Faculty
| Dr. Lily Y. Young Professor II |
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Education
B.S. (Microbiology) Cornell University, 1965
M.S. (Microbiology) Cornell University, 1967
Ph.D. (Environmental Microbiology) Harvard University, 1972
Research Interests
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.
Recent Publications
So, CM & LY Young.
2001. Anaerobic alkane degradation by enriched consortia under four different
reducing conditions. Environ
Toxicol Chem 20:473-478.
Phelps, CD
& LY Young. 2001. Anaerobic
biodegradation of gasoline components: a review. Advances in Agronomy 70:329-357.
Togna, M,
J. Kazumi, S Apitz, V Kirtay, LY Young.. 2001.
Effect of sediment toxicity on anaerobic microbial metabolism (in press).
Sullivan,
ER, C Phelps & LY Young. Anaerobic
mineralization of stable isotope labeled 2-methylnaphthalene (accepted).
Perez-Jimenez, JR, LY Young & LJ Kerkhof.. 2001 Molecular characterization of sulfate-reducing bacteria in anaerobic hydrocarbon degrading consortia and pure cultures using the dissimilatory sulfite reductase (dsrAB) genes. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 35:145-150.
Zhang, X, ER Sullivan & LY Young. 2000. Aromatic ring reduction in the biodegradation of carboxylated naphthalene by a sulfate reducing consortium. Biodegradation (in press).
So, CM & LY Young. 2000. Anaerobic alkane degradation by enriched consortia. Environ Toxicol Chem (accepted).
Boyle, AW, CD Phelps & LY Young. 1999. Isolation from estuarine sediments of a desulfovibrio strain which can grow on lactate coupled to the reductive dehalogenation of 2,4,6-tribromophenol. Appl Environ Microbiol 65:1133-1140. Boyle,AW, VK Knight, MM Haggblom & LY Young. 1999. Transformation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid in four marine and estuarine sediments: effects of sulfate, hydrogen and acetate on dehalogenation and side chaine cleavage. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 29:105-113.
So, CM & LY Young. 1999. Anaerobic degradation of alkanes by a sulfate-reducing bacterium: isolation and characterization. Appl Environ Microbiol 65:2969-2976.
Boyle, AW, MM Haggblom & LY Young. 1999. Dehalogenation of lindane (g-hexachlorocyclohexane) by anaerobic bacteria from marine sediments and by sulfate-reducing bacteria. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 29:379-387.
So, CM & LY Young. 1999. Initial reactions for anaerobic alkane degradation by the sulfate reducer strain AK-01. Appl Environ Microbiol 65:5532-5540.
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