The general goal of my group is to obtain a quantitative understanding of the design principles of genetic circuits and intracellular physiology. Our present focus is on elucidating the dynamics of the circadian clock in single-celled cyanobacteria.
This simple model system allows us to ask fundamental questions about how clocks (and gene circuits in general) interact with other circuits and cellular processes in various physiological and environmental contexts. For example, how do the clock and the cell cycle interact with one another to coordinate growth and cell division? How is the clock modulated by intracellular energy states, as well as extracellular environmental changes? Can we use synthetic biology to control the oscillatory dynamics of the clock and design new circuits?
We believe the best way to understand natural circuits and to build new ones is through an iteration of experiment and theory. Our approach is therefore highly interdisciplinary, combining single-cell microscopy, image analysis, microfluidics and mathematical models.
- PhD in Systems Biology: University of Edinburgh, UK
- Licenciatura (BSc) in Engineering Physics. Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Member, Microbiology Society
- Ho, Po-Yi, Martins, Bruno M. C., Amir, Ariel, 2020. A mechanistic model of the regulation of division timing by the circadian clock in cyanobacteria. Biophysical Journal
- Martins, Bruno M. C., Tooke, Amy K., Thomas, Philipp, Locke, James C. W., 2018. Cell size control driven by the circadian clock and environment in cyanobacteria. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115 (48), pp. E11415-E11424
- Mosheiff, Noga, Martins, Bruno M. C., Pearl-Mizrahi, Sivan, Grünberger, Alexander, Helfrich, Stefan, Mihalcescu, Irina, Kohlheyer, Dietrich, Locke, James C. W., Glass, Leon, Balaban, Nathalie Q., 2018. Inheritance of cell-cycle duration in the presence of periodic forcing. Physical Review X, 8 (2)
- Martins, Bruno M. C., Das, Arijit K., Antunes, Liliana, Locke, James C. W., 2016. Frequency doubling in the cyanobacterial circadian clock. Molecular Systems Biology, 12 (12)
- Martins, Bruno M. C., Locke, James C. W., 2015. Microbial individuality : how single-cell heterogeneity enables population level strategies. Current Opinion in Microbiology, 24, pp. 104-112
- Mac Gabhann, Feilim, Martins, Bruno M. C., Swain, Peter S., 2013. Ultrasensitivity in posphorylation-dephosphorylation cycles with little substrate. PLoS Computational Biology, 9 (8)
- van Nimwegen, Erik, Martins, Bruno M. C., Swain, Peter S., 2011. Trade-offs and constraints in allosteric sensing. PLoS Computational Biology, 7 (11)