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    Data yielded from RIViT-seq increased the number of sigma factor-gene pairs confirmed in Streptomyces coelicolor from 209 to 399. Here, grey arrows denote previously known regulation and red arrows are regulation identified by RIViT-seq; orange nodes mark sigma factors while gray nodes mark other genes. (Otani, H., Mouncey, N.J. Nat Commun 13, 3502 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31191-w)
    Streamlining Regulon Identification in Bacteria
    Regulons are a group of genes that can be turned on or off by the same regulatory protein. RIViT-seq technology could speed up associating transcription factors with their target genes.

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    (PXFuel)
    Designer DNA: JGI Helps Users Blaze New Biosynthetic Pathways
    In a special issue of the journal Synthetic Biology, JGI scientific users share how they’ve worked with the JGI DNA Synthesis Science Program and what they’ve discovered through their collaborations.

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    A genetic element that generates targeted mutations, called diversity-generating retroelements (DGRs), are found in viruses, as well as bacteria and archaea. Most DGRs found in viruses appear to be in their tail fibers. These tail fibers – signified in the cartoon by the blue virus’ downward pointing ‘arms’— allow the virus to attach to one cell type (red), but not the other (purple). DGRs mutate these ‘arms,’ giving the virus opportunities to switch to different prey, like the purple cell. (Courtesy of Blair Paul)
    A Natural Mechanism Can Turbocharge Viral Evolution
    A team has discovered that diversity generating retroelements (DGRs) are not only widespread, but also surprisingly active. In viruses, DGRs appear to generate diversity quickly, allowing these viruses to target new microbial prey.

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    Photograph of a stream of diatoms beneath Arctic sea ice.
    Polar Phytoplankton Need Zinc to Cope with the Cold
    As part of a long-term collaboration with the JGI Algal Program, researchers studying function and activity of phytoplankton genes in polar waters have found that these algae rely on dissolved zinc to photosynthesize.

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    This data image shows the monthly average sea surface temperature for May 2015. Between 2013 and 2016, a large mass of unusually warm ocean water--nicknamed the blob--dominated the North Pacific, indicated here by red, pink, and yellow colors signifying temperatures as much as three degrees Celsius (five degrees Fahrenheit) higher than average. Data are from the NASA Multi-scale Ultra-high Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (MUR SST) Analysis product. (Courtesy NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center)
    When “The Blob” Made It Hotter Under the Water
    Researchers tracked the impact of a large-scale heatwave event in the ocean known as “The Blob” as part of an approved proposal through the Community Science Program.

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    A plantation of poplar trees. (David Gilbert)
    Genome Insider podcast: THE Bioenergy Tree
    The US Department of Energy’s favorite tree is poplar. In this episode, hear from ORNL scientists who have uncovered remarkable genetic secrets that bring us closer to making poplar an economical and sustainable source of energy and materials.

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    HPCwire Editor's Choice Award (logo crop) for Best Use of HPC in the Life Sciences
    JGI Part of Berkeley Lab Team Awarded Best Use of HPC in Life Sciences
    The HPCwire Editors Choice Award for Best Use of HPC in Life Sciences went to the Berkeley Lab team comprised of JGI and ExaBiome Project team, supported by the DOE Exascale Computing Project for MetaHipMer, an end-to-end genome assembler that supports “an unprecedented assembly of environmental microbiomes.”

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    With a common set of "baseline metadata," JGI users can more easily access public data sets. (Steve Wilson)
    A User-Centered Approach to Accessing JGI Data
    Reflecting a structural shift in data access, the JGI Data Portal offers a way for users to more easily access public data sets through a common set of metadata.

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    Phytozome portal collage
    A More Intuitive Phytozome Interface
    Phytozome v13 now hosts upwards of 250 plant genomes and provides users with the genome browsers, gene pages, search, BLAST and BioMart data warehouse interfaces they have come to rely on, with a more intuitive interface.

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    screencap from Amundson and Wilkins subsurface microbiome video
    Digging into Microbial Ecosystems Deep Underground
    JGI users and microbiome researchers at Colorado State University have many questions about the microbial communities deep underground, including the role viral infection may play in other natural ecosystems.

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    Yeast strains engineered for the biochemical conversion of glucose to value-added products are limited in chemical output due to growth and viability constraints. Cell extracts provide an alternative format for chemical synthesis in the absence of cell growth by isolating the soluble components of lysed cells. By separating the production of enzymes (during growth) and the biochemical production process (in cell-free reactions), this framework enables biosynthesis of diverse chemical products at volumetric productivities greater than the source strains. (Blake Rasor)
    Boosting Small Molecule Production in Super “Soup”
    Researchers supported through the Emerging Technologies Opportunity Program describe a two-pronged approach that starts with engineered yeast cells but then moves out of the cell structure into a cell-free system.

