The applications for the CSP capacity have been doubling since the program's inception. In response, DOE JGI has committed 60 percent of its 33 billion letter annual sequencing capacity to the next round of CSP projects, with a focus on proposals that will advance the nation's energy security.

"The requests received in 2005 by DOE JGI to tap the CSP exceeds the world's sequencing capacity, illustrating the enormous market need for such a powerful user resource," said Dr. Aristides Patrinos, associate director of science for DOE's Office of Biological and Environmental Research.

"The CSP enables researchers across a broad spectrum of disciplines to translate the information captured from the biosphere's complex web of organisms into discoveries that have real utility for developing cleaner domestic energy options," said DOE JGI Director Dr. Eddy Rubin. "Our collaborators have stepped up and validated DOE JGI as a user facility with a solid portfolio of prospects for yielding the gold nuggets from the planet's biodiversity."

A sequenced genome provides researchers a detailed parts catalog for characterizing an organism's environmental niche and the starting material for exploring how it functions and what applications it may offer.

"Sequence generated by DOE JGI for our Center is helping us to understand the ecology, physiology and biochemistry of microbial processes important in nature and of value to industry," said Dr. James Tiedje, a University Distinguished Professor of microbiology and Director of the National Science Foundation Center for Microbial Ecology at Michigan State University.

An important genome sequenced by DOE JG
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Contact: David Gilbert
gilbert21@llnl.gov
925-296-5643
DOE/Joint Genome Institute
22-Dec-2005