Nitrogen is a crucial element for plant growth and makes up nearly 80 percent of the Earth’s atmosphere. Unfortunately plants can’t use atmospheric nitrogen unless it is converted into another form. Fertilizers can supply the needed nitrogen, but they are made using processes that contribute to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. On…
Why Sequence Escherichia coli MG1655?
When researchers want to understand how microbes interact with toxic materials, they often sequence the organisms collected at waste sites. The problem is that this technique can be time-consuming as researchers search for the key genes involved in the particular function being studied. One way to speed up the process is to manipulate the microbe’s…
Why Sequence Cellulose Degrading Bacteria?
One of the major DOE missions is the production of renewable fuels to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and also to take the place of petroleum-based fuels as these resources dwindle. Biologically produced ethanol is one possible replacement for fossil fuels. Currently, ethanol is produced from corn starch, but there is much research into…
Why Sequence Predatory Nanoflagellates?
Heterotrophic nanoflagellates are a group of marine microbes that prey on other microbes, such as bacteria and phytoplankton. Bacteria and phytoplankton constitute a dominant fraction of the living biomass in marine ecosystems. Their fates are dictated largely by two major forces: predation by protists like the nanoflagellates, and cell death induced by viruses. These two…
Why Sequence Brachypodium distachyon?
Brachypodium distachyon (Brachypodium) is a grass with a small genome found in a variety of regions ranging from northern Europe to the Indian subcontinent. Brachypodium is a model plant for studying temperate grasses that form the base of our food supply such as wheat and barley. It also serves as a model for studying ways…
Why Sequence Hansenula polymorpha?
Hansenula polymorpha strain NCYC 495 leu1.1 is a yeast capable of fermenting xylose, cellobiose, and glucose to ethanol at high temperatures (45 – 50° C). This particular strain ferments xylose much more efficiently than other strains of H. polymorpha. Hence, it is a promising strain for the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process, which combines…
Why Sequence Loblolly Pine BACs?
Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) is an organism of tremendous economic and ecological importance and a key representative of the conifers, an ancient lineage of plants that dominates many of the world’s temperate and boreal ecosystems. Loblolly pine’s fast growth, amenability to intensive tree farming, and high-quality lumber/pulp have made it the cornerstone of the…
Why Sequence the Simplest Cotton Genome?
Cotton is one of the world’s most important crops, and it sustains one of the world’s largest industries (textiles). The value of cotton fiber and byproducts grown in the USA is typically about $6-7 billion/yr. More than 440,000 domestic jobs are related to cotton processing, with an aggregate influence of ~$120 billion/yr on the US…
Why Sequence Zostera marina (seagrass)?
Seagrasses cover nearly 80,000 square miles of shallow and subtidal coastlines such as bays and estuaries around the world. They help prevent erosion by cushioning the force of the waves and currents hitting the shoreline. They also act as carbon sinks for as much as 15 percent of the total surplus carbon fixed in the…
Why Sequence the Greater Duckweed?
The Lemnaceae, commonly known as duckweeds, are the smallest, fastest growing and simplest of flowering plants. Some of the current uses of Lemnaceae are a testimony to its utility: basic research and evolutionary model system, toxicity testing organism, biotech protein factory, wastewater remediator, high-protein animal feed, and carbon cycling participant. Sequencing of the Greater Duckweed,…