Sugarcane and Miscanthus are closely related to the DOE JGI Flagship plant Sorghum and comprise the Andropogoneae, a tribe of highly productive grasses prominent in energy production. Miscanthus is a nascent DOE JGI flagship, pending completion of a reference genome draft. Sugarcanes and Miscanthus are both polyploids with complex genomes, which has limited the use of modern,… [Read More]

Populus trichocarpa was the first tree species whose whole genome was sequenced, assembled and annotated by the DOE JGI for bioenergy applications. This project has two major aims: 1) document the evolutionary process (i.e., the accumulation of mutations) that a single poplar tree undergoes during its lifetime; and, 2) examine the hypothesis that perennial plants… [Read More]

River and ocean end members are heavily populated areas subjected to powerful physical forces and vulnerable to the impacts of human activity and climate change. Estuaries buffer the ocean from the effects of land loads of reactive nitrogen, but can also enhance microbial production of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen dioxide. This… [Read More]

Coral reefs are threatened tropical marine ecosystems whose fundamental unit is the reef building coral. A coral colony is a complex community comprised of both the coral host and its associated microbiome, the coral holobiont. The coral microbiome is important in shaping host health but its metabolic contribution to the coral holobiont is poorly understood,… [Read More]

Pseudomonas is a large and heterogeneous genus, and these bacteria exhibit varied lifestyles in a wide range of environments, including soil, water, plant surfaces, and animals. Due to their roles in bioremediation, biological control, diseases of plants and animals, and many other environmental processes, the metabolic capacities and ecological functions of these bacteria have been… [Read More]

The oceans contain the largest reservoir of rapidly exchangeable carbon yet also effectively sequester carbon from the atmosphere for thousands of years. The drivers of this delicate equilibrium are the abundant marine microbial communities ubiquitously present in the Earth’s oceans. This project will provide insight into the major metabolic pathways and key carbon compounds involved… [Read More]

Currently, anaerobic wastewater treatment serves as an essential municipal waste remediation strategy due to its low cost and efficient waste removal, and the production of methane as a sustainable energy source. To effectively enhance process operation for bioenergy recovery, however, researchers need to better understand the microbial ecology of wastewater treatment. Three primary ecological groups–fermenters,… [Read More]

Actinobacteria are ubiquitously distributed in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and have developed diverse lifestyles, as well free living as in association with a wide variety of eukaryotes. Next to Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, Actinobacteria constitute the third most populated phylum among the Bacteria. This project calls for sequencing the genomes of 1,000 environmental isolates (type… [Read More]

Unconventional natural gas extraction or fracking can lead to contamination and impact environmental health. Researchers plan to use high-throughput sequencing to reveal the microbial biodegradation pathways and adaptive strategies harnessed by microbial communities in response to potential fracking impacts. Through a controlled comparative genomics study, they hope to gain a clearer understanding of the natural… [Read More]