Nathan Yee

Professor
Phone: 848-932-5714
Email: nyee@envsci.rutgers.edu

Education

McGill University, B.Sc., 1997
University of Notre Dame, Ph.D., 2001

Appointments

Professor, Rutgers University, 2016 - present
Associate Professor, Rutgers University, 2010 - 2016
Assistant Professor, Rutgers University, 2004 - 2010
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Leeds, 2001 - 2003

Research Interests

I conduct research in the areas of geochemistry and geomicrobiology. My geochemistry research is focused on understanding mineral transformations and the interactions between metal ions and mineral surfaces. I study geochemical reactions that are relevant to mineral formation on the early Earth and the evolution of microbial life. My geomicrobiology research is aimed at understanding the impact of microorganisms on the chemical cycling of inorganic elements. I use experimental data to develop models that describe microbial metal binding and biologically catalyzed redox reactions. A significant component of this work involves studying microbial processes that affect the fate and transport of contaminants in the environment.

Publications

1. Farr O., Hao J., Liu W., Fehon N., Reinfelder J. R., Yee N., Falkowski, P. G. (2023) Archean phosphorus recycling facilitated by ultraviolet radiation, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(30), e2307524120
2. Hao J., Liu W., Goff J. L., Steadman J. A., Large R. R., Falkowski P. G., Yee N. (2022) Anoxic photochemical weathering of pyrite on Archean continents, Science Advances, 8(26), eabn2226
3. Hao J., Glein C. R., Huang F., Yee N., Catling D. C., Postberg F., Hillier J.K., Hazen, R. M. (2022) Abundant phosphorus expected for possible life in Enceladus’s ocean, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(39), e2201388119
4. Banuchi V. R., Liu W., Yee N., Legett C., Glotch T. D., Chemtob, S. M. (2022) Ultraviolet Photooxidation of Smectite‐Bound Fe (II) and Implications for the Origin of Martian Nontronites, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, e2021JE007150
5. Farr, O., Elzinga, E.J., Yee, N. (2022) Effect of Ni2+, Zn2+, and Co2+ on green rust transformation to magnetite, Geochemical Transactions, 23, 3
6. Goff J.L., Wang Y., Boyanov M.I., Yu Q., Kemner K.M., Fein J.B., Yee N. (2021) Tellurite adsorption onto bacterial surfaces, Environmental Science & Technology, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c01001
7. Wang Y. Bartov G., Wang T., Reinfelder J.R., Johnson T.M, Yee N. (2021) Rapid Attainment of Isotopic Equilibrium after Mercury Reduction by Ferrous Iron Minerals and Isotopic Exchange between Hg(II) and Hg(0), ACS Earth & Space Chemistry, 5, 1384−1394
8. Goff J.L., Boyanov M.I., Kemner K.M., Yee N. (2021) The role of cysteine in tellurate reduction and toxicity, BioMetals, 34, 937-946
9. Goff J.L., Schaefer J.K., Yee N. (2021) Extracellular sulfite is protective against reactive oxygen species and antibiotic stress in Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, Environmental Microbiology Reports, 13, 394-400
10. Wang, Y., Roth, S., Schaefer, J., Reinfelder, J., Yee, N. (2020) Production of methylmercury by methanogens in mercury contaminated estuarine sediments, FEMS Microbiology Letters, 367, fnaa196
11. Liu W., Yee N., Elzinga E., Piotrowiak P., Nanda V., Falkowski P.G. (2020) Anoxic photogeochemical oxidation of manganese carbonate yields manganese oxide, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117, 22698-22704
12. Wang Y., Janssen S.E., Schaefer, J.K., Yee N., Reinfelder, J.R. (2020) Tracing the Uptake of Hg(II) in an Iron-Reducing Bacterium Using Mercury Stable Isotopes, Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 7, 573−578
13. Moore E.K., Hao J., Spielman S.J., Yee N. (2020) The evolving redox chemistry and bioavailability of vanadium in deep time, Geobiology, 18, 127-138
14. Meyer M, Bakermans C, Beaty D, Bernard D, Boston P, Chevrier V, Conley C, Feustel I, Gough R, Glotch T, Hays L, Junge K, Lindberg R, Mellon M, Mischna M, Neal CR, Pugel B, Quinn R, Raulin F, Rennó N, Rummel J, Schulte M, Spry A, Stabekis P, Wang A, Yee N. (2019) Report of the Joint Workshop on Induced Special Regions, Life Sci Space Res, 23, 50-59
15. Fein J.B., Yu Q., Nam J., Yee N. (2019) Bacterial cell envelope and extracellular sulfhydryl binding sites: Their roles in metal binding and bioavailability, Chemical Geology, 521, 28-38
16. Choi J.K., Shah M., and Yee N. (2019) Anaerosporomusa, Bergey’s Manual of Systematics of Archaea and Bacteria, doi.org/10.1002/9781118960608.gbm01659
17. Goff J., Terry L., Mal J., Schilling K., Pallud C., and Yee N. (2019) Se(0) dissolution by Bacillus sp. JG17 is mediated by extracellular reactive sulfur metabolites, Geobiology, 17, 320-329
18. Wang Y., Yu Q., Mishra B., Schaefer J.K., Fein J.B., Yee N. (2018) Adsorption of methylmercury onto Geobacter bemidijensis Bem, Environmental Science & Technology, 50, 1049-11056
19. Walzack A.B., Yee N., Young L.Y. (2018) Draft genome sequence of Bosea sp. WAO an arsenite and sulfide oxidizer isolated from a pyrite rock outcrop in New Jersey Standards in Genomic Sciences, 13, 6
20. Goff J. and Yee N. (2017) Tellurate enters Escherichia coli K-12 cells via the SulT-type sulfate transporter CysPUWA, FEMS Microbiology Letters, Volume 364, Issue 24, fnx241
21. Mishra B., Shoenfelt E., Yu Q., Yee N., Fein J.B., Myneni S.C.B (2017) Stoichiometry of mercury-thiol complexes on bacterial cell envelopes, Chemical Geology, 464, 137-146
22. Ha J., Zhao X., Yu R., Barkay T., Yee N. (2017) Hg(II) Reduction by Siderite (FeCO3), Applied Geochemistry, 78, 211-218
23. Wang Y., Schaefer J.K., Mishra B., Yee N. (2016) Intracellular Hg(0) oxidation in Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ND132, Environmental Science & Technology, 50, 1049-11056
24. Harel A., Haggblom M.H., Falkowski P.G., Yee N. (2016) Evolution of prokaryotic respiratory molybdoenzymes with high frequency of genomic co-occurrence, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 92, fiw187
25. Choi J.K., Shah M., Yee N. (2016) Anaerosporomusa gen. nov., sp. nov., a spore-forming anaerobe belonging to the class Negativicutes isolated from saprolite, International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 66, 3848–3854
26. Louie T.S., Giovannelli D., Yee N., Narasingarao P., Starovoytov V., Bini E., Haggblom M.M. (2016) High-quality draft genome sequence of Sedimenticola selenatireducens strain AK4OH1T, a gammaproteobacterium isolated from estuarine sediment, Standards in Genomic Sciences, 11, 66
27. Walzack A.B., Kafantaris F.C., Druschel G. K., Yee N., Young L.Y. (2016) Transformation of galena to pyromorphite produces bioavailable sulfur for neutrophilic chemoautotrophy, Geobiology, 14, 599-606
28. Chen M., Lu G., Guo C., Yang C., Wu J., Huang W., Yee N., Dang Z. (2015) Sulfate migration in a river affected by acid mine drainage from the Dabaoshan mining area, South China, Chemosphere, 119, 734-743

