William B. Whitman

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University of Georgia
Microbiology
ProfessorAppointed: 1993
University of Georgia
Marine Sciences
ProfessorAppointed: 1993
University of Georgia
Biochemistry
ProfessorAppointed: 1986

Mailing Address

Department of Microbiology
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia 30602-2605
United States

Contact Information

Phone: (706) 542-4219
Fax: (706) 542-2674
whitman@arches.uga.edu

Qualifications

Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, Microbiology, 1978.

Expertise and Research Interests

Research interests include prokaryotic evolution and systematics and the physiology of the methane-producing archaea. Projects in the laboratory include the isolation, characterization, and identification of novel bacteria and archaea by standard physiological and molecular methods. Of particular interest are marine bacteria and methanogenic archaea. In addition, molecular methods have been employed to characterize natural microbial populations in soil, invertebrates, and groundwater. The laboratory is also working on the development of genetic techniques in the strictly anaerobic methane-producing archaeon Methanococcus. The major goals of this latter research is to identify 'hypothetical proteins' in genomic sequences, establish the physiological function of genes, and to over express heterologous genes in Methanococcus, a strictly anaerobic methane-producing archaeon.

Industrial Relevance

The methanogenic fermentation is an anaerobic process that converts organic waste material into methane and carbon dioxide. Methane is a common fuel already in wide use. Genetic modification of these organisms has great potential in improving the efficiency of the fermentation and reducing costs.

Prokaryotes impact most industrial processes in complex fashions, from waste treatment to contamination of equipment. Molecular methods can readily identify the microbes in most environments and provide important information for designing or controlling microbial impacted processes.

Keywords

COS Keywords:

Biochemistry, Biological Sciences, Marine and Ocean Sciences, Microbiology.

Additional Terms:

Life Science Biological, Metabolic Biochemistry, Methanogenesis, Microbial Physiology, Prokaryotic Systematics, Research Training.

Languages

(Reading, Writing, Speaking)

English: (Fluent, Fluent, Fluent)

Memberships

American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Society for Microbiology

Honors and Awards

2000, Bergey's Award, Bergey's Manual Trust & Springer, Prokaryotic systematics
1985, Achievement Award for New Scholars, Southern Conference of Graduate Schools
1984, Presidential Young Investigator Award, National Science Foundation

Previous Positions

1988-1993, Associate Professor, University of Georgia, Microbiology
1982-1988, Assistant Professor, University of Georgia, Microbiology

Funding Received

  • Available upon request: Available upon request, 2005 to 2006.

