Reconstruction of a Bacterial Genome from DNA Cassettes
This basic research program comprised two major areas: (1) acquisition and analysis of marine microbial metagenomic data and development of genomic analysis tools for broad, external community use; (2) development of a minimal bacterial genome. Our Marine Metagenomic Diversity effort generated and analyzed shotgun sequencing data from microbial communities sampled from over 250 sites around the world. About 40% of the 26 Gbp of sequence data has been made publicly available to date with a complete release anticipated in six months. Our results and those mining the deposited data have revealed a vast diversity of genes coding for critical metabolic processes whose phylogenetic and geographic distributions will enable a deeper understanding of carbon and nutrient cycling, microbial ecology, and rapid rate evolutionary processes such as horizontal gene transfer by viruses and plasmids. A global assembly of the generated dataset resulted in a massive set (5Gbp) of genome fragments that provide context to the majority of the generated data that originated from uncultivated organisms. Our Synthetic Biology team has made significant progress towards the goal of synthesizing a minimal mycoplasma genome that will have all of the machinery for independent life. This project, once completed, will provide fundamentally new knowledge about requirements for microbial life and help to lay a basic research foundation for developing microbiological approaches to bioenergy.
- Research Organization:
- J. Craig Venter Institutue
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC02-02ER63453
- OSTI ID:
- 1041049
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ER63453-1; TRN: US201215%%165
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Moleculo Long-Read Sequencing Facilitates Assembly and Genomic Binning from Complex Soil Metagenomes
Complementary Metagenomic Approaches Improve Reconstruction of Microbial Diversity in a Forest Soil