A long-standing mission for DOE is to replace fossil fuels with renewable sources of cleaner energy, such as hydrogen produced from plant biomass fermentations. Termites efficiently transform the more abundant fractions of plant biomass (lignocellulose) as well as the more recalcitrant fractions of organic-rich soils (humic acids) to valuable metabolites (e.g. hydrogen and methane). They… [Read More]

Natural and agricultural systems are nitrogen deficient and therefore often depend for productivity upon atmospheric nitrogen fixed in nodules formed on legumes by root nodule bacteria. The commonly accepted figure for global nitrogen fixation in agriculture is 25-90 million metric tons, worth in excess of U.S. $10 billion. Rhizobia associated with annual pasture legumes contribute… [Read More]

Actinomycetes are the most significant source of microbial natural products ever discovered, accounting for more than one half of all known antibiotics. JGI’s collaborators have recently discovered a new actinomycete genus, for which they have proposed the name Salinispora, and this taxon is proving to be an important source of novel secondary metabolites, including a… [Read More]

This project will provide genome sequence information for two oligotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria that mediate the first step in the process of nitrification, Nitrosomonas oligotropha and Isolate IS-79. These bacteria belong to a cluster of the Nitrosomonas with higher substrate affinity (low Km), lower growth rates, and increased sensitivity to high ammonia concentrations compared to N…. [Read More]

Hypersaline microbial mats are complex, integrated ecosystems that have become models for studies of chemical and energetic factors that support photosynthesis-driven communities. Although the overall energy influx is photosynthetic, metabolism and turnover of photosynthetic organisms creates a rich and complex chemical ecosystem. Hypersaline mats popularly are considered simple communities. However, recent studies of the extensive… [Read More]

The genome of the bacterial anaerobic hyperthermophile Thermotoga maritima was sequenced in 1999, and whole-genome comparative analysis revealed that 24% of its DNA sequence is most similar to that of archaeal species, many of which occupy the same environmental niches. Subsequent studies demonstrated that other members of the Thermotogales have undergone extensive horizontal gene transfer… [Read More]

Archaea are the least well characterized of the three domains of life, and yet they share many important features with eukaryotes and are the key to understanding both the development of the eukaryotic cell and the origins and nature of the last universal common ancestor. In addition, many archaeal organisms are of interest in their… [Read More]

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a major worldwide environmental problem associated with the mining of energy resources (coal and uranium) and metals (eg., iron and copper), thus of direct DOE relevance. The processes that underpin AMD formation can be harnessed for bioleaching and bioremediation. Many scientific and industrial groups are studying various aspects of the… [Read More]