Curriculum Vitae
Education
Melike Balk has been working as post doctoral researcher at the Centre for Limnology of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences). After her PhD degree, she worked at the Laboratory of Microbiology within the group of Prof. Dr. Alfons Stams in Wageningen University. Besides involving in several projects in Wageningen University, she also has collaboration in the Ecosystem, Science and Technology Branch group of the NASA-Ames Research Center in California. Together with Prof. Dr. Lynn Rothschild and Prof. Dr. Friedemann Freund, they could demonstrate H2O2 formation at the rock-water interface. Her main research interest is related to microbial interactions between anaerobic microorganisms, their isolation and characterization, the role of anaerobic microorganisms in geochemical cycles, in particular the carbon and sulphur cycle and reactive oxygen species under anoxic conditions.
Projects
The effect of freshwater intrusions on the identity and activity of the sulphate- and nitrate-reducing microbial community
This project is a part of the SOWACOR (Soil, Water and Coastal Resources) project that has a main focus on the development of inorganic and biological materials for water treatment, the (bio)remediation of soils and groundwater, and the cycling of nutrients at the land-ocean transition. SOWACOR will play a key role in linking KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)’s research and educational programs in environmental sciences and technology, materials science, bioengineering and computational earth sciences.
Microbial sulfate reduction has a large environmental impact as it converts relatively harmless sulfate into the toxic sulfide ion (sulfide reacts with the metal moieties of proteins). Sulfide can also have a more indirect damaging effect as it displaces phosphate from sorption sites in the soil. Therefore, sulfate reduction can lead to eutrophication by mobilizing phosphate. Finally, but in a more positive way, sulfide production may lead to the immobilization of toxic metals. Sulfate reduction is performed by a specialized microbial group, the so-called sulfate-reducing prokaryotes. Communities of sulfate-reducers are generally quite diverse. However, coastal communities are distinct from the more-inland communities on the basis of their species composition. Little is known about how freshwater microbial communities react to the intrusion of salt water and what the consequences are for the fluxes of nutrients. Within this project, we aim to investigate the effect of freshwater [and/or waste water] introduction on the functioning of the community of sulphate- and also nitrate-reducing prokaryotes as well as sulphate and nitrate reduction rates in the mangrove zone. In general, mangrove ecosystems play an important role in the cycling of nutrients, as nursery for juvenile fish and for coastal protection. At the site of the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, mangrove trees grow at the interface between the Red sea and the land. With the anticipated increase in use of drinking water at the KAUST campus, the runoff of freshwater into the wetland zone will also increase. The communities of sulfate- and nitrate-reducing prokaryotes are expected to change.
We have investigated the effects of salt water intrusion on the sulfate-reducing microbial communities present at the different field sites using flow-through sediment reactors. The active and passive fractions of the community will be monitored during the experiments, using molecular techniques based on the dsr gene that codes for dissimilatory sulfite reductase, which is unique for sulfate-reducing prokaryotes. Besides sulfate reduction, nitrate-reducing prokaryotes will be also examined. The results will allow us to relate changes in community structure to changes in sulfate- and nitrate-reducing activities.
Co-Operation
Prof. Dr. Jos Verhoeven, Dr. Mariet Hefting, Joost Keuskamp. Utrecht University, Department of Biology, Section of Landscape Ecology, The Netherlands
Dr. Winnie Dejonghe, Dr. Yamini Satyawali. VITO – Environment and Process Technology Department, Belgium
Dr. Anniet Laverman. Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France
Prof. Philippe Van Cappellen, Dr. Natalia Chubar, Dr. Paul Mason, Marjolijn Stam Utrecht University, Department of Earth Sciences – Geochemistry, The Netherlands
Prof. Dr. Piet Lens, Dr. Roel Meulepas, UNESCO-IHE, Department of Environmental Resources, Delft, The Netherlands
Selected Publications
- M. Balk, F. Mehboob, T. van Gelder, I.C. Rijpstra, J.S. Sinninghe-Damsté, A.J. Stams. (Per)chlorate reduction by an acetogenic bacterium, Sporomusa sp., isolated from an underground gas storage. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. (2010) DOI: 10.1007/s00253-010-2788-8
- M. Balk, Heilig HG, van Eekert MH, Stams AJ, Rijpstra IC, Sinninghe-Damsté JS, de Vos WM, Kengen SW. Isolation and characterization of a new CO-utilizing strain, Thermoanaerobacter thermohydrosulfuricus subsp. carboxydovorans, isolated from a geothermal spring in Turkey. Extremophiles. (2009) DOI 10.1007/s00792-009-0276-9.
- M. Balk, M. Bose, G. Ertem, D. A. Rogoff, L. J. Rothschild, F. T. Freund. Oxidation of Water to Hydrogen Peroxide at the Rock-Water Interface due to Stress-Activated Electric Currents in Rocks. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 283:87-92 (2009).