Publications

  • Sauerwald A, Zhu W, Major TA, Roy H, Palioura S, Jahn D, Whitman WB, Yates JR 3rd, Ibba M, Soll D (Mar 2005) RNA-dependent cysteine biosynthesis in archaea., Science, 307 (5717), 1969-72 Abstract
  • Moran MA, Buchan A, Gonzalez JM, Heidelberg JF, Whitman WB, Kiene RP, Henriksen JR, King GM, Belas R, Fuqua C, Brinkac L, Lewis M, Johri S, Weaver B, Pai G, Eisen JA, Rahe E, Sheldon WM, Ye W, Miller TR, Carlton J, Rasko DA, Paulsen IT, Ren Q, Daugherty SC, Deboy RT, Dodson RJ, Durkin AS, Madupu R, Nelson WC, Sullivan SA, Rosovitz MJ, Haft DH, Selengut J, Ward N (Dec 2004) Genome sequence of Silicibacter pomeroyi reveals adaptations to the marine environment., Nature, 432 (7019), 910-3 Abstract
  • Major TA, Burd H, Whitman WB (Oct 2004) Abundance of 4Fe-4S motifs in the genomes of methanogens and other prokaryotes., Fems Microbiology Letters, 239 (1), 117-23 Abstract
  • Hendrickson EL, Kaul R, Zhou Y, Bovee D, Chapman P, Chung J, Conway de Macario E, Dodsworth JA, Gillett W, Graham DE, Hackett M, Haydock AK, Kang A, Land ML, Levy R, Lie TJ, Major TA, Moore BC, Porat I, Palmeiri A, Rouse G, Saenphimmachak C, Soll D, Van Dien S, Wang T, Whitman WB, Xia Q, Zhang Y, Larimer FW, Olson MV, Leigh JA (Oct 2004) Complete genome sequence of the genetically tractable hydrogenotrophic methanogen Methanococcus maripaludis., Journal of Bacteriology, 186 (20), 6956-69 Abstract
  • Haydock AK, Porat I, Whitman WB, Leigh JA (Sep 2004) Continuous culture of Methanococcus maripaludis under defined nutrient conditions., Fems Microbiology Letters, 238 (1), 85-91 Abstract
  • Porat I, Waters BW, Teng Q, Whitman WB (Aug 2004) Two biosynthetic pathways for aromatic amino acids in the archaeon Methanococcus maripaludis., Journal of Bacteriology, 186 (15), 4940-50 Abstract
  • Farahi K, Pusch GD, Overbeek R, Whitman WB (May 2004) Detection of lateral gene transfer events in the prokaryotic tRNA synthetases by the ratios of evolutionary distances method., Journal of Molecular Evolution, 58 (5), 615-31 Abstract
  • Lin W, Whitman WB (Jan 2004) The importance of porE and porF in the anabolic pyruvate oxidoreductase of Methanococcus maripaludis., Archives of Microbiology, 181 (1), 68-73 Abstract
  • Farahi K, Whitman WB, Kraemer ET (Nov 2003) RED-T: utilizing the Ratios of Evolutionary Distances for determination of alternative phylogenetic events., Bioinformatics (oxford, England), 19 (16), 2152-4 Abstract
  • Pikuta EV, Hoover RB, Bej AK, Marsic D, Whitman WB, Cleland D, Krader P (Sep 2003) Desulfonatronum thiodismutans sp. nov., a novel alkaliphilic, sulfate-reducing bacterium capable of lithoautotrophic growth., International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 53 (Pt 5), 1327-32 Abstract
  • Gonzalez JM, Covert JS, Whitman WB, Henriksen JR, Mayer F, Scharf B, Schmitt R, Buchan A, Fuhrman JA, Kiene RP, Moran MA (Sep 2003) Silicibacter pomeroyi sp. nov. and Roseovarius nubinhibens sp. nov., dimethylsulfoniopropionate-demethylating bacteria from marine environments., International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 53 (Pt 5), 1261-9 Abstract
  • Pikuta EV, Hoover RB, Bej AK, Marsic D, Detkova EN, Whitman WB, Krader P (Aug 2003) Tindallia californiensis sp. nov., a new anaerobic, haloalkaliphilic, spore-forming acetogen isolated from Mono Lake in California., Extremophiles : Life Under Extreme Conditions, 7 (4), 327-34 Abstract
  • Lin WC, Yang YL, Whitman WB (Jun 2003) The anabolic pyruvate oxidoreductase from Methanococcus maripaludis., Archives of Microbiology, 179 (6), 444-56 Abstract
  • Hoover RB, Pikuta EV, Bej AK, Marsic D, Whitman WB, Tang J, Krader P (May 2003) Spirochaeta americana sp. nov., a new haloalkaliphilic, obligately anaerobic spirochaete isolated from soda Mono Lake in California., International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 53 (Pt 3), 815-21 Abstract
  • Singleton DR, Furlong MA, Peacock AD, White DC, Coleman DC, Whitman WB (Mar 2003) Solirubrobacter pauli gen. nov., sp. nov., a mesophilic bacterium within the Rubrobacteridae related to common soil clones., International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 53 (Pt 2), 485-90 Abstract
  • Brigmon RL, Furlong M, Whitman WB, Identification of Thiothrix unzii in two distinct ecosystems, Letters in Applied Microbiology, 36(2), 88-91, 2003 Abstract
  • Yang YL, Glushka JN, Whitman WB, Intracellular pyruvate flux in the methane-producing archaeon Methanococcus maripaludis, Archives of Microbiology, 178(6), 493-8, December 2002 Abstract
  • Fahlman A, Lin WC, Whitman WB, Kayar SR, Modulation of decompression sickness risk in pigs with caffeine during H(2) biochemical decompression, Journal of Applied Physiology (bethesda, Md. : 1985), 93(5), 1583-9, November 2002 Abstract
