019). Metabolic Profiling and Environmental Characterisation of Salterns in the Islands of Cabo Verde. Access Microbiology 1(1A). doi:10.1099/acmi.ac2019.po0517

35. Loftus, P. & Antunes, A. (2019). Genomic Trends on the Biogenic CaCO3 production in the genus Bacillus. Access Microbiology 1(1A). doi:10.1099/acmi.ac2019.po0331

34. D’Arcy, J. & Antunes, A. (2019). Biomineralization of microbes in natural and restored saltmarshes: A missing link in restoration efforts? Access Microbiology 1(1A). doi:10.1099/acmi.ac2019.po0516

33. Rettberg, P., Antunes, A., Brucato, J., Cabezas, P., Collins, G., Haddaji, A., Kminek, G., Leuko, S., McKenna-Lawlor, S., Moissl-Eichinger, C., Fellous, J.-L., Olsson-Francis, K., Pearce, D., Rabbow, E., Royle, S., Saunders, M., Sephton, M., Spry, A., Walter, N., Schweingruber, R. W. & Treuet, J.-C. (2019). Biological contamination prevention for Outer Solar System moons of astrobiological interest– What do we need to know? Astrobiology 19, 1-24. doi.org/10.1089/ast.2018.1996

32. Devaynes, A., Antunes, A., Bedford, A. & Ashton, P. (2018). Bacterial species richness at three stages of the breeding season in Cyanistes caeruleus (Blue tit). Journal of Avian Biology 92, 123-130.

31. Othoum, G. K., Bougouffa, S., Razali, R. M., Bokhari, A., Alamoudi, S., Antunes, A., Gao, X., Hoehndorf, R., Arold, S. T., Gojobori, T., Hirt, H., Mijakovic, I., Bajic, V. B., Lafi, F. F. & Essack, M. (2018). In Silico Exploration of Red Sea Bacillus Genomes for Natural Product Biosynthetic Gene Clusters. BMC Genomics 19, 382.

30. Devaynes, A., Antunes, A., Bedford, A. & Ashton, P. (2018). Progression in the bacterial load of Blue tit occupied nest boxes during the breeding season and its potential impact upon hatching or fledging success. Journal of Ornithology 159(4), 1009-1017.

29. Kaartvedt, S., Antunes, A., Røstad, A. & Klevjer, T. A., Vestheim (2016). Zooplankton at deep Red Sea brine pools. Journal of Planktonic Research 38(3), 679-684.

28. Antunes, A., Stackebrandt, E. & Lima, N. (2016). Fueling the Bio-economy: European Culture Collections and Microbiology Education and Training. Trends in Microbiology. 24(2), 77-79.

27. Simões, M. F., Antunes, A., Ottoni, C., Alam, I., Amini, M. S. & Bajic, V. B. (2015). Fungi associated with soil and rhizosphere in grey mangroves (Avicennia marina) from the Red Sea- a metagenomic approach. Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics 13(5), 310-320.

26. Salhi, A., Essack, M., Radovanovic, A., Marchand, B., Bougouffa, S., Antunes, A., Simões, M. F., Lafi, F. F., Motwalli, O. A., Bokhari, A., Malas, T., Al Amoudi, S., Othum, G., Alam, I., Mineta, K., Gao, X., Hoehndorf, R., Archer, J. A. C., Gojobori, T. & Bajic, V. B. (2015). DESM: portal for microbial knowledge exploration systems. Nuc Acids Research, gkv1147.

25. Antunes, A., Alam, I., Simões, M. F., Daniels, C., Siam, R., El-Dorry, H. & Bajic, V. B. (2015). First insights on the viral communities of the deep-sea anoxic brines of the Red Sea. Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics 13(5), 304-309.

24. Alzubaidy, H., Essack, M., Malas, T. B., Bokhari, A., Motwalli, O., Kamanu, F. K., Jamhor, S. A., Mokhtar, N. A., Antunes, A., Simões, M. F., Alam, I., Bougouffa, S., Lafi, F. F., Bajic, V. B. & Archer, J. A.C. (2015). Rhizosphere microbiome metagenomics of grey mangroves (Avicennia marina) in the Red Sea. Gene 576(2), 626-636.

