Staff information

Biography

Allan Konopka is a microbial ecologist who serves as Director of Microbiology in PNNL's Biological Sciences Division.

He came to PNNL after 30 years as a Professor of Biological Sciences at Purdue University. His research has focused on diverse microbial habitats, including aquatic, surface and subsurface soils, and upon the ecology of both photoautotrophic and chemoheterophic microorganisms. He has investigated the role of microbes upon the fate and transport of both organic xenobiotic compounds and inorganic metals. These studies have had scopes ranging from analysis of microbial community composition and activity in natural samples to physiological and molecular analyses of microbes isolated from natural habitats. At PNNL, he is leading efforts on analysis of microbial communities and the development of novel technologies to develop a mechanistic understanding of microbial community ecology.

This area of research requires cross-disciplinary cooperation, and Konopka has performed collaborative research with limnologists, hydrologists, environmental chemists, soil physicists, geologists, envrionmental engineers and chemical engineers. Experimental analyses have been carried out on field sites (such as freshwater aquatic ecosystems and subsurface sediments), in laboratory microcosms, and upon pure cultures of microbes.

Konopka has authored or co-authored approximately 100 peer-reviewed publications in journals for microbiology and microbial ecology. He has also published several materials related to undergraduate education in microbiology, including software used to simulate laboratory exercises in microbiology.

Research Interests

• Physiological ecology of microbes in natural and engineered ecosystems
• Microbial community ecology
• Continuous culture of microorganisms.
• Subsurface microbiology
• Mathematical modeling of microbial processes

Education and Credentials

• Ph.D., Microbiology, University of Washington, 1975
• M.S., Microbiology, University of Washington, 1973
• B.S., Microbiology, University of Illinois, 1971

Affiliations and Professional Service

• American Society for Microbiology
• Sigma Xi
• International Society for Microbial Ecology
• Serves on editorial boards for Applied and Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology.

Awards and Recognitions

• Fulbright Scholar
• Fogarty International Senior Fellow
• Erskine Fellow
• Elected to the American Academy of Microbiology

PNNL Publications

2009

• Henne KL, CN Nakatsu, DK Thompson, and A Konopka. 2009. "High-Level Chromate Resistance in Arthrobacter sp. strain FB24 Requires Previously Uncharacterized Accessory Genes." BMC Microbiology 9:199-213.  doi:10.1186/1471-2180-9-199

Selected Publications

2006

• Konopka A. 2006. "Microbial Ecology: Searching for Principles." Microbe 1:175-179.
• Becker JM, T Parkin, CH Nakatsu, JD Wilbur, and A Konopka. 2006. "Bacterial Activity, Community Structure, and Cm-Scale Spatial Heterogeneity in Contaminated Soil." Microbial Ecology 50:220-231.
• Carrero-Colon M, CH Nakatsu, and A Konopka. 2006. "Microbial Community Dynamics in Nutrient-Pulsed Chemostats." FEMS Microbiology Ecology 57:1-8.
• Carrero-Colon M, CH Nakatsu, and A Konopka. 2006. "The Effect of Nutrient Periodicity upon Microbial Community Dynamics." Applied Environmental Microbiology 72:3175-3183.
• Kourtev PS, CH Nakatsu, and A Konopka. 2006. "Anaerobic Bacterial Community Responses to Organic C Addition in Chromium (VI) and Iron (III) Amended Microcosms."  Applied and Environmental Microbiology 72:628-637.
• Staley JT, C Jenkins, and A Konopka. 2006. "Taxonomic Description of the Genus Ancylobacter" in Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, 2nd Edition. Springer-Verlag, New York.

2005

• Nakatsu CH, N Carmosini, B Baldwin, F Beasley, P Kourtev, and A Konopka. 2005. "Soil Microbial Community Responses to Additions of Organic Carbon Substrates and Heavy Metals (Pb and Cr)." Applied Environmental Microbiology 71:7679-7689.
• Shi W, M Bischoff, RF Turco, and A Konopka. 2005. "Microbial Catabolic Diversity in Soils Contaminated with Hydrocarbons and Heavy Metals." Environmental Science and Technology 39:1974-1979.

2004

• Konopka A. 2004. "Systems Biology - Not Brand New, But Different." American Society for Microbiology (ASM) News 70(4):163-168.

2002

• Konopka A and T Zakharova. 2002. "Analysis of Bacterial Ecotoenzymes by Polyacrylamide gel Zymograms. Journal of Microbiolical Methods 51:273-282.
• Konopka A, T Zakharova, and CN Nakatsu. 2002. "Effect of Starvation Length upon Lags in Substrate Degradation in a Biomass Recycle Reactor."  Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology 29(5):286-291.
• Curtis P, CH Nakatsu, and A Konopka. 2002. "Aciduric Proteobacteria Isolated from pH 3 Soil." Archives of Microbiology 178(1):65-70.
• LaPara TM, T Zakharova, CH Nakatsu, and A Konopka. 2002. "Functional and Structural Adaptations of Bacterial Communities Growing on Particulate Substrates under Stringent Nutrient Limitation."  Microbial Ecology 44 (4):317-326.
• Shi W, M Bischoff, R Turco, and A Konopka. 2002. "Long-Term Effects of Chromium and Lead upon the Activity of Soil Microbial Communities." Applied Soil Ecology 21:169-177.
• Shi W, M Bischoff, R Turco, and A Konopka. 2002. "Association of Microbial Community Composition and Activity with Pb, Cr and Hydrocarbon Contamination." Applied Environmental Microbiology 68(8):3859-3866.