Chemical Geology,

30. Theisen J. and Yee N. (2014) The Molecular Basis for Selenate Reduction in Citrobacter freundii, Geomicrobiology Journal, 31, 875-884
31. Cheng S., Karkar S., Bapteste D, Yee N., Falkowski P, Bhattacharya D. (2014) Sequence similarity network reveals the imprints of major diversification events in the evolution of microbial life, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 2, 72, doi: 10.3389/fevo.2014.00074
32. Yee N., Choi J., Porter A.W., Carey S., Rauschenbach I., Harel A. (2014) Selenate reductase activity in Escherichia coli requires Isc iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis genes. FEMS Microbiology Letters, 361, 138-143
33. Shah M., Lin C.C., Kukkadapu R., Engelhard M.H., Zhao X., Wang Y., Barkay T., Yee N. (2014) Syntrophic Effects in a Subsurface Clostridia Consortium on Fe(III)-(Oxyhydr)oxide Reduction and Secondary Mineralization, Geomicrobiology Journal, 31, 101-115
34. Mumford A.C., Yee N., Young L.Y. (2013) Precipitation of Alacranite (As8S9) by a Novel As(V)-Respiring Anaerobe Strain MPA-C3, Environmental Microbiology, 15, 2748-2760
35. Kim J. D., Yee N., Nanda V., Falkowski P.G. (2013) Anoxic Photochemical Oxidation of Siderite Generates Molecular Hydrogen and Iron Oxides, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110, 10073-10077
36. Colombo M.J., Ha J., Reinfelder J.R., Barkay T., Yee N., (2013) Anaerobic Oxidation of Hg(0) and Methylmercury Formation by Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ND132, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta , 112, 166-177
37. Theisen J., Zyltra G., Yee N. (2013) Genetic Evidence for a Molybdopterin-Containing Tellurate Reductase, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 79, 3171-3175
38. Wang Y., Wiatrowski H.A., Ria J., Lin C.C., Young L.Y., Kerkhof L.J., Yee N., Barkay T. (2012) Impact of mercury on denitrification and denitrifying microbial communities in nitrate contaminated subsurface sediments, Biodegradation, 24, 33-46
39. Rauschenbach I., Bini E., Haggblom M.M., Yee N. (2012) Physiological response of Desulfurispirillum indicum S5 to arsenate and nitrate as terminal electron acceptors, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 81, 156-162
40. Cuebas M., Villafane A., McBride M., Yee N., Bini E. (2011) Arsenate reduction and expression of multiple chromosomal ars operons in Geobacillus kaustophilus, Microbiology, 157, 2004-2011
41. Rauschenbach I., Yee N., Haggblom M.M., Bini E. (2011) Energy Metabolism and Multiple Respiratory Pathways Revealed by Genome Sequencing of Desulfurispirillum indicum strain S5, Environmental Microbiology, 13, 1611-1621
42. Lin C.C., Yee N., Barkay T. "Microbial transformations in the mercury cycle", In Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology of Mercury. Ed. G. Liu, Y. Cai, and N. O'Driscoll, Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2011
43. Slater L.,Day-Lewis F., Ntarlagiannis D., O'Brien M., Yee N. (2009) Geoelectrical measurement and modeling of biogeochemical breakthrough behavior during microbial activity, Geophysical Research Letters, 36, L14402, doi:10.1029/2009GL038695
44. Wiatrowski H.A., Das S., Kukkadapu K., Ilton E., Barkay T., Yee N. (2009) Reduction of Hg(II) to Hg(0) by magnetite, Environmental Science & Technology, 43, 5307-5313
45. Ma J., Kobayashi D.Y. Yee N. (2009) Role of menaquinone biosynthesis genes in selenate reduction by Enterobacter cloacae SLD1a-1 and Escherichia coli K12, Environmental Microbiology, 11, 149-158
