Taner Sen and Colleagues Sequence Complex Oat Pangenome

head and shoulders photo of Sen

Adjunct Professor Taner Sen and his colleagues at the USDA and beyond have assembled and annotated the genomes of 33 wild and domesticated oat lines, along with an atlas of gene expression across 23 of these lines, which will enable future efforts to produce even more hardy and productive strains of the popular grain.

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New Process Uses Microbes to Create Valuable Materials from Urine

microscope image of osteoyeast cells. The outline of the vacuole is red, the calcium inside the vacuole is green. Image by Berkeley Lab.

A team led by BioE alumnus Yasuo Yoshikuni genetically modified yeast to create hydroxyapatite, a strong and lightweight material, from the elements present in urine. With lower production costs the material may now be practical for use in wastewater treatment, fertilizer manufacturing, building materials and plastic replacement.

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