Following publication of the original article [1], the authors reported that the omission of author name.

The DOE BioEnergy Science Center has operated as a virtual center with multiple partners for a decade targeting overcoming biomass recalcitrance. BESC has redefined biomass recalcitrance from an observable phenotype to a better understood and manipulatable fundamental and operational property. These manipulations are the result of deeper biological understanding and can be combined with other advanced biotechnology improvements in biomass conversion to improve bioenergy processes and markets. This article provides an overview of key accomplishments in overcoming recalcitrance via better plants, better microbes, and better tools and combinations. A perspective on the aspects of successful center operation is presented.

Methanospirillum hungatei strain JF1 (DSM 864) is a methane-producing archaeon and is the type species of the genus Methanospirillum, which belongs to the family Methanospirillaceae within the order Methanomicrobiales. Its genome was selected for sequencing due to its ability to utilize hydrogen and carbon dioxide and/or formate as a sole source of energy. Ecologically, M. hungatei functions as the hydrogen- and/or formate-using partner with many species of syntrophic bacteria. Its morphology is distinct from other methanogens with the ability to form long chains of cells (up to 100 μm in length), which are enclosed within a sheath-like structure, and terminal cells with polar flagella. The genome of M. hungatei strain JF1 is the first completely sequenced genome of the family Methanospirillaceae, and it has a circular genome of 3,544,738 bp containing 3,239 protein coding and 68 RNA genes. The large genome of M. hungatei JF1 suggests the presence of unrecognized biochemical/physiological properties that likely extend to the other Methanospirillaceae and include the ability to form the unusual sheath-like structure and to successfully interact with syntrophic bacteria.

Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens; Department of Plant Biology, Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens; National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado; BioEnergy Science Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Research and development activities directed toward commercial production of cellulosic ethanol have created the opportunity to dramatically increase the transformation of lignin to value-added products. Here, we highlight recent advances in this lignin valorization effort. Discovery of genetic variants in native populations of bioenergy crops and direct manipulation of biosynthesis pathways have produced lignin feedstocks with favorable properties for recovery and downstream conversion. Advances in analytical chemistry and computational modeling detail the structure of the modified lignin and direct bioengineering strategies for future targeted properties. Refinement of biomass pretreatment technologies has further facilitated lignin recovery, and this coupled with genetic engineering will enable new uses for this biopolymer, including low-cost carbon fibers, engineered plastics and thermoplastic elastomers, polymeric foams, fungible fuels, and commodity chemicals.

Microbes hold the key to life. They hold the secrets to our past (as the descendants of the earliest forms of life) and the prospects for our future (as we mine their genes for solutions to some of the planet's most pressing problems, from global warming to antibiotic resistance). However, the piecemeal approach that has defined efforts to study microbial genetic diversity for over 20 years and in over 30,000 genome projects risks squandering that promise. These efforts have covered less than 20% of the diversity of the cultured archaeal and bacterial species, which represent just 15% of the overall known prokaryotic diversity. Here we call for the funding of a systematic effort to produce a comprehensive genomic catalog of all cultured Bacteria and Archaea by sequencing, where available, the type strain of each species with a validly published name (currently∼11,000). This effort will provide an unprecedented level of coverage of our planet's genetic diversity, allow for the large-scale discovery of novel genes and functions, and lead to an improved understanding of microbial evolution and function in the environment.

Research and development activities directed toward commercial production of cellulosic ethanol have created the opportunity to dramatically increase the transformation of lignin to value-added products. Here, we highlight recent advances in this lignin valorization effort. Discovery of genetic variants in native populations of bioenergy crops and direct manipulation of biosynthesis pathways have produced lignin feedstocks with favorable properties for recovery and downstream conversion. Advances in analytical chemistry and computational modeling detail the structure of the modified lignin and direct bioengineering strategies for future targeted properties. Refinement of biomass pretreatment technologies has further facilitated lignin recovery, and this coupled with genetic engineering will enable new uses for this biopolymer, including low-cost carbon fibers, engineered plastics and thermoplastic elastomers, polymeric foams, fungible fuels, and commodity chemicals.

ABSTRACT Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain M3707 was isolated from a sample of commercial distillers yeast, and its genome sequence together with the genome sequences for the four derived haploid strains M3836, M3837, M3838, and M3839 has been determined. Yeasts have potential for consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) for biofuel production, and access to these genome sequences will facilitate their development.

