Video of Jonathan Eisen, head of the DOE JGI’s Phylogenomics Group, talking about “The Evolution of Microbes and their Genomes” at the California Academy of Sciences on October 3 now on Fora.tv [Read More]
Researchers have completed the first thorough, system-level assessment of the diversity of an environmentally important genus of microbes known as Shewanella. Microbes belonging to that genus are used to confine and clean up contaminated areas in the environment. The team of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Michigan State University and the Pacific Northwest… [Read More]
Wall and her team are investigating the basic genetics and metabolism of these bacteria. They are building on discoveries funded by the Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute that has sequenced the genomes of about 14 strains and is working on a dozen more. With a roadmap of the 3,570,858 base pairs of DNA from… [Read More]
Researchers have completed the first thorough, system-level assessment of the diversity of an environmentally important genus of microbes known as Shewanella. Microbes belonging to that genus frequently participate in bioremediation by confining and cleaning up contaminated areas in the environment. The team of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Michigan State University and the… [Read More]
Wineries have tried a number of different chemical mixtures to ward off infection, but none have proven fully effective. Phister believes the genome will provide answers on how brettanomyces survives the initial battle with saccharomyces, how it spreads so fast and, ultimately, on how to stop it. To decode the brettanomyces genome, Phister will work… [Read More]
In metagenomics, scientists grind up samples containing many different organisms and extract all the DNA they can, not knowing which pieces of DNA came from which organisms. A one-gram soil sample can contain up to several million species of microbes all mixed together. The scientists sequence small, random fragments of the DNA to identify species… [Read More]
New Zealand scientists trying to find a cost-effective way of reducing livestock emissions of major greenhouse gases, nitrous oxide and methane, are to be given a helping hand by American researchers. The US Department of Energy’s joint genome institute (JGI) is helping researchers have the DNA of microbes in the forestomach (rumen) of livestock animals… [Read More]
Microbes contribute to manifold human endeavors ranging from bioenergy to agriculture to medicine. Moreover, they make the Earth’s biogeochemical cycles go round, a prerequisite for all life on the planet. Exceedingly numerous, they are also extremely diverse, encompassing most of Earth’s total biodiversity. So it should come as no surprise to find that two-thirds of… [Read More]
Scientists from the University of Wisconsin, the Joint Genome Institute and Emory University have been tracking the symbiotic relationship between the three groups of organisms in the rainforest. Together, the three can consume 880 pounds of dry leaves a year, maximizing the energy harnessed from the leaves through a bioreactor process refined over 50 million… [Read More]
Unraveling Genes Walnut Creek, Calif. Another Silicon Valley scientific attraction has little to do with the innards of computers, and everything to do with the building blocks of humans. At laboratories like the Joint Genome Institute, the human genome was deciphered. The techniques used for the Human Genome Project are now applied to fish, animals,… [Read More]