http://www.jgi.doe.gov/News News items from the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute Copyright 2008 web_help@jgi.doe.gov Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:45:35 PDT Feed Me, by Glass Onion Software Press Releases Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:41:55 PDT http://www.jgi.doe.gov/News/news_7_2_08.html In the continuing effort to tap the vast, unexplored reaches of the earth's microbial and plant domains for bioenergy and environmental applications, the DOE Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) has announced its latest portfolio of DNA sequencing projects that it will undertake in the coming year. The 44 projects, culled from nearly 150 proposals received through the Community Sequencing Program (CSP), represent over 60 billion nucleotides of data to be generated through this biodiversity sampling campaign--roughly the equivalent of 20 human genomes. Press Releases Sun, 04 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT http://www.jgi.doe.gov/News/news_5_4_08.html The bane of military quartermasters may soon be a boon to biofuels producers. The genome analysis of a champion biomass-degrading fungus has revealed a surprisingly minimal repertoire of genes that it employs to break down plant cell walls, highlighting opportunities for further improvements in enzymes customized for biofuels production. The results were published online May 4 in Nature Biotechnology by a team of government, academic, and industry researchers led by the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Press Releases Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:00:00 PDT http://www.jgi.doe.gov/News/news_3_5_08.html Plants gained their ancestral toehold on dry land with considerable help from their fungal friends. Now, millennia later, that partnership is being exploited as a strategy to bolster biomass production for next-generation biofuels. The genetic mechanism of this kind of symbiosis, which contributes to the delicate ecological balance in healthy forests, also provides insights into plant health that may enable more efficient carbon sequestration and enhanced phytoremediation(null)(null)e; Nancy University, France; and the University of Alabama, Huntsville.