23. Guan, Y., Hikmawan, T., Antunes, A., Ngugi, D. & Stingl, U. (2015). Diversity of methanogens and sulfate-reducing bacteria in the interfaces of five deep-sea anoxic brines of the Red Sea. Res Microbiol. 166(9), 688-699.

22. Costa, S. R., Antunes, A. & Lima, N. (2015). Towards a strategic concept for innovative learning programmes and tools in the Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure (MIRRI). Intrinsic Activity. 3 (Suppl. 1): A1.1.

21. Oliver, P. G., Vestheim, H., Antunes, A. & Kaartvedt, S. (2015). Systematics, functional morphology and distribution of a bivalve (Apachecorbula muriatica gen. et sp. nov.) from the rim of the ‘Valdivia Deep’ brine pool in the Red Sea. J Mar Biol Assoc U.K. 95(3), 523-535.

20. Antunes, A., Piessens, V., Zuzuarregui, A., Perugini, I., Lima, N. & The MIRRI Consortium (2014). Offer, Demand, and Needs in Training and Education: A Study Focusing on Microbial Culture Collections within the MIRRI Consortium. New Biotechnol 31S, 155.

19. Ngugi, D. K., Blom, J., Alam, I., Rashid, M., Ba-Alawi, W., Zhang, G., Hikmawan, T., Guan, Y., Antunes, A., Siam, R., El Dorry, H., Bajic, V. & Stingl, U. (2014). Comparative genomics reveals niche adaptations of an abundant halotolerant thaumarchaeon in the brine-seawater interface of Red Sea’s brine pools. ISME J doi:10.1038/ismej.2014.137.

18. Ferreira, A. J. S., Siam, R., Setubal, J. C., Moustafa, A., Sayed, A., Chambergo, F. S., Dawe, A. S., Ghazy, M., Sharaf, H., Ouf, A., Alam, I., Abdel-Aleem, A. M., Lehvaslaiho, H., Ramadasn, E., Antunes, A., Stingl, U., Archer, J. A. C., Jankovic, B. R., Sogin, M., Bajic, V. B. & El-Dorry, H. (2014). Core Microbial Functional Activities in Ocean Environments Revealed by Global Metagenomic Profiling Analyses. PLoS One. 9(6): e97338. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0097338.

17. Werner, J., Ferrer, M., Michel, G., Mann, A. J., Huang, S., Juarez, S., Ciordia, S., Albar, J. P., Alcaide, M.,La Cono, V., Yakimov, M. M., Antunes, A., Taborda, M., da Costa, M. S., Hai, T., Glöckner, F. O., Golyshina, O. V., Golyshin, P. N., Teeling, H. & The MAMBA Consortium (2014). Halorhabdus tiamatea: Proteogenomics and glycosidase activity measurements identify the first cultivated euryarchaeon from a deep-sea anoxic brine lake as polysaccharide degrader. Environ Microbiol. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.12393.

16. Alam, I., Antunes, A., Baalawi, W., Kamau, A., Stingl, U. & Bajic, V. B. (2013). INDIGO – Integrated Data warehouse of mIcrobial GenOmes with Examples from the Red Sea Extremophiles. PLoS One 8 (12): e82210. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0082210.

15. Sagar, S., Esau, L., Hikmawan, T., Antunes, A., Stingl, U., Bajic, V. B. & Kaur, M. (2013). Cytotoxic and Apoptotic Evaluations of Marine Bacteria from Brine-Seawater Interface of the Red Sea. BioMed Central 13, 29 doi:10.1186/1472-6882-13-29.

14. Holert, J., Alam, I., Larsen, M., Antunes, A., Bajic, V. B., Stingl, U. & Philipp (2013). Genome sequence of Pseudomonas sp. Strain Chol1, a model organism for the degradation of bile salts and other steroid compounds. Genome Announc 1(1):e00014-12. doi:10.1128/genomeA.00014-12.

