MicrobeWorld

Microbes and microbial communities in Antarctica, the Amazon, and in that narrow region where plants and microbes interact (rhizosphere) are among the 41 projects selected for the DOE Joint Genome Institute's 2012 Community Sequencing Program (CSP) portfolio. The projects selected are relevant to energy and environment research, but this year the emphasis was also on projects focused on plant-microbe interactions, microbes involved in carbon capture and greenhouse gas emission, and metagenomics. For example, one of the large-scale sequencing projects proposes to study the rhizosphere microbiomes of maize, Arabidopsis and Drummond’s rockcress, as well as potential biofuel crops, to understand the plant genetics involved in determining the microbial communities associated with plant species. Another project focuses on sequencing 1,000 microbial genomes as part of developing a Genomic Encyclopedia of Type Strains, described by the proposers as a way to take the ongoing Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea project to the next level. Several other projects focus on applications of single-cell genomics. A total of 30 terabases has been allocated to the 2012 CSP portfolio. Learn more at http://1.usa.gov/CSP12