Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria and Archaea

The sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) became a major research interest of Larry L. Barton (LB) following his position as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Harry D. Peck Jr at the University of Georgia (UGA). The research at UGA focused on energetics of SRB and included collaboration with Jean LeGall who maintained a laboratory in the Department of Biochemistry at UGA. Following an academic  position at Johns Hopkins University, LB became a member of the Biology Department at the University of New Mexico (UNM) where his laboratory focused on metabolism of transition elements and biodetoxification of heavy metal(loid)s including metabolism of selenium, immobilization of uranium and formation of metallic nanoparticles. Recently his interest has focused on the impact of intestinal SRB on animal activities. Over the years, LB published 35 review articles, 90 peer review articles, 12 books including two edited monographs of SRB, served as founding editor of the international journal Anaerobe, was the series editor of SpringerBriefs in Biometals and participated in the organization of numerous international symposia on biometals. While on sabbatical in the laboratory of Jean LeGall at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Marseille, France, LB established a collaboration with Guy Fauque and this collegial interaction resulted in publishing several reviews on metabolic activities of SRB.