The expanding universe of methane metabolisms in archaea

Methane is a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Billions of years ago, methane-producing archaea likely played a key role in determining the composition of the Earth's atmosphere and regulating the global ...

A model system for perennial grasses

Researchers have developed a genomic model to study drought tolerance in perennial grasses using Panicum hallii (Hall's panicgrass), by generating two complete genomes from varieties that diverged over a million years ago. ...

Spotlighting differences in closely-related species

There are millions of fungal species, and those few hundred found in the Aspergillus genus play important roles in areas ranging from industrial production to agricultural plant pathogens. Reported October 22, 2018, in Nature ...

First monoploid reference sequence of sugarcane

Most species are diploids and have two sets of chromosomes, one from each parent. In contrast, many crops have multiple sets of chromosomes (they are "polyploid") and their complex genomes are more difficult to sequence and ...

Evolutionary changes in the genetic code of yeasts

Yeasts are some of the most important microbes used in biotechnology. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the type of yeast used for making bread and beer, is just one representative of more than 1,500 yeast species found around the ...

Defining a pan-genome for Antarctic archaea

Haloarchaea flourish in hypersaline environments, and researchers are interested in learning how these microbes have learned to adapt from marine to hypersaline conditions by studying the microbial communities in Antarctic ...

Tracking microbial diversity through the terrestrial subsurface

Deep underground, the earth beneath our feet is teeming with microbial life, the majority of which has yet to be characterized. Cut off from sunlight, these enigmatic organisms must obtain life-sustaining energy and carbon, ...

All in the family: Focused genomic comparisons

Found in microbial communities around the world, Aspergillus fungi are pathogens, decomposers, and important sources of biotechnologically-important enzymes. Each Aspergillus species is known to contain more than 250 carbohydrate ...

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