Biosciences News

Two Biosciences Area researchers—Natalia Ivanova and Susannah Tringe—are among 65 new Fellows elected into the American Academy of Microbiology’s 2021 class. An honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology, the mission of the Academy is to provide microbiological expertise in the service of science and the public. Fellows are elected annually through a highly-selective peer-review process based on their records of scientific achievement and contributions in the field of microbiology.

Both plants and animals are targeted by rapidly evolving pathogens, including viruses, bacteria and fungi. Thanks to highly adaptive immune receptors, humans can mount a new antibody response towards infection or a vaccine over the course of a week. Plant immune receptors, however, do not typically change over the lifetime of an individual. Berkeley Lab scientist Daniil Prigozhin collaborated with Ksenia Krasileva from University of California, Berkeley to study plant immune receptors using pan-genome sequencing, a technique which allows them to scan all genomes for every strain in a species within a particular branch on the tree of life. Their pan-genome analysis, published recently in The Plant Cell, showed that some plant immune receptors show a surprising degree of diversity within species. In addition, it allowed them to study how innate immunity evolves, where new receptor specificities come from, and the costs associated with making new receptors, such as the potential for autoimmunity.

Senior Scientist Susannah Tringe has been named Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology (EGSB) Division Director. Over her seventeen year career at Berkeley Lab, Tringe has become known as a leader in the field of metagenomics, and has influenced the careers of countless researchers around the world as the deputy of user programs at the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI). Tringe will continue to lead the Microbial Systems Group at the JGI and is the scientific lead for implementation of the EcoPOD prototype for EGSB, which is a new high-tech ecosystem chamber that can replicate interactions between organisms and environments in natural systems.

Microbes found in the goat gut microbiome could help humans convert plant material into valuable, eco-friendly commodities

Converting the tough fibers and complex sugars in plants into biofuels and other products could be humanity’s ticket to smarter materials, better medicines, and a petroleum-free, sustainable future. But harnessing the chemical commodities stored in these molecules is no simple task. We may take it for granted because our bodies seem to do it automatically, but in reality, every time we eat a vegetable or leafy green, the microbial communities living inside of us are performing an elaborate disassembly line of coordinated chemical reactions to break the plant matter into simple sugars that human cells can use.

The prevalence of anxiety disorders, already the most common mental illness in many countries, including the U.S., has surged during the novel coronavirus pandemic. A study led by researchers in Berkeley Lab’s Biosciences Area provides evidence that taking care of our gut microbiome may help mitigate some of that anxiety.