Contact Details
- Phone
- +64 3 479 3140
- sergio.morales@otago.ac.nz
- Position
- Associate Professor
- Department
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology
- Qualifications
- BSc, PhD
- Research summary
- Environmental microbiology, microbial biotechnology and microbial ecology, bacterial and viral genetics
Research
Our goal is to understand how microbes survive in the environment, and how their presence affects ecosystem processes like primary productivity and nutrient turnover.
By understanding how microorganisms adapt and respond to environmental cues we can harness some of their power, and predict how ecosystems will react to environmental changes.
Publications
Bogdanov, K., Bhople, P., Bondi, G., Nunan, N., Elsgaard, L., Herrmann, A. M., … Morales, S. E., & Clough, T. J. (2026). Long-term P management has limited impacts on soil microbial communities, with unique patterns driven by location, land use, and soil depth. Applied Soil Ecology, 220, 106877. doi: 10.1016/j.apsoil.2026.106877 Journal - Research Article
Bhople, P., Wall, D., Richards, K., Clough, T., Brennan, F., Lanigan, G., … Morales, S. E., … Bondi, G. (2025). Soil nutrient stoichiometry impacts on soil organic carbon stocks in long-term phosphorus fertilisation experiments. Geoderma, 463, 117538. doi: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2025.117538 Journal - Research Article
Voss, E. M., Cook, G. M., Couldrey, C., Ferguson, S. A., Harland, C., Karkaba, A., … Morales, S. E., … Ussher, J. E., … Williamson, J. (2025). Comparative genomics of endemic Staphylococcus aureus ST1 in New Zealand. mSphere. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00376-25 Journal - Research Article
Duff, A., Giles, M., Ganasamurthy, S., Santos, A., Morales, S. E., & Brennan, F. (2025). Counting soil microbial communities: The impact of qPCR platform and mastermix on accuracy and precision. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 101, fiaf073. doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiaf073 Journal - Research Article
Morales, S. E., Tobias-Hünefeldt, S. P., Armstrong, E., Pearman, W. S., & Bogdanov, K. (2025). Marine phytoplankton impose strong selective pressures on in vitro microbiome assembly, but drift is the dominant process. ISME Communications, 5(1), ycaf001. doi: 10.1093/ismeco/ycaf001 Journal - Research Article
2026
Journal - Research Article
Bogdanov, K., Bhople, P., Bondi, G., Nunan, N., Elsgaard, L., Herrmann, A. M., … Morales, S. E., & Clough, T. J. (2026). Long-term P management has limited impacts on soil microbial communities, with unique patterns driven by location, land use, and soil depth. Applied Soil Ecology, 220, 106877. doi: 10.1016/j.apsoil.2026.106877
2025
Journal - Research Article
Bhople, P., Wall, D., Richards, K., Clough, T., Brennan, F., Lanigan, G., … Morales, S. E., … Bondi, G. (2025). Soil nutrient stoichiometry impacts on soil organic carbon stocks in long-term phosphorus fertilisation experiments. Geoderma, 463, 117538. doi: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2025.117538
Voss, E. M., Cook, G. M., Couldrey, C., Ferguson, S. A., Harland, C., Karkaba, A., … Morales, S. E., … Ussher, J. E., … Williamson, J. (2025). Comparative genomics of endemic Staphylococcus aureus ST1 in New Zealand. mSphere. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00376-25
Duff, A., Giles, M., Ganasamurthy, S., Santos, A., Morales, S. E., & Brennan, F. (2025). Counting soil microbial communities: The impact of qPCR platform and mastermix on accuracy and precision. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 101, fiaf073. doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiaf073