46. Boonfueng T. Axe L., Yee N., Hahn D. Ndiba P.K. (2009) Zn sorption mechanisms onto sheathed Leptothrix discophora and the impact of nanoparticulate biogenic Mn oxide coating, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 333, 439-447
47. Yee N. and Kobayashi D.Y. (2008) Molecular genetics of selenate reduction by Enterobacter cloacae SLD1a-1, Advances in Applied Microbiology, 64, 107-123
48. Zhu W., Young L.Y., Yee N., Serfes M., Rhine E.D., Reinfelder J.R. (2008) Sulfide driven arsenic mobilization from arsenopyrite and black shale pyrite, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 72, 5243-5250
49. Personna Y., Ntarlagiannis D., Slater L., Yee N., O'Brien M., Hubbard S. (2008) Spectral Induced Polarization and Electrodic Potential Monitoring of Microbially-Mediated Iron Sulfide Transformations, Journal of Geophysical Research, 113, G02020, doi:10.1029/2007JG000614
50. Slater L., Ntarlagiannis D., Yee N., O'Brien M., Zhang C., Williams K.H., (2008) Electrodic voltages in the presence of dissolved sulfide: Implications for monitoring natural microbial activity, Geophysics, 73, F65-F70
51. Ma J., Kobayashi D.Y. Yee N. (2007) Chemical kinetic and molecular genetic study of selenium oxyanion reduction by Enterobacter cloacae SLD1a-1, Environmental Science & Technology, 41, 7795-7801
52. Yee N., Ma J., Dalia A., Boonfueng T., Kobayashi D.Y. (2007) Se(VI) reduction and the precipitation of Se(0) precipitation by the facultative bacterium Enterobacter cloacae SLD1a-1 is regulated by FNR, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 73, 1914-1920
53. Kenward P.A., Fowle D.A., Yee N. (2006) Microbial selenate sorption and reduction in nutrient limited systems, Environmental Science & Technology, 40, 3782-3786
54. Xu Y., Axe L., Yee N., Dyer J.A. (2006) Bidentate Complexation Modeling of Heavy Metal Adsorption and Competition on Goethite, Environmental Science & Technology, 40, 2213-2218
55. Yee N., Shaw S., Benning L.G., and Nguyen T.H. (2006) The rate of ferrihydrite transformation to goethite via the Fe(II) pathway, American Mineralogist, 91, 92-96
56. Ntarlagiannis D. Slater L.D., Yee N. (2005) On the low-frequency electrical polarization of bacterial cells in sands, Geophysical Research Letters, 32, L24402, doi:10.1029/2005GL024751
57. Fein, J.B, Boily J.F, Yee N., Gorman-Lewis D., and Turner B.F. (2005) Modeling the speciation of bacterial surface ligands: Comparison of discrete and continuous pKa approaches Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 69, 1123-1132
58. Yee, N. and Fowle D.A. Ferris F.G. (2004) A Donnan Model for metal sorption onto Bacillus subtilis, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 68, 3657-3664
59. Yee, N., Benning L.G., Phoenix V.R., and Ferris F.G. (2004) Characterization of metal-cyanobacteria sorption reactions: A combined macroscopic and infrared spectroscopic investigation, Environmental Science & Technology, 38, 775-782
60. Benning L.G., Phoenix V.R. Yee N., and Konhauser K.O. (2004) Molecular characterization of cyanobacterial silicification using synchrotron infrared micro-spectroscopy, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 68, 729-741
61. Benning L.G., Phoenix V.R. Yee N., and Tobin, M. (2004) The dynamics of cyanobacterial silicification: an infrared micro-spectroscopic investigation, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 68, 743-757
62. Yee, N., Phoenix, V.R., Konhauser, K.O., Benning L.G. and F.G. Ferris (2003) The effect of bacteria on silica precipitation at neutral pH: Implications for bacterial silicification in geothermal hot springs, Chemical Geology, 199, 83-90

