Tamar Barkay

About

Tamar Barkay is an Emeritus Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at Rutgers University. Her research focuses on the microbial ecology of interactions between microbes and toxic metals, specifically microbial transformations of metals and their effects on metal toxicity and accumulation in the environment. Her work investigates the genetics and physiology of metal resistance and transformations in bacteria, supporting efforts in bioremediation of metal-contaminated environments. Her ongoing research projects include studying the role of microbes in the formation and accumulation of methylmercury in aquatic environments, which is the most toxic form of mercury that biomagnifies in the food chain, posing risks to predators including humans. She also examines the role of horizontal gene transfer among bacteria in the spread of mercury and antibiotics resistance genes, which may lead to the development of resistance gene pools in contaminated environments. Her research heavily relies on molecular tools such as cloning, gene probing, mRNA transcript analysis, metagenomics, and metatranscriptomics in microbial ecology.

Research topics

• Biology
• Genetics
• Computer Science
• Chemistry
• Environmental chemistry
• Evolutionary biology
• Programming language
• Biochemistry

Selected publications

• Demethylation─The Other Side of the Mercury Methylation Coin: A Critical Review

  ACS Environmental Au · 2021 · 134 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  -independent oxidative demethylation, likely involving some strains of anaerobic bacteria as well as aerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria, i.e., methanotrophs. In addition, photochemical and chemical demethylation processes are described, including the roles of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and free radicals as well as dark abiotic demethylation in the natural environment about which little is currently known. We focus on mechanisms and processes of demethylation and highlight the uncertainties a…

  PublisherDOI

• Fractionation of Mercury Stable Isotopes during Microbial Methylmercury Production by Iron- and Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria

  Environmental Science & Technology · 2016-07-08 · 111 citations

  article

  The biological production of monomethylmercury (MeHg) in soils and sediments is an important factor controlling mercury (Hg) accumulation in aquatic and terrestrial food webs. In this study we examined the fractionation of Hg stable isotopes during Hg methylation in nongrowing cultures of the anaerobic bacteria Geobacter sulfurreducens PCA and Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ND132. Both organisms showed mass-dependent, but no mass-independent fractionation of Hg stable isotopes during Hg methylation…

  PublisherDOI

• Expanded Diversity and Phylogeny of mer Genes Broadens Mercury Resistance Paradigms and Reveals an Origin for MerA Among Thermophilic Archaea

  Frontiers in Microbiology · 2021 · 83 citations

  -encoded functionalities, and suggest that selection for Hg(II) and MeHg detoxification is dependent not only on the availability and type of mercury compounds in the environment but also the physiological potential of the microbes who inhabit these environments. The expanded diversity and environmental distribution of MerAB identify new targets to prioritize for future research.

  PublisherDOI

• Syntrophic pathways for microbial mercury methylation

  The ISME Journal · 2018-03-29 · 80 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Exposure to dietary sources of methylmercury (MeHg) is the focus of public health concerns with environmental mercury (Hg) contamination. MeHg is formed in anoxic environments by anaerobic microorganisms. This process has been studied mostly with single-species culture incubations, although the relevance of such studies to Hg(II)-methylation in situ is limited because microbial activities in the environment are critically modulated by interactions among microbial functional groups. Here we descr…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Effect of salinity on mercury methylating benthic microbes and their activities in Great Salt Lake, Utah

  The Science of The Total Environment · 2017-01-05 · 53 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative Research: Effects of Trophic Status Alterations on Pathways of Mercury Methylation in Northern Wetlands

  NSF · $385k · 2013–2018

• Collaborative Research: Mercury isotope fractionation during microbial and abiotic redox transformations

  NSF · $237k · 2004–2009

Frequent coauthors

• Alexandre J. Poulain

  19 shared

• Joel D. Blum

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  18 shared

• Marc Amyot

  Center for Northern Studies

  18 shared

• John R. Reinfelder

  Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

  17 shared

• Ralph R. Turner

  West Virginia University

  15 shared

• Jeffra K. Schaefer

  Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

  15 shared

• K. Kritee

  14 shared

• Nathan Yee

  Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

  14 shared

Labs

• American Society for Microbiology Student Chapter at RutgersPI

Similar researchers at Rutgers University

• Stephen Burleyh-145
• Joanna Burgerh-90
• Grace Guoh-62