Morales, S. E., Tobias-Hünefeldt, S. P., Armstrong, E., Pearman, W. S., & Bogdanov, K. (2025). Marine phytoplankton impose strong selective pressures on in vitro microbiome assembly, but drift is the dominant process. ISME Communications, 5(1), ycaf001. doi: 10.1093/ismeco/ycaf001
2024
Journal - Research Article
Pearman, W. S., Duffy, G. A., Smith, R. O., Currie, K. I., Gemmell, N. J., Morales, S. E., & Fraser, C. I. (2024). Host dispersal relaxes selective pressures in rafting microbiomes and triggers successional changes. Nature Communications, 15, 10759. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-54954-z
Pearman, W. S., Duffy, G. A., Gemmell, N. J., Morales, S. E., & Fraser, C. I. (2024). Long-distance movement dynamics shape host microbiome richness and turnover. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 100, fiae089. doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiae089
Pearman, W. S., Morales, S. E., Vaux, F., Gemmell, N. J., & Fraser, C. I. (2024). Host population crashes disrupt the diversity of associated marine microbiomes. Environmental Microbiology, 26, e16611. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.16611
Pearman, W. S., Duffy, G. A., Liu, X. P., Gemmell, N. J., Morales, S. E., & Fraser, C. I. (2024). Macroalgal microbiome biogeography is shaped by environmental drivers rather than geographic distance. Annals of Botany, 133, 169-181. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcad151
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Baltar, F., Martínez-Pérez, C., Amano, C., Vial, M., Reinthaler, T., Robaina-Estévez, S., … Morales, S., & Gonzalez, J. M. (2024). A ubiquitous gammaproteobacterial clade dominates expression of sulfur oxidation genes across the mesopelagic ocean. Proceedings of the Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM). OB34A-0849. Retrieved from https://agu.confex.com/agu/OSM24/meetingapp.cgi/
2023
Journal - Research Article
Baltar, F., Martínez-Pérez, C., Amano, C., Vial, M., Robaina-Estévez, S., Reinthaler, T., … Morales, S. E., & González, J. M. (2023). A ubiquitous gammaproteobacterial clade dominates expression of sulfur oxidation genes across the mesopelagic ocean. Nature Microbiology, 8, 1137-1148. doi: 10.1038/s41564-023-01374-2
Lappan, R., Shelley, G., Islam, Z. F., Leung, P. M., Lockwood, S., Nauer, P. A., … Morales, S. E., & Greening, C. (2023). Molecular hydrogen in seawater supports growth of diverse marine bacteria. Nature Microbiology, 8, 581-595. doi: 10.1038/s41564-023-01322-0
Highton, M. P., Bakken, L. R., Dörsch, P., Tobias‑Hunefeldt, S., Molstad, L., & Morales, S. E. (2023). Soil water extract and bacteriome determine N2O emission potential in soils. Biology & Fertility of Soils, 59, 217-232. doi: 10.1007/s00374-022-01690-5
Décima, M., Stukel, M. R., Nodder, S. D., Gutiérrez Rodríguez, A., Selph, K. E., dos Santos, A. L., … Deans, F., Morales, S. E., … Pinkerton, M. (2023). Salp blooms drive strong increases in passive carbon export in the Southern Ocean. Nature Communications, 14, 425. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-35204-6
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Apostolakis, A., Englert, P., Dörsch, P., Jumadi, O., Khalil, I., Klumpp, K., Morales, S., … Meijide, A. (2023). TRUESOIL Project: Understanding trade-offs and dynamic interactions between SOC stocks and GHG emissions for climate smart agrisoil management. Proceedings of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly. EGU23-7372. doi: 10.5194/egusphere-egu23-7372
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Voss, E. M., Williamson, J., McDougall, S., Karkaba, A., Harland, C., Ussher, J. E., Ferguson, S. A., Morales, S. E., Cook, G. M., & Couldrey, C. (2023, August). New Zealand wide genetic and phenotypic characteristics of bovine Staphylococcus aureus isolates. Verbal presentation at the Queenstown Molecular Biology (QMB) Microbiomes Satellite, Queenstown, New Zealand.
