“We found that the Volvox mating locus is about five times bigger than that of Chlamydomonas,” says postdoctoral researcher and co-first author Patrick Ferris, Ph.D. “We wanted to understand the evolutionary basis of this. How did it happen? And where did these new genes come from?” To trace the origin of the added genes, the…
Volvox algae and sex evolution on ScienceDaily
Although the genomes of Chlamydomonas and Volvox are similar in most ways, there is one glaring exception that provided the Salk researchers with an entrée into the origin of male and female sexes-the so-called mating locus that functions in much the same way as human X and Y chromosomes to determine gender. When Umen and…
Volvox algae and sex evolution on redOrbit
A multicellular green alga, Volvox carteri, may have finally unlocked the secrets behind the evolution of different sexes. A team led by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has shown that the genetic region that determines sex in Volvox has changed dramatically relative to that of the closely related unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii….
Berkeley Lab boosts 2009 Bay Area economy on SF Business Times
In the city of Berkeley itself, some 1,700 jobs “were directly tied to Laboratory spending.” In 2009 the lab spent almost $200 million in Berkeley. Other local cities that got significant boosts were Walnut Creek, where the Joint Genome Institute is and Emeryville, where the Joint BioEnergy Institute is. Read more at the San Francisco…
DOE JGI involvement in Australian eucalyptus project
The international sequencing effort was initiated in 2007 by the Eucalyptus genome network, Eucagen, a consortium of Eucalyptus researchers from around the globe with support from the Community Sequencing Program at the US Department of Energy (DoE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI). Eucalyptus is only the second tree species in the world to have its genome…
JGI’s Ergo Cup victory on DOE’s OBER site
Preventing ergonomic injuries is a major concern for DOE laboratories, especially at the JGI, where its sequencing procedures involve highly repetitive tasks both in the laboratory and in the office. The JGI management has developed ergonomic solutions suited to each worker and his/her surrounding work environment to reduce injuries caused by these tasks. Read more…
JGI & NERSC Partner for Genomic High-performance Computing
WALNUT CREEK, CA—The Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) Division have joined forces to create a more robust computational infrastructure for the world’s leading generator of DNA sequence information for bioenergy and environmental applications. “We evaluated wide a variety of options,” said Vito Mangiardi, JGI’s…
Peach genome project on GenomeWeb
An international research group has published a draft genome of a Lovell peach variety of Prunus persica, researchers involved in the project said today. The International Peach Genome Initiative (IPGI) has released online a high-quality draft with assembled scaffolds covering nearly 99 percent of the peach genome, the researchers said. P. persica is considered one…
Peach genome project on WSU Today Online
The International Peach Genome Initiative’s decision to release the genetic makeup of the peach ahead of publication in a scientific journal could have far-reaching implications for the future of peaches and related Rosaceae plants like almonds, blackberries, apples, cherries, plums, raspberries, roses, strawberries and trees such as poplar, citrus and chestnut. “Having access to even…
Peach genome project on FreshPlaza
The peach genome should be useful to scientists working with a number of peach relatives whose genomes appear to be similar to that of the peach, according to Sosinski. “Some of these relatives, such as apple or plum, might be expected, but others, such as strawberries and raspberries, and trees, such as poplar and chestnut,…