Klaus Nüsslein

Professor

Photo of Klaus Nüsslein
Phone: 

413-545-1356

Fax: 

413-545-1578

Email: 
klaus@umass.edu
Office: 

110A Morrill Science Center IVN

Ph.D.: 

Microbiology, Michigan State University, 1998

Lab Group Home Page
Mailing address: 

Klaus R. Nüsslein, Ph.D.
Department of Microbiology
418 Morrill Science Center IVN
University of Massachusetts
639 North Pleasant Street
Amherst, MA 01003-9298

Research Interests

Communities, not total biomass, control net process rates and drive the biogeochemical cycles that sustain the biosphere. Thus, descriptions of the temporal and spatial dimensions of microbial community structure and the complex gene expression patterns that underlie trophic interactions are fundamental to a more complete understanding of our biosphere.

Our research interests are focused on (I) the adaptation of microbial community structure and activity to external stress factors, and (II) the role microorganisms play in biogeochemical cycles. To aid our research we currently focus on three defined terrestrial microbial systems:

  • The lack of electron donors in deep subsurface systems,
  • the stress of land use change and intensive agriculture on soil systems, and
  • the extreme conditions in sediments under acid mine drainage.

     

Google Scholar Citation Index

Selected Publications

Nüsslein K, Izquierdo J.  2015.  Variation in diazotrophic community structure in forest soils reflects land use history.. Soil Biology and Biochemistry. 80:1-8.
Nüsslein K, Lammel D, Tsai SM, Cerri CC.  2015.  Land use, soil and litter chemistry drive bacterial community structures in samples of the rainforest and Cerrado (Brazilian Savannah) biomes in Southern Amazonia.. European Journal of Soil Biology. 66:32-29.
Fang B, Jiang Y, Nüsslein K, Rotello VM, Santore MM.  2015.  Antimicrobial surfaces containing cationic nanoparticles: how immobilized, clustered, and protruding cationic charge presentation affects killing activity and kinetics.. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces. 125:255-63.
Paula FS, Rodrigues JLM, Zhou J, Wu L, Mueller RC, Mirza BS, Bohannan BJM, Nüsslein K, Deng Y, Tiedje JM et al..  2014.  Land use change alters functional gene diversity, composition and abundance in Amazon forest soil microbial communities.. Mol Ecol. 23(12):2988-99.
Fang B, Jiang Y, Rotello VM, Nüsslein K, Santore MM.  2014.  Easy come easy go: surfaces containing immobilized nanoparticles or isolated polycation chains facilitate removal of captured Staphylococcus aureus by retarding bacterial bond maturation.. ACS Nano. 8(2):1180-90.
Mueller RC, Paula FS, Mirza BS, Rodrigues JLM, Nüsslein K, Bohannan BJM.  2014.  Links between plant and fungal communities across a deforestation chronosequence in the Amazon rainforest.. ISME J. 8(7):1548-50.
Mirza BS, Potisap C, Nüsslein K, Bohannan BJM, Rodrigues JLM.  2014.  Response of free-living nitrogen-fixing microorganisms to land use change in the Amazon rainforest.. Appl Environ Microbiol. 80(1):281-8.
Baek K, Wang M, McKeever R, Rieber K, Park C, Nüsslein K.  2014.  Biodegradation of low concentrations of 1,2-dibromoethane in groundwater is enhanced by phenol.. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 98(3):1329-38.
Vriezen JAC, de Bruijn FJ, Nüsslein K.  2013.  Identification and characterization of a NaCl-responsive genetic locus involved in survival during desiccation in Sinorhizobium meliloti.. Appl Environ Microbiol. 79(18):5693-700.
Rodrigues JLM, Pellizari VH, Mueller R, Baek K, Jesus Eda C, Paula FS, Mirza B, Hamaoui GS, Tsai SMui, Feigl B et al..  2013.  Conversion of the Amazon rainforest to agriculture results in biotic homogenization of soil bacterial communities.. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 110(3):988-93.
