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    Designer DNA: JGI Helps Users Blaze New Biosynthetic Pathways
    In a special issue of the journal Synthetic Biology, JGI scientific users share how they’ve worked with the JGI DNA Synthesis Science Program and what they’ve discovered through their collaborations.

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    A genetic element that generates targeted mutations, called diversity-generating retroelements (DGRs), are found in viruses, as well as bacteria and archaea. Most DGRs found in viruses appear to be in their tail fibers. These tail fibers – signified in the cartoon by the blue virus’ downward pointing ‘arms’— allow the virus to attach to one cell type (red), but not the other (purple). DGRs mutate these ‘arms,’ giving the virus opportunities to switch to different prey, like the purple cell. (Courtesy of Blair Paul)
    A Natural Mechanism Can Turbocharge Viral Evolution
    A team has discovered that diversity generating retroelements (DGRs) are not only widespread, but also surprisingly active. In viruses, DGRs appear to generate diversity quickly, allowing these viruses to target new microbial prey.

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    Algae growing in a bioreactor. (Dennis Schroeder, NREL)
    Refining the Process of Identifying Algae Biotechnology Candidates
    Researchers combined expertise at the National Labs to screen, characterize, sequence and then analyze the genomes and multi-omics datasets for algae that can be used for large-scale production of biofuels and bioproducts.

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    This data image shows the monthly average sea surface temperature for May 2015. Between 2013 and 2016, a large mass of unusually warm ocean water--nicknamed the blob--dominated the North Pacific, indicated here by red, pink, and yellow colors signifying temperatures as much as three degrees Celsius (five degrees Fahrenheit) higher than average. Data are from the NASA Multi-scale Ultra-high Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (MUR SST) Analysis product. (Courtesy NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center)
    When “The Blob” Made It Hotter Under the Water
    Researchers tracked the impact of a large-scale heatwave event in the ocean known as “The Blob” as part of an approved proposal through the Community Science Program.

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    A plantation of poplar trees. (David Gilbert)
    Genome Insider podcast: THE Bioenergy Tree
    The US Department of Energy’s favorite tree is poplar. In this episode, hear from ORNL scientists who have uncovered remarkable genetic secrets that bring us closer to making poplar an economical and sustainable source of energy and materials.

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    Ian Rambo, graduate student at UT-Austin, was a DOE Graduate Student Research Fellow at the JGI
    Virus-Microbe Interactions of Mud Island Mangroves
    Through the DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program, Ian Rambo worked on part of his dissertation at the JGI. The chapter focuses on how viruses influence carbon cycling in coastal mangroves.

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    HPCwire Editor's Choice Award (logo crop) for Best Use of HPC in the Life Sciences
    JGI Part of Berkeley Lab Team Awarded Best Use of HPC in Life Sciences
    The HPCwire Editors Choice Award for Best Use of HPC in Life Sciences went to the Berkeley Lab team comprised of JGI and ExaBiome Project team, supported by the DOE Exascale Computing Project for MetaHipMer, an end-to-end genome assembler that supports “an unprecedented assembly of environmental microbiomes.”

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    With a common set of "baseline metadata," JGI users can more easily access public data sets. (Steve Wilson)
    A User-Centered Approach to Accessing JGI Data
    Reflecting a structural shift in data access, the JGI Data Portal offers a way for users to more easily access public data sets through a common set of metadata.

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    Phytozome portal collage
    A More Intuitive Phytozome Interface
    Phytozome v13 now hosts upwards of 250 plant genomes and provides users with the genome browsers, gene pages, search, BLAST and BioMart data warehouse interfaces they have come to rely on, with a more intuitive interface.

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    screencap from Amundson and Wilkins subsurface microbiome video
    Digging into Microbial Ecosystems Deep Underground
    JGI users and microbiome researchers at Colorado State University have many questions about the microbial communities deep underground, including the role viral infection may play in other natural ecosystems.