13. Siam, R., Mustafa, G. A., Sharaf, H., Moustafa, A., Ramadan, A., Antunes, A., Bajic, V. B., Stingl, U., Marsis, N, G. R., Coolen, M. J. L., Sogin, M., Ferreira, A. J. & El-Dorry, H. (2012) Unique prokaryotic consortia in geochemically distinct sediments from Red Sea, Atlantis II, and Discovery Deep Brine Pools. PLoS One 7(8): e42872. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0042872.

12. Ngugi, D. K., Antunes, A., Brune, A. & Stingl, U. (2012). Biogeography of pelagic bacterioplankton across an antagonistic temperature-salinity gradient in the Red Sea. Mol. Ecol. 21, 388-405.

11. Antunes, A., Alam, I., Bajic, V. B. & Stingl, U. (2011). Genome sequence of Haloplasma contractile, an unusual contractile bacterium from a deep-sea anoxic brine lake. J Bacteriol. 193, 4551-4552.

10. Antunes, A., Alam, I., Bajic, V. B. & Stingl, U. (2011). Genome sequence of Salinisphaera shabanensis, a gammaproteobacterium from the harsh, variable environment of the brine-seawater interface of the Shaban Deep, Red Sea. J Bacteriol. 193, 4555-4556.

9. Antunes, A., Alam, I., Bajic, V. B. & Stingl, U. (2011). Genome sequence of Halorhabdus tiamatea, the first archaeon isolated from a deep-sea anoxic brine lake. J Bacteriol. 193, 4553-4554.

8. Antunes, A., Ngugi, D. K. & Stingl, U. (2011). Microbiology of the Red Sea (and other) deep-sea anoxic brine lakes. Environ Microbiol Rep. 3, 416-433 doi: 10.1111/j.1758-2229.2011.00264.x.

7. Antunes, C. L., Almeida, T. R., Raposeiro, N., Gonçalves, B., Almeida, P. & Antunes, A. (2010). A Tubular Electrode for Radiofrequency Ablation Therapy. World Acad Sci Eng Technol 70.

6. Taborda, M., Antunes, A., Tiago, I., Veríssimo, A., Nobre, M. F. & da Costa, M. S. (2009). Description of Idiomarina insulisalsae sp. nov., isolated from the soil of a sea salt evaporation pond, proposal to transfer the members of the genus Pseudidiomarina to the genus Idiomarina and emended description of the genus Idiomarina. Syst Appl Microbiol 32, 371-378.

5. Antunes, A., Rainey, F., Wanner, G., Taborda, M., Pätzold, J., Nobre, M. F., da Costa, M. S., & Huber, R. (2008). A new lineage of halophilic, wall-less, contractile bacteria from a brine-filled Deep of the Red Sea. J Bacteriol 190, 3580-3587.

4. Antunes, A., Taborda, M., Huber, R., Moissl, C., Nobre, M. F. & da Costa, M. S. (2008). Halorhabdus tiamatea sp. nov., a non-pigmented, extremely halophilic archaeon from a deep-sea hypersaline anoxic basin of the Red Sea, and emended description of the genus Halorhabdus. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 58, 215-220.

3. Antunes, A., França, L., Rainey, F. A., Huber, R., Nobre, M. F. , Edwards, K. J. & da Costa, M. S. (2007). Marinobacter salsuginis sp. nov., a novel species from the brine-seawater interface of the Shaban Deep, Red Sea. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 57, 1035-1040.

2. Antunes, A., Eder, W., Fareleira, P., Santos, H. & Huber, R. (2003). Salinisphaera shabanensis gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel, moderately halophilic bacterium from the brine-seawater interface of the Shaban Deep, Red Sea. Extremophiles 7, 29-34.

1. Antunes, A., Rainey, F. A., Nobre, M. F., Schumann, P., Ferreira, A. M., Ramos, A., Santos, H. & da Costa, M. S. (2002). Leuconostoc ficulneum sp. nov., a novel lactic acid bacterium isolated from a ripe fig, and reclassification of Lactobacillus fructosus as Leuconostoc fructosum comb. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 52, 647-655.

