PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Moran, Mary Ann
Associate Professor - Marine Sciences.
Ph.D. 1987, University of Georgia.

Research Interests:

Microbial ecology and biogeochemistry in coastal marine environments; molecular approaches to bacterial community structure; bacterial degradation of lignin and humic substances in aquatic environments; the fate of terrestrially-derived organic matter in marine environments; and identification and characterization of lignin-degrading bacteria.

Selected Publications:

• Moran, M.A. and R.E. Hodson. 1994. Dissolved humic substances of vascular plant origin in a coastal marine environment. Limnology and Oceanography 39:762-771.
  
  
• Hodson, R.E., W.A. Dustman, R.P. Garg and M.A. Moran. 1995. Prokaryotic in situ PCR: visualization of microscale distribution of specific genes and gene products in prokaryotic communities. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 61:4074-4082.
  
  
• Bushaw, K.L., R.G. Zepp, M.A. Tarr, D. Schulz-Jander, R.A. Bourbonniere, R.E. Hodson, W.L. Miller, D.A. Bronk and M.A. Moran. 1996. Photochemical release of biologically available nitrogen from aquatic dissolved organic matter. Nature, 381:404-407.
  
  
• Moran, M.A. and R.G. Zepp. 1997. Role of photoreactions in the formation of biologically labile compounds from dissolved organic matter. Limnology and Oceanography, 42:1307-1316.
  
  
• González, J.M., F. Mayer, M.A. Moran, R.E. Hodson and W.B. Whitman. 1997. Sagittula stellata (gen. nov., sp. nov.), a lignin-transforming bacterium from a coastal environment. International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology, 47:773-780.
  
  
• Miller, W.L. and M.A. Moran. 1997. Interaction of photochemical and microbial processes in the degradation of refractory dissolved organic matter from a coastal marine environment. Limnology and Oceanography, 42:1317-1324.
  
  
• González, J.M. and M.A. Moran. 1997. Numerical dominance of a group of marine bacteria in the a-subclass of Proteobacteria in coastal seawater. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 63:4237-4242.
  
  
• Chen, F., J.M. González, W.A. Dustman, M.A. Moran and R.E. Hodson. 1997. In situ reverse transcriptase: an approach to characterize genetic diversity and activity of prokaryotes. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 63:4907-4913.
  
  
• Moran, M.A., W.M. Sheldon, and J.E. Sheldon. 1999. Biodegradation of riverine dissolved organic carbon in five estuaries of the Southeastern United States. Estuaries, In Press.