2022
Journal - Research Article
Lockwood, S., Greening, C., Baltar, F., & Morales, S. E. (2022). Global and seasonal variation of marine phosphonate metabolism. ISME Journal, 16, 2198-2212. doi: 10.1038/s41396-022-01266-z
Wang, X., Reilly, K., Heathcott, R., Biswas, A., Johnson, L. J., Teasdale, S., … Morales, S. E. (2022). Soil nitrogen treatment alters microbiome networks across farm niches. Frontiers in Microbiology, 12, 786156. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.786156
Martínez-Pérez, C., Greening, C., Bay, S. K., Lappan, R. J., Zhao, Z., De Corte, D., Hulbe, C., Ohneiser, C., … Thomson, B., … Morales, S. E., & Baltar, F. (2022). Phylogenetically and functionally diverse microorganisms reside under the Ross Ice Shelf. Nature Communications, 13, 117. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-27769-5
Highton, M. P., Bakken, L. R., Dörsch, P., Molstad, L., & Morales, S. E. (2022). Nitrite accumulation and impairment of N2O reduction explains contrasting soil denitrification phenotypes. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 166, 108529. doi: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108529
Journal - Research Other
Morales, S. E., Hulbe, C., Martínez-Pérez, C., & Baltar, F. (2022). In the dark, freezing ocean under Antarctica's largest ice shelf, we discovered a thriving microbial jungle. The Conversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/in-the-dark-freezing-ocean-under-antarcticas-largest-ice-shelf-we-discovered-a-thriving-microbial-jungle-175735
Meaden, S., Biswas, A., Arkhipova, K., Morales, S. E., Dutilh, B. E., . . ., & Fineran, P. C. (2022). High viral abundance and low diversity are associated with increased CRISPR-Cas prevalence across microbial ecosystems. Current Biology, 32, 220-227. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.10.038
Conference Contribution - Poster Presentation (not in published proceedings)
Voss, E. M., Williamson, J., Gatenby, S., Pruden, S., Ling, H., Wallace, A., … Ferguson, S. A., Morales, S., Cook, G. M., & Couldrey, C. (2022, August-September). Genomics of Staphylococcus aureus strains in New Zealand dairy cows. Poster session presented at the 31st Queenstown Molecular Biology Meeting (QMB), Queenstown, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Pearman, W. S., Morales, S. E., Gemmell, N. J., & Fraser, C. I. (2022, August-September). Host density drives microbiome diversity patterns in southern bull kelp. Verbal presentation at the 31st Queenstown Molecular Biology Meeting (QMB), Queenstown, New Zealand.
2021
Journal - Research Article
Samad, M. S., Ganasamurthy, S., Highton, M. P., Bakken, L. R., Clough, T. J., de Klein, C. A. M., … Morales, S. E. (2021). Urea treatment decouples intrinsic pH control over N2O emissions in soils. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 163, 108461. doi: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108461
Tobias-Hünefeldt, S. P., Wing, S. R., Baltar, F., & Morales, S. E. (2021). Changes in microbial community phylogeny and metabolic activity along the water column uncouple at near sediment aphotic layers in fjords. Scientific Reports, 11, 19303. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-98519-2
Wenley, J., Currie, K., Lockwood, S., Thomson, B., Baltar, F., & Morales, S. E. (2021). Seasonal prokaryotic community linkages between surface and deep ocean water. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8, 659641. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.659641
van der Weerden, T. J., Rutherford, A. J., de Klein, C. A. M., Ganasamurthy, S., & Morales, S. E. (2021). Elevating soil pH does not reduce N2O emissions from urine deposited onto pastoral soils. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research. doi: 10.1080/00288233.2021.1935280
Ganasamurthy, S., Rex, D., Samad, M. S., Richards, K. G., Lanigan, G. J., Grelet, G.-Ä., … Morales, S. E. (2021). Competition and community succession link N transformation and greenhouse gas emissions in urine patches. Science of the Total Environment, 779, 146318. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146318
Espinel-Velasco, N., Tobias-Hünefeldt, S. P., Karelitz, S. E., Hoffmann, L. J., Morales, S. E., & Lamare, M. D. (2021). Reduced seawater pH alters marine biofilms with impacts for marine polychaete larval settlement. Marine Environmental Research, 167, 105291. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2021.105291
Tobias-Hünefeldt, S. P., Wenley, J., Baltar, F., & Morales, S. E. (2021). Ecological drivers switch from bottom-up to top-down during model microbial community successions. ISME Journal, 15, 1085-1097. doi: 10.1038/s41396-020-00833-6
