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Content Tagged "bacteria"

Phil Hugenholtz on metagenomics and ecogenomics in Australian Life Scientist

In research published in Nature in 2007, Hugenholtz, along with collaborators from the California Institute of Technology and Diversa (now Verenium) Corporation, used metagenomics to detail the process by which a dry wood feeding termite, a Nasutitermes species, breaks down cellulose.  They generated 62 million base pairs – a “drop in the ocean by today’s… [Read More]

DOE JGI’s microbial work and IMG on ESNet’s Network Matters

Microbes are single-cell organisms that live in colonies and can be found in nearly every corner of our planet, in places ranging from insects’ intestines to some of the most toxic chemical environments. The site for the most detailed information on the genetic makeup of these organisms only lives in one place – at the… [Read More]

Cow rumen metagenome study on COSMOS Magazine

The result was 270 billion base pairs of genetic code, almost a hundred times more than the human genome, and an estimated two million potential genes to be investigated. To find which bacteria could digest cellulose, the researchers compared codes with known regions of Carbohydrate Active Enzymes called CAZymes. “Regions include domains that bind cellulose… [Read More]

JGI Highlight: More Caldicellulosiruptor bacterial genome sequences

The Caldocellulosiruptor genus contain bacteria that are capable of producing hydrogen and degrading plant biomass. Found all over the world, such as in geothermal hot springs in Russia and Iceland to solar-heated mud flats in California, the bacteria thrive in high temperatures. C. saccharolyticus (Image courtesy of A. Pereira & M. Verhaart, Wageningen University, Netherlands)… [Read More]

A highly adaptable bacterium that can thrive alone or in symbiosis

Variovorax paradoxus is a β-proteobacterium typically found in the region where the plant roots interact with soil and has the ability to engage in mutually beneficial interactions with both plants and other bacterial species. The bacterium also has the ability to break down a wide range of contaminants including pesticides and crude oil compounds, and… [Read More]

UC Merced students participate in DOE JGI’s Education program

Students in biology professor Carolin Frank’s lab last year didn’t do “cookbook” lab experiments, following instructions toward an expected result. Instead, in another example of the undergraduate research opportunities available to UC Merced students, they worked on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute project to annotate the genome of a particular type of… [Read More]

A bacterium for breaking down dioxins

Isolated from the River Elbe in Germany, Sphingomonas wittichii RW 1 belongs to a family of bacteria that play a role in breaking down complex aromatic compounds associated with decaying plant mater and chemical pollution. S. wittichii itself is capable of completely breaking down toxic dioxin pollutants, and was selected for sequencing by the DOE… [Read More]

Syntrophic communities sequencing project on SciGuru

In work published in the advanced online version of the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME)’s Journal on August 5, an international team of scientists including DOE JGI researchers report the first metagenome analysis of a microbial community grown in an anaerobic methanogenic (methane producing) bioreactor. The microbial community is syntrophic, i.e., certain organisms live… [Read More]

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… [Read More]

Characterizes/Publishes Anti-Reservoir-Souring Microbe

Reservoir souring, the production of hydrogen sulfide in oil wells as a result of downhole activity by a specialized group of microorganisms called sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), is a detrimental process of great concern to the oil industry. As petroleum reserves age and water injection is implemented for pressure maintenance, there is an inherent risk of… [Read More]