An African grass that is more drought-tolerant than crops such as corn and wheat, sorghum is a staple grain for 500 million people worldwide. In the United States however, sorghum is grown and used primarily as for animal feed. Using the whole genome shotgun approach, sorghum was the second grass genome to be sequenced after…

A tiny green alga with minimal cell structure found at the top of the water column where plants live, Ostreococcus tauri is one of the picoeukaryotes that make up a fraction of the oceanic biomass but are significant contributors to global photosynthetic activity. A key part of the base of the ocean food web, Ostreococcus…

The term Pisolithus is derived from Greek, where piso means pea-shaped and lithos means stone. The fungal species under this category get their name from the pea-shaped spore capsules that break down to disperse spores, and thrive in temperate regions as well as in less-than-ideal conditions such as high levels of heavy metals, highly acidic…

Forests are major carbon sink in terrestrial ecosystems and are significant source of biomass for producing cellulosic biofuels. Loblolly and slash pines are the cornerstones of the US forest products industry, especially in the southeastern United States where nearly two billion loblolly pines and 200 million slash pine seedlings are planted annually in an area…

As single-cell organisms with short growth cycles and high energy content, algae are being considered as potential sources of biofuel. Some algal strains can be composed of as lipids and components that are also found in vegetable oils, which means they can be used to produce gasoline and biodiesel for vehicles with a lower carbon…

Better known as rockcress, Boechera holboelli is a perennial plant found in the woodlands. It belongs to the family Brassicaceae and is related several vegetables such as mustard, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, kale and turnips, as well as the model systems Arabidopsis thaliana and Capsella rubella, both of which were sequenced by the DOE JGI. Unlike…

The largest and most diverse group of fungi, Dothideomycetes are found on every continent and play key roles in maintaining the local ecosystems by degrading biomass and contributing to regulating the carbon cycle. Many of these fungi are also tolerant of environmental extremes such as heat, humidity and cold. Among the members of this group…

Cone-bearing trees such as spruces, pines and firs are softwoods that can survive in cold temperatures and acidic soil. Primarily found in the Northern hemisphere, coniferous forests thrive in regions with long, harsh winters and have adapted to reduce water loss in freezing conditions. These forests are marked by thick canopies that reduce the amount…

Commonly found in forest ecosystems, brown rot fungi such as Postia placenta are a major cause of wood decay and are thought to be responsible for 10 percent of the wood decay in the annual timber harvest. Unlike white-rot fungi, however, brown-rot fungi can rapidly break down the cellulose in wood without affecting the lignin….

These common marine microorganisms with the tongue-twisting name behave like fungi in the ocean ecosystem but are actually protists. Their abundance in the ocean varies with the changing seasons. They feed on non-living organic matter such as decaying algae, plants such as mangrove leaves and salt marsh grass or even animal tissues. Species that belong…