Lisa A Waidner

University of West Florida | UWF · Department of Biology

The diversity of aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic (AAP) bacteria has been examined in marine habitats, but the types of AAP bacteria in estuarine waters and distribution of ecotypes in any environment are not well known. The goal of this study was to determine the diversity of AAP bacteria in the Delaware estuary and to examine the distribution of s...

Aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic (AAP) bacteria are photoheterotrophs that, if abundant, may be biogeochemically important in the oceans. We used epifluorescence microscopy and quantitative PCR (qPCR) to examine the abundance of these bacteria by enumerating cells with bacteriochlorophyll a (bChl a) and the light-reaction center gene pufM, respectiv...

Photosynthesis genes and operons of aerobic anoxygenic photosynthetic (AAP) bacteria have been examined in a variety of marine habitats, but genomic information about freshwater AAP bacteria is lacking. The goal of this study was to examine photosynthesis genes of AAP bacteria in the Delaware River. In a fosmid library, we found two clones bearing...

To determine whether metagenomic libraries sample adequately the dominant bacteria in aquatic environments, we examined the phylogenetic make-up of a large insert metagenomic library constructed with bacterial DNA from the Delaware River, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) library of 16S rRNA genes, and community structure determined by fluorescence...

Proteorhodopsin (PR) is a light-driven proton pump that has been found in a variety of marine bacteria, including Pelagibacter ubique, a member of the ubiquitous SAR11 clade. The goals of this study were to explore the diversity of PR genes and to estimate their abundance in the North Atlantic Ocean using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPC...

Prediction and process monitoring during natural attenuation, bioremediation, and biotreatment require effective strategies for detection and enumeration of the responsible bacteria. The use of 2,4-dinitroanisole (DNAN) as a component of insensitive munitions leads to environmental contamination of firing ranges and manufacturing waste streams. Noc...

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DwH) Oil spill released an enormous volume of oil into the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), prompting the widespread use of chemical dispersants like Corexit® EC9500A. The ecological consequences of this treatment, especially when combined with natural factors such as sunlight, remain unexplored in the context of marine bacterial c...

Vibrio vulnificus (Vv) and Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) are water- and foodborne bacteria that can cause several distinct human diseases, collectively called vibriosis. The success of oyster aquaculture is negatively impacted by high Vibrio abundances. Myriad environmental factors affect the distribution of pathogenic Vibrio, including temperature,...

The increased potential for contamination of seawater by crude oils requires studies of bacterial biodegradation potential, but little is known of the differential negative impacts of oils on bacterial growth. No two wells generate chemically identical oils; and importantly, solar exposure of crude oil may differentially affect the bacterial respon...

Vibriosis is the general term for human illnesses caused by infection of pathogenic Vibrio species. Vibrio vulnificus ( Vv ) and parahaemolyticus ( Vp ) are two problematic waterborne pathogens that have yet to be enumerated in northwest Florida coastal Gulf of Mexico estuaries. In this regionally novel study, we surveyed 43 locations in two subtro...

The chemical synthesis intermediate 3,4‐dichloronitrobenzene (3,4‐DCNB) is an environmental pollutant. Diaphorobacter sp. strain JS3050 utilizes 3,4‐DCNB as a sole source of carbon, nitrogen and energy. However, the molecular determinants of its catabolism are poorly understood. Here, the complete genome of strain JS3050 was sequenced and key genes...

Artificial reefs have been deployed throughout US coastal waters since the late 1970s, primarily to enhance fisheries. Although numerous studies have examined their effects on fish communities, few have examined interactions between artificial reefs and primary producers or their effects on biogeochemistry of the surrounding water column. Understan...

3-Nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO) is one of the main ingredients of many insensitive munitions, which are being used as replacements for conventional explosives. As its use becomes widespread, more research is needed to assess its environmental fate. Previous studies have shown that NTO is biologically reduced to 3-amino-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (ATO)....

Dichloronitrobenzenes (DCNB) are intermediates in the production of dichloroanilines, which are key feedstocks for synthesis of diuron and other herbicides. Although DCNB is a major contaminant at certain chemical manufacturing sites, aerobic DCNB biodegradation is poorly understood and such sites have not been candidates for bioremediation. When a...

Introduction Energy transfer in the water column can be understood as a cycle (pictured right), beginning with the capture of solar energy by primary producers, such as algae and phototrophic bacteria. Zooplankton feed on these phytoplankton resulting in the transfer of energy to higher trophic levels. Organic matter from death or waste of organism...

An invasive population of the Asian shore crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus was discovered in 1988 near the mouth of Delaware Bay, and populations now occur from North Carolina to Maine. The shore crab H. sanguineus competes with indigenous species and has displaced resident crabs throughout its invasive range. However, there have been few studies that d...

Viral production estimates show that virioplankton communities turn over rapidly in aquatic ecosystems. Thus, it is likely that the genetic identity of viral populations comprising the virioplankton also change over temporal and spatial scales reflecting shifts in viral-host interactions. However, there are few approaches that can provide data on t...

Viral microRNAs regulate gene expression using either translational repression or mRNA cleavage and decay. Two microRNAs from infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV), iltv-miR-I5 and iltv-miR-I6, map antisense to the ICP4 gene. Post-transcriptional repression by these microRNAs was tested against a portion of the ICP4 coding sequence cloned downs...

Many herpesviruses, including Marek's disease viruses (MDV1 and MDV2), encode microRNAs. In this study, we report microRNAs of two related herpesviruses, infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) and herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT), as well as additional MDV2 microRNAs. The genome locations, but not microRNA sequences, are conserved among all four of...

The diversity and abundance of glycosyl hydrolase family 5 (GH5) were studied in the North Atlantic Ocean. This family was chosen because of the large number of available sequences from cultured bacteria, the variety of substrates it targets, and the high number of similar sequences in the Sargasso Sea environmental genome database. Three clone lib...

Bacteriophage T4 gene 32 protein, a model for single-strand specific nucleic acid-binding proteins, consists of three structurally and functionally distinct domains. We have studied the effects of the N and C domains on the protein structure and its nucleic acid-interactive properties. Although the presence of the C domain decreases the proteolytic...

Bacteriophage T4 gene 32 protein, first isolated and characterized 27 years ago, has been a model for single-strand specific nucleic acid binding proteins. Although on a thermodynamic basis the protein should significantly lower the melting temperature of double-stranded DNA, the full-length protein has no effect on the Tm of natural DNA. Removal o...