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Updating Genomics and Bioinformatics Courses for Undergraduates

Responding to the National Research Council of the National Academies’ call to “involve students in working with real data and tolls that reflect the nature of life sciences research in the 21st century,” the DOE JGI’s Education Program, headed by Cheryl Kerfeld, collaborated with faculty members from several universities around the country to develop bioinformatics… [Read More]

Terephthalate-degrading consortia

Terepthalate is the byproduct of a common compound used extensively by the plastics industry. The volume of terephthalate wastewater generated is equivalent to the amount of wastewater generated by 20 million people. Syntrophic communities are composed of bacteria that break down organic matter and methanogens that remove the hydrogen released to ensure the degradation process… [Read More]

Tammar wallaby foregut microbiome

Australia and New Zealand were separated from other land masses for millennia, and the unique marsupials found there such as kangaroos and wallabies have forestomachs adapted to efficiently break down lignocellulosic plant mass to extract nutrients. Australian marsupials such as the Tammar wallaby (above) contain unique, uncultured bacteria that could be useful in breaking down… [Read More]

Marine Metagenomics Elucidate Role in Global Carbon Cycle

Marine eukaryotes such as diatoms and phytoplankton sequester as much as 50 billion tons or gigatons of carbon annually, but very little is known about the tiny microorganisms that primarily make up this group, and their role in the global carbon cycle. To help answer this question, a team led by DOE JGI collaborator Alexandra… [Read More]

S. commune genome makes three biomass-degrading fungi characterized

Many sequencing projects at the DOE JGI focus on identifying enzymes in organisms such as fungi that can break down cellulose in plant mass to help bring down the cost of biofuel production. As DOE JGI Fungal Genomics Program head Igor Grigoriev noted, “When we go into a forest we don’t see layers of dead… [Read More]

Volvox genome belies “Small is Simple” Axiom

In the July 9, 2010 issue of Science, researchers led by the DOE JGI and the Salk Institute report on the 138 million-base genome of the multicellular alga Volvox carteri. The work complements the genome of the unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, which was sequenced by the DOE JGI in 2007 and is used by researchers… [Read More]

Characterizes/Publishes Anti-Reservoir-Souring Microbe

Reservoir souring, the production of hydrogen sulfide in oil wells as a result of downhole activity by a specialized group of microorganisms called sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), is a detrimental process of great concern to the oil industry. As petroleum reserves age and water injection is implemented for pressure maintenance, there is an inherent risk of… [Read More]