Research in Dr. Jerry Kukor's Lab:

Dr. Jerry Kukor is an environmental microbiologist whose research focuses on microbial metabolism with an emphasis on understanding the determinants of biodegradability of anthropogenic environmental contaminants.

Degradation of Fuel Hydrocarbons

Understanding the degradation of aquifer-impacting fuel hydrocarbons, such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes, by bacteria that have evolved a suite of adaptive traits allowing for growth and oxygen metabolism in oxygen-limited environments. These adaptive traits include the ability to carry out significant nitrate-dependent degradation of aromatic hydrocarbons under conditions of oxygen limitation; the presence of key catabolic enzymes with kinetic characteristics that allow for effective turnover of limiting substrates; and transcriptional enhancement of promoters of key catabolic operons linked to the onset of denitrification.

Bacterial Survival

We are investigating bacterial survival in the presence of membrane-disrupting solvents such as trichloroethylene (TCE). We have shown that the ability of Ralstonia pickettii PKO1 cells to survive "shock" concentrations of TCE is the result of the combined action of productive metabolism of TCE as well as non-catabolically-mediated solvent resistance.

Gene Population Shifts

Identification of gene targets for molecular assessment of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polychlorinated dibenzofurans and dibenzo-p-dioxins degradation. The goal of this project is to explore the diversity of dehalogenase and oxygenase gene sequences and monitor shifts in their populations without regard to host organism. The experimental work follows gene population shifts during laboratory and field scale remediation, identifies the breadth of genetic diversity of these genes/enzymes in the environment, and associates that diversity with known and unknown organisms.

Analysis of Microbial Diversity in Central Asia

Analysis of the untapped microbial diversity found in ecologically extreme habitats in Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan) with the goal of facilitating the development of natural product-based pharmaceutical capabilities while encouraging biodiversity conservation and exploration. Our approach is to screen for and attempt to isolate from the total diversity of microbes in a sample, as determined by Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (TRFLP) analysis, those members that are abundant in the sample, but are underrepresented in, or are absent from, extant culture collections. The basic assumption that underlies this approach is that individual microbial species or higher level taxa that have not been the subject of intensive investigation – because they are absent from or are underrepresented in extant microbial collections – represent potential sources of novel chemistry. Secondly, we are using a shotgun approach to construct genomic libraries from uncultivated organisms from the ecologically extreme habitats in Central Asia. The overall objective of this approach is to screen for genes encoding novel antimicrobial and secondary product metabolism in environmental DNA libraries prepared directly from soil or sediment material. The basic assumption of this approach is that there is much more biodiversity in natural habitats than that represented by culturable microorganisms from those environments and that the power of genomic science can be used to identify genes encoding potential new antimicrobials.

Other Highlights

Dr. Kukor is Dean of Academic Programs and Research for the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, and Interim Dean of the Graduate School–New Brunswick.

More Info

• Jerry Kukor's Website