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    These bright green spots are fluorescently labelled bacteria from soil collected from the surface of plant roots. For reference, the scale bar at bottom right is 10 micrometers long. (Rhona Stuart)
    A Powerful Technique to Study Microbes, Now Easier
    In JGI's Genome Insider podcast: LLNL biologist Jennifer Pett-Ridge collaborated with JGI scientists through the Emerging Technologies Opportunity Program to semi-automate experiments that measure microbial activity in soil.

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    A view of the mangroves from which the giant bacteria were sampled in Guadeloupe. (Hugo Bret)
    Giant Bacteria Found in Guadeloupe Mangroves Challenge Traditional Concepts
    Harnessing JGI and Berkeley Lab resources, researchers characterized a giant - 5,000 times bigger than most bacteria - filamentous bacterium discovered in the Caribbean mangroves.

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    In their approved proposal, Frederick Colwell of Oregon State University and colleagues are interested in the microbial communities that live on Alaska’s glacially dominated Copper River Delta. They’re looking at how the microbes in these high latitude wetlands, such as the Copper River Delta wetland pond shown here, cycle carbon. (Courtesy of Rick Colwell)
    Monitoring Inter-Organism Interactions Within Ecosystems
    Many of the proposals approved through JGI's annual Community Science Program call focus on harnessing genomics to developing sustainable resources for biofuels and bioproducts.

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    Coloring the water, the algae Phaeocystis blooms off the side of the sampling vessel, Polarstern, in the temperate region of the North Atlantic. (Katrin Schmidt)
    Climate Change Threatens Base of Polar Oceans’ Bountiful Food Webs
    As warm-adapted microbes edge polewards, they’d oust resident tiny algae. It's a trend that threatens to destabilize the delicate marine food web and change the oceans as we know them.

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Our Science
Home › Our Science › Science Programs & Platforms Leads › Rex Malmstrom

Rex Malmstrom

Rex Malmstrom, JGI

Dr. Malmstrom is a Staff Scientist and leader of the Microscale Applications group.  Prior to joining the JGI in 2010, he made the first ever measurements of in situ growth rates and carbon consumption of SAR11 bacteria, the most abundant bacterial group in the ocean. Later during his postdoctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology he developed a high throughput approach for isolating individual bacterial cells and amplifying their genetic material, thus bypassing the need to culture these microbes in the lab. After joining the JGI, he formed the Microscale Applications group to operate a similar single-cell genomics pipeline that provides JGI users access to the genomes of uncultured microbes.  His group also handles the Stable Isotope Probing (SIP) Metagenomics pipeline  that reveals in situ functional activities of specific microbial groups within complex communities.  The microscalle Applications group also carries out custom preparative work for difficult user projects, including those that require fluorescence activated cell sorting and non-standard molecular protocols.  Finally, Rex’s team utilizes new technologies, e.g. acoustic liquid transfer and microfluidics, to minimize molecular biology reactions, increase throughput, and enable processing of samples that would not be possible with traditional approaches.

Education

  • Ph.D. in Marine Biology/Biochemistry, University of Delaware
  • BA in Biology, Boston University (magna cum laude)

Awards and Service

  • University of Delaware’s Theodore Wolf Prize for outstanding dissertation in life sciences 2006

Selected Publications

  1. Berg, M.  et al. 2021.  Host population diversity as a driver of viral infection cycle in wild populations of green sulfur bacteria with long standing virus-host interactions.  ISME Journal  doi.org/10.1038/s41396-020-00870-1
  2. Grieb, A. et al. 2020. A pipeline for targeted metagenomics of environmental bacteria. Microbiome 8(1) 1-17
  3. Needham, D.M. et al. 2019. A distinct lineage of giant viruses brings a rhodopsin photosystem to unicellular marine predators.  PNAS 116 (41), 20574-20583
  4. Couradeau, J.S. et al. 2019. Probing the active fraction of soil microbiomes using BONCAT-FACS.  Nature Comm 10(1) 1-10
  5. Schulz, F. et al. 2018. Hidden diversity of soil giant viruses. Nature Comm. 9 (1), 4881
  6. Roux, S. et al. 2017. Ecogenomics of virophages and their giant virus hosts assessed through time series metagenomics.  Nature Comm. 8 (1), 858
  7. Tsementzi, D. et al. 2016. SAR11 bacteria linked to ocean anoxia and nitrogen loss. Nature 536 (7615), 179
  8. Hatzenpichler, R. et al. 2016. Visualizing in situ translational activity for identifying and sorting slow-growing archaeal− bacterial consortia. PNAS 113 (28), E4069-E4078
  9. Bendall, M.L. et al. 2016. Genome-wide selective sweeps and gene-specific sweeps in natural bacterial populations. ISME Journal 10 (7), 1589
  10. Kashtan, N et al. 2014. Single-cell genomics reveals hundreds of coexisting subpopulations in wild Prochlorococcus.  Science 344 (6182), 416-420
  11. Malmstrom, R.R. et al. 2012. Ecology of uncultured Prochlorococcus revealed through single-cell genomics and biogeographic analysis. ISME Journal 7(1), 184-198

Complete publication list available at Google Scholar

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