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The poplar genome’s impact, a decade on

During his keynote speech at the DOE Joint Genome Institute’s Annual Genomics of Energy & Environment Meeting, science writer Carl Zimmer discussed the status of personalized medicine following the completion of the Human Genome Project. In an article published online October 25, 2012 in Tree Physiology, researchers including Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Jerry Tuskan present a similar… [Read More]

Kbase and DOE’s Susan Gregurick in GenomeWeb’s BioInform

Kbase is currently in alpha release and is targeted for full production release in early 2013.The community-driven and scalable open-source system is intended to provide a framework for evidence-based functional annotation of genome sequences. It will also enable the creation of metabolic and regulatory models that may be used to generate scientific hypotheses; as well… [Read More]

Tension wood study helps tailors bioenergy feedstock

When the DOE JGI published the poplar genome sequence analysis in 2006, it bolstered several research efforts to fully develop that tree’s potential as a candidate bioenergy feedstock. In a report published online October 4, 2011 in Energy & Environmental Science, DOE JGI’s Gerald Tuskan at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the project lead on the… [Read More]

Methylmercury-producing bacterium in Shorelines

A newly decoded bacterial genome brings scientists one step closer to unlocking the secret behind the production of methylmercury, the chemical notorious for contaminating tuna and other seafood. Most mercury pollution comes from the burning of fossil fuels. Once in the atmosphere, it seeps into the rain and gradually trickles down to the sea. Certain… [Read More]

Methylmercury-producing bacterium in Smithsonian Science

The new genome, sequenced at the California-based DOE Joint Genome Institute, and completed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was published in the Journal of Bacteriology. It lays the foundation for future research to examine the little understood mechanisms behind the production of methylmercury. “We know a little about the bacteria that produce methylmercury but we… [Read More]

Brown mercury-producing bacterium in Medical News Today

“What is not known are the genes or the proteins that allow these bacteria to mediate the transformation,” said ORNL’s Steven Brown, who led a research team to sequence the genome of a bacterium in the Desulfovibrio genus that is capable of methylating mercury. The new genome, sequenced at the California-based DOE Joint Genome Institute… [Read More]

Brown mercury-producing bacterium in ScienceDaily

Desulfovibrio desulfuricans strain ND132 is an organism that thrives in sediments and soils without oxygen — the places in lakes, streams and wetlands where mercury contamination is converted to methylmercury. It is representative of a group of organisms that “breathe” sulfate instead of oxygen and are largely responsible for mercury methylation in nature. “This is… [Read More]

ORNL collaboration to understand methylmercury production

Mercury pollution in aquatic environments has been a concern, though the contaminants are mainly sourced from industrial processes and fossil fuel combustion. Isolated from Chesapeake Bay sediment, the sulfate-reducing bacterium, Desulfovibriodesulfuricansstrain ND132, can also produce the human neurotoxin methylmercury. “What is not known are the genes or the proteins that allow these bacteria to mediate… [Read More]

Finding cellulases in sediment from a paper mill

During the DOE JGI User Meeting held in Walnut Creek, Calif. from March 22-24, 2011, collaborator Daniel Distel noted that more than 20 enzymes are needed to break down cellulose. To assist in identifying novel cellulose degraders and thus improve cellulosic biofuel production processes, a team of DOE JGI researchers including Microbial Program head TanjaWoyke… [Read More]

Stressed metagenome study on Pollution Online

“We are looking to better understand the evolution of microbes in the groundwater plume,” Watson said. “The microbes that can break down nitrate into nitrogen can have a long-term benefit toward attenuating the plume.”  Watson added that researchers particularly want to better understand the genetic makeup of microbes that can metabolize oxidized forms of uranium… [Read More]