Ph. D., McGill University

   

Office:     424B Life Sciences Building

Phone:   1-419-372-6873

Email:    rmmckay@bgsu.edu

   

Research:

Aquatic microbial ecology; cyanobacterial bioreporters; winter limnology

   

Personal Research Page

   

 

   

Research Interests:

For decades, our ideas on nutrient availability in aquatic ecosystems have been informed largely by chemical measurement of dissolved elements. While this provides a reasonable proxy, it tells us little about the bioavailability of a given nutrient. Distinguishing between biologically available, and refractory forms of a nutrient has been cited as a particular challenge by the oceanographic community.

The availability of key nutrients could be better understood if a biological system were to be used to estimate nutrient supply. Promising in this regard is the use of genetically-altered organisms as biological reporter systems to assess the bioavailability of a chemical compound. The development and use of freshwater cyanobacterial bioreporters by our group to assess the availability of iron, phosphorus and nitrogen has been met with interest by aquatic scientists due to the ability of these tools to offer insight into the availability of an element from the perspective of an important member of the endemic phytoplankton community.

Future work in the lab will continue our development and characterization of luminescent cyanobacterial bioreporters to offer a rapid assessment of nutrient bioavailability from marine waters. Our recent success in developing a luminescent whole-cell cyanobacterial bioreporter for measuring Fe availability in diverse marine environments has provided important proof of concept. We are now ready to expand the use of bioreporters to the ocean milieu.

Selected Publications:

Boyanapalli, R., G.S. Bullerjahn, C. Pohl, P.L. Croot, P.W. Boyd and R.M.L. McKay. 2007. Luminescent whole-cell cyanobacterial bioreporter for measuring Fe availability in diverse marine environments. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 73: 1019-1024, doi:10.1128/AEM.01670-06.

Ivanikova, N.V., R.M.L. McKay, G.S. Bullerjahn and R.W. Sterner. 2007. Nitrate utilization in Lake Superior is impaired by low nutrient (P, Fe) availability and seasonal light limitation: A cyanobacterial bioreporter study. Journal of Phycology, 43: 475-484.

Hassler, C.S., M.R. Twiss, R.M.L. McKay and G.S. Bullerjahn. 2006. Optimization of iron-dependent cyanobacterial (Synechococcus, Cyanophyceae) bioreporters to measure iron bioavailability. Journal of Phycology 42: 324-335.

McKay, R.M.L., D. Porta, G.S. Bullerjahn, M.M.D. Al-Rshaidat, J.A. Klimowicz, R.W. Sterner, T.M. Smutka, E.T. Brown and R.M. Sherrell. 2005. Bioavailable iron in oligotrophic Lake Superior assessed using biological reporters. Journal of Plankton Research 27: 1033-1044, doi:10.1093/plankt/fbi070

Ivanikova, N.V., R.M.L. McKay and G.S. Bullerjahn. 2005. Construction and characterization of a cyanobacterial bioreporter capable of assessing nitrate assimilatory capacity in freshwaters. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods 3: 86-93.

Wilhelm, S.W., J.M. DeBruyn, O. Gillor, M.R. Twiss, K. Livingston, R.A. Bourbonniere, L.D. Pickell, C.G. Trick, A.L. Dean and R.M.L. McKay. 2003. Effect of phosphorus amendments on present day plankton communities in pelagic Lake Erie. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 32: 275-285.

Porta, D., G.S. Bullerjahn, K.A. Durham, S.W. Wilhelm, M.R. Twiss and R.M.L. McKay. 2003. Physiological characterization of a Synechococcus sp. (Cyanophyceae) strain PCC 7942 iron-dependent bioreporter for freshwater environments. Journal of Phycology 39: 64-73.

Durham, K.A., D. Porta, M.R. Twiss, R.M.L. McKay and G.S. Bullerjahn. 2002. Construction and initial characterization of a luminescent Synechococcus sp. PCC7942 Fe-dependent bioreporter. FEMS Microbiology Letters 209: 215-221.