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    Yeast strains engineered for the biochemical conversion of glucose to value-added products are limited in chemical output due to growth and viability constraints. Cell extracts provide an alternative format for chemical synthesis in the absence of cell growth by isolating the soluble components of lysed cells. By separating the production of enzymes (during growth) and the biochemical production process (in cell-free reactions), this framework enables biosynthesis of diverse chemical products at volumetric productivities greater than the source strains. (Blake Rasor)
    Boosting Small Molecule Production in Super “Soup”
    Researchers supported through the Emerging Technologies Opportunity Program describe a two-pronged approach that starts with engineered yeast cells but then moves out of the cell structure into a cell-free system.

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    These bright green spots are fluorescently labelled bacteria from soil collected from the surface of plant roots. For reference, the scale bar at bottom right is 10 micrometers long. (Rhona Stuart)
    A Powerful Technique to Study Microbes, Now Easier
    In JGI's Genome Insider podcast: LLNL biologist Jennifer Pett-Ridge collaborated with JGI scientists through the Emerging Technologies Opportunity Program to semi-automate experiments that measure microbial activity in soil.

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    In their approved proposal, Frederick Colwell of Oregon State University and colleagues are interested in the microbial communities that live on Alaska’s glacially dominated Copper River Delta. They’re looking at how the microbes in these high latitude wetlands, such as the Copper River Delta wetland pond shown here, cycle carbon. (Courtesy of Rick Colwell)
    Monitoring Inter-Organism Interactions Within Ecosystems
    Many of the proposals approved through JGI's annual Community Science Program call focus on harnessing genomics to developing sustainable resources for biofuels and bioproducts.

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    Coloring the water, the algae Phaeocystis blooms off the side of the sampling vessel, Polarstern, in the temperate region of the North Atlantic. (Katrin Schmidt)
    Climate Change Threatens Base of Polar Oceans’ Bountiful Food Webs
    As warm-adapted microbes edge polewards, they’d oust resident tiny algae. It's a trend that threatens to destabilize the delicate marine food web and change the oceans as we know them.

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    Integrating JGI Capabilities for Exploring Earth’s Secondary Metabolome
    Natural Prodcast podcast: Nigel Mouncey
    JGI Director Nigel Mouncey has a vision to build out an integrative genomics approach to looking at the interactions of organisms and environments. He also sees secondary metabolism analysis and research as a driver for novel technologies that can serve all JGI users.

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June 11, 2019

Developing Switchgrass for Biomass Production

Left to Right: Jerry Jenkins, JGI Plant Program head Jeremy Schmutz, Adam Healey and study senior author Tom Juenger of UT-Austin.Switchgrass community gardens help distinguish genetic bases of fitness traits from climactic influence. The Science To better understand the genetic basis of local adaptation, researchers established community gardens of switchgrass plants in 10 different field sites on a north-south gradient across the United States. Hundreds of the switchgrass plants in these gardens are clonally propagated… [Read More]

February 25, 2019

Evolution of a Fungal Gene Expression Regulator

Parasitella parasitica (ZyGoLife Research Consortium on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)5mC is an important piece of how many organisms regulate their genomes, but it is not well understood in fungi. Researchers reported on the largest analysis of 5mC distribution across the fungal tree of life to date, involving more than 500 species of fungi. [Read More]

December 7, 2018

A Model System for Perennial Grasses

Field researchers studying drought responses in Panicum hallii at the UT Austin Brackenridge Field Lab. (David Gilbert)Panicum hallii genomes offer insights to drought tolerance. The Science Researchers have developed a genomic model to study drought tolerance in perennial grasses using Panicum hallii (Hall’s panicgrass), by generating two complete genomes from varieties that diverged over a million years ago. The hallii variety thrives in desert environments, while the filipes variety is less… [Read More]

