News By Location

Scientists have captured the first detailed microscopy images of ultra-small bacteria that are believed to be about as small as life can get. The research was led by scientists from Berkeley Lab and the University of California, Berkeley. The existence of ultra-small bacteria has been debated for two decades, but there hasn't been a comprehensive electron microscopy and DNA-based description of the microbes until now.

Scientists have observed an increase in carbon dioxide's greenhouse effect at the Earth's surface for the first time. The researchers, led by scientists from the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, measured atmospheric carbon dioxide's increasing capacity to absorb thermal radiation emitted from the Earth's surface over an eleven-year period at two locations in North America. They attributed this upward trend to rising carbon dioxide levels from fossil fuel emissions.

In the roots of host plants, mycorrhizal fungi exchange the sugars plants produce for nutrients they absorb from the soil. To understand the basis for fungal symbiotic relationships with plants, DOE Joint Genome Institute researchers and longtime collaborators reported the first broad, comparative phylogenomic analysis of mycorrhizal fungi in the Feb. 23, 2015 edition of Nature Genetics. The results help researchers understand how the mutualistic association provides host plants with beneficial traits for environmental adaptation.