Baek K, McKeever R, Rieber K, Sheppard D, Park C, Ergas SJ, Nüsslein K.  2012.  Molecular approach to evaluate biostimulation of 1,2-dibromoethane in contaminated groundwater.. Bioresour Technol. 123C:207-213.
Li Y, Kumar KN, Dabkowski JM, Corrigan M, Scott RW, Nüsslein K, Tew GN.  2012.  New bactericidal surgical suture coating.. Langmuir. 28(33):12134-9.
Unal B, Perry V R, Sheth M, Gomez-Alvarez V, Chin K-J, Nüsslein K.  2012.  Trace elements affect methanogenic activity and diversity in enrichments from subsurface coal bed produced water.. Front Microbiol. 3:175.
Fang B, Gon S, Park M-H, Kumar K-N, Rotello VM, Nüsslein K, Santore MM.  2012.  Using flow to switch the valency of bacterial capture on engineered surfaces containing immobilized nanoparticles.. Langmuir. 28(20):7803-10.
McKeever R, Sheppard D, Nüsslein K, Baek K-H, Rieber K, Ergas SJ, Forbes R, Hilyard M, Park C.  2012.  Biodegradation of ethylene dibromide (1,2-dibromoethane [EDB]) in microcosms simulating in situ and biostimulated conditions.. J Hazard Mater. 209-210:92-8.
Gon S, Kumar K-N, Nüsslein K, Santore MM.  2012.  How Bacteria Adhere to Brushy PEG Surfaces: Clinging to Flaws and Compressing the Brush.. Macromolecules. 45(20):8373-8381.
Vriezen J A, de Bruijn FJ, Nüsslein KR.  2012.  Desiccation induces viable but Non-Culturable cells in Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021.. AMB Express. 2(1):6.
Boles AR, Conneely T, McKeever R, Nixon P, Nüsslein KR, Ergas SJ.  2012.  Performance of a pilot-scale packed bed reactor for perchlorate reduction using a sulfur oxidizing bacterial consortium.. Biotechnol Bioeng. 109(3):637-46.
Fang B, Gon S, Park M, Kumar K-N, Rotello VM, Nusslein K, Santore MM.  2011.  Bacterial adhesion on hybrid cationic nanoparticle-polymer brush surfaces: ionic strength tunes capture from monovalent to multivalent binding.. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces. 87(1):109-15.
Stout L, Nüsslein K.  2010.  Biotechnological potential of aquatic plant-microbe interactions.. Curr Opin Biotechnol. 21(3):339-45.
Stout LM, Dodova EN, Tyson JF, Nüsslein K.  2010.  Phytoprotective influence of bacteria on growth and cadmium accumulation in the aquatic plant Lemna minor.. Water Res. 44(17):4970-9.
Kalasin S, Dabkowski J, Nüsslein K, Santore MM.  2010.  The role of nano-scale heterogeneous electrostatic interactions in initial bacterial adhesion from flow: a case study with Staphylococcus aureus.. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces. 76(2):489-95.
Colak S, Nelson CF, Nüsslein K, Tew GN.  2009.  Hydrophilic modifications of an amphiphilic polynorbornene and the effects on its hemolytic and antibacterial activity.. Biomacromolecules. 10(2):353-9.
Gabriel GJ, Maegerlein JA, Nelson CF, Dabkowski JM, Eren T, Nüsslein K, Tew GN.  2009.  Comparison of facially amphiphilic versus segregated monomers in the design of antibacterial copolymers.. Chemistry. 15(2):433-9.
Lienkamp K, Madkour AE, Kumar K-N, Nüsslein K, Tew GN.  2009.  Antimicrobial polymers prepared by ring-opening metathesis polymerization: manipulating antimicrobial properties by organic counterion and charge density variation.. Chemistry. 15(43):11715-22.
Lienkamp K, Kumar K-N, Som A, Nüsslein K, Tew GN.  2009.  "Doubly selective" antimicrobial polymers: how do they differentiate between bacteria? Chemistry. 15(43):11710-4.
Sahu AK, Conneely T, Nüsslein K, Ergas SJ.  2009.  Hydrogenotrophic denitrification and perchlorate reduction in ion exchange brines using membrane biofilm reactors.. Biotechnol Bioeng. 104(3):483-91.
