Biology

Patricia Sobecky, Associate Professor

Ph.D. Microbiology, University of Georgia, 1993
patricia.sobecky@biology.gatech.edu
Phone: (404) 894-5819
Fax: (404) 894-0519
Office: (ES&T) 1242/1121

Publications

Criminger, J.D., Hazen, T.H., Sobecky, P.A. and C.R. Lovell. 2007. Nitrogen fixation by Vibrio parahaemolyticus and its implications for a new ecological niche.  Applied and Environmental Microbiology doi:10.1128/AEM.00981-07 (in press)

Martinez, R.J., Beazley, M.J., Taillefert, M. Arakaki, A.K., Skolnick, J., and P.A. Sobecky 2007. Aerobic uranium(VI) bioprecipitation by metal resistant bacteria isolated from radionuclide- and metal-contaminated subsurface soils. Environmental Microbiology doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2007.01422.x (in press)

Beazley, M.J., Martinez, R.J., P.A. Sobecky, S.M. Webb and M. Taillefert. 2007. Uranium biomineralization as a result of bacterial phosphatase activity: insights from bacterial isolates from a contaminated subsurface. Environmental Science and Technology (in press)

Burkepile, D.E., Parker, J.D., Woodson, C.B., Mills, H.J., Kubanek, J., Sobecky, P.A., and M.E. Hay.  2006. Chemically-mediated competition between microbes and animals: microbes as consumers in food webs.  Ecology 87(11):2821-2831.

Martinez, R.J., Wang, Y., Raimondo, M.A., Coombs, J.M., Barkay, T., and P.A. Sobecky. 2006. Horizontal gene transfer of PIB-type ATPases among bacteria isolated from radionuclide- and metal-contaminated subsurface soils. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 72:3111-3118.

Martinez, R.J., Mills, H.J., S. Story, P.A. Sobecky. 2006. Prokaryotic diversity and metabolically active microbial populations in sediments from an active mud volcano in the Gulf of Mexico. Environmental Microbiology (in press)

Mills, H.J., R.J. Martinez, S. Story and P.A. Sobecky. 2005.   Characterization of microbial community structure in Gulf of Mexico gas hydrates:   a comparative analysis of DNA- and RNA-derived clone libraries. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 71:3235-3247.

Mills, H.J., R.J. Martinez, S. Story, and P.A. Sobecky.   2004.   Identification of members of the metabolically active microbial populations associated with Beggiatoa species mat communities from Gulf of Mexico cold-seep sediments.   Applied and Environmental Microbiology 70:5447-5458.

Mills, H.J., C. Hodges, K. Wilson, I.R. MacDonald and P.A. Sobecky.   2003. Microbial Diversity in Sediments Associated with Surface Breaching Gas Hydrate Mounds in the Gulf of Mexico. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 46:39-52.

Agron, P.G., P.A. Sobecky, and G.L. Anderson. 2002.   Establishment of uncharacterized plasmids in Escherichia coli by in vitro transposition.   FEMS Microbiology Letters 217:249-254.

Sobecky, P.A.   2002.   Approaches to investigating the ecology of plasmids in marine microbial communities.   Plasmid 48:213-221.

Smalla, K. and P.A. Sobecky.   2002.   The prevalence and diversity of mobile genetic elements in bacterial communities of different environmental habitats: insights gained from different methodological approaches.   FEMS Microbiology Ecology 42:165-175.

Beeson, K.E.,** D.L. Erdner,*** C.E. Bagwell, C.R. Lovell, and P.A. Sobecky#. 2002. Differentiation of plasmids in marine diazotroph assemblages determined by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis. Microbiology 148:179-189.

L.G. Powers***, H.J. Mills***, A.V. Palumbo, C. Zhang, K. Delaney** and P.A. Sobecky*. 2002. Introduction of a Plasmid-encoded phoA gene for Constitutive Overproduction of Alkaline Phosphatase in Three Subsurface Pseudomonas Isolates. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. In press.

Pfiffner, S.M., P.A. Sobecky, T.J. Phelps, and A.V. Palumbo. 2002. Microbiology of Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifers and other unconsolidated subsurface sediments. In Gabriel Bitton (ed.) Encyclopedia of Environmental Microbiology, Vol (4), pp. 2028-2042.

