In a wide ranging talk that took the audience from the island of Manhattan to Southeast Asia, Krista McGuire, an associate professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Oregon, presented work on microbial responses to two key types of land use change: urbanization and agriculture. Most of the world’s population now resides… [Read More]
Latest JGI-Funded Technology Development Proposal Focuses on Cell-Free Systems Over the past two decades, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), a DOE Office of Science User Facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has transitioned from a high-throughput genome sequencing center to a national user facility that provides researchers around the world… [Read More]
Cultivation and sequencing effort targets economically and environmentally relevant microbes. The digestive tracts of ruminant (cud-chewing) animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats convert lignocellulosic plant matter to short-chain fatty acids used for nourishment with unparalleled efficiency, thanks to the activity of symbiotic microbes in the rumen. Rumen microbes play a vital role in allowing… [Read More]
Citrus is a major worldwide crop. In 2017, the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service estimated production would exceed 50 million metric tons, with 10 percent of that contributed by the United States. To defend this crop against Huanglongbing (a.k.a., citrus greening), an infectious disease destroying whole orchards, researchers have begun employing genomics to… [Read More]
How long have you collaborated with the JGI? We have been collaborating with JGI since 2015. We are supported by the JGI DNA Synthesis program. The DNA Synthesis team at JGI provides us with synthetic genes, which we then test in our laboratory for their function. Our project aims at characterizing a new class of… [Read More]
Metabolic functions of microbial communities vary during a geyser eruption. Deep underground, the earth beneath our feet is teeming with microbial life, the majority of which has yet to be characterized. Cut off from sunlight, these enigmatic organisms must obtain life-sustaining energy and carbon, which all living cells need, through other means. A pressing question… [Read More]
Got 12 Gb of free storage to download it all? To better understand how Earth’s vast and diverse microbial population helps regulate global nutrient cycles, it helps to understand how viruses infect microbes, and affect their functions and metabolic processes. Two years ago, even though the number of viruses is estimated to be at least… [Read More]
Genus-wide Aspergillus project highlights new functional genome annotation methods. Found in microbial communities around the world, Aspergillus fungi are pathogens, decomposers, and important sources of biotechnologically-important enzymes. Each Aspergillus species is known to contain more than 250 carbohydrate active enzymes (CAzymes), which break down plant cell walls and are of interest to Department of Energy… [Read More]
Retracing how the dry rot Serpula lacrymans adapted to a new ecological habitat. The Science By comparing genetic information from similar organisms, researchers have gained insights on why the dry rot (Serpula lacrymans) is so destructive in houses. A study involving six brown rot fungi reveals the genomic changes Serpula lacrymans has undergone in adapting… [Read More]
Much of the research in the field of plant functional genomics to date has relied on approaches based on single reference genomes. But by itself, a single reference genome does not capture the full genetic variability of a species. A pan-genome, the non-redundant union of all the sets of genes found in individuals of a… [Read More]