October 19, 2018

Mining Metagenomes for Cas Proteins

Click on the image above or click here (https://youtu.be/iSEEw4Vs_B4) to watch a CRISPR Whiteboard Lesson from the Innovative Genomics Institute, this one focuses on the PAM sequence.Cas14 proteins discovered from JGI’s IMG/M database and biochemically characterized at UC Berkeley and the Innovative Genomics Institute.  The Science Researchers report the discovery of miniature Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) associated proteins that can target single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). The discovery was made possible by mining the datasets in the Integrated Microbial Genomes… [Read More]

October 8, 2018

Mapping Heat Resistance in Yeasts

At high temperature, S. paradoxus cells die in the act of cell division, as seen by the dyads with cell bodies shriveled away from the outer cell wall. (Images by Carly Weiss, courtesy of the Brem Lab)A new approach for improving functional annotation in fungal genomes. The Science In a proof-of-concept study, researchers demonstrated that a new genetic mapping strategy called RH-Seq can identify genes that promote heat resistance in the brewer’s/baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, allowing this species to grow better than its closest relative S. paradoxus at high temperatures (39°C/102°F)…. [Read More]

September 24, 2018

First Monoploid Reference Sequence of Sugarcane

The reference sequence is useful for mapping the genes involved in sugar production and for identifying different variants on different chromosomes, information that can be used to assemble a more complex and more realistic polyploid sugarcane genome now underway. (Rufino Uribe, CC-SA 2.0)Sorghum genome serves as a reference for the highly complex sugarcane genome. The Science Most species are diploids and have two sets of chromosomes, one from each parent. In contrast, many crops have multiple sets of chromosomes (they are “polyploid”) and their complex genomes are more difficult to sequence and assemble, in turn limiting the… [Read More]

September 5, 2018

Defining a Pan-Genome for Antarctic Archaea

Antarctica’s Deep Lake. (Rick Cavicchioli)Analysis of haloarchaeal metagenomes broadens understanding of Antarctic biogeography. The Science Haloarchaea flourish in hypersaline environments, and researchers are interested in learning how these microbes have learned to adapt from marine to hypersaline conditions by studying the microbial communities in Antarctic lakes, some of which have salinities 10 times that of seawater. To shed light… [Read More]

August 13, 2018

Corymbia Genome Expands Terpene Synthesis Knowledge

Corymbia citriodora subspecies citriodora is a native of north Queensland in Australia but is grown throughout the subtropics for essential oil production. (Photo by Mervyn Shepherd)Genome annotations of two C. citriodora subspecies broaden understanding of the terpene synthase gene family across eucalypt lineages. The Science From the distinct smell of eucalyptus to the flavor of wine, terpenes are ubiquitous. A diverse group of plant-produced organic compounds, terpenes play key roles in plant growth, defense, and environmental interactions. Terpenes are also… [Read More]

July 6, 2018

Innovative Technology Improves Our Understanding of Bacterial Cell Signaling

The molecule cyclic di-GMP plays a key role in controlling cellulose production and biofilm formation. To better understand cyclic di-GMP signaling pathways, the team developed the first chemiluminescent biosensor system for cyclic di-GMP and showed that it could be used to assay cyclic di-GMP in bacterial lysates. (Image courtesy of Hammond Lab, UC Berkeley)Newly developed chemiluminescent biosensors shed light on how bacteria function and colonize diverse environments. The Science Cyclic di-GMP (Guanine Monophosphate) is found in nearly all types of bacteria and interacts with cell signaling networks that control many basic cellular functions. It plays an important role in regulating microbial cellulose production and biofilm formation, which affects… [Read More]

June 13, 2018

Building Sphagnum Genomic Resources

Sphagnum fallax (Image courtesy of Jonathan Shaw, Duke University)Sphagnome data would enable researchers’ insights on their potential carbon cycling impact. The Science Enabled by the JGI’s Community Science Program (CSP), researchers are developing a number of resources to build up Sphagnum as a plant model system focused on carbon cycling studies, rather than for food or fuel applications. The Impact Sphagnum’s impact on… [Read More]
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