Science Highlights | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

Infrared Quantum Ghost Imaging Illuminates—But Doesn’t Disturb—Living Plants

Quantum ghost imaging of live plants at light levels lower than starlight gives new perspectives on plant processes.

Researchers Use Vitamins to Decode Complex Interactions in the Soil Microbiome

Nutrients related to vitamin B12 influence microbial growth and reshape soil microbiomes.

Artist’s representation of camelina seeds with contrasting seed coat colors and oil amounts. Disruption of the TT8 gene in camelina changed the regular brown seed color to light yellow and enhanced oil accumulation.

Engineered Yellow-Seeded Camelina Packs More Oil

Scientists use gene editing to create a yellow-seeded camelina that may boost oil yield.

Artist’s representation of gene expression in mycorrhizae-colonized roots as obtained by the combination of single-cell and spatial gene expression analyses.

Researchers Use a New Two-Dimensional Analysis to Build a Map of Gene Expression in Plant-Fungi Interactions

Spatial transcriptomics, combined with single-cell expression profiling, reveals new information on plant/arbuscular mycorrhizal interactions.

A boardwalk traversing Stordalen Mire in northern Sweden.

Although Tiny, Peatland Microorganisms Have a Big Impact on Climate

Leveraging a new genome annotation tool, researchers identified ‘talented’ microorganisms with genes for transforming polyphenols in peatlands.

Cel7A cellulase enzymes (gold) are inhibited when breaking down cellulose (green) by the product, cellobiose, at both the “front door" (1) and “back door" (2) of the Cel7A tunnel, and by two other components of plant cell walls, lignin (brown) and xylan (orange).

Scientists Gain New Molecular-Level Insights into Breaking Down Plant Material for Biofuels

A specialized microscope allows investigations of single molecules of cellulase enzymes.

Researchers determined the nitrogen source preference of different ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms by growing cells in an ammonia-urea mixture with nitrogen-15 labeled urea or ammonia and imaging labeled cells with NanoSIMS.

Different Microorganisms Have a Taste for Different Flavors of Ammonia

Research on ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms reshapes scientists’ perspective on those microbes’ physiology and ecological niche.

Bacteria can be evaluated in different plant root microenvironments (a) using microscope images of bacteria in root hairs with classical light (b) and using 100,000-fold lower quantum light colors (c) that avoid light damage.

Seeing the Color of Entangled Photons in Molecular Systems

Entangled photons reveal completely different information about an organic molecule than traditional spectroscopy techniques.

Artist’s representation of bacteriophages, the most abundant biological entities on earth. Researchers used a new CRISPR-based technology to characterize two model phages and demonstrate the potential to extend the approach to diverse phages.

Deciphering the Functions Encoded in Phage Genomes

Scientists create a genome-wide map of gene activity in bacteriophages.

Like desert wildflowers that bloom after rain, soil bacteria have evolved life strategies that determine when and where they grow. Having a small, streamlined genome may help some bacteria survive in dry soils.

Soil Bacteria Link their Life Strategies to Soil Conditions

Assessing the genomes of soil bacteria around the globe, researchers identified three dominant life strategies linked to different types of soil.

This image shows Bisophere 2 (a), which houses a tropical rainforest (b) where researchers performed an ecosystem-scale drought experiment. Researchers labeled the soil (c) to track the release of carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds.

During Droughts, Soil Microbes Produce Volatile Carbon Metabolites

In a warmer world, microbes in drought-stricken soils convert less carbon to carbon dioxide and more to volatile intermediates.

Images of Yarrowia lipolytica surrounding and growing on polyolefin oil droplets (large red circles). Cells were stained blue to show the chitin cell walls and red to show the lipid bodies inside the cells and the oil droplets outside the cells.

Yeast Uses Plastic Waste Oils to Make High-Value Chemicals

Yarrowia lipolytica reallocates its production of protein toward energy and lipid metabolism to grow on hydrocarbons and produce high-value chemicals.