Journal - Research Other
Hassanzadeh, B., Thomson, B., Deans, F., Wenley, J., Lockwood, S., Currie, K., Morales, S. E., … Gómez-Consarnau, L. (2021). Microbial rhodopsins are increasingly favoured over chlorophyll in High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll waters. Environmental Microbiology Reports, 13(3), 401-406. doi: 10.1111/1758-2229.12948
Kaminsky, R. A., Wakelin, S. A., Highton, M. P., Samad, M. S., & Morales, S. E. (2021). Resolving broad patterns of prokaryotic community structure in New Zealand pasture soils. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, 64(2), 143-161. doi: 10.1080/00288233.2019.1678491
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Highton, M. P., Bakken, L. R., Dörsch, P., Tobias-Hunefeldt, S., Molstad, L., & Morales, S. E. (2021). Soil microbiome determines N20 emission from denitrification. Proceedings of the 16th Congress of the Federation of Asian & Oceanic Biochemists & Molecular Biologists (FAOBMB). (pp. 189). Retrieved from https://www.faobmb2021.org
Meaden, S., Biswas, A., Arkhipova, K., Morales, S. E., Dutilh, B. E., Westra, E. R., & Fineran, P. C. (2021). High viral abundance and low diversity are associated with increased CRISPR-Cas prevalence across microbial ecosystems. Proceedings of the 16th Congress of the Federation of Asian & Oceanic Biochemists & Molecular Biologists (FAOBMB). (pp. 217). Retrieved from https://www.faobmb2021.org
2020
Journal - Research Article
Highton, M. P., Bakken, L. R., Dörsch, P., Wakelin, S., de Klein, C. A. M., Molstad, L., & Morales, S. E. (2020). Soil N2O emission potential falls along a denitrification phenotype gradient linked to differences in microbiome, rainfall and carbon availability. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 150, 108004. doi: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.108004
Bagnaro, A., Baltar, F., Brownstein, G., Lee, W. G., Morales, S. E., Pritchard, D. W., & Hepburn, C. D. (2020). Reducing the arbitrary: Fuzzy detection of microbial ecotones and ecosystems: Focus on the pelagic environment. Environmental Microbiome, 15, 16. doi: 10.1186/s40793-020-00363-w
Nelson, K. S., Baltar, F., Lamare, M. D., & Morales, S. E. (2020). Ocean acidification affects microbial community and invertebrate settlement on biofilms. Scientific Reports, 10, 3274. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-60023-4
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Tobias-Hunefeldt, S. P., Wing, S., Baltar, F., Espinel-Velasco, N., & Morales, S. (2020). Within New Zealand fjords depth and location influence prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial community composition, but two sources of organic matter shape microbial activity. Proceedings of the Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM). MM34A-0331. Retrieved from https://agu.confex.com/agu/osm20/meetingapp.cgi
Deans, F., Law, C. S., Morales, S., & Baltar, F. (2020). Coastal bacterioplankton communities show resilience to climate change under varying nutrient regimes. Proceedings of the Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM). OB41A-06. Retrieved from https://agu.confex.com/agu/osm20/meetingapp.cgi
Wenley, J., Currie, K. I., Thomson, B., Baltar, F., & Morales, S. (2020). Seasonal dynamics show diverse prokaryotic community linkages between surface and deep ocean water. Proceedings of the Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM). MM34A-0328. Retrieved from https://agu.confex.com/agu/osm20/meetingapp.cgi
Morales, S., Tobias-Hunefeldt, S. P., & Wenley, J. (2020). Testing top-down vs bottom-up influences on marine biofilm communities. Proceedings of the Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM). PI44B-2565. Retrieved from https://agu.confex.com/agu/osm20/meetingapp.cgi
Hassanzadeh, B., Thomson, B., Deans, F., Morales, S., Sanudo-Wilhelmy, S. A., Baltar, F., & Gomez-Consarnau, L. (2020). Rhodopsin-containing microorganisms thrive in high nutrient low chlorophyll (HNLC) sub-Antarctic waters. Proceedings of the Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM). MM34A-0329. Retrieved from https://agu.confex.com/agu/osm20/meetingapp.cgi
Baltar, F., De Corte, D., Ohneiser, C., Thomson, B., Greening, C., Stepanauskas, R., … Morales, S., Hulbe, C. L., … Martínez-Pérez, C. (2020). Chemoautotrophy drives plankton activity under the Ross Ice Shelf. Proceedings of the Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM). OB44G-0761. Retrieved from https://agu.confex.com/agu/osm20/meetingapp.cgi
2019
Journal - Research Article
