In a paper published online in the journal Nature, Rice University’s Nicholas Putnam is among a group of scientists who have established a draft genome sequence for Amphimedon queenslandica, a sponge found off the coast of Australia. The genome is helping evolutionary biologists connect the dots as they look for DNA sequences shared by metazoans,…
Terephthalate-degrading consortia
Terepthalate is the byproduct of a common compound used extensively by the plastics industry. The volume of terephthalate wastewater generated is equivalent to the amount of wastewater generated by 20 million people. Syntrophic communities are composed of bacteria that break down organic matter and methanogens that remove the hydrogen released to ensure the degradation process…
Sponge genome project on GenomeWeb
Sponges, some of the earliest branching animals, are multicellular but lack a nervous system, gut, and some other organ systems found in most animals, the researchers explained. And fossil evidence going back more than 600 million years suggests sponge ancestors appeared remarkably similar to sponges living today. In an effort to learn more about early…
Sponge genome project on EurekAlert
All living animals are descended from the common ancestor of sponges and humans, which lived more than 600 million years ago. A sponge-like creature may have been the first organism with more than one cell type and the ability to develop from a fertilized egg produced by the merger of sperm and egg cells.– that…
Sponge genome project on UC Newsroom
Four scientists from UC Santa Barbara contributed to the sequencing of the genome of a Great Barrier Reef marine sponge, from a 650 million-year-old group of organisms — a project that indicates there were astonishingly rich genetic resources available at the dawn of the animal kingdom. The sequencing also reveals some basic information about cancer….
Sponge genome project on Edhat
All of the gene sequences were determined at the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) located in Walnut Creek, Calif., and operated by UC for the Department of Energy. In all, 33 scientists contributed to the paper. The lead author, Mansi Srivastava, is based at UC Berkeley’s Center for Integrative Genomics and the Department of Molecular and…
Sponge genome project in PhysOrg
The study, published in Nature this week, illustrates how all contemporary animals, from sea sponges and corals to butterflies and humans, evolved from ancient and long-extinct ancestors – the very first multicellular animals. “This incredibly old ancestor possessed the same core building blocks for multicellular form and function that still sits at the heart of…
Sponge genome project in New Scientist
Sponges are primitive creatures with a body plan unlike that of any other living organism. They are also our most distant animal cousins. Now that their genetic make-up has finally been sequenced, it could explain one of the greatest mysteries of evolution: how single-celled organisms in the primordial oceans evolved into complex multicellular animals with…
Tammar wallaby foregut microbiome
Australia and New Zealand were separated from other land masses for millennia, and the unique marsupials found there such as kangaroos and wallabies have forestomachs adapted to efficiently break down lignocellulosic plant mass to extract nutrients. Australian marsupials such as the Tammar wallaby (above) contain unique, uncultured bacteria that could be useful in breaking down…
Cheryl Kerfeld recognized by ASBMB on EurekAlert
Cheryl A. Kerfeld, a structural biologist and the head of the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute’s Education and Structural Genomics Program, won the ASBMB Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education. Kerfeld, who also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley, was named the winner for encouraging effective teaching and learning…