  • Stackebrandt E, Frederiksen W, Garrity GM, Grimont PA, Kampfer P, Maiden MC, Nesme X, Rossello-Mora R, Swings J, Truper HG, Vauterin L, Ward AC, Whitman WB, Report of the ad hoc committee for the re-evaluation of the species definition in bacteriology, International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 52(Pt 3), 1043-7, May 2002 Abstract
  • Furlong MA, Singleton DR, Coleman DC, Whitman WB, Molecular and culture-based analyses of prokaryotic communities from an agricultural soil and the burrows and casts of the earthworm Lumbricus rubellus, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 68(3), 1265-79, March 2002 Abstract
  • Kayar SR, Fahlman A, Lin WC, Whitman WB, Increasing activity of H(2)-metabolizing microbes lowers decompression sickness risk in pigs during H(2) dives, Journal of Applied Physiology (bethesda, Md. : 1985), 91(6), 2713-9, December 2001 Abstract
  • Singleton DR, Furlong MA, Rathbun SL, Whitman WB, Quantitative comparisons of 16S rRNA gene sequence libraries from environmental samples, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 67(9), 4374-6, September 2001 Abstract
  • Rother M, Resch A, Gardner WL, Whitman WB, Bock A, Heterologous expression of archaeal selenoprotein genes directed by the SECIS element located in the 3' non-translated region, Molecular Microbiology, 40(4), 900-8, May 2001 Abstract
  • Keswani J, Whitman WB, Relationship of 16S rRNA sequence similarity to DNA hybridization in prokaryotes, International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 51(Pt 2), 667-78, March 2001 Abstract
  • Graham DE, Kyrpides N, Anderson IJ, Overbeek R, Whitman WB, Genome of Methanocaldococcus (Methanococcus) jannaschii, Methods in Enzymology, 330, 40-123, 2001 Abstract
  • Kim W, Whitman WB, Isolation of acetate auxotrophs of the methane-producing archaeon Methanococcus maripaludis by random insertional mutagenesis, Genetics, 152(4), 1429-37, August 1999 Abstract
  • Gardner WL, Whitman WB, Expression vectors for Methanococcus maripaludis: overexpression of acetohydroxyacid synthase and beta-galactosidase, Genetics, 152(4), 1439-47, August 1999 Abstract
  • Whitman WB, Pfeifer F, Blum P, Klein A, What archaea have to tell biologists, Genetics, 152(4), 1245-8, August 1999 Abstract
  • Tumbula DL, Whitman WB, Genetics of Methanococcus: possibilities for functional genomics in Archaea, Molecular Microbiology, 33(1), 1-7, July 1999 Abstract
  • Zellner G, Boone DR, Keswani J, Whitman WB, Woese CR, Hagelstein A, Tindall BJ, Stackebrandt E, Reclassification of Methanogenium tationis and Methanogenium liminatans as Methanofollis tationis gen. nov., comb. nov. and Methanofollis liminatans comb. nov. and description of a new strain of Metha, International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology, 49 Pt 1, 247-55, Jan 1999 Abstract
  • Li T, Graham DE, Stathopoulos C., Haney P, Kim H., Vothknecht U, Kitabatake M, Hong K, Eggertsson G, Curnow AW, Lin W, Celic I, Whitman W, Soll D, Cysteinyl-tRNA formation: the last puzzle of aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis, FEBS Letters, 462, 302-306, 1999
  • Whitman WB, Coleman DC, Wiebe WJ, Prokaryotes: the unseen majority., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 95(12), 6578-83, 9 1998 Abstract
  • Tumbula DL, Teng Q, Bartlett MG, Whitman WB, Ribose biosynthesis and evidence for an alternative first step in the common aromatic amino acid pathway in Methanococcus maripaludis, Journal of Bacteriology, 179(19), 6010-3, October 1997 Abstract
  • Selkov E, Maltsev N, Olsen GJ, Overbeek R, Whitman WB, A reconstruction of the metabolism of Methanococcus jannaschii from sequence data, Gene, 197(1-2), GC11-26, September 1997 Abstract
  • Gonzalez JM, Mayer F, Moran MA, Hodson RE, Whitman WB, Sagittula stellata gen. nov., sp. nov., a lignin-transforming bacterium from a coastal environment, International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology, 47(3), 773-80, July 1997 Abstract
  • Tumbula DL, Bowen TL, Whitman WB, Characterization of pURB500 from the archaeon Methanococcus maripaludis and construction of a shuttle vector, Journal of Bacteriology, 179(9), 2976-86, May 1997 Abstract
  • Gonzalez JM, Mayer F, Moran MA, Hodson RE, Whitman WB, Microbulbifer hydrolyticus gen. nov., sp. nov., and Marinobacterium georgiense gen. nov., sp. nov., two marine bacteria from a lignin-rich pulp mill waste enrichment community, International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology, 47(2), 369-76, April 1997 Abstract
  • Bowen TL, Union J, Tumbula DL, Whitman WB, Cloning and phylogenetic analysis of the genes encoding acetohydroxyacid synthase from the archaeon Methanococcus aeolicus, Gene, 188(1), 77-84, March 1997 Abstract
