WALNUT CREEK, CA—Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of California, San Diego have developed a set of molecular tools that provide important insight into the complex genomes of multicellular organisms. The strategy promises to clarify the longstanding mystery of the role played…
Rot’s Unique Wood Degrading Machinery to be Harnessed for Better Biofuels Production
WALNUT CREEK, CA—An international team led by scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) have translated the genetic code that explains the complex biochemical machinery making brown-rot fungi uniquely destructive to wood. The same processes that provide easier…
Scientists Publish Complete Genetic Blueprint of Key Biofuels Crop
WALNUT CREEK, CA—Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and several partner institutions have published the sequence and analysis of the complete genome of sorghum, a major food and fodder plant with high potential as a bioenergy crop. The genome data will aid scientists in optimizing sorghum and other crops…
DOE Joint Genome Institute Completes Soybean Genome— Data Released to Advance Biofuel, Food, & Feed Research
WALNUT CREEK, CA— The U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) has released a complete draft assembly of the soybean (Glycine max) genetic code, making it widely available to the research community to advance new breeding strategies for one of the world’s most valuable plant commodities. Soybean not only accounts for 70 percent…
Diatom Genome Helps Explain Their Great Diversity and Success in Trapping Excess Carbon in Oceans
WALNUT CREEK, CA—Diatoms, mighty microscopic algae, have profound influence on climate, producing 20 percent of the oxygen we breathe by capturing atmospheric carbon and in so doing, countering the greenhouse effect. Since their evolutionary origins these photosynthetic wonders have come to acquire advantageous genes from bacterial, animal and plant ancestors enabling them to thrive in…
After the First Decade of Metagenomics–Adolescent Growth Spurt Anticipated
WALNUT CREEK, CA—Mostly hidden from the scrutiny of the naked eye, microbes have been said to run the world. The challenge is how best to characterize them given that less than one percent of the estimated hundreds of millions of microbial species can be cultured in the laboratory. The answer is metagenomics—an increasingly popular approach…
DOE JGI Extends the Capabilities of the Integrated Microbial Genome (IMG) System, Updates the IMG/M Metagenome System, Launches Education Site
WALNUT CREEK, CA—The U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) has extended the capabilities of the Integrated Microbial Genomes (IMG) data management system, updated the content of the IMG/M metagenome data management and analysis system, and has launched its educational companion site, IMG/EDU. Version 2.6 of IMG includes new microbial genomes from Version…
Genome of Simplest Animal Reveals Ancient Lineage, Confounding Array of Complex Capabilities
WALNUT CREEK, CA—As Aesop said, appearances are deceiving—even in life’s tiniest critters. From first detection in the 1880s, clinging to the sides of an aquarium, to its recent characterization by the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI), a simple and primitive animal, Trichoplax adhaerens, appears to harbor a far more complex suite…
Analysis of Lake Washington Microbes Shows the Power of Metagenomic Approaches
WALNUT CREEK, CA—Today’s powerful sequencing machines can rapidly read the genomes of entire communities of microbes, but the challenge is to extract meaningful information from the jumbled reams of data. In a paper appearing in Nature Biotechnology August 17, a collaboration headed by researchers at the University of Washington and the U.S. Department of Energy…
DOE JGI Director Eddy Rubin Highlights the Genomics of Plant-based Biofuels in the Journal Nature
WALNUT CREEK, CA—Genomics is accelerating improvements for converting plant biomass into biofuel—as an alternative to fossil fuel for the nation’s transportation needs, reports Eddy Rubin, Director of the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI), in the August 14 edition of the journal Nature. In “Genomics of cellulosic biofuels,” Rubin lays out a…