“When one of these blooms occurs and you get a billion cells per litre, it represents milligrams of carbon per litre, which is much higher than you typically see in coastal ecosystems.” The complete genome sequence will let scientists examine its “parts list” for clues to Aureococcus‘ ability to capture CO2, survive in varying marine…
Brown Tide Culprit Sequenced: Genome of the First of Algal Bloom Species
WALNUT CREEK, Calif.— Algae play key roles in the global carbon cycle, helping sequester significant amounts of carbon. Some algal species can bloom, or become so numerous, that they discolor coastal waters and reduce the amount of light and oxygen available in the ecosystem. Previously known as “red tide,” the term “harmful algal blooms” (HABs)…
Aureococcus genome project on Newswise
The impact of harmful algal blooms have intensified in recent decades and most research has focused on chemical nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus as causative agents of these blooms. A team of researchers led by Christopher J. Gobler, Ph.D., Associate Professor of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, have…
Aureococcus genome project on redOrbit
For the first time, researchers have sequenced the genome of a harmful algal bloom species. Researchers found that Aureococcus‘ unique gene complement allows it to outcompete other marine phytoplankton and thrive in human-modified ecosystems, which could help explain the global increases in harmful algal blooms. Read more on redOrbit
Daphnia pulex project in the San Francisco Chronicle
last week a team of gene hunters, led by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek and the Daphnia Genomics Consortium, headquartered at the University of Indiana, published the little organism’s gene sequence in the journal Science. More than 450 scientists around the world are members of that consortium, researching…
Daphnia pulex, the first crustacean genome
A keystone species in freshwater ecosystems, the water flea Daphnia pulex, is roughly the size of the equal sign on a keyboard. In the February 4 issue of Science, the nearly decade-long collaboration between the Daphnia Genomics Consortium and the DOE JGI culminated with a report on this first crustacean genome. “Daphnia is one of…
Sentinel of Change: Water Flea Genome to Improve Environmental Monitoring Capabilities
WALNUT CREEK, Calif.—A tiny crustacean that has been used for decades to develop and monitor environmental regulations is the first of its kind to have its genetic code sequenced and analyzed—revealing the most gene-packed animal characterized to date. The information deciphered could help researchers develop and conduct real-time monitoring systems of the effects of environmental…
Cow rumen metagenome study in EarthSky
Enter: the cow. If cows are good at anything, it’s digesting plant material until it turns into sugar; Dr. Rubin noted that cows have been eating grass for a few million years. That’s why Rubin’s team decided to do major genetic analysis of microbes inside the stomachs of cows. He explained that he was interested…
Cow rumen metagenome study on BBC World Service: Science in Action
Growing crops to make bio-fuel is controversial – they can take up valuable land and resources that could be used for food production and in the case of oil palms, large tracts of rainforest have been cleared to make way for this cash crop. But the second generation of bio-fuels hope to make use of…
Rumenating on improving biofuel production
Developing alternative fuels from plants has been challenging in part due to the high costs associated with processing plant biomass to more easily convert it into sugars and from there into biofuels. Ruminants such as the cow, however, can eat more than a hundred pounds of plant matter a day and break it down. Switchgrass…