Madkour AE, Dabkowski JM, Nusslein K, Tew GN.  2009.  Fast disinfecting antimicrobial surfaces.. Langmuir. 25(2):1060-7.
Sahu AK, Conneely T, Nüsslein KR, Ergas SJ.  2009.  Biological perchlorate reduction in packed bed reactors using elemental sulfur.. Environ Sci Technol. 43(12):4466-71.
Gabriel GJ, Madkour AE, Dabkowski JM, Nelson CF, Nüsslein K, Tew GN.  2008.  Synthetic mimic of antimicrobial peptide with nonmembrane-disrupting antibacterial properties.. Biomacromolecules. 9(11):2980-3.
Al-Badri ZM, Som A, Lyon S, Nelson CF, Nüsslein K, Tew GN.  2008.  Investigating the effect of increasing charge density on the hemolytic activity of synthetic antimicrobial polymers.. Biomacromolecules. 9(10):2805-10.
Lienkamp K, Madkour AE, Musante A, Nelson CF, Nüsslein K, Tew GN.  2008.  Antimicrobial polymers prepared by ROMP with unprecedented selectivity: a molecular construction kit approach.. J Am Chem Soc. 130(30):9836-43.
Vriezen J A, de Bruijn FJ, Nüsslein K.  2007.  Responses of rhizobia to desiccation in relation to osmotic stress, oxygen, and temperature.. Appl Environ Microbiol. 73(11):3451-9.
Gibney BP, Nüsslein K.  2007.  Arsenic sequestration by nitrate respiring microbial communities in urban lake sediments.. Chemosphere. 70(2):329-36.
Waldron PJ, Petsch ST, Martini AM, Nüsslein K, Nüslein K.  2007.  Salinity constraints on subsurface archaeal diversity and methanogenesis in sedimentary rock rich in organic matter.. Appl Environ Microbiol. 73(13):4171-9.
Gomez-Alvarez V, King GM, Nüsslein K.  2007.  Comparative bacterial diversity in recent Hawaiian volcanic deposits of different ages.. FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 60(1):60-73.
Vriezen JAC, de Bruijn FJ, Nüsslein K.  2006.  Desiccation responses and survival of Sinorhizobium meliloti USDA 1021 in relation to growth phase, temperature, chloride and sulfate availability.. Lett Appl Microbiol. 42(2):172-8.
Nüsslein K, Arnt L, Rennie J, Owens C, Tew GN.  2006.  Broad-spectrum antibacterial activity by a novel abiogenic peptide mimic.. Microbiology. 152(Pt 7):1913-8.
Izquierdo JA, Nüsslein K.  2006.  Distribution of extensive nifH gene diversity across physical soil microenvironments.. Microb Ecol. 51(4):441-52.
Rennie J, Arnt L, Tang H, Nüsslein K, Tew GN.  2005.  Simple oligomers as antimicrobial peptide mimics.. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol. 32(7):296-300.
Stout LM, Nüsslein K.  2005.  Shifts in rhizoplane communities of aquatic plants after cadmium exposure.. Appl Environ Microbiol. 71(5):2484-92.
Ilker FM, Nüsslein K, Tew GN, Coughlin BE.  2004.  Tuning the hemolytic and antibacterial activities of amphiphilic polynorbornene derivatives.. J Am Chem Soc. 126(48):15870-5.
Nüsslein K, Tiedje JM.  1999.  Soil bacterial community shift correlated with change from forest to pasture vegetation in a tropical soil.. Appl Environ Microbiol. 65(8):3622-6.
Nüsslein K, Tiedje JM.  1998.  Characterization of the dominant and rare members of a young Hawaiian soil bacterial community with small-subunit ribosomal DNA amplified from DNA fractionated on the basis of its guanine and cytosine composition.. Appl Environ Microbiol. 64(4):1283-9.
Nüsslein K, Maris D, Timmis K, Dwyer DF.  1992.  Expression and transfer of engineered catabolic pathways harbored by Pseudomonas spp. introduced into activated sludge microcosms.. Appl Environ Microbiol. 58(10):3380-6.
Research interests - short: 

Microbial ecology of terrestrial and subterrestrial ecosystems

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