2022 marks the JGI’s 25th anniversary. Over the next few months, we’ll be revisiting a number of notable achievements that showcase our collaborations and capabilities to enable great science that will help solve energy and environmental challenges.
Fruiting bodies of Laccaria bicolor colonizing seedlings of Douglas fir. (Francis Martin).
In March 2008, the genome sequence of the forest fungus Laccaria bicolor was published in the journal Nature. The mushroom has a symbiotic relationship with the poplar, a JGI Flagship Genome and the first tree to have its genome sequenced. Having this first genome sequence of a mycorrhizal fungus shifted the focus from looking at single organisms to applying a broader ecosystem perspective, involving more multidisciplinary teams. The work also paved the way for a longstanding collaboration between researchers at the JGI and the French National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE). Today, there are nearly 200 mycorrhizal fungal genomes publicly available on the fungal portal MycoCosm, many sequenced through the JGI 1000 Fungal Genomes Project.
Francis Martin on the main impact of ectomycorrhizal fungi, excerpted from his talk at the 2015 JGI Annual Meeting:
Francis Martin on how JGI has changed mycology, excerpted from his talk at the 2015 JGI Annual Meeting:
Relevant Links:
- Publication: Martin F et al. The genome of Laccaria bicolor provides insights into mycorrhizal symbiosis. Nature 452, 88–92 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06556
- JGI Release: Mechanisms of Plant-Fungi Symbiosis Characterized by DOE Joint Genome Institute, Collaborators
- Laccaria bicolor genome on the JGI fungal portal MycoCosm
- JGI 1000 Fungal Genomes Project
- Francis Martin on “Harnessing Genomics for Understanding Tree-Microbe Interactions in Forest Ecosystems” at the 2015 JGI Annual Meeting
- JGI Podcast: “THE Bioenergy Tree”