Exploration of diverse bacteria signals big advance for gene function prediction
(PHYSorg.com Biology)

In the air, beneath the ocean`s surface, and on land, microbes are the minute but mighty forces regulating much of the planet`s biogeochemical cycles. To better understand their roles, scientists work to identify these microbes and to determine their individual contributions. While advances in sequencing technologies have enabled researchers to access the genomes of thousands of microbes and make them publicly available, no similar shift has occurred with the task of assigning functions to the genes uncovered.