Books, Chapters in Books and Reports

30. Antunes, A., Fernandes, M. B. (2024). Scientific Research and Gender-linked Asymmetries: Overview and Trends in Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe. The Palgrave Handbook on Politics of Gender and Identity in the Lusophone World. Palgrave Macmillan. (accepted).

29. He, Y., Schultz, J., Simões, M. F., Krishnamoorthi, V., Rosado, A., Atri, D. & Antunes, A. (2024). New Research Opportunities in Extreme Saline Environments of the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea: From Biotechnology to Astrobiology. In: Oceanographic and Marine Environmental Studies around the Arabian Peninsula, Taylor and Francis (in press).

28. Antunes, A. (2024). Research in Science and Technology: Challenges and Opportunities in the Cooperation between China, Angola and Portugal. In: Palgrave Handbook on China-Europe-Africa Relations, Palgrave Macmillan (in press).

27. Santos-Pereira, C., Sousa, J., Silvério, S. C., Simões, M. F., Antunes, A. & Rodrigues, L. R. (2024). Metagenomics to unravel the microbial biodiversity and biotechnological potential of extreme environments. In: Functional metagenomics: microbial diversity, interaction and application in bioremediation, Springer (in press).

26. Antunes, A., Cockell, C., De Saeger, S., Grohman, E., Kish, A., Leys, N., Moeller, R., Moissl-Eichinger, C., Nislow, C., Pacelli, C. & Rettberg, P. (2021). Biology in Space and Analogue Environments- Topic D (Microbiology). ESA SciSpacE white papers – Roadmap #9:30-43.

25. Méndez, A., Rivera-Valentín, E. G., Schulze-Makuch, D., Filiberto, J., Ramírez, R., Wood, T. E., Dávila, A., McKay, C., Ceballos, K. O., Jusino-Maldonado, M., Nery, G., Heller, R., Byrne, P., Malaska, M. J., Nathan, E., Simões, M. F., Antunes, A., Martínez-Frías, J., Carone, L., Izenberg, N. R., Atri, D., Chitty, H. I. C., Nowajewski-Barra, P., Rivera-Hernández, F., Brown, C., Lynch, K., Catling, D., Zuluaga, J. I., Salazar, J. F., Chen, H., González, G., Jagadeesh, M. K., Barnes, R., Cockell, C. S., & Haqq-Misra, J. (2020). Habitability Models for Planetary Sciences. White Paper for the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023–2032.

24. DasSarma, P., Antunes, A., Simões, M. F., & DasSarma, S. (2020). In: Astrobiology: Current, Evolving, and Emerging Perspectives. Edited by A. Antunes. Wymondham, UK: Caister Academic Press.

23. Antunes, A., Olsson-Francis, K. & McGennity, T. (2019). Exploring deep-sea brines as potential terrestrial analogues of oceans in the icy moons of the outer solar system. In: Astrobiology: Current, Evolving, and Emerging Perspectives. Edited by A. Antunes. Wymondham, UK: Caister Academic Press.

22. Göker, M. & Antunes, A. (2019). The genus Haloplasma, In: Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Microbiology, 3rd Edition. Edited by B. Whitman. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

21. Committee on Planetary Protection Requirements for Sample-Return Missions from Martian Moons (2019). Planetary Protection Classification of Sample-Return Missions from the Martian Moons. Edited by National Academies Press. Washington, DC.

20. Society for Applied Microbiology (2018). Science Policy Briefing: The marine microbiome. Science Notes for Policy. Edited by Society for Applied Microbiology. London, UK.

19. PPOSS (2018). The Planetary Protection of the Outer Solar System Research White Book- Deliverable of the PPOSS EU-Project, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Germany.

