Mailing Address:
Dr. Mary Ann Moran
Department of Marine Sciences
University of Georgia
Athens, GA  30602-3636

Office Phone: (706) 542-6481
Lab Phone: (706) 542-5900
FAX Number: (706) 542-5888
E-Mail: mmoran@uga.edu
Home Page: www.marsci.uga.edu/facultypages/moran/
Project Pages: Sapelo Island Microbial Observatory: simo.marsci.uga.edu
Marine Roseobacter genome sequences:

Education:

Ph.D. 1987, University of Georgia, Athens, GA

M.S. 1982, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

B.S. 1977, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY

Research Emphasis:

Bacterial roles in the marine carbon and sulfur cycle; ecological genomics, metagenomics, and metatranscriptomics in coastal marine environments; diversity and structure of estuarine and coastal ocean bacterial communities; ecology and physiology of marine Roseobacter bacteria.

 

Moran, M.A., B. Satinsky, S. M. Gifford, H. Luo, A. Rivers, L.-K. Chan, J. Meng, B. P. Durham, Chen Shen, V. A. Varaljay, C. B. Smith, P. L. Yager, and B. M. Hopkinson. 2013. Sizing up metatranscriptomics. ISME Journal 7:237-243.

Gifford, S. M., S. Sharma, M. Booth, M. A. Moran. 2013. Expression patterns reveal niche diversification in a marine microbial assemblage. ISME Journal 7:281-298.

Schuller, D. J., C. R. Reisch, M. A. Moran, W. B. Whitman, and W. N. Lanzilotta. 2012. Structures of dimethylsulfoniopropionate-dependent demethylase from the marine organism Pelegabacter ubique. Protein Science 21: 289-298.

Varaljay, V. A., S. M. Gifford, S. T. Wilson, S. Sharma, D.M. Karl, and M. A. Moran. 2012. Bacterial dimethylsulfoniopropionate-degrading genes in the oligotrophic North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 78:2775-2782.

Chan, L.-K., R. J. Newton, S. Sharma, C. B. Smith, P. Rayapati, A.  J. Limardo, C. Meile, and M. A. Moran. 2012. Transcriptional changes underlying elemental stoichiometry shifts in a marine heterotrophic bacterium. Frontiers in Aquatic Microbiology 3:159.

Rinta-Kanto, J. M., S. Sun, S. Sharma, R. P. Kiene, and M. A. Moran.  2012. Bacterial community transcription patterns during a marine phytoplankton bloom. Environmental Microbiology 14:228–239.

Moran, M. A., C. R. Reisch, R. P. Kiene, and W. B. Whitman. 2012. Genomic insights into bacterial DMSP transformations. Annual Reviews in Marine Sciences 4:523–42.

Reisch, C. R., M. J. Stoudemayer, V. A. Varaljay, and I. J. Amster, M. A. Moran, and W. B. Whitman. 2011. Novel pathway for assimilation of dimethylsulphoniopropionate widespread in marine bacteria. Nature 473: 208–211. Luo, H., A. Löytynoja, and M. A. Moran. 2012. Genome content of uncultivated marine roseobacters in the surface ocean. Environmental Microbiology 14:41-51.

Quantitative analysis of a deeply-sequenced marine microbial metatranscriptome. ISME Journal 5:461-472. Rinta-Kanto, J. M., H. Bürgmann, S. M. Gifford, S. Sun, S. Sharma, D. A. del Valle, R. P. Kiene, and M. A. Moran. 2011. Analysis of sulfur-related transcription by Roseobacter communities using a taxon-specific functional gene microarray. Environmental Microbiology 13: 453–467. 

Vila-Costa, M., J. M. Rinta-Kanto, S. Sun, S. Sharma, R. Poretsky, and M. A. Moran. 2010. Transcriptomic analysis of a marine bacterial community enriched with dimethylsulfoniopropionate. ISME Journal 4:1410-1420. Gifford, S. M., S. Sharma, J. M. Rinta-Kanto, and M. A. Moran. 2011.

Newton, R. J., L. Griffin, K. Bowles, C. Meile, S. Gifford, C. E. Givens, E. Howard, E. King, C. A. Oakley, C. R. Reisch, J. M. Rinta-Kanto, S. Sharma, S. Sun, V. Varaljay, M. Vila-Costa, J. R. Westrich, and M. A. Moran. 2010. Genome characteristics of a generalist marine bacterial lineage. ISME Journal 4:784-798.

Poretsky, R. S., S. Sun, X. Mou, and M. A. Moran. 2010. Transporter genes expressed by coastal bacterioplankton in response to dissolved organic carbon. Environmental Microbiology 12:616-627.

Varaljay, V. A., E. C. Howard, S. Sun, and M. A. Moran. 2010. Deep sequencing of a DMSP-degrading gene (dmdA) using PCR primer pairs designed from marine metagenomic data. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 76:609 - 617.

