JAMES S. MAKI
Associate Professor

B.S. 1975, Whitworth College
Ph.D. 1982, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Washington
Research Associate, Harvard University

WLS 407
(414) 288-7311
email: james.maki@marquette.edu

Microbial Ecology

The research in my laboratory involves the study of microorganisms and their interactions with their biotic and abiotic environments.  These studies include using traditional culture/enrichment microbiology and molecular techniques to examine microbial and/or gene diversity, abundance and activity. 

An example of a project in the laboratory involves the role of microbial biofilms on the attachment of larval and adult zebra (Dreissena polymorpha) and quagga (D. bugensis) mussels.  The zebra mussel is a bivalve that invaded the North American Great Lakes sometime in the mid-1980s and has since spread through interconnected waterways across much of the mid-western and eastern United States.  Its relative, the quagga mussel, also an invader, was first reported in the Great Lakes in the late 1980s and is slowly replacing the zebra mussel in the waters of the Great Lakes.  Both of these animals represent a potentially expensive fouling problem to industrial and municipal concerns.  Our field studies have shown that the effect of natural biofilms on zebra mussel larval attachment varies between the substrata that the biofilms develop on.  On one substratum biofilms stimulated larval attachment while on another they had no effect.  Laboratory studies showed that natural biofilms could also influence the byssal thread reattachment of young adult mussels.  Additional experiments demonstrated that monospecies bacterial biofilms on specific substrata and in some cases the cell-free extracellular polymers of these biofilms inhibited reattachment of young adult mussels.  Currently, the research is focused on the study of the extracellular polymers of these bacteria.  The goal is to determine if natural products can be isolated from the bacteria that either stimulate or more importantly inhibit attachment of zebra and/or quagga mussels.

Other projects involve biofilm formation by oral microorganisms and its control in collaboration with investigators from the Marquette University School of Dentistry.  The goal is to find better methods to prevent infection and re-infection of teeth and tissues.  There is also a project that examines bioaugmentation of anaerobic digesters in collaboration with colleagues in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Marquette.  The goal of this research is to determine the identity of beneficial microorganisms in existing anaerobic digesters and use the beneficial organisms to bioaugment other digesters to significantly increase methane and renewable energy production.

A final project that is being completed involves an investigation of the microbiology and chemistry of sublacustrine hydrothermal vents and gas fumaroles in Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park.  This research was accomplished in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Great Lakes Water Institute and Department of Biological Sciences.  Molecular and enrichment techniques were used to study the diversity of Bacteria and Archaea in vent and bulk phase water samples.  In addition, molecular techniques were used to study the distribution of specific metabolic types of microorganisms in the water column by looking at specific genes.  The goal was to determine the influence of the hydrothermal vents on the biology and chemistry of the lake waters.

Selected References

Kavouras, J.H., and J.S. Maki. 2004.  Inhibition of the reattachment of young adult zebra mussels by single-species biofilms and their associated exopolymers.  Journal of Applied Microbiology 97: 1236-1246.

Cuhel, R.L., C. Aguilar, C.C. Remsen, J.S. Maki, D. Lovalvo, J.V. Klump, and R.W. Paddock  2004.  The Bridge Bay spires.  Yellowstone Science  12(4): 35-40

Hoelscher, A.A., J.K. Bahcall and J.S. Maki.  2006.  In vitro evaluation of the antimicrobial effects of a root canal sealer-antibiotic combination against Enterococcus faecalis.  Journal of Endodontics  32: 145-147

Davis, J.M., J. Maki and J.K. Bahcall.  2007.  An in vitro comparison of the antimicrobial effects of various endodontic medicaments on Enterococcus faecalis.  Journal of Endodontics  33: 567-569.

Fathi, B., J.K. Bahcall, and J.S. Maki.  2007.  An in vitro comparison of bacterial leakage of three common restorative materials used as an intracoronal barrier.  Journal of Endodontics  33: 872-874.

Singh, J.M., A. Dentino, and J.S. Maki.  2007.  Joazeiro: can it be a weapon in combating oral diseases?  General Dentistry  (in press).

Abstracts Presented at Meetings During 2007/2008 Academic Year:

Kavouras, J.H., and J.S. Maki.  2007.  Microbial community composition influences Dreissenid postveliger attachment.  N-195, in Abstracts of the 107th General Meeting, American Society for Microbiology, Toronto, Canada, May 21-25.