All of the gene sequences were determined at the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) located in Walnut Creek, Calif., and operated by UC for the Department of Energy. In all, 33 scientists contributed to the paper. The lead author, Mansi Srivastava, is based at UC Berkeley’s Center for Integrative Genomics and the Department of Molecular and…
Sponge genome project in PhysOrg
The study, published in Nature this week, illustrates how all contemporary animals, from sea sponges and corals to butterflies and humans, evolved from ancient and long-extinct ancestors – the very first multicellular animals. “This incredibly old ancestor possessed the same core building blocks for multicellular form and function that still sits at the heart of…
Sponge genome project in New Scientist
Sponges are primitive creatures with a body plan unlike that of any other living organism. They are also our most distant animal cousins. Now that their genetic make-up has finally been sequenced, it could explain one of the greatest mysteries of evolution: how single-celled organisms in the primordial oceans evolved into complex multicellular animals with…
Tammar wallaby foregut microbiome
Australia and New Zealand were separated from other land masses for millennia, and the unique marsupials found there such as kangaroos and wallabies have forestomachs adapted to efficiently break down lignocellulosic plant mass to extract nutrients. Australian marsupials such as the Tammar wallaby (above) contain unique, uncultured bacteria that could be useful in breaking down…
Cheryl Kerfeld recognized by ASBMB on EurekAlert
Cheryl A. Kerfeld, a structural biologist and the head of the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute’s Education and Structural Genomics Program, won the ASBMB Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education. Kerfeld, who also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley, was named the winner for encouraging effective teaching and learning…
Schizophyllum commune project on Power Online
The DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) previously sequenced and published the genomes of two wood-decaying fungi. Now a team of researchers led by scientists from the DOE JGI and the University of Utrecht announce the analysis of a third such genome in a study published online July 11 in Nature Biotechnology. All told, DOE JGI…
Marine Metagenomics Elucidate Role in Global Carbon Cycle
Marine eukaryotes such as diatoms and phytoplankton sequester as much as 50 billion tons or gigatons of carbon annually, but very little is known about the tiny microorganisms that primarily make up this group, and their role in the global carbon cycle. To help answer this question, a team led by DOE JGI collaborator Alexandra…
Frog genome project on NIH Research Matters
A team of scientists led by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute and the University of California, Berkeley, set out to add to the set of X. tropicalis research tools by sequencing its genome. The team, which included researchers from NIH’s National Library of Medicine (NLM) and National Cancer Institute (NCI), was…
Volvox carteri project on Astrobiology magazine
“If you think of proteins in terms of lego bricks, Chlamydomonas already had a great lego set,” says James Umen, assistant professor in the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute. “Volvox didn’t have to buy a new one, and instead could experiment with what it had inherited from its ancestor.” Read…
Volvox carteri project on NCTimes.com Blog
The study was published in the July 9 issue of Science. It may also be pertinent to the ongoing development of algae as a biofuel petroleum replacement, a major focus of research in San Diego and at the federal level. The team compared the genome of Volvox, a multicellular spherical algae, with that of the…