The deconstruction of biomass is a pivotal process in the biofuel industry, but the enzymes that possess a significant role in the breakdown of biomass remain relatively unexplored. To this end, DOE researchers at several national labs and user facilities are studying thermophilic bacteria, organisms that survive and thrive in high-temperature environments, that contain these…
Advancing soybean science on Iowa Public Radio
““It’s amazing to see the explosion that’s gone on in the plant world,” said Jeremy Schmutz, a plant genomicist at the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute in California and the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Alabama. In 2010, his team completed the soybean genome sequence, which is a roadmap that shows every piece of soybean DNA.”…
The Importance and Function of Nitrogen-Fixing Microbes
All organisms on Earth require nitrogen to survive, but most cannot use nitrogen unless it is combined with other elements. These compounds are formed by the process known as nitrogen fixation, which can only be carried out in nature with the help of microorganisms. In agriculture, fertilizers are often deployed to supplement nitrogen levels in…
Microbial “who done it?” in R&D magazine
“One of the keys to commercialization of advanced biofuels is the development of cost-competitive ways to extract fermentable sugars from lignocellulosic biomass. The use of enzymes from thermophiles—microbes that thrive at extremely high temperatures and alkaline conditions—holds promise for achieving this. Finding the most effective of these microbial enzymes, however, has been a challenge. That…
Solving Microbial “Dark Matter” With Single-Cell Genomics
Microbes facilitate many of the natural cycles in plant growth and health, and play roles in many processes in nutrient cycles that control certain environments and climates. Though thousands of these microbes have been identified, the majority of these microbes are still a mystery to scientists and are referred to as microbial “dark matter.” Steps…
Leaf-cutter ants project in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“These bacteria and these fungi have evolved for millions of years to deconstruct plant biomass,” said Frank Aylward, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies leaf-cutter ants and their fungus gardens. “We should try to learn from them and find out how it occurs in nature.” Read more at JSOnline.com about this…
Microbial dark matter study in The Scientist
“Its scale and impact are exactly what Nature is there for,” [said Argonne National Laboratory’s Jack Gilbert.] “The data allow us to confirm some known relationships, but also uncovered some awesome new ones.” Read more in The Scientist
Microbial dark matter study in Nature
“This is an astounding paper,” says Norman Pace, a microbiologist at the University of Colorado–Boulder. “The achievement of hundreds of genome sequences from single cells at a shot is an entirely new level of microbiology.” Read more in Nature
Microbial dark matter study in BBC News
“For almost 20 years now we have been astonished by how little there is known about massive regions of the tree of life. This project is the first systematic effort to address this enormous knowledge gap.” – Phil Hugenholtz, director of the Australian Centre for Ecogenomics at the University of Queensland, in Australia Read more in…
Microbial dark matter study in The Globe and Mail
“Sakinaw Lake’s hidden depths have become part of a massive effort to explore some of the least understood branches of the tree of life. “It’s a really interesting place to look for exotic microorganisms,” said Steven Hallam, an environment genomicist at the University of British Columbia.” Read more in The Globe and Mail