Natural Prodcast Episode 23 – Aaron Puri
Aaron Puri of the University of Utah on carbon-fixing methylotrophs, quorum sensing, and inverse stable isotopic labeling to explore biosynthetic chemistry. [Read More]
JGIota: A Surprise for Chloroflexota — The First Flagella!
To understand how organisms adapt to extreme environments, Marike Palmer and Brian Hedlund study organisms living in hot springs. Hear how their recent work revealed more about the history of the Chloroflexota phylum and a new way of moving: a tail-like flagella. [Read More]
Natural Prodcast Episode 22 – Alison Narayan
In Natural Prodcast, Alison Narayan on “biocatalysis” her DNA synthesis project with the JGI to explore flavin monooxygenases, and figuring out how to make predictions about the functionality and chemical capabilities of enzymes. [Read More]
JGIota: A Tool to Find the Nomadic Genes that Help Microbes Adapt – geNomad
A quick snippet on Antonio Camargo and Simon Roux, a few of the JGI researchers behind software that finds plasmids and viruses within microbial genomes. As mobile genetic elements like viruses spread their DNA, they can affect how microbes cycle nutrients and adapt to climate change. [Read More]
Natural Prodcast Episode 21 – Elizabeth Parkinson
Natural Prodcast guest Betsy Parkinson from Purdue on bacterial signaling molecules and regulation of biosynthetic pathways, student mental health, and getting kids interested in microbiology. [Read More]
Natural Prodcast Episode 20 – Brian Bachmann
In Natural Prodcast, guest Brian Bachmann covers genome mining from cave environments, and using biosynthetic engineering and synthetic biology to modify and analog complex natural product molecules.
Natural Prodcast co-hosts Dan Udwary and Jackie Winter chat with Brian Bachmann on genome mining from cave environments, and using biosynthetic engineering and synthetic biology to modify and analog complex natural product molecules [Read More]
Genome Insider S4 Episode 4: Methane Makers in Yosemite’s Lakes – Mike Beman and Elisabet Perez Coronel
Meet researchers who have hiked, rafted and met local wildlife (a marmot!) as they’ve sampled the microbial communities living in the mountaintop lakes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. These lakes are isolated, but varied. They’re a great way to see how climate change affects freshwater ecosystems, and how those ecosystems work. [Read More]
Genome Insider S4 Episode 3: A Shrubbier Version of Rubber – Andrew Nelson and Colleen McMahan
Right now, our natural rubber comes from just one tree species: Hevea brasiliensis. It’s great at producing latex that becomes rubber, but it’s vulnerable to disease and climate shifts. So researchers are looking into a desert shrub that’s native to North America: guayule. [Read More]
Genome Insider S4 Episode 2: The Busy World of Deep Sea Eruptions – Anna-Louise Reysenbach and Emily St. John
The ocean depths are vast and dark. But there are hotspots on the ocean floor — underwater volcanoes and hydrothermal vents — where lively microbial communities thrive, and even support entire ecosystems. Hear from researchers Anna-Louise Reysenbach, Emily St. John, Gilberto Flores, and Peter Girguis about sampling these communities, and understanding how they’ve adapted to this extreme environment.
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Genome Insider S4 Episode 1: Crops as Tough as World Cup Turf – James Schnable and Guangchao Sun
In our warming world, we’ll need corn, sorghum and other crops to grow well in worse conditions: with more heat, less water and less fertilizer. Grasses do better in these conditions, so plant biologists James Schnable, Guangchao Sun and Vladimir Torrres have looked into traits that could transfer from grasses into other crops. One grass they studied just happened to be the same species that covered World Cup pitches in 2022. [Read More]