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1000 Fungal Genomes project in The Daily Barometer

Joey Spatafora, an associate professor at Oregon State University, is leading an international project to sequence the genomes of a thousand fungi, a project aptly named 1000 fungal genomes.    “It’s a really, really exciting time in fungal biology because we can sequence fungal genomes more easily than we could ten years ago,” Spatafora said. The Daily Barometer [Read More]

Cotton project in the Delta Farm Press

An international consortium, led by Professor Andrew Paterson of the University of Georgia, has made publicly available the first ‘gold-standard’ genome sequence for cotton. Cotton was among the first plants studied at the molecular level, and the sequence obtained by Paterson and his team is the culmination of a 20-plus year effort in the analysis… [Read More]

Cyanobacteria shed light on carboxysome complexity

Found in temperate and tropical oceans, Prochlorococcus cyanobacteria are considered the world’s most abundant photosynthetic organisms, able to convert sunlight to energy at depths of 200 meters. Despite their size, they are estimated to contribute up to half of the marine biological carbon sequestration. Prochlorococcusis a unicellular cyanobacterium that dominates the temperate and tropical oceans. … [Read More]

Permafrost metagenome study on VOA Special English report

The researchers say one gram of the soil could contain thousands of different kinds of microbes and billions of cells. They say these organisms had never before been cultured in a laboratory. JANET JANSSON:  “So more than ninety percent of those bacteria and other microorganisms in permafrost, we had no idea what they were.” Read… [Read More]

Boosting knowledge of nitrogen-fixing bacteria

No plant is an island; interactions with complex microbial communities both above the ground and below the ground shape the plant’s growth rates and overall health. Understanding these plant-microbe interactions can lead to improvements in plant health and productivity and carbon sequestration, which can be applied toward DOE missions in bioenergy and biogeochemistry. Dark-field photo… [Read More]

Tanja Woyke: Genome Technology 2011 Young Investigator

What inspired Tanja Woyke to pursue her current area of focus is also what makes it possible: single-cell genomic technology. “It allows one to sequence the genome of one individual microbial cell by amplifying its genome a billion-fold using a process called multiple displacement amplification,” she says. “I find this quite fascinating. Such an approach… [Read More]

Engineering bacteria to produce biodiesel

Biodiesel production typically starts with oil-rich energy crops such as soybean, palm or rapeseed, which are harvested and then converted into fatty acids for use as fuel. The cost of expanding oilseed crop production is a limiting factor in allowing biodiesel to compete with fossil fuel sources. One alternative to using oilseed crops that many… [Read More]

Spider mite genome project in CBC News

“They can change the repertoire [of genes] that they’re using in order to be able to feed on hosts that they would not be adapted to,” said Miodrag Grbic, a University of Western Ontario biologist, who led an international project to sequence the spider mite’s genome. The results were published this week in the journal… [Read More]

Mite genome to help protect bioenergy feedstocks

The tiny two-spotted spider mite extracts nutrients from the leaves of 1,100 plant species including bioenergy feedstock crops. The global cost of chemically controlling this pest is estimated to be around $1 billion annually. Given its potential to significantly reduce crop yields and inhibit biofuel production, the spider mite Tetranychusurticaewas selected for the 2007 DOE… [Read More]

Spider mite genome project in GenomeWeb

The spider mite, named for its ability to spin webs, belongs to an arthropod sub-group comprised of so-called chelicerates and is capable of consuming more than 1,100 plant species. This trait, coupled with its ability to develop resistance to most commonly used pesticides, have made it a potent pest, known for damaging ornamental plants and… [Read More]