“If the industry is going to move forward, it’s going to need new enzymes,” says Eddy Rubin, the director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute. Rubin and 16 colleagues report in the January 28 issue of Science how they discovered nearly 30,000 new enzyme candidates by analyzing DNA collected from a cow’s…
Cow rumen metagenome study on EurekAlert
“Microbes have evolved over millions of years to efficiently degrade recalcitrant biomass,” said Eddy Rubin, Director of the JGI and a lead on this study. “Communities of these organisms can be found in diverse ecosystems, such as in the rumen of cows, the guts of termites, in compost piles, as well as covering the forest…
Cow rumen metagenome study in This Week in Science
Identification of additional enzymes that can degrade cellulose efficiently should help in the development of biofuels on an industrial scale. Uncultured microorganisms living in cow rumen are highly effective at degrading plant cell walls. Hess et al. used metagenomics and single-genome sequencing to assemble draft genomes from microbes adhering to rumen-incubated switchgrass to identify nearly…
Rhizobial project on The West Australian
The Centre for Rhizobium Studies, the Australian side of the project led by Dr Wayne Reeve, has the task of sequencing the genomes of rhizobia selected from distinct geographic regions across the globe.The US side of the project will be run at the Joint Genome Institute, led by head of the microbial program Dr Nikos…
Citrus genomes project in Tehran Times
The “publication of the sweet orange and tangerine genomes will accelerate the discovery of innovative solutions to a myriad of pest and disease problems that threaten citrus production,” said Dan Gunter, chief operating officer of the Citrus Research and Development Foundation Inc. Read more on the Tehran Times.
Citrus genomes project on PharmPro
Researchers from the International Citrus Genomics Consortium announced this weekend at the Plant and Animal Genome (PAG) XIX conference in San Diego, California the availability of the sequence  assembly and annotation of the first citrus genomes, the sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) and the Clementine mandarin (Citrus clementina). The sweet orange genome was sequenced and analyzed…
Citrus genomes project on Reuters
Scientists have completed the genetic sequencing of two varieties of citrus trees, a key step in fighting diseases that threaten the global citrus fruit industry, researchers said on Tuesday. They assembled the genome sequences for sweet orange and Clementine mandarin trees, the first sequencing of any citrus plants, according to University of Florida researchers who…
JGI Highlight: More Caldicellulosiruptor bacterial genome sequences
The Caldocellulosiruptor genus contain bacteria that are capable of producing hydrogen and degrading plant biomass. Found all over the world, such as in geothermal hot springs in Russia and Iceland to solar-heated mud flats in California, the bacteria thrive in high temperatures. C. saccharolyticus (Image courtesy of A. Pereira & M. Verhaart, Wageningen University, Netherlands)…
Citrus Genomes project on Growing Produce
A University of Florida-led group of international scientists has assembled the genome sequences for two citrus varieties—sweet orange and Clementine mandarin—marking a first for citrus. The Clementine mandarin sequence is the higher quality of the two, but both are expected to help scientists unravel the secrets behind citrus diseases such as greening, a deadly threat…
Citrus Genomes project on StreetInsider.com
“The immediate availability of these annotated assemblies will enable breeders to mine the database for genes associated with key agricultural traits, such as disease-resistance, temperature tolerance, fruit quality, and yield,” explained Fred Gmitter, Chair of the International Citrus Genomics Consortium and a citrus geneticist and breeder at the University of Florida. “In addition, they will…