Leonardo Joaquim van Zyl

Experienced professional prepared for role of Chief Officer. Expertise in strategic planning, project management, and team leadership. Known for driving results, fostering collaboration, and adapting to evolving needs. Strong analytical skills, effective communication, and decisive problem-solving abilities. Reliable and focused on achieving organizational goals.

Date of Birth: 08/31/78

• A promiscuous, broad-host range, IncQ-like plasmid isolated from an industrial strain of Acidithiobacillus caldus, its accessory DNA and potential to participate in the horizontal gene pool of biomining and other bacteria., Goldschmidt GK, Gardner MN, van Zyl, LJ, Deane SM, Rawlings DE., 2003, In Biohydrometallurgy: A sustainable technology in evolution, IBS 2003, Eds M. Tsezos, A. Hatzikioseyian, E. Remoudaki. pp. 1249-1259. National Technical University of Athens Press, Greece
• Analysis of the Mobilization Region of the Broad-Host-Range IncQ-Like Plasmid pTC-F14 and Its Ability To Interact with a Related Plasmid, pTF-FC2., van Zyl LJ, Deane SM, Rawlings DE., 2003, J. Bacteriol. 185: 6104-6111
• Isolation, Sequence Analysis, and Comparison of Two Plasmids (28 and 29 Kilobases) from the Biomining Bacterium Leptospirillum ferrooxidans ATCC 49879., Coram NJ, van Zyl LJ, Rawlings DE., 2005, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 7515-7522
• Occurrence of plasmids in the leptospirilli and a comparison of two plasmids from the biomining bacterium, Leptospirillum ferroxxidans ATCC49879., Coram NJ, van Zyl LJ, Rawlings DE., 2005, Proceedings of the 16th International Biohydrometallurgy Symposium, Compress, South Africa
• Presence of a Family of Plasmids (29 to 65 Kilobases) with a 26-Kilobase Common Region in Different Strains of the Sulfur-Oxidizing Bacterium Acidithiobacillus caldus., van Zyl LJ, Anne-Louw LA, Deane SM, Rawlings DE., 2008, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 4300-4308
• Construction of arsB and tetH Mutants of the Sulfur-Oxidizing Bacterium, Acidithiobacillus caldus by Marker Exchange., van Zyl LJ, Munster J, Rawlings DE., 2008, Appl. Environ. Microbial. 74: 5686-5694
• Cobalt uptake and resistance to trace metals in Comamonas testosteroni isolated from a heavy-metal contaminated site in the Zambian Copperbelt., Staniland S, Coppock M, Tuffin M, van Zyl L, Roychoudhury AN, Cowan D., 2010, Geomicrobiol. J. 27: 656-662
• Genetic tool development underpins recent advances in thermophilic whole-cell biocatalysts., Taylor MP, van Zyl L, Tuffin IM, Leak DJ, Cowan DA., 2011, Microb. Biotechnol. 4: 438-448
• Extremophiles and biotechnology: How far have we come?, Taylor MP, Van Zyl L, Tuffin M, Cowan DA., 2011, In Extremophiles: Microbiology and Biotechnology. Anitori, RP, ed. Caister Academic Press, Norwich, pp. 1-23
• Engineering pyruvate decarboxylase-mediated ethanol production in the thermophilic host Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius., van Zyl LJ, Taylor MP, Eley K, Tuffin M, Cowan D., 2014, Appl. Micro. Biotechnol. 98: 1247-1259
• Metagenomic analysis of the viral community in Namib Desert hypoliths., Adriaenssens EM, van Zyl L, De Maayer P, Rubagotti E, Rybicki E, Tuffin M, Cowan DA., 2014, Environ. Microbiol. DOI 10.1111/1462-2920.12528
• Structure and Functional Characterization of Pyruvate decarboxylase from Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus., van Zyl LJ, Schubert W-D, Tuffin IM, Cowan D., 2014, BMC Struct. Biol. DOI:10.1186/s12900-014-0021-1
• High diversity of tailed phages, eukaryotic viruses and virophage-like elements in the metaviromes of Antarctic soil., Zablocki O, van Zyl, L, Adriaenssens EM, Rubagotti E, Tuffin M, Cary Craig, Cowan D., 2014, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. DOI:10.1128/AEM.01525-14
• Niche-dependent genetic diversity in Antarctic metaviromes., Zablocki O, van Zyl L, Adriaenssens EM, Rubagotti E, Tuffin M, Craig C, Cowan D., 2014, Bacteriophage DOI:10.4161/21597081.2014.980125
