Biological soil crusts, or biocrusts, contain communities of microorganisms—including fungi, bacteria, and archaea—that dwell together within the uppermost millimeters of soil in arid lands. These microbes can exist for extended periods in a desiccated, dormant state, becoming metabolically active when it rains. Understanding how biocrust microbial communities adapt to their harsh environments could help shed light on the roles of soil microbes in the global carbon cycle. Berkeley Lab scientists led by Trent Northen’s group in Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology (EGSB) found that specific compounds are transformed by and strongly associated with specific bacteria in native biological soil crust. The researchers reported their findings in a paper published January 2 in Nature Communications.
First Step Toward CRISPR Cure of Lou Gehrig’s Disease
For the first time, University of California, Berkeley scientists have used CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to disable a defective gene that causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, in mice, extending their lifespan by 25 percent. The team was led by David Schaffer, faculty scientist in Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging.
Biosciences Researchers ID Plant ‘Sunscreen’ Protein
A protein that protects plants from damage caused by too much light energy has been found by a team of researchers led by Kris Niyogi, faculty scientist in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division. Alizée Malnoë, a postdoctoral researcher in Niyogi’s group, is the lead author on the study published in the journal The Plant Cell. Plants with deficient levels of the lipocalin protein are less able to dissipate excess light energy. Scientists will explore how this energy dissipation process is turned on and off, and whether manipulation of light usage could lead to higher crop yields. Read more in the Berkeley Lab News Center.
JGI Uses Brachypodium to Gauge Plant Pan-Genome Size
A pan-genome, the non-redundant union of all the sets of genes found in individuals of a species, is a valuable resource for unlocking natural diversity. However, the computational resources required to produce a large number of high quality genome assemblies has been a limiting factor in creating plant pan-genomes. In Nature Communications, an international team led by JGI researchers gauged the size of a plant pan-genome using the JGI Plant Flagship Genome of Brachypodium distachyon, a wild grass widely used as a model for grain and biomass crops. Read more on the JGI website.
JGI Helps Develop Database for Plant Microbiome Studies
To help improve crop breeding strategies and overcome challenges such as making plants more tolerant of marginal lands, and stresses such as drought and low nutrient availability, researchers are focusing on understanding and promoting beneficial plant-microbe relationships. In Nature Genetics, a team led by JGI and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers assembled a catalog of plant and microbial genomes to identify and characterize candidate genes that aid bacteria in adapting to plant environments. “Here we used a massive genomic and computational effort to address the fundamental and important question: ‘How does the plant microbiome interact with the plant?’” said study co-first author and JGI research scientist Asaf Levy, a research scientist at the JGI. Read more on the JGI website.
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