Natural organic matter largely consists of humic substances, a class of biogenic and refractory organic compounds that are prevalent in all terrestrial and aquatic environments. Because these substances are major reservoirs of organic carbon, the global carbon cycle is affected in critical ways by microorganisms that mediate their turnover. Mesophilic crenarchaeotes may be a group…

As ubiquitous inhabitants of aquatic ecosystems, particularly nutrient-poor (“oligotrophic”) habitats, Caulobacters may be exploitable for bioremediation applications. To gain further insight into the biological and environmental activities of oligotrophs in general, and Caulobacters in particular, researchers would like to compare the genomes of species from each of the major Caulobacter habitats. The genomic DNA sequence…

Bacilus coagulans strain 36D1 and its close relatives are ideal biocatalysts for fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass to fuels and chemicals. This bacterium is an acidophile and a moderate thermophile (grows at pH 5.0 and at 55°C). These characteristics are similar to the optimal conditions for the activity of fungal cellulases, which have been developed with…

Cold ocean regions are the norm on this planet, with 79% of the world’s ocean volume below 5 °C and some expansive regions, such as the Southern and Arctic Oceans, remaining constantly below freezing. In addition to the water column, sea ice forms over the Southern Ocean annually, doubling the size of the Antarctic continent…

This project tests a new tactic for profiling microbial communities, the functional anchor approach. The strategy is to identify all clones in a library that express a certain function and then sequence them to obtain phylogenetic information about their origins. The limitation of sequence-based approaches is that genes that do not match known motifs are…

Isolates of the bacterial phylum Verrucomicrobia have in common that they are specialized to the utilization of sugars. Their abundance and activity in a large variety of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, as well as in the intestine of vertebrates, indicates that this until recently unknown group of microorganisms plays a major role in the global…

Intimate interactions between bacteria and eukaryotes have influenced the course of organismal evolution and ecological distribution. While ubiquitous, there is generally little understanding of the physiological basis of such associations, particularly when they are nonpathogenic in nature (symbiotic). Earthworms of the family Lumbricidae harbor novel symbiotic betaproteobacteria within their nephridia (excretory organ). Few symbiotic betaprotebacteria…