Tag: JGI

Characterizing the diversity of microbial cells in a handful of soil is so complex it was considered impossible. To date, only a small fraction...

The Science Inside cows, goats, and other ruminants, fungal enzymes break down plant matter and extract nutrients. These enzymes essentially overcome a major bottleneck in...

A new study led by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), based at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), demonstrates...

The Science At Stanford University, researchers have used a new microfluidic analysis system to extract 29 novel microbial genomes (the complete set of genetic material)...

The Science Although they are invisible to the unaided eye, tiny green algae calledOstreococcus play a big role in how carbon, including carbon dioxide (CO2),...

Rice is a staple food for over half of the world’s population and a model for studies of candidate bioenergy grasses such as sorghum,...

The Science The number of microbes in, on, and around the planet is said to outnumber the stars in the sky. The number of viruses...

The number of microbes in a handful of soil exceeds the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy, but researchers know less about...

Just four letters – A, C, T, and G – make up an organism’s genetic code. Changing a single letter, or base, can lead...

Viruses have a ubiquitous presence in the world. Their population is estimated to be 1031, 10 times greater than the nonillion (1030) of microbes...

The Science Knowing the extent of microbial diversity, especially gene editing, can help scientists solve energy and cleanup challenges. Using large amounts of genetic data,...

The Science Hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) is the industry standard for removing hydrocarbons from shale formations, which provide one-third of natural gas energy resources worldwide. The...

For proteins, appearance matters. These important molecules largely form a cell’s structures and carry out its functions: proteins control growth and influence mobility, serve...

Diatoms are a common type of photosynthetic microorganism, found in many environments from marine to soil; in the oceans, they are responsible for more...

Despite the vast diversity of organisms on the planet that express enzymes for the conversion of carbon dioxide into such organic compounds as sugars...

The mutualistic relationship between tree roots and ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi has been shaping forest ecosystems since their inception. ECM fungi are key players supporting...