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…
Pine Tree, Boat-Boring Bivalve “Bugs”, Duck Weed, Oil-Producing Microalgae, Stinkbird Gut, 40 Others Top DOE Joint Genome Institute 2009 Genome Sequencing Targets
WALNUT CREEK, CA—In the continuing effort to tap the vast, unexplored reaches of the earth’s microbial and plant domains for bioenergy and environmental applications, the DOE Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) has announced its latest portfolio of DNA sequencing projects that it will undertake in the coming year. The 44 projects, culled from nearly 150…
Lean and Mean Biomass-Degrading Fungus Reveals Targeted Capabilities for Improved Biofuel Production
WALNUT CREEK, CA—The bane of military quartermasters may soon be a boon to biofuels producers. The genome analysis of a champion biomass-degrading fungus has revealed a surprisingly minimal repertoire of genes that it employs to break down plant cell walls, highlighting opportunities for further improvements in enzymes customized for biofuels production. The results were published…
Mechanisms of Plant-Fungi Symbiosis Characterized by DOE Joint Genome Institute, Collaborators
WALNUT CREEK, CA—Plants gained their ancestral toehold on dry land with considerable help from their fungal friends. Now, millennia later, that partnership is being exploited as a strategy to bolster biomass production for next-generation biofuels. The genetic mechanism of this kind of symbiosis, which contributes to the delicate ecological balance in healthy forests, also provides…
DOE JGI Releases a New Version of its Metagenome Data Management & Analysis System
WALNUT CREEK, CA–Targeting its ever-expanding user community, the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) has released an upgraded version of the IMG/M metagenome data management and analysis system, accessible to the public at http://img.jgi.doe.gov/m. IMG/M provides tools for analyzing the functional capability of microbial communities based on their metagenome DNA sequence in…
DOE JGI Releases Soybean Genome Assembly
WALNUT CREEK, CA–A preliminary assembly and annotation of the soybean genome, Glycine max, has been made available by the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI), to the greater scientific community to enable bioenergy research. The announcement was made by Eddy Rubin, DOE JGI Director, during his keynote remarks Jan. 15 at the…