Margarida Palma
Researcher





Research Activities

Margarida Palma develops research in the field of physiology, molecular biology, and functional genomics of conventional and non-conventional yeasts with a role in food and industrial biotechnology. Her research includes: i) selection of yeasts for the bioconversion of agro-industrial side-streams and production of added-value compounds; ii) isolation and identification of non-conventional yeasts with interest in biotechnological processes; iii) enhancement of the organoleptic profile of beers by co-fermentation of S. cerevisiae with non-Saccharomyces yeasts; iv) identification and characterization of new yeast species; v) curation of Yeastract and N.C.Yeastract databases; vi) study of the molecular mechanisms underlying tolerance to weak acid food preservatives (in particular acetic acid) in the food spoilage yeast Zygosaccharomyces bailii.

Selected Publications

Godinho CP*, Palma M*, Oliveira J*, Mota M, Antunes M, Teixeira M, Monteiro P, Sá-Correia I. (2021) The N.C.Yeastract and CommunityYeastract databases to study gene and genomic transcription regulation in non-conventional yeasts. FEMS Yeast Res, 21(6) (*co-first authors)

Bourbon-Melo N, Palma M*, Rocha MP, Ferreira A, Bronze MR, Elias H and Sá-Correia, I. (2021) Use of Hanseniaspora guilliermondii and Hanseniaspora opuntiae to enhance the aromatic profile of beer in mixed-culture fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Food Microbiol, 95 (* corresponding author)

Martins, LC, Palma M, Angelov, A, Nevoigt E, Wolfgang L, Sá-Correia I. (2021) Complete Utilization of the Major Carbon Sources Present in Sugar Beet Pulp Hydrolysates by the Oleaginous Red Yeasts Rhodotorula toruloides and R. mucilaginosa. J Fungi, 7(3), 215

Palma M, Münsterkötter M, Peça J, Güldener U and Sá-Correia I (2017) Genome sequence of the highly weak-acid-tolerant Zygosaccharomyces bailii IST302, amenable to genetic manipulations and physiological studies, FEMS Yeast Res, 17(4)

Palma M, Dias PJ, Roque FC, Luzia L, Guerreiro JF, Sá-Correia I (2017), The Zygosaccharomyces bailii transcription factor Haa1 is required for acetic acid and copper stress responses suggesting subfunctionalization of the ancestral bifunctional protein Haa1/Cup2, BMC Genomics, 18(1):75

Mira NP, Palma M, Guerreiro JF and Sá-Correia I, Genome-wide identification of Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes required for tolerance to acetic acid (2010), Microb Cell Fact, 9(1):79


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ORCID