Under the collaboration, Diversa will use its proprietary technologies to extract DNA from environmental samples and make gene libraries, while JGI will perform DNA sequencing. All DNA sequence data from the collaboration will be provided to Diversa and deposited in GenBank within six months of the completion of sequencing to allow public access by scientists around the world.

"The microbial world is the next genomic frontier," said JGI Director Eddy Rubin, M.D., Ph.D. "The human genome has been sequenced, and now we're ready to tackle the larger and more complex challenge of sequencing microbial diversity."

"We believe the scientific, environmental, and commercial benefits from this project will be considerable," Rubin continued, "and we're pleased to be working with Diversa, a company that has clearly demonstrated leadership in legally and efficiently accessing the vast microbial diversity present in the environment."

"There are more genes in a handful of soil than in the entire human genome," said Jay M. Short, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Diversa. "At Diversa, we are committed to developing products from the rich genomic resource of uncultured microbes living in nearly every environment on earth. We believe that our sequencing collaboration with JGI will contribute greatly to our understanding and utilization of microbial genes."

Microbes, the oldest form of life on Earth, inhabit nearly every environment and can thrive under extreme conditions of heat, cold, pressure, and radiation. Although microbes represent the vast majority of life on the planet, more than 99% have not been cultured, and consequently their genomic diversity has been largely unrecognized and unutilized.

By studying their DNA, scientists hope to find ways to use microbes to develop new pharmaceutical and agricultural products, energy sources, industrial processes, and solutions to a variety of environmental problems.

Diversa and JGI will sequence DNA from microbes living in environments such as deep-sea thermal vents, insect endosymbionts, soil from nuclear weapons manufacturing sites, and water collected by rainforest epiphytes such as bromeliads that grow on giant trees.

Diversa pioneered proprietary, genomics-based methods for discovering unexplored microbial diversity and recently received a patent for sequencing of mixed populations of microbial DNA directly from the environment, which is more efficient and effective than individually culturing and identifying microbes in the laboratory.

Diversa estimates that its gene libraries currently contain the complete genomes of over three million unique microorganisms, comprising a vast resource of genetic material, which far exceeds the estimated 10,000 microorganisms that have been described in the scientific literature.

The Joint Genome Institute, which played a leading role in the recently completed effort to determine the DNA sequence of humans, is one of the world's largest and most productive genome sequencing centers.

As part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Microbial Genome Program, JGI has already sequenced more than 60 microbes, many of which have far-reaching implications for addressing such DOE mission challenges as the remediation of radioactive and hazardous waste sites, sequestering heat-trapping carbon from the atmosphere, and developing renewable energy sources.

Related Links
DOE Microbial Genome Program
Diversa
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