Mary Beth LeighWelcome!
Microorganisms possess remarkable abilities to biodegrade recalcitrant compounds in the environment, making them critical to global carbon cycling and useful in the cleanup of man-made pollutants.
A major focus of our work is the microbial degradation of aromatic compounds. Bacteria and
fungi have evolved pathways for degrading plant-produced aromatics, including lignin and
secondary defense compounds that are important to global carbon cycling. Microbes also use
related pathways to degrade man-made aromatic pollutants like polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs), petroleum-derived polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and pharmaceutical substances.
Plants that release aromatic compounds may actually accelerate degradation of soil
pollutants by stimulating natural microbial communities.
