Name: Professor Richard G Burns

Professor of Environmental Microbiology

Chief Editor Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Research Interests:  degradation of pollutants in soil and water; microbial biofilms and community complexity; the rhizosphere; water and effluent biotreatment

E-mail Address: r.burns@.uq.edu.au

Phone Number: 07 3365 2509

Recent Publications

Edited Volumes

BURNS R G  (2000) Enzymes in the Environment. Special Issue of Soil Biology & Biochemistry, Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 172.

BURNS R G & DICK R (2002) Enzymes in the Environment.  Marcel Dekker,  New York, pp. 614 

Invited Reviews

BURNS R G & STACH JEM (2002)  Microbial ecology of soil biofilms : substrate bioavailability, bioremediation and complexity. In : Developments in Soil Science Volume 28B Interactions of Minerals, Organics and Microbes in the Soil Environment (A.Violante, PM Huang, J-M Bollag, L.Gianfreda et al., Editors), pp17-42.  Elsevier. The Netherlands.

BURNS R G (2003) Enzyme activities in soil: understanding and manipulating beneficial properties for bioremediation. In: Preserving Soil Quality and Soil Biodiversity (M.C.Lobo & J.J.Ibanez Eds.), pp. 39-62. IMIA Press, Madrid.

BURNS R G (2003) Soil bioremediation: bioavailability, biofilms and complexity. In: Proceedings of the British Crop Protection Council Congress, BCPC Publications, London, pp 400-412.

SHAW L J & BURNS R G. (2003)  Biodegradation of organic pollutants in the rhizosphere. Advances in Applied Microbiology  53, 1-60

Papers

McGHEE I, SANNINO F,  GIANFREDA L & BURNS R G (1999)    Bioavailability of 2,4-D sorbed to a chlorite-like complex.  Chemosphere  39, 285-291.    

SMITH M J, LETHBRIDGE G & BURNS R G (1999)          Fate of phenanthrene, pyrene and benzo(a)pyrene during biodegradation of crude oil added to soils. FEMS Microbiology Letters  173, 445-452.

CARTWRIGHT  C D,  THOMPSON I P  & BURNS R G (2000)  Impact of phthalate  plasticisers on soil microbial communities.  Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 19, 1253-1261.

CARTWRIGHT C D, THOMPSON I P & BURNS R G (2000) Biodegradation of dimethyl phthalate in soil by a novel pathway   FEMS Microbiology Letters  186, 27-34.

BURNS R G (2001)  Bioavailability, bioremediation and biofilms in soil : how complex is complex? Mitteilung der Duetschen Bodenkundlichen Gesellschaft 95, 19-22.

STACH J.E.M, BATHE S, CLAPP J P & BURNS R.G. (2001) PCR-SSCP comparison of 16S rDNA sequence diversity in soil DNA obtained using different isolation and purification  methods. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 36, 139-150.

SONG Z,  EDWARDS S, SHAW L J, SENIOR K C & BURNS R G (2001) Chemical oxygen demand and biodegradation of chemical additives used in the tanning process. Proceedings IWA 2^nd World Water Congress Berlin, October 2001, pp.8

TAYLOR J, WILSON B, MILLS M S & BURNS R G (2002) Comparison of microbial numbers and enzymatic activities in surface soils and subsoils using various techniques. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 34, 387-401.

STACH J E M & BURNS R G (2002) Enrichment versus biofilm culture: a functional and phylogenetic comparison of polycyclic hydrocarbon-degrading microbial communities. Environmental Microbiology 4, 169-182.

SONG  Z, EDWARDS SR, HOWLAND K & BURNS RG (2003) Analysis of a retan agent used in the tanning process and its determination in tannery wastewater. Analytical Chemistry. 75, 1285-1293.

GARCIA GONZALEZ V, GOVANTES G, SHAW L J, BURNS R G & SANTERO E (2003).  Nitrogen control of atrazine utilization in Pseudomonas sp ADP.  Applied and Environmental Microbiology 69, 6987-6993

SILVA E, FIALHO, A M, SA-CORREIA I, BURNS R G  & SHAW L J (2004) Combined bioaugmentation and biostimulation to clean up soil contaminated with high concentrations of atrazine.  Environmental Science and Technology 38, 632-637.

TAYLOR J P, MILLS M S & BURNS R G (2004).  Sorption and desorption behaviour of the herbicide acetochlor in surface subsurface and size fractionated soils.  European Journal of Soil Science (in press)

SHAW LJ & BURNS RG (2004).   Enhanced mineralization of ¹⁴C-UL-2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid in soil from the rhizosphere of Trifolium pretense. Applied and Environmental Microbiology (in press)