This proposal seeks support to generate a platinum grade genome sequence for Andropogon gerardii subsp. gerardii (big bluestem). This genome will be valuable for disparate communities of researchers, including many working on projects closely connected to the DOE mission. A. gerardii is the dominant plant of the tallgrass prairie and is the species most often…
Poplar Disease Resistance to Septoria Canker
Populus is one of DOE’s “flagship” plant species that is of special interest as a biofuel feedstock. Sphaerulina musiva, the cause of Septoria stem canker and leaf-spot disease, is one of the most economically important pathogens and a major limiting factor in the use of Populus as a biofuel feedstock in North America. We propose…
Desiccation Tolerance Among Green Algae
The team is investigating desiccation tolerance in a very phylogenetically broad group of green microalgae isolated from microbiotic crusts of the desert southwestern United States. These algae fall in multiple, evolutionarily independent lineages (in at least 7 algal classes) that made the leap from aquatic to desert habitats. They exhibit clearly stronger desiccation tolerance than…
Host-microbe Mediation of Large Sulfur Bacteria
Recent findings of genomic complexity in the form of mobile elements and evidence for extensive horizontal gene transfer, as well as community complexity in the form of trophic associations with other bacteria, drives the team to gain a better understanding of these communities and their molecular underpinnings. The team plans to generate “single-cell” (meta-)genomes of…
Pan-Genome Analysis of Sorghum
The goal of this CSP is deep-sequencing of highly diverse sorghum lines to assemble and analyze the pan-genome of this important bioenergy crop. Sorghum is a promising lignocellulosic and saccharine bioenergy crop, one of the DOE-JGI’s flagship species, and an important food and feed crop. In order to accelerate breeding and development of elite sorghum…
Bacterial Carbon and Sulfur Cycling in a Coastal Environment
The team aims to study organic sulfur biogeochemistry in a coastal ocean ecosystem. In fall 2014, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) was deployed in Monterey Bay, CA to collect a high-resolution microbial community time-series for analysis of bacterially-mediated organic sulfur transformations. Concurrent data on chlorophyll concentrations, bacterial and phytoplankton cell…
A Suillus Genus Genome Atlas
The genus Suillus is one the more iconic and easily recognized genera of mushrooms. As symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF), Suillus spp. play critical roles in the function of forest ecosystems by providing their plant hosts with mineral resources in exchange for photosynthetically fixed carbon. Our project seeks to generate a comprehensive understanding of the co-evolutionary…
Carnobacterium Species’ Response to Different Pressures
How do microbes respond to such a wide range of pressures? To study this question, the team will use strains of the genus Carnobacterium, which are psychrotolerant, facultatively anaerobic Gram-positive bacteria that grow at both low and high P extremes. Their working hypothesis is that bacteria adapt to the P environment by altering both their methylomes…
Effects of Redox Fluctuation
To understand how patterns of oxygen (O2) availability alter microbial community structure, activity and biogeochemical fluxes, the team conducted a redox oscillation study with Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF), Puerto Rico soils, and preserved samples for molecular analysis and geochemical data (Fe speciation and spectroscopy, P availability, pH, trace gases, and organic matter turnover and fate). In…
Understanding Soil Emissions in a Forested Environment
Descriptions of soil emissions of reactive nitrogen (NOy) in climate models are underdeveloped or nonexistent, due to the fact that details of the mechanisms leading to nitrous acid (HONO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) formation in soil are lacking. This represents a major gap in our understanding of a significant land-atmosphere interaction that prevents us from…