The humble lichen is a superorganism: one being that is actually comprised of two major participants. One partner is a fungus; the other is a photosynthetic microbe, tucked in the fungus’ tissue. The two live intertwined, with the photobiont transferring part of its photosynthetically fixed carbon to the mycobiont — a strategy that has worked so well, that lichen are the dominant carbon and nitrogen fixers alpine and high latitude systems. However, despite a century-and-a-half of lichen research, many of the symbiosis’ details remain unclear. For the first time, a team has analyzed in parallel the genomes and transcriptomes of both partners to better understand lichen. Read the science highlight on the JGI website.
Unlocking the Biochemical Treasure Chest Within Microbes
An international team of microbiologists and genomicists, led by the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI), has invented a genetic engineering tool to simplify the study of secondary metabolites produced by microbes. These compounds mediate internal and external messaging, self-defense, and chemical warfare, and are the basis for hundreds of valuable agricultural, industrial, and medical products. The tool, called CRAGE, will help fill significant gaps in our understanding of how microbes interact with their surroundings and evolve.
Congratulations to Biosciences Area Director’s Award Recipients
Several Biosciences Area personnel are among the 2019 Berkeley Lab Director’s Awards honorees. This annual program recognizes outstanding contributions by employees to all facets of Lab activities. A complete list of winners can be found here. The Director’s Achievement Awards ceremony will take place on November 15 at 4 PM in the Building 50 Auditorium. All staff are invited and the event will be streamed live.
JGI Helps Illuminate How a Fungus Fuels Tree Growth
The fungus Mortierella elongata enjoys a close association with the fast-growing poplar tree (Populus trichocarpa), a potential biofuel feedstock. Scientists routinely spot the fungus near the tree or in between its root cells. To better understand their relationship, a team of scientists has studied the effect of the fungus on the tree’s physical traits and gene expression, finding the fungus induces some notable metabolic changes. Click here to read the science highlight on the JGI website.
JGI Overhauls Perception of Inovirus Diversity
Inoviruses are filamentous viruses with small, single-stranded DNA genomes and a unique chronic infection cycle. In Nature Microbiology, a team led by DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) researchers applied machine learning to publicly available microbial genomes and metagenomes to search for inoviruses. The search tool combed through more than 70,000 microbial and metagenome datasets, ultimately identifying more than 10,000 inovirus-like sequences compared to the 56 previously known inovirus genomes. The results revealed inoviruses are in every major microbial habitat—including soil, water, and humans—around the world.
“We’re not sure why we systematically manage to miss them; maybe it’s due to the way we currently isolate and extract viruses,” said the study’s lead author Simon Roux, a JGI research scientist in the Environmental Genomics group. Click here to read the full story on the JGI site.
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