Marcos de Moraes, Ph.D.
Rice University
Marcos de Moraes, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Biosciences at Rice University. He trained as a postdoc in the lab of Joseph Mougous, Ph.D., at the University of Washington and received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida. 
de Moraes’ area of expertise is interbacterial interactions mediated by contact-dependent delivery of toxins. At a high level, his interests rely on bacterial physiology and genetics in the context of microbial communities. HIs research group studies how DNA cytosine deaminase toxins associate with different secretion systems. In a line of research, they are investigating how deaminase toxins affect microbial communities and reshape bacterial physiology to protect the cells from intoxication. Other projects are centered on the type VI secretion system from Burkholderia, and how the structural diversity of deaminase toxins translates into different substrate preferences.
de Moraes’ area of expertise is interbacterial interactions mediated by contact-dependent delivery of toxins. At a high level, his interests rely on bacterial physiology and genetics in the context of microbial communities. HIs research group studies how DNA cytosine deaminase toxins associate with different secretion systems. In a line of research, they are investigating how deaminase toxins affect microbial communities and reshape bacterial physiology to protect the cells from intoxication. Other projects are centered on the type VI secretion system from Burkholderia, and how the structural diversity of deaminase toxins translates into different substrate preferences.