“[O]ne of the by-products of this biochemical attack is poop, and that poop is full of the fungi and hundreds of their special enzymes. So literally, the scientists harvested this fungi from goat poop…. But isolating these enzymes and mapping their blueprints in DNA and RNA is not easy. In fact, it required the rare…
Biofuel Tech Straight from the Farm
Research team taps EMSL, DOE JGI to harness promising fungi found in manure. Nature’s figured it out already, how to best break down food into fuel. Now scientists have caught up, showing that fungi found in the guts of goats, horses and sheep could help fill up your gas tank too. The researchers report in…
Strategy to Uncover More Microbial Lineages
Biases in current sequencing technologies hide true breadth of microbial diversity. The Science DOE JGI researchers employed datasets from the Integrated Microbial Genomes (IMG) system to determine how many microbial lineages might be missed from available sequences in existing datasets due to mismatches with currently used Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) primers. PCR is a technology…
Tracking Microbial Mat Formation in Yellowstone
Assessing real-time contributions of microbial communities toward mat formation. The Science Researchers determined the contributions of different microbes toward the establishment of microbial mat communities in the hot and acidic environments of the Yellowstone Hot Springs. The Impact Microbial mats serve as model systems for studying microbial interactions and their influence over biogeochemical processes. Understanding…
JGI Interns at UC Merced Earn CAMP Merit Awards
As part of the ongoing partnership between DOE JGI and UC Merced to promote diversity and inclusion in science and research, two undergraduate students from UC Merced recently had summer internships in Walnut Creek.
Seagrass Genome Sequence Lends Insights to Salt Tolerance
First marine flowering plant genome provides clues on how crops could adapt to saline environments. To mitigate carbon emissions in the atmosphere, researchers have turned to sinks–reservoirs that accumulate and store carbon such as tropical rainforests, but also including a variety of terrestrial plants as well as oceans. However, another lesser known but very large…
Uncovering Hidden Microbial Lineages from Hot Springs
Metagenomics and single cell strategies help reveal a novel bacterial phylum. Although global microbial populations are orders of magnitude larger than nearly any other population in, on or around the planet, only a fraction has been identified thus far. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking to uncover the true extent of the planet’s…
Highly Cited: 8 DOE JGI Researchers Make 2015 List
Millions of researchers worldwide publish millions of papers. Thomson Reuters compiles a Highly Cited Researchers database, listing based on the number of citations their work has received from fellow researchers. Among the factors that play into the database is the Essential Science Indicators in Web of Science, which tracks papers published in the past decade that rank in the…
Genomic Basis for Herbivore Gut Syntrophy
Anaerobic fungi are found in the rumen or hindgut of large herbivores, where they partner naturally with methanogenic archaea in a type of symbiotic relationship known as syntrophy. In this mutualistic relationship, methanogens siphon off and utilize fungal waste products (hydrogen and carbon dioxide), thereby speeding fungal metabolism and enabling faster and more complete deconstruction…
Microbial Nitrogen Cycling along the Colorado River
Extensive uranium groundwater contamination at DOE’s legacy ore processing sites has resisted extensive remediation attempts. One of these sites lies within the upper Colorado River Basin. The sediments here are referred to as naturally reduced zones (NRZs) because they are generally nutrient-poor and have abundant iron sulfide minerals. There is concern that NRZs are acting…