Andressa Sbano S. Ferreira

Andressa Sbano S. Ferreira


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

1Year (2026-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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15 September 2026 in Preprints.org
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JRJuliana Nunes Ramos
Juliana Nunes Ramos
ASAlessandra Sbano
Alessandra Sbano
AFAndressa Sbano S. Ferreira
Andressa Sbano S. Ferreira
LCLUCIANA Veloso da COSTA
LUCIANA Veloso da COSTA
MBMarcelo Lima Brandão
Marcelo Lima Brandão
Background/Objectives: The global crisis of antimicrobial resistance and limited discov-ery of new antimicrobial classes have intensified the search for alternative sources of bio-active natural products. Environmental bacteria harbor largely unexplored biosynthetic diversity, much of which is encoded in biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). This review examines current strategies for genome-guided BGC bioprospecting, emphasizing antimi-crobial and environmental applications, and the transition from computational prediction to experimental validation. Methods: We review advances in bacterial genome mining, protein structure prediction, molecular docking, and experimental approaches for evalu-ating antimicrobial and bioremediation potential. Emphasis is placed on representative environmental bacterial genera and the integration of genomic, structural, metabolomic, microbiological, and environmental approaches. Results: Genome mining has revealed substantial biosynthetic potential across diverse environmental bacteria. Comparative ge-nomics and BGC similarity analyses support dereplication and prioritization, while AI-based approaches can expand the search toward atypical and poorly characterized bi-osynthetic systems. Protein structure prediction and molecular docking provide mecha-nistic hypotheses but cannot independently demonstrate metabolite production or biolog-ical activity. Experimental approaches, including One Strain-Many Compounds, heterol-ogous expression, metabolomics, functional genetics, antimicrobial assays, and environ-mentally relevant microcosms, are therefore essential for linking genomic potential to me-tabolite production and biological function. Conclusions: BGC-driven bioprospecting pro-vides a powerful framework for expanding microbial natural product discovery beyond conventional screening. Its greatest potential lies in multi-omics approaches and experi-mental validation. Future progress will depend on improving the prioritization and acti-vation of cryptic BGCs and establishing stronger gene-to-metabolite-to-function relation-ships, ultimately supporting the development of novel antimicrobials and environmental-ly relevant biotechnological applications.