A team has optimized a crucial part of CRISPR-Cas9 technology to enable improvements in microbial oil production. The Science CRISPR-Cas9 is a powerful, high-throughput gene-editing tool that can help scientists engineer organisms for bioenergy applications. Cas9 needs guide RNA to lead it to the correct sequence to snip — but not all guides are effective…. [Read More]

Nanohaloarchaeota cultures reveal they are symbionts and not free-living organisms. The Science Researchers employed multiple microbiology and ‘omics techniques to experimentally determine that Nanohaloarchaeota are symbionts, rather than free-living organisms as had been originally thought. The Impact The Antarctic lakes are a “treasure trove” of unknown microbes that play critical roles in environmental processes (related… [Read More]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]