Building on existing virus-host prediction approaches, researchers have created a new program called iPHoP. It combines and evaluates multiple predictions to reliably match viruses with their archaea and bacteria hosts. [Read More]
Microbial communities around hydrothermal vents survive in very hot, high-pressure and chemically-rich ecosystems. They hold clues for understanding how life thrives in extreme environments. [Read More]
Boggy peatlands, which hold much of the Earth’s carbon as well as material that can be converted to energy, are made up heavily of sphagnum mosses. [Read More]
A new study offers the first irrefutable proof that anaerobic fungi — the kind living in the stomachs of livestock — can deconstruct lignin in the absence of oxygen. [Read More]
Using 5,000 images of crystalized samples cloned and synthesized by the JGI, scientists have begun the complex process of uncovering the hidden secrets of soil viruses. [Read More]
Since its launch 25 years ago, the Genomes OnLine Database has matured into a flagship genomic metadata repository, making curated microbiome metadata freely available and enabling large-scale comparative genomics analysis initiatives. [Read More]
In the last 30 years, in environments all over the world, scientists have discovered giants among viruses. A new review provides a perspective on how culturing techniques, sequencing and bioinformatics have all broadened the study of giant viruses. [Read More]