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Permafrost soil metagenome study in UK Press Association

At the testing laboratories, US researchers extracted almost 40 billion elements of raw DNA, reflecting high microbial diversity in the soil.The scientists were also able to piece together the genetic code, or genome, of a previously unknown methane-producing “methanogen” that was present in large numbers. Reporting their findings in an early online edition of the journal… [Read More]

Permafrost soil metagenome study in GenomeWeb

“Currently in climate models, it’s not really taken into account adequately what the microorganisms are doing,” senior author Janet Jansson, a researcher affiliated with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the US Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute, told GenomeWeb Daily News. “The hope is to get enough information at the microscopic level that we’ll have… [Read More]

DOE JGI science in the Washington Post

JGI director and geneticist Eddy Rubin is a pioneer in the field of “metagenomics,” the study of how the DNA in many creatures can work together to create ecosystems. Right now, he and his team are studying microbes that live in a cow’s rumen, the stomach-like organ that the animals use to break down grasses… [Read More]

CSP 2012 announcement in GenomeWeb Daily News

The Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute has chosen 41 research projects out of 152 applicants to use its sequencing services under its 2012 Community Sequencing Program, JGI said Thursday.Researchers for this year’s CSP program, which provides the scientific community with access to JGI’s high-throughput sequencing technologies, proposed projects to study plant-microbe interactions, how microbes… [Read More]

Berkeley Lab Open House recap on Today at Berkeley Lab

At DOE JGI’s metagenomics of restored wetlands exhibit Most notable among the crowd of thousands was the number of youngsters who were in attendance. Families were enthralled by the terrific science, engineering, and operations efforts presented at the various booths. Read more at Today at Berkeley Lab [Read More]

Director Rubin on corngrass1 for biofuel

Up to now, the fast-growing switchgrass, because of its tough lignin, an organic polymer, has required heavy chemical treatment before it can be turned to ethanol as biofuel. Chuck’s gene transfer experiments have shown that because the improved switchgrass keeps the plants young, the lignin content of their cells is minimal and would need no… [Read More]

Of Soil Carbon and Climate Change

Thanks to genome sequencing techniques such as those at the Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, California, we now have a much better idea of what microbes are in soil, what they’re doing, and what proteins they’re producing. That’s important, because a handful of soil can teem with millions of microbes, some… [Read More]

Thermophilic fungi in Scientific American

Heat-loving fungi could provide a key enzyme for making low cost biofuel, and a team of “mushroom detectives” from the Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute think they’ve just nailed their man – er, fungus. Read more at Scientific American  [Read More]

Thermophilic fungi in energyNOW!

Next-generation biofuel refining is based on tweaking enzymes to break down plant walls and convert biomass to fermentable sugars. The research has two main goals. One is to find ways to cut down the energy input needed for biofuel processing.  Read more on energyNOW! [Read More]

Thermophilic fungi in Walnut Creek Patch

Research on fungi at the Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek is heating up the nation’s efforts to develop biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels. Read more on the Walnut Creek Patch  [Read More]