  • Whitman WB, Tumbula DL, Yu JP, Kim W, Development of genetic approaches for the methane-producing archaebacterium Methanococcus maripaludis., Biofactors, 6(1), 37-46, 1997 Abstract
  • Gonzalez JM, Whitman WB, Hodson RE, Moran MA, Identifying numerically abundant culturable bacteria from complex communities: an example from a lignin enrichment culture, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 62(12), 4433-40, December 1996 Abstract
  • Bowen TL, Lin WC, Whitman WB, Characterization of guanine and hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferases in Methanococcus voltae, Journal of Bacteriology, 178(9), 2521-6, May 1996 Abstract
  • Park HS, Xing R, Whitman WB, Nonenzymatic acetolactate oxidation to diacetyl by flavin, nicotinamide and quinone coenzymes., Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1245(3), 366-70, 14 Dec 1995 Abstract
  • Xing R, Whitman WB, Purification and characterization of the oxygen-sensitive acetohydroxy acid synthase from the archaebacterium Methanococcus aeolicus., Journal of Bacteriology, 176(5), 1207-13, 1994 Abstract
  • Yu JP, Ladapo J, Whitman WB, Pathway of glycogen metabolism in Methanococcus maripaludis., Journal of Bacteriology, 176(2), 325-32, 1994 Abstract
  • Xing RY, Whitman WB, Characterization of amino acid aminotransferases of Methanococcus aeolicus, Journal of Bacteriology, 174(2), 541-8, January 1992 Abstract
  • Devereux R, He SH, Doyle CL, Orkland S, Stahl DA, LeGall J, Whitman WB, Diversity and origin of Desulfovibrio species: phylogenetic definition of a family, Journal of Bacteriology, 172(7), 3609-19, July 1990 Abstract
  • Mesbah M, Whitman WB, Measurement of deoxyguanosine/thymidine ratios in complex mixtures by high-performance liquid chromatography for determination of the mole percentage guanine + cytosine of DNA, Journal of Chromatography, 479(2), 297-306, 1989 Abstract
  • Wood AG, Whitman WB, Konisky J, Isolation and characterization of an archaebacterial viruslike particle from Methanococcus voltae A3, Journal of Bacteriology, 171(1), 93-8, January 1989 Abstract
  • Shieh JS, Whitman WB, Pathway of acetate assimilation in autotrophic and heterotrophic methanococci, Journal of Bacteriology, 169(11), 5327-9, November 1987 Abstract
  • Xing RY, Whitman WB, Sulfometuron methyl-sensitive and -resistant acetolactate synthases of the archaebacteria Methanococcus spp, Journal of Bacteriology, 169(10), 4486-92, October 1987 Abstract
  • Jones WJ, Nagle DP, Whitman WB, Methanogens and the diversity of archaebacteria, Microbiological Reviews, 51(1), 135-77, March 1987 Abstract
  • Whitman WB, Wolfe RS, Inhibition by corrins of the ATP-dependent activation and CO2 reduction by the methylreductase system in Methanobacterium bryantii, Journal of Bacteriology, 169(1), 87-92, January 1987 Abstract
  • Whitman WB, Wolfe RS, Activation of the methylreductase system from Methanobacterium bryantii by corrins, Journal of Bacteriology, 164(1), 165-72, October 1985 Abstract
  • Wood AG, Whitman WB, Konisky J, A newly-isolated marine methanogen harbors a small cryptic plasmid, Archives of Microbiology, 142(3), 259-61, August 1985 Abstract
  • Wood AG, Redborg AH, Cue DR, Whitman WB, Konisky J, Complementation of argG and hisA mutations of Escherichia coli by DNA cloned from the archaebacterium Methanococcus voltae, Journal of Bacteriology, 156(1), 19-29, October 1983 Abstract
  • Keltjens JT, Whitman WB, Caerteling CG, van Kooten AM, Wolfe RS, Vogels GD, Presence of coenzyme M derivatives in the prosthetic group (coenzyme MF430) of methylcoenzyme M reductase from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum, Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 108(2), 495-503, 1982 Abstract
  • Ellefson WL, Whitman WB, Wolfe RS, Nickel-containing factor F430: chromophore of the methylreductase of Methanobacterium, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 79(12), 3707-10, June 1982 Abstract
  • Whitman WB, Ankwanda E, Wolfe RS, Nutrition and carbon metabolism of Methanococcus voltae, Journal of Bacteriology, 149(3), 852-63, March 1982 Abstract
  • Robison PD, Whitman WB, Waddill F, Riggs AF, Tabita FR, Isolation and sequence of the pyridoxal 5'-phosphate active-site peptide from Rhodospirillum rubrum ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, Biochemistry, 19(21), 4848-53, 1980 Abstract
  • Whitman WB, Wolfe RS, Presence of nickel in factor F430 from Methanobacterium bryantii, Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 92(4), 1196-201, 1980 Abstract
  • Whitman WB, Martin MN, Tabita FR, Activation and regulation of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase in the absence of small subunits, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 254(20), 10184-9, 1979 Abstract

Profile Details

Last Updated: 3/3/2006

COS Expertise ID #515677
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