Mou, X., S. Sun, P. Rayapati, and M. A. Moran. 2010. Genes for transport and metabolism of spermidine in Ruegeria pomeroyi DSS-3 and other marine bacteria. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 58:311-321.

Reisch, C. R., M. A. Moran, and W. B. Whitman. 2009. DMSP dependent demethylase (DmdA) from Pelagibacter ubique and Silicibacter pomeroyi. Journal of Bacteriology 190:8018-8024.

Poretsky, R. S., S. Gifford, J. Rinta-Kanto, M. Vila-Costa, and M. A. Moran. 2009. Analyzing gene expression from marine microbial communities using environmental transcriptomics. Journal of Visualized Experiments. doi: 10.3791/1086.

Moran, M. A. 2009. Metatranscriptomics: eavesdropping on complex microbial communities. Microbe 4:329-335.

Moran, M. A. 2009. Experimental community ‘omics. Environmental Microbiology Reports. 1:3–26. doi:10.1111/j.1758-2229.2008.00010.x.

Poretsky, R. S., I. Hewson, S. Sun, A. E. Allen, J. P. Zehr, and M. A. Moran. 2009. Comparative day/night metatranscriptomic analysis of microbial communities in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Environmental Microbiology 11:1358 - 1375.

Howard, E. C., S. Sun, E. J. Biers, and M. A. Moran. 2008. Abundant and diverse bacteria involved in DMSP degradation in marine surface waters. Environmental Microbiology, 74: 2933-2939.

Mou, X., S. Sun, R. A. Edwards, R. E. Hodson, and M. A. Moran. 2008. Bacterial carbon processing by generalist species in the coastal ocean. Nature 451:708-711.

Moran, M. A., R. Belas, M. A. Schell, J. M. González, F. Sun, S. Sun, B. J. Binder, J. Edmonds, W. Ye, B. Orcutt, E. C. Howard, C. Meile, W. Palefsky, A. Goesmann, Q. Ren, I. Paulsen, L. E. Ulrich, L. S. Thompson, E. Saunders, and A. Buchan. 2007. Ecological genomics of marine roseobacters. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 73:4559-4569.

Moran, M. A. and E. V. Armbrust. 2007. Genomes of sea microbes. In: A Sea of Microbes. The Oceanography Society Journal. L. Proctor and D. Karl, editors. June 2007, pp. 47-55.

Bürgmann, H., E. C. Howard, W. Ye, F. Sun, S. Sun, S. Napierala, and M. A. Moran. 2007. Transcriptional response of Silicibacter pomeroyi DSS-3 to dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP). Environmental Microbiology 9:2742-2755.

Moran, M. A. and W. L. Miller. 2007. Resourceful heterotrophs make the most of light in the coastal ocean. Nature Reviews Microbiology 5:792-800.

Howard, E. C., J. R. Henriksen, A. Buchan, C. R. Reisch, H. Bürgmann, R. Welsh, W. Ye, J. M. González, K. Mace, S. B. Joye, R. P. Kiene, W. B. Whitman, and M. A. Moran. Bacterial taxa that limit sulfur flux from the ocean. Science 314:649-652.

Mou, X., M. A. Moran , R. Stepansuskas, J. M. González and R. E. Hodson. 2005. Culture-independent identification of bacterioplankton involved in DMSP transformations by flow cytometric cell sorting and subsequent molecular analyses. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71:1405-1416.  

Poretsky, R. S., N. Bano, A. Buchan, G. LeCleir, J. Kleikemper, M. Pickering , W. M. Pate, M. A. Moran , and J. T. Hollibaugh. 2005. Analysis of microbial gene transcripts in environmental samples. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 4121-4126.  

Buchan, A., J. M. González, and M. A. Moran . 2005. An overview of the marine Roseobacter lineage. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71:5665-5677.  

Moran, M. A. , A. Buchan, J. M. González, J. F. Heidelberg, W. B. Whitman, R. P. Kiene, et al. 2004. Genome sequenceof Silicibacter pomeroyi reveals adaptations to the marine environment. Nature 432:910-913.

Buchan, A., S. Y. Newell, M. Butler, E. J. Biers, J. T. Hollibaugh, and M. A. Moran. 2004. Dynamics of bacterial and fungal communities on decaying salt marsh grass. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 69:6676-6687 .

Moran, M. A., J. M. González, and R. P. Kiene. 2003. Linking a bacterial taxon to sulfur cycling in the sea: studies of the marine Roseobacter  group.  Geomicrobiol. J. 20:375-388.

Lyons, J. I., S. Y. Newell, A. Buchan, and M. A. Moran. 2003. Diversity of ascomycete laccase gene sequences in a southeastern U.S. salt marsh. Microb. Ecol. 45:270-281.