Rex, D., Clough, T. J., Richards, K. G., Condron, L. M., de Klein, C. A. M., Morales, S. E., & Lanigan, G. J. (2019). Impact of nitrogen compounds on fungal and bacterial contributions to codenitrification in a pasture soil. Scientific Reports, 9, 13371. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-49989-y
Tobias-Hünefeldt, S. P., Wing, S. R., Espinel-Velasco, N., Baltar, F., & Morales, S. E. (2019). Depth and location influence prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial community structure in New Zealand fjords. Science of the Total Environment, 693, 133507. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.313
Greening, C., Geier, R., Wang, C., Woods, L. C., Morales, S. E., McDonald, M. J., Rushton-Green, R., Morgan, X. C., … Cook, G. M., & Mackie, R. I. (2019). Diverse hydrogen production and consumption pathways influence methane production in ruminants. ISME Journal, 13, 2617-2632. doi: 10.1038/s41396-019-0464-2
Morales, S. E., Biswas, A., Herndl, G. J., & Baltar, F. (2019). Global structuring of phylogenetic and functional diversity of pelagic fungi by depth and temperature. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, 131. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00131
Gardner, P. P., Watson, R. J., Morgan, X. C., Draper, J. L., Finn, R. D., Morales, S. E., & Stott, M. B. (2019). Identifying accurate metagenome and amplicon software via a meta-analysis of sequence to taxonomy benchmarking studies. PeerJ, 7, e6160 . doi: 10.7717/peerj.6160
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Deans, F., Law, C., Morales, S., & Baltar, F. (2019). Bacterial communities show resilience to climate change in New Zealand's coastal waters. Proceedings of the 12th New Zealand Ocean Acidification Workshop. (pp. 40). Retrieved from http://nzoac.nz
Kaminsky, R. A., Wakelin, S. A., Highton, M. P., Samad, M. S., & Morales, S. E. (2019). Resolving broad patterns of prokaryotic community structure and composition in New Zealand pasture soils. Proceedings of the New Zealand Microbiological Society (NZMS) Annual Conference. 627. Retrieved from https://www.nzmscoference.org.nz
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Morales, S. (2019, December). Soil microbiomes. Verbal presentation at the Ag@Otago Symposium: New Zealand Agriculture 2050: Pathways of Innovation, Dunedin, New Zealand.
2018
Journal - Research Article
Baltar, F., Gutiérrez-Rodriguez, A., Meyer, M., Skudelny, I., Sanders, S., Thomson, B., … Morales, S. E. (2018). Specific effect of trace metals on marine heterotrophic microbial activity and diversity: Key role of iron and zinc and hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria. Frontiers in Microbiology, 9, 3190. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.03190
Peura, S., Buck, M., Aalto, S. L., Morales, S. E., Nykänen, H., & Eller, A. (2018). Novel Autotrophic Organisms Contribute Significantly to the Internal Carbon Cycling Potential of a Boreal Lake. mBio, 9(4), 00916-18. doi: 10.1128/mBio.00916-18
Kaminsky, R., & Morales, S. E. (2018). Conditionally rare taxa contribute but do not account for changes in soil prokaryotic community structure. Frontiers in Microbiology, 9, 809. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00809
Morales, S. E., Meyer, M., Currie, K., & Baltar, F. (2018). Are oceanic fronts ecotones? Seasonal changes along the subtropical front show fronts as bacterioplankton transition zones but not diversity hotspots. Environmental Microbiology Reports, 10(2), 184-189. doi: 10.1111/1758-2229.12618
Morales, S. E., Trouche, B., Wakelin, S., Banabas, M., & Nelson, P. N. (2018). Shifts in prokaryotic communities under forest and grassland within a tropical mosaic landscape. Applied Soil Ecology, 125, 156-161. doi: 10.1016/j.apsoil.2017.11.028
Rex, D., Clough, T. J., Richards, K. G., de Klein, C., Morales, S. E., Samad, M. S., … Lanigan, G. J. (2018). Fungal and bacterial contributions to codenitrification emissions of N2O and N2 following urea deposition to soil. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 110(1), 135-149. doi: 10.1007/s10705-017-9901-7
Lear, G., Dickie, I., Banks, J., Boyer, S., Buckley, H. L., Buckley, T. R., … Morales, S. E., Orlovich, D. A., … Holdaway, R. (2018). Methods for the extraction, storage, amplification and sequencing of DNA from environmental samples. New Zealand Journal of Ecology, 42(1), 10. doi: 10.20417/nzjecol.42.9
Journal - Research Other
Dickie, I. A., Boyer, S., Buckley, H., Duncan, R. P., Gardner, P., Hogg, I. D., … Morales, S. E., … Weaver, L. (2018). Towards robust and repeatable sampling methods in eDNA based studies. Molecular Ecology Resources, 18(5), 940-952. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.12907