- Sousa DZ, Balk M, Alves M, Schink B, McInerney MJ, Smidt H, Plugge CM, Stams AJM Degradation of long-chain fatty acids by sulfate-reducing and methanogenic communities. In: Timmis KN (Ed) Microbiology of hydrocarbons, oils, lipids, and derived compounds. Springer Verlag, Heidelberg, New York (in press) (2009).
- J. W.H. Weijers, E. Panoto, J. van Bleijswijk, S. Schouten, M. Balk, A.J.M. Stams, W. I.C. Rijpstra and J.S. Sinninghe Damsté. Constraints on the biological source(s) of the orphan branched tetraether membrane lipids. Geomicrobiology (in press) (2009).
- B. Jiang, A.-M. Henstra, P.L. Paulo, M. Balk, W. van Doesburg and A.J.M. Stams. Atypical one-carbon metabolism of novel Moorella thermoacetica strain. Archives of Microbiology, 191(2):123-31 (2009).
- M. Balk, M. Altınbaş, W. I. C. Rijpstra, J. S. Sinninghe Damsté and A. J. M. Stams. Desulfatirhabdium butyrativorans gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel butyrate-oxidizing sulfate-reducing bacterium isolated from an anaerobic bioreactor. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 58 (pt 1):110-5 (2008).
- M. Balk, Ton van Gelder, Sander A. Weelink and Alfons J. M. Stams (Per)chlorate reduction by the thermophilic bacterium, Moorella perchloratireducens sp. nov., isolated from an underground gas storage. Applied and Environmental Microbiolology. 74(2):403-409 (2008).
- M. Balk, F.T. Freund, M. Bose, G. Ertem, D.A. Rogoff, and L. J. Rothschild. Early Earth's Oxidation before the Great Oxidation Event. in Astrobiology. Session 38. Evolution, Astrobiology 8(2): 468-471 (2008).
- M. Balk, Weijma J, Goorissen HP, Ronteltap M, Hansen TA, Stams AJ. Methanol utilizing Desulfotomaculum species utilizes hydrogen in a methanol-fed sulfate-reducing bioreactor. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 73(5):1203-11 (2007).
- M. Balk. Life in the Absence of Oxygen: Alternative Electron Acceptors for Anaerobic Microorganisms in a Petroleum Environment. T. Journal of Biology 31, 59-66 (2007).
- Damsté JS, Rijpstra WI, Hopmans EC, Schouten S, Balk M, Stams AJ. Structural characterization of diabolic acid-based tetraester, tetraether and mixed ether/ester, membrane-spanning lipids of bacteria from the order Thermotogales. Archives of Microbiolology 188(6):629-41 (2007).
- van Doesburg W., M.H.A. van Eekert, P.J.M. Middeldorp. M. Balk, G. Schraa, and A. J.M. Stams. Reductive dechlorination of -hexachlorocyclohexane (-HCH) by a Dehalobacter species in coculture with Sedimentibacter sp. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 1;54(1):87-95 (2005).
- M. Balk, J. Weijma, M. W. Friedrich, and A.J.M. Stams. Methanol conversion by a novel thermophilic homoacetogenic bacterium, Moorella mulderi sp. nov., isolated from a bioreactor”. Archives of Microbiolology. 179, 315-20 (2003).
- M. Balk, J. Weijma, and A.J.M. Stams. Thermotoga lettingae sp. nov., a novel thermophilic, methanol degrading bacterium isolated from a thermophilic anaerobic reactor. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 52: 1361-1368 (2002).
- R.H.J. Scholten, C.M.C. van der Peet-Schwering, L.A. den Hartog, M. Balk, J.W.Schrama, and M.W.A. Verstegen. Fermented wheat in liquid diets: Effects on gastrointestinal characteristics in weanling piglets. Journal of Animal Science 80: 1179-1186 (2002).
- C.M. Plugge, M. Balk, E. G. Zoetendal, and A.J.M. Stams. Gelria glutamica gen. nov., sp. nov., a thermophilic, obligately syntrophic, glutamate-degrading anaerobe. International Journal of Systematic and evolutionary Microbiology. 52: 401-407 (2002).
- C.M. Plugge, M. Balk and A.J.M. Stams. Desulfotomaculum thermobenzoicum subsp. thermobenzoicum subsp. nov., a thermophilic, syntrophic, propionate-oxidizing, spore-forming bacterium. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 52: 391-399 (2002).
- C. M. Plugge, J.M. van Leeuwen, T. Hummelen, M. Balk, A.J.M. Stams. Elucidation of the pathways of catabolic glutamate conversion in three thermophilic anaerobic bacteria. Archives of Microbiolology. 176:29-36 (2001).
- Ponne, C. T., M. Balk, O. Hancioglu and L. G. M. Gorris, “Effect of Radio Frequency Energy on Biological Membranes and Microorganisms”, Lebensm.-Wiss. U.-Technol. 29, 41-48 (1996).
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