News

A JGI team led by Algal Genomics Program lead Igor Grigoriev and data scientist Alan Kuo have unveiled PhycoCosm in the Nucleic Acids Research journal. The genome portal reinforces the JGI’s new strategic focus on exploring algal biology, diversity, and ecology. Read more here on the JGI website.

Maize (Zea mays) produces a plethora of antibiotics called zealexins. These compounds protect maize by fending off fungal and microbial infections. Scientists had assumed that maize synthesizes these compounds via clear, straight pathways, entailing the function of more than a dozen enzymes. But now, with the help of JGI’s DNA synthesis capability, researchers know that just a handful of enzymes are needed to transform zealexins and related precursors into a bonanza of diverse structures. Read more of the science highlight on the JGI website.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which was founded in 1848 and is the world’s largest general scientific society, announced that 489 of its members—among them nine scientists at Berkeley Lab—have been named Fellows. This lifetime honor, which follows a nomination and review process, recognizes scientists, engineers, and innovators for their distinguished achievements toward the advancement or applications of science.

The three newly named Fellows from the Biosciences Area are: Sanjay Kumar, a faculty scientist in the Biological Systems and Engineering (BSE) Division; Mary Maxon, the Associate Laboratory Director for the Biosciences Area; and Len Pennacchio, a senior scientist in the Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology (EGSB) Division and the Deputy of Genomic Technologies at the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI).

Microorganisms play key roles in regulating global nutrient cycles but only a small fraction has been identified and an even smaller number has been successfully cultured in a lab for study. In Nature Biotechnology, the known diversity of bacteria and archaea has now expanded by 44% through a publicly available collection of more than 52,000 microbial genomes from environmental samples. Of that number, 70% of the novel genome sequences were previously unknown, not yet cultured in the lab. The work results from a JGI-led collaboration involving more than 200 scientists around the world, KBase and NERSC. Read more about the genomic catalog of Earth’s microbiomes on the JGI website.

On January 23, 2020, Berkeley Lab hosted a workshop on opportunities afforded by single-cell technologies for energy and environmental science, as well as conceptual and technological grand challenges that must be tackled to apply these powerful approaches to plants, fungi and algae. This event, which was spearheaded by Diane Dickel in the Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, brought together a diverse group of leaders in functional genomics technologies from academia, the National Laboratories, and local research institutions.