Rhodospirillum rubrum (Esmarch 1887) Molisch 1907 is the type species of the genus Rhodospirillum, which is the type genus of the family Rhodospirillaceae in the class Alphaproteobacteria. The species is of special interest because it is an anoxygenic phototroph that produces extracellular elemental sulfur (instead of oxygen) while harvesting light. It contains one of the most simple photosynthetic systems currently known, lacking light harvesting complex 2. Strain S1T can grow on carbon monoxide as sole energy source. With currently over 1,750 PubMed entries, R. rubrum is one of the most intensively studied microbial species, in particular for physiological and genetic studies. Next to R. centenum strain SW, the genome sequence of strain S1T is only the second genome of a member of the genus Rhodospirillum to be published, but the first type strain genome from the genus. The 4,352,825 bp long chromosome and 53,732 bp plasmid with a total of 3,850 protein-coding and 83 RNA genes were sequenced as part of the DOE Joint Genome Institute Program DOEM 2002.

Industrial BiotechnologyVol. 7, No. 4 COMMENTARYBioEnergy Science CenterPaul GilnaPaul GilnaSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:22 Aug 2011https://doi.org/10.1089/ind.2011.7.257AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB Permissions & CitationsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail "BioEnergy Science Center." , 7(4), pp. 257–258FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 7Issue 4Aug 2011 InformationCopyright 2011, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.To cite this article:Paul Gilna.BioEnergy Science Center.Industrial Biotechnology.Aug 2011.257-258.http://doi.org/10.1089/ind.2011.7.257Published in Volume: 7 Issue 4: August 22, 2011PDF download

Industrial BiotechnologyVol. 7, No. 4 COMMENTARYQ&A roundtable on US bioenergy researchBrian Davison, Timothy Donohue, Paul Gilna, Jay D. Keasling, and Heather YoungsBrian DavisonSearch for more papers by this author, Timothy DonohueSearch for more papers by this author, Paul GilnaSearch for more papers by this author, Jay D. KeaslingSearch for more papers by this author, and Heather YoungsSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:22 Aug 2011https://doi.org/10.1089/ind.2011.7.264AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB Permissions & CitationsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byThe Effects of Stakeholder Values on Biofuel Feedstock Choices18 December 2012 Volume 7Issue 4Aug 2011 InformationCopyright 2011, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.To cite this article:Brian Davison, Timothy Donohue, Paul Gilna, Jay D. Keasling, and Heather Youngs.Q&A roundtable on US bioenergy research.Industrial Biotechnology.Aug 2011.264-266.http://doi.org/10.1089/ind.2011.7.264Published in Volume: 7 Issue 4: August 22, 2011PDF download

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Methods Results and Discussion Summary Internet Resources References

Identification of genes coding for ribosomal RNA (rRNA) is considered an important goal in the analysis of data from metagenomics projects. Here, we report the development of a software program designed for the identification of rRNA genes from metagenomic fragments based on hidden Markov models (HMMs). This program provides rRNA gene predictions with high sensitivity and specificity on artificially fragmented genomic DNAs.Supplementary files, scripts and sample data are available at http://tools.camera.calit2.net/camera/meta_rna.

We describe early experiments in the adoption of the OptIPuter architecture to provide data-intensive capabilities to several remote users of a large-scale, multi-year effort to organize and make publicly available data describing a wide variety of marine microbial ecologies, their genomic content, and the local environments in which they live-marine microbial metagenomics. Microbial genomes are millions of base pairs in length, requiring both a global view of the genome and the ability to zoom into detail interactively, enabled by the OptIPortal. We describe the design of a scientific data and compute server, enhanced by OptIPuter technologies, and early examples of its use in support of high performance science applications in this emerging scientific field.

This report summarizes the proceedings of the 6th and 7th workshops of the Genomic Standards Consortium (GSC), held back-to-back in 2008. GSC 6 focused on furthering the activities of GSC working groups, GSC 7 focused on outreach to the wider community. GSC 6 was held October 10–14, 2008 at the European Bioinformatics Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom and included a two-day workshop focused on the refinement of the Genomic Contextual Data Markup Language (GCDML). GSC 7 was held as the opening day of the International Congress on Metagenomics 2008 in San Diego California. Major achievements of these combined meetings included an agreement from the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Consortium (INSDC) to create a “MIGS” keyword for capturing “Minimum Information about a Genome Sequence” compliant information within INSDC (DDBJ/EMBL /Genbank) records, launch of GCDML 1.0, MIGS compliance of the first set of “Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea” project genomes, approval of a proposal to extend MIGS to 16S rRNA sequences within a “Minimum Information about an Environmental Sequence”, finalization of plans for the GSC eJournal, “Standards in Genomic Sciences” (SIGS), and the formation of a GSC Board. Subsequently, the GSC has been awarded a Research Co-ordination Network (RCN4GSC) grant from the National Science Foundation, held the first SIGS workshop and launched the journal. The GSC will also be hosting outreach workshops at both ISMB 2009 and PSB 2010 focused on “Metagenomics, Metadata and MetaAnalysis” (M3). Further information about the GSC and its range of activities can be found at http://gensc.org, including videos of all the presentations at GSC 7.