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Wang, X., Greening, C., Cook, G. M., Morgan, X. C., Attwood, G. T., & Morales, S. E. (2018). Mitigating CH4 emission through a better understanding of H2 metabolism in the rumen. Proceedings of the New Zealand Microbiological Society (NZMS) New Zealand Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (NZSBMB) Joint Annual Conference: Microbes & Molecules. (pp. 70). Retrieved from https://www.nzmsconference.org.nz
Highton, M., Bakken, L., Wakelin, S., Frostegård, A., Dörsch, P., de Klein, C., & Morales, S. (2018). Denitrification phenotypes in NZ pasture soils: Contrasting microbial and chemical effects on delayed N2O reduction. Proceedings of the New Zealand Microbiological Society (NZMS) New Zealand Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (NZSBMB) Joint Annual Conference: Microbes & Molecules. (pp. 52). Retrieved from https://www.nzmsconference.org.nz
2017
Journal - Research Article
Samad, M. S., Johns, C., Richards, K. G., Lanigan, G. J., de Klein, C. A. M., Clough, T. J., & Morales, S. E. (2017). Response to nitrogen addition reveals metabolic and ecological strategies of soil bacteria. Molecular Ecology, 26(20), 5500-5514. doi: 10.1111/mec.14275
Clough, T. J., Lanigan, G. J., de Klein, C. A. M., Samad, M. S., Morales, S. E., Rex, D., … Richards, K. G. (2017). Influence of soil moisture on codenitrification fluxes from a urea-affected pasture soil. Scientific Reports, 7, 2185. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-02278-y
Kaminsky, R., Trouche, B., & Morales, S. E. (2017). Soil classification predicts differences in prokaryotic communities across a range of geographically distant soils once pH is accounted for. Scientific Reports, 7, 45369. doi: 10.1038/srep45369
Ney, B., Ahmed, F. H., Carere, C. R., Biswas, A., Warden, A. C., Morales, S. E., … Greening, C. (2017). The methanogenic redox cofactor F420 is widely synthesized by aerobic soil bacteria. ISME Journal, 11, 125-137. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2016.100
2016
Journal - Research Article
Samad, M. S., Biswas, A., Bakken, L. R., Clough, T. J., de Klein, C. A. M., Richards, K. G., … Morales, S. E. (2016). Phylogenetic and functional potential links pH and N2O emissions in pasture soils. Scientific Reports, 6, 35990. doi: 10.1038/srep35990
Highton, M. P., Roosa, S., Crawshaw, J., Schallenberg, M., & Morales, S. E. (2016). Physical factors correlate to microbial community structure and nitrogen cycling gene abundance in a nitrate fed eutrophic lagoon. Frontiers in Microbiology, 7, 1691. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01691
Wolf, P. G., Biswas, A., Morales, S. E., Greening, C., & Gaskins, H. R. (2016). H2 metabolism is widespread and diverse among human colonic microbes. Gut Microbes, 7(3), 235-245. doi: 10.1080/19490976.2016.1182288
Biswas, A., Staals, R. H. J., Morales, S. E., Fineran, P. C., & Brown, C. M. (2016). CRISPRDetect: A flexible algorithm to define CRISPR arrays. BMC Genomics, 17, 356. doi: 10.1186/s12864-016-2627-0
Samad, M. S., Bakken, L. R., Nadeem, S., Clough, T. J., de Klein, C. A. M., Richards, K. G., … Morales, S. E. (2016). High-resolution denitrification kinetics in pasture soils link N2O emissions to pH, and denitrification to C mineralization. PLoS ONE, 11(3), e0151713. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151713
Baltar, F., Currie, K., Stuck, E., Roosa, S., & Morales, S. E. (2016). Oceanic fronts: Transition zones for bacterioplankton community composition. Environmental Microbiology Reports, 8(1), 132-138. doi: 10.1111/1758-2229.12362
Greening, C., Biswas, A., Carere, C. R., Jackson, C. J., Taylor, M. C., Stott, M. B., Cook, G. M., & Morales, S. E. (2016). Genomic and metagenomic surveys of hydrogenase distribution indicate H2 is a widely utilised energy source for microbial growth and survival. ISME Journal, 10, 761-777. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2015.153
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Baltar, F., Currie, K., Roosa, S., & Morales, S. (2016). Oceanic fronts: Transition zones for bacterioplankton community composition. Proceedings of the Ocean Sciences Meeting. B43A-06. Retrieved from https://agu.confex.com/agu/os16/meetingapp.cgi
Conference Contribution - Poster Presentation (not in published proceedings)
Highton, M., Roosa, S., Crashaw, J., Schallenberg, M., & Morales, S. E. (2016, February). Physical factors drive microbial community structure and denitrification in an eutrophic lagoon during a low nutrient inflow event. Poster session presented at the New Zealand Microbial Ecology Consortium (NZMEC) 4.0, Auckland, New Zealand.
