Soybean is a major oil, feed, and export crop, with $17 billion annually in unprocessed crop value in the U.S. alone. Soy biodiesel is a leading contender for a renewable, alternative vehicle fuel with a high energy density. Soybean has the environmental and energy advantage of not requiring the use of nitrogen fertilizer. Soybean is…
Why Sequence Agaricus bisporus?
Agaricus bisporus is a soil-growing homobasidiomycete fungus that plays an ecologically significant role in the degradation of leaf and needle litter in temperate forests. Soils contain humic compounds derived from modified lignin and other recalcitrant aromatic compounds, and represent a different catabolic challenge from the intact woody tissues colonized by many other fungi. Thus, A….
Why Sequence Porphyra umbilicalis?
Porphyra species are among the most common algae in the intertidal and subtidal zones of temperate rocky shores in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Porphyra umbilicalis is a marine red alga. The red algae occupy a pivotal position in eukaryotic evolution as a sister group to green algae/plants. Porphyra species are particularly notable for…
Why Sequence Foxtail Millet?
Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is a diploid grass with a relatively small genome (~515 Mb). It is an important grain crop in temperate, subtropical, and tropical Asia and in parts of southern Europe, and is grown for forage in North America, South America, Australia, and North Africa. The genetic map of foxtail millet is highly…
Why Sequence the Eucalyptus Tree?
A major challenge for the achievement of a sustainable energy future is our understanding of the molecular basis of superior growth and adaptation in woody plants suitable for biomass production. Eucalyptus species are among the fastest growing woody plants in the world, with mean annual increments up to 100 cubic meter per hectare. Eucalyptus is…
Why Sequence Great Salt Lake?
On average, the Great Salt Lake is four times saltier than the ocean and also has heavy metals, high concentrations of sulfur and petroleum seeps. In spite of all this, the lake is the saltiest body of water to support life. The lake hosts brine shrimp, algae and a diverse array of microbes, not to…
Why Sequence Uncultivated Marine Viruses?
JGI will sequence three uncultivated viruses (obtained by physical fractionation) from one of the largest biomes on the planet: the oligotrophic (low-nutrient) open ocean. Viruses are an integral part of the marine ecosystem. Every living thing in the ocean appears to be susceptible to disease and death caused by viral infections. Although viruses cannot replicate…
Why sequence PCE-dechlorinating mixed communities?
The poet John Donne once noted that no man is an island, and the same can be argued for bacteria. Dehalococcoides ethenogenes bacteria are often found in a community of other microorganisms at groundwater sites contaminated with compounds such as tetrachloroethne and trichloroethene. These chemicals are among most the pervasive organic groundwater pollutants because they’re…
Why Sequence Microbial Communities from a Uranium-Contaminated Site?
Subsurface microorganisms play an important role in transforming contaminants. Microbial reactions can modify contaminant solubility, result in the precipitation or dissolution of mineral phases, consume electron donors, and reduce electron acceptors (and thereby alter the chemical and biogeochemical reactivity of microsites). Such transformations could be highly significant to long-term stewardship of contaminatd subsurface sediments. For…
Why Sequence Lake Vostok accretion ice?
Lake Vostok is the largest known subglacial lake in central Antarctica, though it’s been buried under 4 kilometers (nearly 2.5 miles) of ice for the past 15 million years. Because of the thickness of the ice above the water, some researchers theorize that any microbes in the lake might date back to a primordial time….