Sobecky, P.A. 2002. The Horizontal Gene Pool Bacterial Plasmids And Gene Spread. C.M. Thomas (ed.). (book review) in ASM News vol 68:197.

Cook, M.A.**, A.M. Osborn, J.A. Bettandorff,* and P.A. Sobecky#. 2001. Endogenous isolation of replicon probes for assessing plasmid ecology of marine sediment microbial communities. Microbiology 147:2089-2101.

Mills, H.J.,**L.G. Powers,** A.V. Palumbo, C.L. Zhang, and P.A. Sobecky#. 2001. Uranium Sequestration by Microbially Induced Phosphorus Bioavailability. In: A. Leeson, B.M. Peyton, J.L. Means, and V.S. Magar (Eds.), Bioremediation of Inorganic Compounds. Proceedings of the Sixth International In Situ and On-Site Bioremediation Symposium, Vol. 6(9), pp. 165-171.

Smalla K, E. Krogerrecklenfort, H. Heuer, W. Dejonghe, E. Top, M. Osborn, J. Niewint, C. Tebbe, M. Barr, M. Bailey, A. Greated, C. Thomas, S. Turner, P. Young, D. Nikolakopoulou, A. Karagouni, A. Wolters, J.D. van Elsas, K. Dronen, R. Sandaa, S. Borin, J. Brabhu, E. Grohmann and P. Sobecky. 2000. PCR-based detection of mobile genetic elements in total community DNA. Microbiology 46: 1256-1257.

Powers, L.G.,** J. Mallonee,*** and P.A. Sobecky#. 2000. Nucleotide sequence and characterization of a cryptic plasmid from a marine Vibrio sp. Plasmid 43:99-102.

Reyes, N.,** M.E. Frischer, and P.A. Sobecky#. 1999. Characterization of mercury resistance mechanisms in marine sediment microbial communities. FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 30:273-284.

Sobecky, P.A. 1999. Plasmid ecology of marine sediment microbial communities. Hydrobiologia. 401:9-18.

Sobecky, P.A.,# T.J. Mincer,*** M.C. Chang, *A. Toukdarian, and D.R. Helinski. 1998. Isolation of broad-host-range replicons from marine sediment bacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64:2822-2830.

Easter, C.L., Sobecky, P.A., and D.R. Helinski. 1997. Contribution of different segments of the par region to the stable maintenance of the broad-host-range plasmid RK2. J. Bacteriol. 179:6472-6479.

Sobecky, P.A.,# Mincer, T.J., Chang, M.C., and D.R. Helinski. 1997. Plasmids isolated from marine sediment microbial communities contain replication and incompatibility regions unrelated to those of known plasmid groups. Appl. Environ Microbiol. 63:888-895.

Sobecky, P.A.,# Easter, C.L., Bear, P.D., and D.R. Helinski. 1996. Characterization of the stable maintenance properties of the par region of the broad-host-range plasmid RK2. J. Bacteriol. 178:2086-2093.

Sobecky, P.A.,# Schell, M.A., Moran, M.A., and R.E. Hodson. 1996. Impact of a genetically engineered bacterium with enhanced alkaline phosphatase activity on marine phytoplankton communities. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62:6-12.

Sobecky, P.A.,# Schell, M.A., Moran, M.A., and R.E. Hodson. 1992. Adaptation of model genetically engineered microorganisms to lake water: growth rate enhancements and plasmid loss. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 58:3630-3637.

Hodson, R.E., Sobecky, P.A., and M.A. Moran. 1989. Horizontal gene transfer among bacteria in aquatic systems: effects of nutrient concentrations. pp. 131-138. In C. E. O'Rear and G.C. Llewellyn (eds.) Biodeterioration Research 2. Plenum Press, N.Y.

Schoenberg, S.A., Benner, R., Armstrong, A.Q., Sobecky, P.A., and R.E. Hodson. 1989. Effects of acid stress on aerobic decomposition of algal and aquatic macrophyte detritus: direct comparison using a radiocarbon assay. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 56:237-244.

Schoenberg, S.A., Benner, R., Sobecky, P.A., and R.E. Hodson. 1988. Adaptation of phytoplankton-degrading microbial communities to thermal reactor effluent in a new cooling reservoir. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 54:1481-1487.