Kaminsky, R., & Morales, S. E. (2016, February). Soil properties account for shifts in the soil microbial community across land use types at a broad geographic scale. Poster session presented at the New Zealand Microbial Ecology Consortium (NZMEC) 4.0, Auckland, New Zealand.
Samad, M. S., Clough, T., Richards, K. G., Lanigan, G. J., Bakken, L. R., de Klein, C., & Morales, S. E. (2016, February). Response of gene abundance, transcription and denitrification kinetics under ruminant urine patches. Poster session presented at the New Zealand Microbial Ecology Consortium (NZMEC) 4.0, Auckland, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Baltar, F., Currie, K., Stuck, E., Roosa, S., & Morales, S. E. (2016, February). Crossing the line: Bacterioplankton function and diversity along the Subtropical Frontal Zone. Invited presentation at the New Zealand Microbial Ecology Consortium (NZMEC) 4.0, Auckland, New Zealand.
Morales, S. E. (2016, February). Regulators of soil processes: From microbial community assembly rules to ecosystem services. Invited presentation at the New Zealand Microbial Ecology Consortium (NZMEC) 4.0, Auckland, New Zealand.
2015
Journal - Research Article
Greening, C., Carere, C. R., Rushton-Green, R., Harold, L. K., Hards, K., Taylor, M. C., Morales, S. E., … Cook, G. M. (2015). Persistence of the dominant soil phylum Acidobacteria by trace gas scavenging. PNAS, 112(33), 10497-10502. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1508385112
Morales, S. E., Jha, N., & Saggar, S. (2015). Impact of urine and the application of the nitrification inhibitor DCD on microbial communities in dairy-grazed pasture soils. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 88(0), 344-353. doi: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2015.06.009
Baltar, F., Stuck, E., Morales, S., & Currie, K. (2015). Bacterioplankton carbon cycling along the Subtropical Frontal Zone off New Zealand. Progress in Oceanography, 135, 168-175. doi: 10.1016/j.pocean.2015.05.019
Morales, S. E., Jha, N., & Saggar, S. (2015). Biogeography and biophysicochemical traits link N2O emissions, N2O emission potential and microbial communities across New Zealand pasture soils. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 82, 87-98. doi: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2014.12.018
Greening, C., Constant, P., Hards, K., Morales, S. E., Oakeshott, J. G., Russell, R. J., … Cook, G. M. (2015). Atmospheric hydrogen scavenging: From enzymes to ecosystems. Applied & Environmental Microbiology, 81(4), 1190-1199. doi: 10.1128/aem.03364-14
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Morales, S. (2015, November). From mountains to sea: Exploiting 'omic' techniques and high throughput sequencing to explore the ecology of microorganisms. Verbal presentation at the Toxicology Symposium: Toxicology for the Modern Researcher, Dunedin, New Zealand.
