Kasey Markel and Patrick Shih (UC Berkeley and the Joint BioEnergy Institute) are looking for new ways to engineer plants. So they’ve looked into wasps that program oak trees to grow structures called galls.

In this episode, hear from Kasey and Patrick about how this project unfolded, and how they worked with the JGI's metabolomics program to find out more about these weird little pods.

Links from this episode:

• Submit your own proposal to work with the JGI
• Join us at the 2024 JGI User Meeting

• Episode Transcript
• Paper: Cynipid wasps systematically reprogram host metabolism and restructure cell walls in developing galls

• Our contact info:
  • Twitter: @JGI
  • Email: jgi-comms at lbl dot gov

• Sound effects credits:
  • oars.wav by hazure
  • Parma Park Bird Song with Stream.WAV by muneio

To engineer yeast to do more, and understand genomes in general, Jef Boeke, Weimin Zhang (NYU Langone Health) and Leslie Mitchell (Neochromosome) have worked to replace yeast’s native chromosomes with synthetic versions. This project has turned out to be an international collaboration, with some artistic endeavors along the way. Eventually, the goal is to create an entirely human-generated yeast genome.

Links from this episode:

• Submit your own proposal to work with the JGI
• Join us at the 2024 JGI User Meeting

• Episode Transcript
• Paper: Manipulating the 3D organization of the largest synthetic yeast chromosome
• NYU Release: Researchers Assemble Nine Synthetic Yeast Chromosomes

• Our contact info:
  • X: @JGI
  • Email: jgi-comms at lbl dot gov

Three stories of JGI-supported research, connected to nutrient cycles. Francis Martin and Lucas Auer discuss their work on communities of forest floor fungi. Allison Joy looks into seagrass meadows' carbon sequestration with insights from Adam Healey and Xiao Ma. And Karen Serrano and Benjamin Cole explain their research on the symbiotic relationship between mycorrhizal fungi and plant roots.

Links from this episode:

• Submit your own proposal to work with the JGI
• Join us at the 2024 JGI User Meeting
• Episode Transcript

• Feature: Getting to the Bottom of Fungal Functions Across Earth’s Forests
• Paper: Metatranscriptomics sheds light on the links between the functional traits of fungal guilds and ecological processes in forest soil ecosystems

• Feature: Eelgrass proves to be much younger than we thought
• Paper: Ocean current patterns drive the worldwide colonization of eelgrass (Zostera marina)
• Paper: Seagrass genomes reveal ancient polyploidy and adaptations to the marine environment

• Feature: An Inside Look at How Plants and Mycorrhizal Fungi Cooperate
• Paper: Spatial co-transcriptomics reveals discrete stages of the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis

• Our contact info:
  • Twitter: @JGI
  • Email: jgi-comms at lbl dot gov