Education

Ph.D. University of Georgia

Research interests

My research addresses problems in microbial ecology and microbial biogeochemistry generally, with specific emphases on bacterial and atmospheric trace gases. Current primary interests include dynamics of methane, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, nitric oxide and nitrous oxide. Work in my lab addresses aspects of the production and consumption of these gases by bacteria, as well as interactions between microbes and plants, and microbes and animals. Research efforts include questions related to the physiological ecology of trace-gas transforming microbes; associations between plant roots and microbes that affect gas production or consumption and the diversity and structure of trace-gas utilizing microbial communities. My research includes field studies of gas exchange in wetlands, forests, agroecosystems and nearshore marine environments. I am also exploring the role of atmospheric sources of carbon and energy in the colonization and succession of microbes on recent (0-300 yr old) lava flows. Techniques and approaches in these various studies range from applications of molecular tools, to isolation and characterization of novel microbes, to considerations of microbial contributions to trace gas budgets on a global scale.

Publications

• King, G.M. 2001. Radiotracer assays (35S) of sulfate reduction rates in marine and freshwater sediments. pp. 489- 500. In, J. Paul (ed.), Methods in Marine Microbiology. Academic Press.
• King, G.M. 2001. Radiotracer (14C and 3H) assays in benthic biogeochemistry. pp. 419-426. In, Hurst, C.J. et al. (eds.). Manual of Environmental Microbiology. ASM, Washington, D.C.
• Chung, W.-K. and G.M. King. 2001. Isolation, characterization and polyaromatic hydrocarbon degradation potential of aerobic bacteria from marine macrofaunal burrow sediments and description of Lutibacterium anuloederans gen. nov., sp. nov., and Cycloclasticus spirillensis sp. nov. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67:5585-5592.
• Benstead, J. and G.M. King. 2001. The effect of acidification on atmospheric methane uptake by a Maine forest soil. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 34:207-212.
• Hardy, K. and G.M. King. 2001. Enrichment of high affinity CO oxidizers in Maine forest soil. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67:3671-3676.
• King, G.M. 2001. Aspects of carbon monoxide production and consumption by marine macroalgae. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 224:69-75.
• Austen, M.C., J.D. Lambshead, P.A. Hutchings, G. Boucher, P.V.R. Snelgrove, C. Heip, G.M. King, I. Koike, C. Smith. 2002. Biodiversity links above and below the marine sediment-water interface that may influence community stability. Biodev. Cons. 11:113-136.
• King, G.M. and M. Hungria. 2002. Soil-atmosphere CO exchanges and microbial biogeochemistry of CO transformations in a Brazilian agroecosystem. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68:4480-4485.
• King, G.M. and H. Crosby. 2002. Impacts of plant roots on soil CO cycling and soil-atmosphere CO exchange. Glob. Change Biol. 8:1085-1093.
• King, G.M. 2003. Contributions of atmospheric CO and hydrogen uptake to microbial dynamics on recent Hawaiian volcanic deposits. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69:4067-4075.
• King, G.M. 2003. Molecular and culture-based analyses of aerobic carbon monoxide oxidizer diversity. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69:7257-7265.
• Utsumi, M., S.E. Belova, G.M. King and H. Uchimaya. 2003. Phylogenetic comparison of methanogen diversity in different wetland soils. J. Gen. Appl. Microbiol. 49:75-83.
• King, G.M. 2003. Uptake of carbon monoxide and hydrogen at environmentally relevant concentrations by mycobacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69:7266-7272.
• Dunfield, K. and G.M. King. 2004. Molecular analysis of carbon monoxide-oxidizing bacteria associated with recent Hawaiian volcanic deposits. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70:4242-4248.
• Nanba, K., G.M. King and K. Dunfield. 2004. Analysis of the distribution and diversity of lithotrophic bacterial populations on recent Hawaiian volcanic deposits. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70:2245-2253.

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