Gordon Taylor | SUNY: Stony Brook University (original) (raw)

Papers by Gordon Taylor

The ISME Journal, Mar 10, 2011

Scientific Reports, Oct 31, 2019

Frontiers in Microbiology, Aug 3, 2017

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Sep 1, 2003

Applied Spectroscopy, May 1, 1990

A flow injection sampling system to analyze dilute aqueous solutions by surface-enhanced resonanc... more A flow injection sampling system to analyze dilute aqueous solutions by surface-enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy (SERRS) is described, and critical operating parameters are evaluated. A simple procedure for preparing a silver colloid, which is more homogeneous, stable, and SERS-active than that previously reported and does not require sedimentation, is presented. With the use of crystal violet (CV) as a model analyte, the flow injection system, a Raman micro-probe, and an optical multichannel analyzer (OMA) for detection, high-quality, highly reproducible (coefficient of variation = ±2.37% of mean) Raman spectra for 1 × 10−6 M solutions of CV were obtained in 1 min, and major spectral peaks were observable down to concentrations of 1 × 10−12 M (∼4 × 10−19 g of material). SERRS enhancement and spectral quality were experimentally found to vary significantly with the method of Ag sol preparation and laser excitation wavelength. The system described can rapidly (1–240 s) provide quantitative as well as structural information about very dilute aqueous solutions.

Secondary metabolites play essential roles in ecological interactions and nutrient acquisition, a... more Secondary metabolites play essential roles in ecological interactions and nutrient acquisition, and are of interest for their potential uses in medicine and biotechnology. Under laboratory conditions the discovery of new compounds is hindered by low production, high rediscovery rates, and detection evasion. Genome mining for biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) is a popular approach to address these limitations, thereby uncovering often cryptic secondary metabolic potential. Marine systems are often underrepresented in bulk genome mining efforts; and habitats with unique physicochemical characteristics such as oxygen-depleted and anoxic water columns remain virtually unexplored regarding BGCs. Here, we use genome mining and differential gene expression analyses to show that redox potential and particle-associated vs. free-living lifestyles both influence the composition and production of secondary metabolites through the stratified water column of the Cariaco Basin, Venezuela. Microbio...

Limnology and Oceanography

In lakes, seasonal phytoplankton blooms and allochthonous plant debris intensify particulate orga... more In lakes, seasonal phytoplankton blooms and allochthonous plant debris intensify particulate organic carbon fluxes to the lakebed. Microbes associated with these particles likely vary with organic substrate lability and redox conditions. To explore microbial compositional responses to these variables, we analyzed particle‐associated and free‐living assemblages in the permanently redox‐stratified Fayetteville Green Lake using 16 S rRNA amplicon sequencing during the peak and end of cyanobacterial and photoautotrophic sulfur bacterial blooms. Assemblage compositions were strongly influenced by redox conditions and particle association. Assemblage compositions varied seasonally above the lower oxycline boundary (summer—generalist heterotrophs; autumn—iron reducers and specialist heterotrophs), but not in the anoxic region below. Particle‐associated assemblages were less diverse than free‐living assemblages and were dominated by heterotrophs that putatively metabolize complex organic su...

Microbial assemblages associated with biogenic particles are phylogenetically distinct from free-... more Microbial assemblages associated with biogenic particles are phylogenetically distinct from free-living counterparts, yet biogeochemically coupled. Compositions may vary with organic carbon and inorganic substrate availability and with redox conditions, which determine reductant and oxidant availability. To explore microbial assemblage compositional responses to steep oxygen and redox gradients and seasonal variability in particle and substrate availability, we analyzed taxonomic compositions of particle-associated (PA) and free-living (FL) bacteria and archaea in permanently redox-stratified Fayetteville Green Lake. PA and FL assemblages (> 2.7 µm and 0.2 – 2.7 µm) were surveyed at the peak (July) and end (October) of concurrent cyanobacteria, purple and green sulfur bacteria blooms that result in substantial vertical fluxes of particulate organic carbon. Assemblage compositions varied significantly among redox conditions and size fractions (PA or FL). Temporal differences were ...

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2021

Population growth dynamics and individual cell growth rates are the ultimate expressions of a mic... more Population growth dynamics and individual cell growth rates are the ultimate expressions of a microorganism’s fitness under its environmental conditions, whether natural or engineered. Natural habitats and many industrial settings harbor complex microbial assemblages.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019

Significance Predicting biochemical processes driven by microbes in the environment remains chall... more Significance Predicting biochemical processes driven by microbes in the environment remains challenging, because the “kinetic” parameters conventionally used to predict reaction rates are usually poorly known. Here we mathematically show that in poorly mixed systems, such as stagnant waters, bulk biochemical reaction rates can become limited by the slow transport of substrates across space and essentially independent of kinetic parameters. We demonstrate our arguments for a large and heavily studied ocean basin, where we accurately predict the microbially driven fluxes of various substances, across a depth range of hundreds of meters. Our work opens up avenues for predicting ecosystem processes without knowledge of kinetic parameters and without laborious chemical profile measurements.

Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2018

Traditionally, the Cariaco Basin has been considered to be a classic example of an anoxic basin w... more Traditionally, the Cariaco Basin has been considered to be a classic example of an anoxic basin where transport of organic rich material from the surface layers to depth, restricted vertical mixing, and anaerobic diagenesis dominate. Many studies explicitly or implicitly assume that distributions of chemical species and microbial activity change relatively gradually and that sediment properties solely reflect processes in the overlying water. However the CARIACO time series has repeatedly obtained evidence that intruding oxygenated water must be extremely important in controlling both water chemistry and microbial activity. In May 2008 repeated cruises took place over a period of weeks which clearly demonstrated that relatively large volumes of oxygenated water had recently intruded to depths of at least 300 m over a period of days to weeks. We saw clear evidence of deep oxygen maxima, minima in methane and sulfide concentrations below the oxygen/sulfide interface and apparent pertu...

Deep Sea Research Part A. Oceanographic Research Papers, 1988

Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 2012

ABSTRACT Jost (in press) argued that our measured chemoautotrophic production is overestimated du... more ABSTRACT Jost (in press) argued that our measured chemoautotrophic production is overestimated due to methodology and that oxygen contamination is the most likely explanation for the energy conundrum. We have endeavored to minimize atmospheric exposure from sample collection through incubation since the CARIACO program began. We have also intentionally added headspaces to examine the aeration effect and found that, if anything, oxygen contamination appears to suppress C-14 fixation rates at the depths of interest. Even if trace oxygen contamination occurs during sample preparation and incubation, we do not believe that could explain the 800 to1600-fold difference between the chemoautotrophic production and the reactant supply using stoichiometry based on lab cultures of sulfide oxidizers. In Li et al. (2012), the stoichiometry we used does not violate any thermodynamic laws. Thus the value we used, while probably on the high side, is theoretically possible. We argue that production of sulfide within the redoxcline may be a significant source based on the fact that a large fraction of the organic matter produced by the chemoautotrophs within the redoxcline does not seem to settle into underlying sediment traps. Our main intention was to propose that in situ sulfide production, i.e., a &quot;cryptic sulfur cycle&quot;, within the redoxcline might be a significant, but neglected process. Published by Elsevier Ltd.