The Brassicaceae constitute not only one of the most diverse plant families, but also one rich in agronomically-important vegetable and oilseed crops. Several species have been domesticated and include different cabbages, broccoli, turnip, rapeseed, horseradish, and several mustards. Brassicaceae include a number of species that are current and emerging biodiesel crops. Researchers plan to generate… [Read More]

The Amazon rainforest plays an essential role in global ecological processes. It is the largest terrestrial carbonsequestering ecosystem in the world, controlling global temperature and precipitation, and balancing the flux of atmospheric gases. It is also the largest repository of plant and animal species on Earth. Despite its importance, it is one of the least… [Read More]

Considered one of the largest biomes on Earth, the dark ocean is comprised of the water column below the epipelagic, including meso-, bathy- and abyssopelagic and the hadal zones. It contains an active and metabolically diverse microbial assemblage that is responsible for about half of marine organic carbon mineralization. A large-scale single cell genomics study… [Read More]

While most basidiomycetes are difficult to cultivate in the laboratory, Coprinopsis cinerea is a notable exception in that it can complete its life cycle on artificial media in just two weeks. The C. cinerea genome is well-characterized, and both forward and reverse genetic approaches are now standard, allowing enormous scope for experimental manipulation in this… [Read More]

Populus is considered the model organism for the study of woody perennials, and represents the first tree genome to be fully sequenced. Populus is also one of only a few species that are capable of establishing associations with both arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi, as well as various specific endophytic and rhizosphere associated… [Read More]

Serpentinization is the aqueous alteration of ultramafic rocks, characteristic of the Earth’s mantle, and results in the generation of highly-reducing, hydrogen- and methane- rich fluids with extremely high pH’s (commonly greater than 11). Microbial communities hosted within serpentinites may be important mediators of carbon and energy exchange between the deep Earth and the surface biosphere…. [Read More]

More than any other group of eukaryotic microbes, fungi are essential biological components of the global carbon cycle. Collectively, fungi are capable of degrading almost any naturally occurring biopolymer and numerous human-made ones. The use of fungi for the continued benefit of humankind, however, requires an accurate understanding of how they interact in naturally and… [Read More]

Thermophilic fungi have been an important source of industrial enzymes for decades but research and development efforts have historically focused on the identification and characterization of cellulolytic genes from just a few strains. This approach has produced advanced enzymes over time, but recent genomics-based investigation has almost instantaneously yielded a diverse palette of novel, thermostable,… [Read More]

Peatlands harbor up to one third of the world pool of soil carbon and are estimated to be responsible for as much as 20 percent of the global emission of the greenhouse gas methane.  Sequencing the metagenome and metatranscriptome of peat soil, and in particular, the rare peatland Desulfosporosinus species, as well as potentially novel… [Read More]

Serpentinization is a common process that is extremely important for transporting water towards the mantle and for fixing large amounts of carbon as carbonate rocks. The Cedars Peridotite is a site in Northern California where active serpentinization occurs, resulting in spring waters that are so extreme that no current paradigms of microbial metabolism are compatible… [Read More]