Research Interests:

Physiology and Genetic Engineering of Environmental Bacteria

Our lab is interested in understanding the physiology of Shewanella, a species of gram-negative bacteria found throughout the world in aquatic environments. This group has the greatest diversity of compounds it can ‘breathe’ of any organisms studied to date. The act of respiring these compounds can impact geochemical gradients of compounds like sulfur, iron and manganese. The molecular mechanism that enables S. oneidensis to carry out these reactions and how these systems are regulated is a main focus of research in my laboratory. By understanding the mechanistic details of these processes we can begin to rationally engineer S. oneidensis (and its relatives) for biotechnological applications, ranging from bioremediation to energy generation to biocatalysis.

Lab website
http://www.bti.umn.edu/gralnick/

Recent publications

• Gralnick, J.A., H. Vali, D.L. Lies and D.K. Newman. 2006. Extracellular respiration of dimethyl sulfoxide by Shewanella oneidensis strain MR-1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Mar 21; 103(12): 4669-4674.
  
• Gralnick, J.A., C.T. Brown and D.K. Newman. 2005. Anaerobic regulation by an atypical Arc system in Shewanella oneidensis. Molecular Microbiology. Jun 1; 56(5), 1347-1357.
  
• Lies, D.P., M.E. Hernandez, A. Kappler, R.E. Mielke, J.A. Gralnick, D.K. Newman. Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 uses overlapping pathways for iron reduction at a distance and by direct contact under conditions relevant for biofilms. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. Aug 1; 71:4414-4426.
  
• Croal, L.C., J.A. Gralnick, D. Malasarin and D.K. Newman. 2004. The genetics of geochemistry. Annual Revew of Genetics. Dec 1; 38:175-202.
  

Last updated: August 6, 2009