Structural and Functional Relationships in Prokaryotes

Dr. Larry L. Barton is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biology in the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. He received a PhD in Microbiology and Biochemistry at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and following a research appointment in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Georgia at Athens he joined faculty of Microbiology at the School of Health and Hygiene at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. His research has focused on mineral metabolism and energetics of bacteria. He was the first to report phosphorylation coupled to anaerobic respiration of fumarate and nitrite bu anaerobic bacteria. Several papers reporting the interaction between anaerobic bacteria with metallic ions including the formation of metallic nanoparticles came from his investigations. He demonstrated that anaerobic environmental bacteria can reduce soluble toxic metals and metalloids to insoluble materials with reduced toxicity. Most recently he was interested int the effect of hydrogen sulfide generated by intestinal bacteria on cognitive activity on mice. In addition to publishing numerous research papers and review articles, he has edited or authored over a dozen books in microbiology, started the international journal Anaerobe, and served as advisor for the international organization focused on plant-iron metabolism. He co-organized the first International Biometals Symposium and assisted in the organization of 12 additional Biometals Symposia. The Springer Briefs in Biometals was initiated by Professor Barton and he served as editor pf these short books for over a decade.