Dutta Geomicrobiology Lab has a new publication in Letters In Applied Microbiology

Letters In Applied Microbiology: "Integrative genomics and metabolic profiling of Rossellomorea sp. DL-A to understand the possible malathion degradation pathway."

Kiana Pillay, one of our undergraduate researchers from the Geomicrobiology Lab, has published her second paper in Letters in Applied Microbiology. Her new article, “Integrative genomics and metabolic profiling of Rossellomorea sp. DL-A to understand the possible malathion degradation pathway,” continues the line of research from her first publication. Kiana received the CURO award for conducting this study, and in this study, she combined two cutting-edge omics approaches, genomics and metabolomics, to investigate malathion degradation pathway in Rossellomorea sp. DL-A, a bacterial strain she isolated from the North Oconee River in Georgia. 

Authors: 

Kiana Pillay¹, Gayatri Basapuram², Srimanti Duttagupta², Avishek Dutta^2,3 

          ^{1-Department of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA}

          ^{2-Department of Geology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA}

          ^{3-Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina, USA}

Letters in Applied Microbiology Volume 78, Issue 8, August 2025

ABSTRACT

Genomics and metabolic profiles were investigated to understand the malathion degradation pathways in Rossellomorea sp. DL-A strain, isolated from North Oconee River, GA, USA. The Rossellomorea sp. DL-A strain was able to grow in the presence of malathion. However, the growth pattern of the DL-A strain was impacted in the presence of malathion. The lag phase of DL-A's growth curve increased in the presence of malathion. Based on different conditions tested, Rossellomorea sp. DL-A had the highest degradation potential at pH 7 and 30°C. Genomic annotation revealed the presence of genes that were previously found in other malathion-degrading bacteria. Gas-Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS) analyses also revealed a possible pathway of degradation of malathion by the DL-A strain. The results from untargeted GC–MS analyses and the presence of certain genes in the whole genome suggest that the products of malathion degradation are intermediates of different central carbon metabolism. This indicates that malathion can be used as a carbon source by Rossellomorea sp. DL-A. Further analyses revealed that the abundance of different intermediates of the malathion degradation pathway changed at different pH and temperatures, indicating that environmental conditions influence malathion degradation.

Keywords: Rossellomorea sp, malathion, biodegradation, metabolic function