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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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Home › Items tagged with: JGI Earth Month

Content Tagged "JGI Earth Month"

April 29, 2020

JGI Earth Month: The Unusual Metabolism That Helps Plants Withstand Drought

Karolina Heyduk conducting research in growth chamber in both night and daylight conditions. The following info. is provided by Heyduk 1) I cut leaf samples and use them for RNA analysis. This gives us an idea of what genes are expressed in that tissue at the time I harvested them. 2) I take gas measurements because it tells us when the plant is conducting gas exchange – CO2 into the leaf, water vapour out. For C3 plants, this happens during the day. For CAM plants, gas exchange happens at night. Gas exchange patterns are a way for us to assess whether a plant is C3 or CAM. 3) Green light is needed at night because plant stomata (pores on the leaves that allow for gases to enter and exit) respond to blue and red light. Plants are green to us because they reflect green light back while absorbing red and blue! To avoid stomatal opening, we keep to green lights. A key trait of CAM photosynthesis is that plants take up carbon at night and fix it then, as opposed to doing it during the daytime, like C3 plants. Because CAM is active at night, we have to check for gas exchange and gene expression throughout the day/night cycle to capture both C3 and CAM traits.For JGI Earth Month, Karolina Heyduk, an evolutionary plant biologist at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa shares how crassulacean acid metabolism, or CAM, helps plants take the heat. [Read More]

April 28, 2020

JGI Earth Month: Wetlands Work in #TenHundredWords

JGI Earth Month graphic orange 1000For JGI Earth Month, graduate student Mo Kaze took on the challenge of explaining her research using the ten hundred most commonly used words in the English language. Her work focuses anthropogenic impacts on wetland microbiome composition and metabolism. The #TenHundredWords Challenge was inspired by Randall Munroe’s xkcd comic “Up Goer Five” and his subsequent book Thing Explainer. [Read More]

April 22, 2020

JGI Earth Month: Lessons in Nature’s Resilience

The oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill as seen on April 29, 2010. (NASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the University of Wisconsin’s Space Science and Engineering Center MODIS Direct Broadcast system)As part of JGI Earth Month, revisiting lessons in Nature’s resilience resulting from studies by Berkeley Lab researchers, including JGI scientists, to understand how the microbial communities in the waters responded to the influx of oil. [Read More]

April 21, 2020

JGI Earth Month: Healthy Streams, Nutritious Microbes?

Grad student Brian Wolff spearheaded samples the Arkansas River.As part of JGI Earth Month, hear from Ed Hall, an ecologist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. He’s investigating how microbes in the Arkansas River might be influencing the river’s health. [Read More]

April 14, 2020

JGI Earth Month: Kjiersten Fagnan Reflects on Shelter-in-Place Effects

Fagnan JGI Earth MonthIn this brief captioned video, JGI Chief Informatics Officer Kjiersten Fagnan reflects on the personal and environmental impacts of the shelter-in-place order as part of JGI Earth Month. [Read More]

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