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ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News |
| 'Simple' bacteria found to organize in elaborate patterns Posted: 06 Jan 2022 08:16 AM PST Researchers have discovered that biofilms, bacterial communities found throughout the living world, are far more advanced than previously believed. Scientists found that biofilm cells are organized in elaborate patterns, a feature that previously only had been associated with higher-level organisms such as plants and animals. |
| Zoo air contains enough DNA to identify the animals inside Posted: 06 Jan 2022 08:15 AM PST The air in a zoo is full of smells, from the fish used for feed to the manure from the grazing herbivores, but now we know it is also full of DNA from the animals living there. Two research groups have each published an independent proof-of-concept study showing that by sampling air from a local zoo, they can collect enough DNA to identify the animals nearby. This may prove to be a valuable, non-invasive tool to track biodiversity. |
| Tracking down the origin of cholera pandemics Posted: 06 Jan 2022 08:00 AM PST The bacterium Vibrio cholerae is the causative agent of the diarrheal disease cholera and is responsible for seven known pandemics. The seventh cholera pandemic began in 1961 and is still active. Unlike previous pandemics, it is caused by cholera strains of a slightly different type. How did the modified cholera strains develop and spread, and what might have contributed to their success? Scientists have now gained new insights into a molecular mechanism that provides insight into the interactions between cholera bacteria and may have played a role in the emergence of the seventh pandemic. |
| Fossil research affected by significant colonial bias Posted: 06 Jan 2022 07:59 AM PST The fossil record, which documents the history of life on Earth, is heavily biased by influences such as colonialism, history and global economics, palaeontologists argue. |
| Decoding protein assembly dynamics with artificial protein needles Posted: 06 Jan 2022 07:02 AM PST Protein assembly is essential for the formation of ordered biological structures, but imagine engineering one! This is exactly what researchers have now accomplished with protein needles. By regulating the tip-to-tip interactions of these needles, they allowed for their self-assembly into lattice structures, ordered monomeric states, and fiber assemblies, paving the way for the controlled construction of more of such protein architectures. |
| Division of labor among genetic switches Posted: 05 Jan 2022 11:00 AM PST Two X chromosomes are actually one too many. Female mammalian cells hence switch off one of them – but only when the cells start to specialize into tissues. A research team has now discovered how cells 'count' their chromosomes and at the same time sense which stage of development they are in. |
| Dairy farmers can adapt to climate change Posted: 05 Jan 2022 10:59 AM PST Dairy farmers in the Northeast -- facing a warming climate that exacerbates nutrient pollution but lengthens the growing season -- can reduce the environmental impact of their operations and maximize revenues by double cropping and injecting manure into the soil, rather than broadcasting it. |
| Can we go from scarface to scarless? Posted: 05 Jan 2022 08:14 AM PST Researchers examined skin regeneration over two years in various body parts of the adult newt, Cynops pyrrhogaster. Their wounds were very quickly healed over several days without prolonged inflammation. Because of this rapid healing, granulation/dermal fibrosis, and therefore scarring, did not occur. The skin was able to fully regenerate. These findings provide evidence that this newt species may be an ideal model system to study and prevent scar formation in human skin. |
| New research shows gene exchange between viruses and hosts drives evolution Posted: 05 Jan 2022 08:14 AM PST The first comprehensive analysis of viral horizontal gene transfer (HGT) illustrates the extent to which viruses pick up genes from their hosts to hone their infection process, while at the same time hosts also co-opt useful viral genes. |
| Superbug MRSA arose in hedgehogs long before clinical use of antibiotics Posted: 05 Jan 2022 08:14 AM PST Scientists have found evidence that a type of the antibiotic resistant superbug MRSA arose in nature long before the use of antibiotics in humans and livestock, which has traditionally been blamed for its emergence. Hedgehogs carry a fungus and a bacteria on their skin, and the two are locked in a battle for survival. The fungus secretes antibiotics to kill the bacteria, but in response the bacteria has evolved antibiotic resistance -- becoming Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. Up to 60% of hedgehogs carry a type of MRSA called mecC-MRSA, which causes 1 in 200 of all MRSA infections in humans. Natural biological processes, not antibiotic use, drove the initial emergence of this superbug on hedgehogs around 200 years ago. |
| A novel compound might defeat multidrug-resistant bacteria common in hospitals Posted: 05 Jan 2022 08:13 AM PST Increasingly, hospitalized patients contract infections that evade current antibiotics including colistin, long used as a last treatment option. The discovery of a new colistin variant might make it possible to outmaneuver these pathogens. |
