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Image Gallery DOE Microbial Genome Program Report

Cover Image.  This image is a graphic representation of a circular microbial genome.  Genes, depicted as spikes in the two outermost layers of the circle, encode all the functions enabling the microbe to replicate, metabolize nutrients, and perform specialized activities.  Multicolored dots above the circular genome represent gene expression studies that attempt to determine when genes for particular functions are active.

Researchers in DOE's Microbial Genome Program are exploring ways to discover, understand, and exploit an astonishing diversity of microbial functions—most of which have not yet been discovered—for beneficial applications in areas important to DOE's Biological and Environmental Research program, among them bioremediation (toxic waste cleanup), global climate change, biotechnology, and energy production.