JBIMS fosters collaboration and synergy across UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab, combining strengths in Theory, Technology, Model Systems and Data Science to promote microbiome-based solutions for the health of our community, our ecosystems and our planet.
Integrative Microbiome Science for Discovery, Prediction and Translation:
Microbiome Theory
Coordinating across disciplines to advance and evaluate theories from ecology, evolution, biophysics and thermodynamics to understand and predict microbiome structure and function.
Technology for Microbiomes
Developing and integrating diverse technologies to observe and manipulate microbiomes and their interactions with their environments or hosts.
Data Science for Microbiomes
Building a community of microbiome researchers that promote data science best practices for reproducible and reusable datasets, and develop innovative science to uncover causal mechanisms in microbiomes.
Microbiome Model Systems
Developing and promoting the use of reproducible model systems for the study of microbiomes across scales of complexity.
News & Events
Analyzing Adaptability
The Chakraborty lab describes how strains within the genus Arthrobacter have adapted to a variety below-ground environments. Published March 30, 2022 in ISME Communications: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43705-022-00113-8
Core Taxa Respond to Fertilizer
The Koskella Lab describes how fertilizer alters the tomato rhizosphere microbiome. Published March 21, 2022 in Applied and Environmental Microbiology: https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.00049-22
The Rarefaction Debate
New work from the Fithian group reports a rarefaction efficiency index to determine the sensitivity of microbiome data to loss upon rarefaction and guide the decisions of researchers. Published February 25, 2022 in Bioinformatics: https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btac127.
Single-Cell Sequencing Provides New Insights
The Joint Genome Institute demonstrates how single-cell sequencing reveals population structure in the microbial communities of hot springs. Published December 30, 2021 in ISME: https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiab162.