• Draft genome sequence of marine isolates Thalassomonas viridans and Thalassomonas actiniarum., Olonade I, van Zyl LJ, Trindade MI., 2015, Genome A. DOI: 10.1128/genomeA.00297-15
• An unusual feruloyl esterase belonging to family VIII esterases and displaying a broad substrate range., Ohlhoff CW, Kirby BM, van Zyl LJ, Mutepfa DLR, Casanueva A, Huddy RJ, Bauer R, Cowan DA, Tuffin M., 2015, J. Mol. Cat. B: Enzymatic. 118: 79-88
• Identification and characterization of a novel Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius bacteriophage, GVE3., van Zyl LJ, Sunda F, Taylor MP, Cowan DA, Trindade MI., 2015, Arch. Virol. DOI: 10.1007/s00705-015-2497-9
• Function-guided and targeted metagenomics as a tool to tap into marine natural product diversity for the discovery and production of drug candidates., Trindade M, van Zyl L, Navarro-Fernández J, Abd Elrazak A., 2015, Frontiers in Microbiology. 6:890. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00890
• Engineering resistance to phage GVE3 in Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius., van Zyl LJ, Taylor MP, Trindade M., 2015, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. DOI: 10.1007/s00253-015-7109-9
• Metaviromics of Namib Desert salt pans: A novel lineage of Haloarchaeal Salterproviruses and a rich source of ssDNA viruses., Adriaenssens EM, van Zyl LJ, Cowan DA, Trindade M., 2016, Viruses. DOI:10.3390/v8010014
• Draft genome sequences of three Bacillus Species from South African marine sponges., van Zyl LJ, Matobole R, Biteghe FAN, Klein T, Kirby B, Trindade M., 2016, Genome A. DOI:10.1128/genomeA.00143-16
• Three novel bacteriophages isolated from the East African Rift Valley soda lakes., van Zyl LJ, Nemavhulani S, Cass J, Cowan DA, Trindade M., 2016, Virol. J. DOI: 10.1186/s12985-016-0656-6
• Virome assembly and annotation: a surprise in the Namib Desert., Hesse U, van Heusden P, Kirby BM, Olonade I, van Zyl LJ, Trindade M., 2017, Front. Microbiol. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00013
• Antibacterial activities of bacteria isolated from the marine sponges Isodictya compressa and Higginsia bidentifera collected from Algoa Bay, South Africa., Matobole RM, Van Zyl LJ, Parker-Nance S, Davies-Coleman MT, Trindade M., 2017, Marine Drugs. DOI: 10.3390/md15020047
• Diversity of dsDNA viruses in a South African hot spring assessed by metagenomics and microscopy., Zablocki O, van Zyl LJ, Kirby B, Trindade M., 2017, Viruses. Submitted.
• Novel phages of healthy skin metaviromes from South Africa., van Zyl LJ, Abrahams Y, Stander EA, Kirby BM, Jourdain R, Clavaud C, Farcet C, Breton L, Trindade M., 2017, Sci. Rep. 8: 12265.
• Taxonomy of prokaryotic viruses: 2017 update from the ICTV Bacterial and Archaeal Viruses Subcommittee., Adriaenssens EM, Wittmann J, Kuhn JH. et al., 2018, Arch. Virol. 163: 1125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-018-3723-z
• Biogeography and taxonomic overview of terrestrial hot spring thermophilic phages., Zablocki O, van Zyl L, Trindade M., 2018, Extremophiles. doi.org/10.1007/s00792-018-1052-5
• Identification and sequence analysis of two novel cryptic plasmids isolated from the vaginal mucosa of South African women., Harris L, van Zyl LJ, Kirby-McCullough BM, Damelin LH, Tiemessen CT, Trindade M., 2018, Plasmid. 98:56-62.
• Factors influencing pigment production by halophilic bacteria and its effect on brine evaporation rates., Silva-Castro GA, Moyo AC, Khumalo L, van Zyl LJ, Petrik LF, Trindade M., 2018, Microb Biotechnol. 2018 Oct 2. doi: 10.1111/1751-7915.13319.
• Novel metagenome-derived ornithine lipids identified by functional screening for biosurfactants., Williams W, Kunorozva L, Klaiber I, Henkel M, Pfannstiel J, Günther J, Conrad J, Van Zyl LJ, Hausmann R, Burger A, Trindade M., 2019, Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 103:4429-4441. doi: 10.1007/s00253-019-09768-1.
• Characterisation of three novel α-L-arabinofuranosidases from a compost metagenome., Fortune B, Mhlongo S, van Zyl LJ, Huddy R, Smart M, Trindade M., 2019, BMC Biotechnology 19:22