WALNUT CREEK, CA—Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences have assembled high quality, contamination-free draft genomes of uncultured biodegrading microorganisms using a novel single cell genome sequencing approach. This proof of principle study, published in the April 23 edition of the journal PLoS… [Read More]

WALNUT CREEK, CA—Scientists from two-dozen research organizations led by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have decoded genomes of two algal strains, highlighting the genes enabling them to capture carbon and maintain its delicate balance in the oceans.  These findings, from a team… [Read More]

WALNUT CREEK, CA—Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of California, San Diego have developed a set of molecular tools that provide important insight into the complex genomes of multicellular organisms.  The strategy promises to clarify the longstanding mystery of the role played… [Read More]

WALNUT CREEK, CA—An international team led by scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) have translated the genetic code that explains the complex biochemical machinery making brown-rot fungi uniquely destructive to wood.  The same processes that provide easier… [Read More]

WALNUT CREEK, CA—Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and several partner institutions have published the sequence and analysis of the complete genome of sorghum, a major food and fodder plant with high potential as a bioenergy crop.  The genome data will aid scientists in optimizing sorghum and other crops… [Read More]

WALNUT CREEK, CA— The U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) has released a complete draft assembly of the soybean (Glycine max) genetic code, making it widely available to the research community to advance new breeding strategies for one of the world’s most valuable plant commodities.  Soybean not only accounts for 70 percent… [Read More]

WALNUT CREEK, CA—Diatoms, mighty microscopic algae, have profound influence on climate, producing 20 percent of the oxygen we breathe by capturing atmospheric carbon and in so doing, countering the greenhouse effect.  Since their evolutionary origins these photosynthetic wonders have come to acquire advantageous genes from bacterial, animal and plant ancestors enabling them to thrive in… [Read More]

WALNUT CREEK, CA—Mostly hidden from the scrutiny of the naked eye, microbes have been said to run the world.  The challenge is how best to characterize them given that less than one percent of the estimated hundreds of millions of microbial species can be cultured in the laboratory. The answer is metagenomics—an increasingly popular approach… [Read More]

WALNUT CREEK, CA—As Aesop said, appearances are deceiving—even in life’s tiniest critters.  From first detection in the 1880s, clinging to the sides of an aquarium, to its recent characterization by the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI), a simple and primitive animal, Trichoplax adhaerens, appears to harbor a far more complex suite… [Read More]