A Hiroshima University professor is one of the 14 scientists, and the sole awardee from Japan, selected for the 2026 Community Science Program (CSP) Large-Scale Call of the US Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute (DOE-JGI).
Professor Fumito Maruyama of Hiroshima University’s The IDEC Institute secured support for a proposal to research Patescibacteria, a recently discovered phylum of ultrasmall bacteria measuring just 100 to 300 nanometers (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter). These microorganisms carry reduced genomes, lacking many of the genes essential for life, and are thought to survive primarily through symbiotic or parasitic relationships with other microbes.
“Through this research, we aim to advance our understanding of the vast, unknown microbial world beneath our feet and open new frontiers in environmental microbiology,” Maruyama said.
The CSP Large-Scale Call invites ambitious genome science proposals addressing global challenges aligned with the US DOE’s mission, including energy sustainability, climate change, and environmental resource conservation. Chosen projects gain access to sophisticated technologies equivalent to hundreds of thousands to millions of US dollars provided free of charge by the US DOE-JGI.
Recognition in the CSP Large-Scale category is rare for researchers based in Japan, underscoring the international standing of Hiroshima University’s environmental genomics and microbiology research.
