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IMAGE: Lead author Bridget McGivern in June 2018, shortly after setup of the soil experiment. view more
Credit: Provided/Bridget McGivern
Fruits, vegetables, red wine and chocolate are all rich in polyphenols, natural plant compounds that double as cancer-fighting antioxidants. We can access these foods health benefits because the microbes in our guts happily feast on them, breaking them down into smaller chemical components.
Microbiome scientists at Colorado State University wanted to know if microbes can also break down those same polyphenols in systems outside the human body, including the microbial wild west of soils.
A research team led by Kelly Wrighton, associate professor in the College of Agricultural Sciences Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, has uncovered new insights into the role of polyphenols in the soil microbiome, known as a black box for its complexity. They proffer an updated theory that soils - much like the human gut - can be food s
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Michelle O Malley(link is external) has long been inspired by gut microbes. Since she began studying the herbivore digestive tract, the UC Santa Barbara chemical engineering professor has guided several students to their doctoral degrees, won early and mid-career awards (including a recognition from President Obama), attained tenure and advanced to the position of full professor. She even had three children along the way. A constant through it all: goat poop. This has been the longest single effort in my lab, said O Malley, who with her research team way back in 2015 first embarked on an ambitious project to characterize gut microbes in large herbivores. The purpose? To understand how these animals manage, via their microbiomes, to extract energy from plant material, particularly the fibrous, non-food parts, where sugars are locked behind tough plant cell walls. Understanding this process could reveal methods for extracting the raw materials necessary for a wide variety
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Green millet genome resource provides a valuable tool for studying major crops
Scientists will be better able to investigate the genetics of important traits in crops such as maize and sorghum thanks to a new genome resource for green millet developed by a team that included three RIKEN researchers
1. Its value has already been demonstrated by identifying the gene in foxtail millet responsible for seed shattering-the process by which plants release seeds, which is essential for plants to propagate in the wild but is a major cause of yield loss in crops.
The genome resource consists of a reference sequence from green millet line A10.1 together with the sequenced genomes of nearly 600 diverse samples of green millet. It was assembled by an international team led by Elizabeth Kellogg of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and Jeremy Schmutz of the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, and included Hitoshi Sakakibara of the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource