Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics Archives

Macroscopic snowflake yeast with elongated cells fracture into modules, retaining the same underlying branched growth form of their microscopic ancestor. CREDIT Georgia Institute of Technology

Biophysics, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

The Origins Of Multicellular Life: Long-term Experimental Evolution In The Lab

by Keith CowingMay 10, 2023May 10, 2023

The world would look very different without multicellular organisms – take away the plants, animals, fungi, and seaweed, and Earth starts to look like a wetter, greener version of Mars. […]

Metabolic gene identification -- biorxiv.org

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report

Metagenome Mining And Functional Analysis Reveal Oxidized Guanine DNA Repair At The Lost City Hydrothermal Field

by Keith CowingApril 10, 2023April 10, 2023

The GO DNA repair system protects against GC → TC mutations by finding and removing oxidized guanine. The system is mechanistically well understood but its origins are unknown. We searched […]

This image was taken in August 2019 inside a lava tube near Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano, where scientists had come to study the microbes and minerals that could reveal insights about similar environments on Mars. Pictured in the left foreground is Chloe Fishman, who, at the time this image was taken, was an undergraduate researcher at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Behind her is Cherie Achilles, and to her right, facing the camera, is Amy McAdam. Both are scientists from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Credits: NASA Goddard / Molly Wasser

Analog Studies, Astrogeology, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Mars, Press Release

Away Team Exploration Of Lava Caves Informs The Search For Life On Mars

by Keith CowingApril 7, 2023April 7, 2023

In August 2019, Chloe Fishman crawled into a cave beneath the largest active volcano on the planet. Along with scientists from NASA and other institutions, she had come to Hawaii’s […]

A representative texture of the Ryugu particle (A0022). (a) An optical image of an entire view of the particle. The rough and irregular surface is finely cracked, resulting in the particle being fragile in nature. (b) A back-scattered electron image of a cross section of the particle. Several µm to 10’s of µm-sized carbonates (mainly dolomite), Fe-oxides (e.g., magnetite), and Fe-sulfides (e.g., pyrrhotite) are widespread in the phyllosilicate-dominated matrix (smectite and serpentine), which also includes sub-µm-sized organic matter, Fe-sulfide, carbonate, and phosphate minerals. -- Okayama University

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

How Were Amino Acids Formed Before The Origin Of Life On Earth?

by Keith CowingApril 5, 2023April 5, 2023

Our solar system formed from a molecular cloud, which was composed of gas and dust that was emitted into the interstellar medium (ISM), a vast space between stars. On collapse […]

Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Intelligence & Language, Press Release

The Calcium Sensor Helps Humans And Other Earth Life See The Stars

by Keith CowingApril 4, 2023April 4, 2023

Using cryo-electron microscopy and mass spectrometry, researchers from PSI have deciphered the structure of an ion channel found in the eye while it interacts with the protein calmodulin – a […]

Directed evolution of UVCR tolerance in strain DSM 20129. A) Schematic depiction of the directed evolution method used to improve UVCR tolerance in strain DSM 20129. The details of the procedure are descried in the text. B) UVCR tolerance of DSM 20129 after each round of UVCR exposure as compared to isolate L6-1, measured as the number of surviving CFUs (N) at each UVCR dose divided by total number of CFUs in the unexposed control (N0 ). Data shown are the average of three independent replicates. Error bars represent SEM. C) Summary of the mutations acquired during the directed evolution process. Mutation type (smaller pie chart) refers only to the mutations occurring in coding sequences (green slice in larger pie chart). Gene3 Ontology (GO) function annotations were determined for proteins that acquired amino acid point mutations in their coding sequence (blue slice in smaller pie chart). -- biorxiv.org

Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Radiation, Status Report

Extreme UVC Radiation Tolerance In Bacteria Recovered From Earth’s Stratosphere

by Keith CowingApril 2, 2023June 14, 2026

Aerosolized microbes surviving transport to and in the stratosphere endure extremes of low temperature, atmospheric pressure, and relative humidity, and high shortwave ultraviolet radiation flux. However, the genetic determinants for […]

Secondary structure of the tt_A1P1 construct predicted by mfold (Zuker, 2003). With a ΔG of -64.30 Kcal/mol. Thermus thermophilus numbering system is used. According to this prediction base paring shift occur in H74, H89 and H90. The overall shape of H90 has grown by at least three base pairs at the beginning of the helix compared to the secondary structure of the extant ribosome. -- PNAS

Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

How To Build A Protoribosome

by Keith CowingApril 1, 2023April 1, 2023

NASA-supported scientists have reexamined some previous assumptions about how the ribosome in living cells is constructed. The ribosome is a large molecule found in all living cells that catalyzes the […]

SUMO (red) is covalently linked to the TOG2 domain of Stu1, a microtubule associated protein (blue). When Stu1 is SUMOylated the protein abundance is increased by 442% in simulated microgravity, compared to the gravity condition. When Stu1 is not SUMOylated, the protein abundance is decreased by 55% in simulated microgravity. Created using the PyMol molecular visualization system. CREDIT Jeremy Sabo, Oklahoma State University

Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Gravitational Biology, Microgravity, Press Release, Space Life Science, Space Stations

New Insights Into How Cells Respond To Altered Gravity During Spaceflight

by Keith CowingMarch 29, 2023March 29, 2023

A new study has revealed insights into how cells sense and respond to the weightlessness experienced in space. The information could be useful for keeping astronauts healthy on future space […]

Genera containing mcrABG (marked in purple) throughout the archaeal tree of life. Coloured rings indicate minimum and maximum growth temperatures in °C observed within each genus, symbols indicate the substrate used for alkane metabolisms. Unfilled symbols indicate putative pathways which were inferred for yet uncultured species. -- Earth-Life Science Institute

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release

The Genetics Of Temperature Adaptation: How Does Life Thrive In Extreme Conditions?

by Keith CowingMarch 27, 2023March 27, 2023

The history of the Earth has been one of physical extremes—extreme atmospheric conditions, extreme chemical environments, and extreme temperatures. There was a time when the Earth was so hot all […]

The specific assay and tissue types for each dataset are indicated with network clustering based on hardware.

Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microgravity, Plant Biology, Press Release, Space Agriculture, Space Life Science, Space Stations

The Genetic Response Of An Earth Plant – Off World – In Microgravity

by Keith CowingMarch 25, 2023March 25, 2023

Spaceflight presents a multifaceted environment for plants, combining the effects on growth of many stressors and factors including altered gravity, the influence of experiment hardware, and increased radiation exposure.