Insights into the phylogeny and coding potential of microbial dark matter by Christian Rinke et al. These 201 genomes aren’t only the tip of the iceberg, they are the snowflake that just landed on the tip of the iceberg. Microbial diversity is so immense, “a sequencing effort of at least 16,000 additional genomes from diverse environments […]

Our paper has been accepted to Extremophiles after one round of peer review! An inter-Order horizontal gene transfer event enables the catabolism of compatible solutes by Colwellia psychrerythraea 34H [PDF] Conclusions– In a previous analysis of the genome of C. psychrerythraea 34H, a psychrophilic, halophilic marine bacterium, Methe et al. (2005) identified a duplicated operon […]

The Washington Post reports “The White House moved Friday to make nearly all federally funded research freely available to the public, the latest advance in a long-running battle over access to research that exploded into view last month after the suicide of free-information activist Aaron Swartz. White House science adviser John Holdren wrote “To that […]

My last thesis chapter finally submitted (only 3.33 years post-phd…) to Extremophiles! An inter-Order horizontal gene transfer event enables the catabolism of compatible solutes by Colwellia psychrerythraea 34H [PDF] Conclusions– In a previous analysis of the genome of C. psychrerythraea 34H, a psychrophilic, halophilic marine bacterium, Methe et al. (2005) identified a duplicated operon encoding […]

I’m currently working on a paper about how bacteria survive in extreme low temperature and salty environments. One thing that bacteria do when faced with these stresses is to produce protective chemicals called compatible solutes. Some microbes not only produce these chemicals but can also break them down for food and energy. Right now i’m […]