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Geo-Metabolomics in a Saltmarsh

Current understanding of how bacteria metabolize plant-derived compounds is surprisingly limited given the importance of these processes to the global carbon cycle. The researchers hypothesize that nominally “recalcitrant” t-DOM in salt marshes is made more reactive by pulses of labile DOM derived from coastal wetland marshes and phytoplankton. Outcomes of their studies have the potential to… [Read More]

Metagenomics Leads to New CRISPR-Cas Systems

First CRISPR-Cas9 system in archaea discovered The Science Through metagenomic data generated by the DOE Joint Genome Institute, researchers analyzed 155 million protein coding genes from uncultivated microbial communities, leading to the discovery of the first CRISPR-Cas9 protein in the archaeal domain, and of two previously unknown simple bacterial CRISPR-Cas systems. The Impact Microbes play… [Read More]

Taking the First Steps to Colocating Biosciences at the Berkeley Lab

On January 31 at Berkeley Lab, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the Integrative Genomics Building (IGB) that will be the home of DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and DOE Systems Knowledgebase (KBase) in 2019. Flanked by dignitaries representing the Berkeley Lab, the Department of Energy Office of Science, and the University of California, incoming… [Read More]

Seeking Structure With Metagenome Sequences

Metagenomics database helps fill in 10 percent of previously unknown protein structures For proteins, appearance matters. These important molecules largely form a cell’s structures and carry out its functions: proteins control growth and influence mobility, serve as catalysts, and transport or store other molecules. Comprised of long amino acid chains, the one-dimensional amino acid sequence… [Read More]

Tracking Antarctic Adaptations in Diatoms

Comparative genome analysis provides clues on how climate change might impact evolutionary adaptation limits Diatoms are a common type of photosynthetic microorganism, found in many environments from marine to soil; in the oceans, they are responsible for more than a third of the global ocean carbon captured during photosynthesis. This leads to a significant amount… [Read More]

Industrial Biotechnology Leader to Assume the Helm of the DOE Joint Genome Institute

After a 9-month national search, Nigel Mouncey, currently Research and Development Director for Bioengineering and Bioprocessing at Dow AgroSciences LLC, has been selected as the Director of the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI), a DOE Office of Science User Facility. “Nigel brings the perfect set of scientific and management skills as… [Read More]

DOE JGI Research Featured in NOVA PBS story

“Using the single-celled sequencing techniques that she had perfected at the Joint Genome Institute, Woyke and her colleagues ended up with exactly 201 genomes from these candidate phyla, representing 29 branches on the tree of life that scientists knew nothing about. ‘For many phyla, this was the first genomic data anyone had seen,’ she says.”… [Read More]

Eelgrass Genome Paper Makes 2016 Nature Editors’ Choice List

“Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is an unlikely model for plant evolution, but is a useful one because it has undergone major habitat shifts: it evolved from marine algae into a terrestrial flowering plant, then moved back to the sea again.” Among the 10 papers that were included the Editors’ Choice list of the Nature journal is the… [Read More]

Of Mutualism and Lipid Metabolism in Fungi

Novel mechanism in bacterial-fungal symbiosis could have biodiesel production applications The Science To answer the challenge of producing renewable, sustainable alternative fuels, researchers aren’t just looking at developing candidate bioenergy crops but are also reviewing other natural sources of energy-dense oils such as fungi. To learn more about how bacteria interact with fungi in a… [Read More]

A JGI/EMSL Project in Discover’s 2016 Science Top 100 List

“Microbiologists often seek life in the planet’s extremes — from below ice sheets to within geysers. But Appalachian Basin scientists found hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, also provides its own inhabited extremes in their backyard.” In Discover magazine’s list of top 100 science stories of 2016 is a study from The Ohio State University researchers that led… [Read More]