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Lily Young
Professor II
Rutgers University
School of Env & Biol Sciences
Environmental Sciences
Biotechnology Center for Agriculture & the Environment
59 Dudley Road
New Brunswick. NJ 08901-8520
(848) 932-6383
FAX - 0312
lyoung@aesop.rutgers.edu |
Anaerobic microbial metabolism of environmental contaminants. microbial
ecology
The activity and role of anaerobic microorganisms for both natural carbon
cycling in the environment and for biodegradation processes has long been
understudied and underutilized. Microbes are the only members of the
biosphere with the ability to carry out respiratory functions using
electron acceptors other than oxygen. for example. nitrate. iron (III). sulfate and carbonate. Among the microorganisms in the anaerobic microbial
community. the major physiological groups important in soils and sediments
include denitrifiers. iron reducers. sulfidogens and methanogens whose
ability to degrade contaminant chemicals such as pesticides. benzene. toluene. xylenes. alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) is
not well understood. Our broad goals are to investigate and understand
these diverse communities with respect to their ability to metabolize
anthropogenically produced and naturally occurring aromatic compounds.
This includes examining complex environmental systems as well as pure
cultures in the laboratory. Currently. the specific areas of research
include: 1) examining the instrinsic ability of anaerobic communities from
NY-NJ Harbor sediments to degrade alkanes and PAHs. and environmental
factors which affect the activity; 2) determining the novel microbial
chemistry of the anaerobic pathways of naphthalene. methylnapthalene and
phenanthrene by active consortia. and that of the alkanes by newly
isolated pure cultures; 3) investigating methods to improve or enhance
natural rates of biodegradation; 4) developing biochemical markers for
assessing intrinsic biodegradation; 5)
isolating novel anaerobes able to degrade additional petroleum
constituents and other aromatic compounds; 6) characterizing the anaerobic
toluene pathway in a denitrifying strain with a molecular genetic
approach.
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