63. Yee, N. and Fein, J.B. (2003) Quantifying metal adsorption onto bacteria mixtures: A test and application of the surface complexation model, Geomicrobiology Journal, 20, 43-60

64. Kelly, S.D., Kemner, K.M., Fein, J.B., Fowle, D.A., Boyanov, M.I., Bunker, B.A., and Yee, N., (2002) X-ray absorption fine structure determination of pH-dependent U-bacterial cell wall interactions. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 66, 3855-3871

65. Yee, N. and Fein, J.B. (2002) Does metal adsorption onto bacteria inhibit or enhance metal transport?--Column and batch reactor experiments on Cd-Bacillus subtilis-quartz systems, Chemical Geology, 185, 303-319

66. Yee, N. and Fein, J.B. (2001) Cd adsorption onto bacterial surfaces: A universal adsorption edge?, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 65, 2037-2042

67. Kelly, S.D., Boyanov, M.I., Bunker, B.A., Fein, J.B., Fowle, D.A., Yee, N. Kemner, K.M., (2001) XAFS determination of the bacterial cell wall functional groups responsible for complexation of Cd and U as a function of pH U-bacterial cell wall interactions at low pH. Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, 8, 946-948

68. Yee, N., Fein, J.B. and Daughney, C.J. (2000) Experimental study of the pH, ionic strength, and reversibility behavior of bacteria adsorption onto mineral surfaces, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 64, 609-617

69. Daughney, C.J., Fein, J.B. and Yee N. (1998) A comparison of the thermodynamics of metal adsorption onto two common bacteria, Chemical Geology, 144, 161-176

70. Fein, J.B., Daughney, C.J., Yee, N. and Davis, T.A. (1997) A chemical equilibrium model for metal adsorption onto bacterial surfaces, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 61, 3319-3328