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Content Tagged "bacteria"

UCLA microbiologists find energy-efficient structures in archaeon

a type of Archaea known as Methanosprillum hungatei contains incredibly efficient energy-storage structures. The findings are published in the July 5 issue of the journal Environmental Microbiology. M. hungatei is of considerable environmental significance because of its unique ability to form symbiotic relationships with syntrophic bacteria to break down organic matter and produce methane gas. Yet while their important role in… [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]

Fungal Genomics blog re DOE JGI User Meeting

Personally, my favorite talk at the last 6th Annual DOE JGI Users Meeting at Walnut Creek was Rob Knight‘s contribution on ‘Spatially and Temporally Resolved Studies of the Human Microbiome‘. Rob was creative and integrative. Displaying the biogeography of bacterial communities on the human body using UniFrac and QUIME was astounding. Read more at the… [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]

Earth Microbiome Project in Sacramento Bee

To understand microbes (Bacterial, Archaeal, Eukaryal and Viral) in terms of whom they are and what they do is the challenge of microbial ecology. The EMP presents a revolution in how this problem is tackled and defines both questions and potential suite of tools to provide answers.  Key participants in this unprecedented project include BGI,… [Read More]