18. Antunes, A. (2018). The order Haloplasmatales, In: Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Microbiology, 3rd Edition. Edited by B. Whitman. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

17. Antunes, A. (2018). The family Haloplasmataceae, In: Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Microbiology, 3rd Edition. Edited by B. Whitman. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

16. Antunes, A., Simões, M. F., Crespo-Medina, M., Vetriani, C. & Shimane, Y. (2018). The genus Salinisphaera, In: Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Microbiology, 3rd Edition. Edited by B. Whitman. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

15. Antunes, A., Kaartvedt, S. & Schmidt, M. (2018). Geochemistry and Life at the Interfaces of Brine-filled Deeps in the Red Sea, In: Oceanography and Environment of the Red Sea II, Springer Earth System Sciences 2018. Springer: Berlin (in press).

14. Antunes, A., et al. (2017). Bioprospecting Archaea: focus on extreme halophiles, In: Bioprospecting: Success, Potential and Constraints. Springer: Berlin.

13. Antunes, A. (2017). Extreme Red Sea: life in the deep-sea anoxic brine lakes. In Human Interaction with the Environment in the Red Sea, D.A. Agius, E. Khalil, E. Scerri, and A. Williams, eds. (Leiden, Netherlands: Brill), pp. 30-47. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004330825_004

12. Antunes, A (2016). The genus Halorhabdus, In: Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Microbiology, 3rd Edition. Edited by B. Whitman. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

11. Antunes, A. (2014). The family Haloplasmataceae, In: The Prokaryotes- Firmicutes and Tenericutes, 4th Edition, pp 179-184. Edited by E. Rosenberg et al. New York, NY: Springer. DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-30120-9_206

10. Vetriani, C., Crespo-Medina, M. & Antunes, A (2014). The family Salinisphaeraceae, In: The Prokaryotes- Gammaproteobacteria, 4th Edition, pp 591-596. Edited by E. Rosenberg et al. New York, NY: Springer. DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-38922-1_296

9. MIRRI (2014). Task WP5.3 “Demonstration of the impact of MIRRI on society”- Mid-Term Report. Technical Report for the European Commision, Braga, Portugal: Universidade de Braga.

8. MIRRI (2014). Task WP3.4 “Demonstrate the impact of MIRRI on BRCs”- Mid-Term Report. Technical Report for the European Commision, Braga, Portugal: Universidade de Braga.

7. MIRRI (2013). Snapshot on Education and Training Needs by Customers of members of the MIRRI consortium- WP2 Survey. Technical Report, Braga, Portugal: Universidade de Braga.

6. MIRRI (2013). Panorama on Education and Training, Current Tools, and Contents produced and used within MIRRI- WP7 Survey. Technical Report, Braga, Portugal: Universidade de Braga.

5. MIRRI (2013). Monitoring and Evaluation M&E of MIRRI impact. Technical Report, Braga, Portugal: Universidade de Braga.

4. Antunes, A. (2011). 3rd KAUST/WHOI Red Sea Expedition (Leg 2)- Fall 2011. Cruise Report, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

3. Antunes, A. (2005). Microbiology of the Northern brine-filled pools of the Red Sea. PhD Thesis, Coimbra, Portugal: Universidade de Coimbra.

2. Antunes, A. (2003). Microbial life at the anaerobic brine/seawater and sediment/brine interfaces, In: Black Sea- Mediterranean- Red Sea, Cruise No. 52, Leg 3, January 2- March 27, 2002, pp 50-52. Edited by J. Pätzold, G. Bohrmann & C. Hübscher. Hamburg, Germany: Universität Hamburg.

1. Pätzold, J., Moammar, M., Al Farawati, R., Al Hazmi, Y.M.M., Al Otibi, A., Antunes, A., Arz, H.W., Berger, J., Botz, R. Donner, B., Ehrhardt, A., Garbe-Schönberg, C.-D., Ghandourah, M., Hübscher, C., Kahl, G., Klann, M., Klauke, S., Klitzke, U., Legge, H.L., Lichowski, F., Schewe, F., Schmidt, M., Schmitt, M., Seeberg-Elverfeldt, I. & Truscheit, T. (2003). Black Sea- Mediterranean- Red Sea, Cruise No. 52, Leg 3, January 2- March 27, 2002. Cruise Report, Hamburg, Germany: Universität Hamburg.