2014
Journal - Research Article
Morales, S. E., & Holben, W. E. (2014). Simulated geologic carbon storage leak reduces bacterial richness and alters bacterial community composition in surface soil. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 76, 286-296. doi: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2014.05.018
2013
Journal - Research Article
Morales, S. E., & Holben, W. E. (2013). Functional response of a near-surface soil microbial community to a simulated underground CO2 storage leak. PLoS ONE, 8(11), e81742. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0081742
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Morales, S. E., & Anderson, J. (2013). Uncovering novel regulatory pathways and sinks of greenhouse gases through bioinformatics. Proceedings of EcoTas13: The 5th Joint Conference of New Zealand Ecological Society (NZES) and Ecological Society of Australia (ESA). (pp. 58). Retrieved from https://newzealandecology.org/node/40
2011
Chapter in Book - Research
Morales, S. E., Cosart, T. F., Johnson, J. V., & Holben, W. E. (2011). Extensive phylogenetic analysis of a soil bacterial community illustrates extreme taxon evenness and the effects of amplicon length, degree of coverage, and DNA fractionation on classification and ecological parameters. In F. J. de Bruijn (Ed.), Handbook of molecular microbial ecology II: Metagenomics in different habitats. (pp. 151-164). Wiley-Blackwell.
Morales, S. E., & Holben, W. E. (2011). Empirical testing of 16S PCR primer pairs reveals variance in target specificity and efficacy not suggested by in silico analysis. In F. J. de Bruijn (Ed.), Handbook of molecular microbial ecology I: Metagenomics and complementary approaches. (pp. 135-141). Wiley-Blackwell.
Journal - Research Article
Gibbons, S. M., Feris, K., McGuirl, M. A., Morales, S. E., Hynninen, A., Ramsey, P. W., & Gannon, J. E. (2011). Use of microcalorimetry to determine the costs and benefits to Pseudomonas putida strain KT2440 of harboring cadmium efflux genes. Applied & Environmental Microbiology, 77(1), 108-113. doi: 10.1128/AEM.01187-10
Journal - Research Other
Morales, S. E., & Holben, W. E. (2011). Linking bacterial identities and ecosystem processes: Can 'omic' analyses be more than the sum of their parts? FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 75(1), 2-16. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.00938.x
2010
Journal - Research Article
Morales, S. E., Cosart, T., & Holben, W. E. (2010). Bacterial gene abundances as indicators of greenhouse gas emission in soils. ISME Journal, 4, 799-808. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2010.8
Mouser, P. J., Rizzo, D. M., Druschel, G. K., Morales, S. E., Hayden, N., O'Grady, P., & Stevens, L. (2010). Enhanced detection of groundwater contamination from a leaking waste disposal site by microbial community profiles. Water Resources Research, 46, W12506. doi: 10.1029/2010WR009459
2009
Journal - Research Article
Morales, S. E., & Holben, W. E. (2009). Empirical testing of 16S rRNA gene PCR primer pairs reveals variance in target specificity and efficacy not suggested by in silico analysis. Applied & Environmental Microbiology, 75(9), 2677-2683. doi: 10.1128/AEM.02166-08
Morales, S. E., Cosart, T. F., Johnson, J. V., & Holben, W. E. (2009). Extensive phylogenetic analysis of a soil bacterial community illustrates extreme taxon evenness and the effects of amplicon length, degree of coverage, and DNA fractionation on classification and ecological parameters. Applied & Environmental Microbiology, 75(3), 668-675. doi: 10.1128/AEM.01757-08
2008
Journal - Research Article
Gotelli, N. J., Mouser, P. J., Hudman, S. P., Morales, S. E., Ross, D. S., & Ellison, A. M. (2008). Geographic variation in nutrient avalibility, stoichiometry, and metal concentrations of plants and pore-water in ombrotrophic bogs in New England, USA. Wetlands, 28(3), 827-840. doi: 10.1672/07-165.1
Morales, S. E., Cosart, T., Johnson, J. V., & Holben, W. E. (2008). Supplemental programs for enhanced recovery of data from the DOTUR application. Journal of Microbiological Methods, 75(3), 572-575. doi: 10.1016/j.mimet.2008.07.017
2006
Journal - Research Article
Morales, S. E., Mouser, P. J., Ward, N., Hudman, S. P., Gotelli, N. J., Ross, D. S., & Lewis, T. A. (2006). Comparison of bacterial communities in New England Sphagnum bogs using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP). Microbial Ecology, 52(1), 34-44. doi: 10.1007/s00248-005-0264-2
Morales, S. E., & Lewis, T. A. (2006). Transcriptional regulation of the pdt gene cluster of Pseudomonas stutzeri KC involves an AraC/XylS family transcriptional activator (PdtC) and the cognate siderophore pyridine-2,6-Bis(thiocarboxylic acid). Applied & Environmental Microbiology, 72(11), 6994-7002. doi: 10.1128/AEM.01518-06