Scientists decode the full genome of a helpful bacterium from Japanese pickled yam

In a jar of pickled Chinese yam in Japan lives a bacterium with a useful talent: its surface can bind heavy metals. Scientists have now published the complete genome sequence of that microbe, Lacticaseibacillus paracasei TOKAI 83 m, in BMC Genomic Data — every gene, mapped and annotated, as an open resource for any laboratory. The strain belongs to the lactic acid bacteria, the family behind yoghurt and fermented foods, and the sequence now lets researchers investigate which genes give its surface the metal-binding ability, and study its protein systems properly. It is a data note rather than a breakthrough experiment — but shared genetic maps like this are the raw material other scientists build treatments, foods and cleanup ideas from.

SDG 9 · Industry, innovation and infrastructure — Mechanism: tech innovation