| Deforestation increases risk of flash flooding in fast-growing West African coastal cities Posted: 05 Jan 2022 07:32 AM PST Research has revealed frequent storm activity in coastal areas is a previously unrecognized way in which deforestation can increase flooding. The study found the frequency of thunderstorms in some fast-growing African coastal cities has doubled over the past 30 years, with much of this increase linked to the impact of deforestation on the local climate. |
| Ancient Maya lessons on surviving drought Posted: 05 Jan 2022 06:45 AM PST A new study casts doubt on drought as the driver of ancient Mayan civilization collapse. |
| How oral bacteria suppress protection against viral growth Posted: 05 Jan 2022 06:43 AM PST Researchers have discovered details of how proteins produced by oral epithelial cells protect humans against viruses entering the body through the mouth. They also found that oral bacteria can suppress the activity of these cells, increasing vulnerability to infection. |
| Study reveals more hostile conditions on Earth as life evolved Posted: 04 Jan 2022 04:25 PM PST During long portions of the past 2.4 billion years, the Earth may have been more 'inhospitable' to life than scientists previously thought, according to new computer simulations. Using a state-of-the-art climate model, researchers now believe the level of ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaching the Earth's surface could have been underestimated, with UV levels being up to ten times higher. |
| Mass die-off of Magellanic penguins seen during 2019 heat wave Posted: 04 Jan 2022 01:34 PM PST In 2019, researchers witnessed the consequences of an extreme heat event at Punta Tombo in Argentina, one of the world's largest breeding colonies for Magellanic penguins. On Jan. 19, temperatures at the site spiked in the shade to 44 C, or 111.2 F, killing at least 354 penguins. Nearly three-quarters of the penguins that died were adults, many of which likely died of dehydration, based on postmortem analyses. |
| How plants respond to heat stress Posted: 04 Jan 2022 09:06 AM PST Plants, like other organisms, can be severely affected by heat stress. To increase their chances of survival, they activate the heat shock response, a molecular pathway also employed by human and animal cells for stress protection. Researchers have now discovered that plant steroid hormones can promote this response in plants. |
| Sustainable silk material for biomedical, optical, food supply applications Posted: 04 Jan 2022 08:22 AM PST Researchers discuss the properties of silk and recent and future applications of the material. It has been used in drug delivery and is ideal for wearable and implantable health monitoring sensors. Silk is also useful in optics and electronics and more recently has come to the forefront of sustainability research. The use of silk coatings may also reduce food waste, which is a significant component of the global carbon footprint. |
| Roundworm linked to lower lung-function and asthma in younger males Posted: 04 Jan 2022 08:22 AM PST Exposure to the parasitic roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides among young men can cause a striking reduction in lung function and nearly five times higher odds of having asthma compared to the non-exposed, study shows. |
| Can a goldfish drive a car on land? Posted: 04 Jan 2022 08:22 AM PST Are animals' innate navigational abilities universal or are they restricted to their home environments? Researchers designed a set of wheels under a goldfish tank with a camera system to record and translate the fish's movements into forward and back and side to side directions to the wheels. By doing so, they discovered that a goldfish's navigational ability supersedes its watery environs. |
| Solving the disappearance of bears and lions with ancient DNA Posted: 04 Jan 2022 07:26 AM PST Researchers suggest a change in climate is the likely cause of the mysterious disappearance of ancient lions and bears from parts of North America for a thousand years or more prior to the last Ice Age. |
| Climate change, invasive species drive native trout declines Posted: 04 Jan 2022 06:56 AM PST Researchers have found that climate change drives native trout declines by reducing stream habitat and facilitating the expansion of invasive trout species. |
| Inverted order: The direction of your DNA may be as important as which parent it came from Posted: 04 Jan 2022 06:55 AM PST Researchers generated mice with a specific DNA sequence inverted to determine if orientation affects expression of a gene called H19. Expression can also be impacted if the surrounding DNA is altered by a process called methylation. Interestingly, methylation was only relevant when the inverted sequence was inherited from the father. When inherited from the mother, the inversion had the opposite effect on H19 expression, suggesting a more complex mechanism is at play. |
| Predator interactions chiefly determine where Prochlorococcus thrive Posted: 03 Jan 2022 02:22 PM PST Where the microbe Prochlorococcus lives is not determined primarily by temperature, as previously thought. A study finds a relationship with a shared predator actually sets the microbe's range. The findings could help scientists predict how Prochlorococcus populations will shift with climate change. |
| Researchers develop a model of yeast nuclear pore complex Posted: 03 Jan 2022 09:17 AM PST Using rapid plunge freezing and cryo-EM (electron microscopy) with computational methods, researchers have produced a comprehensive model of the yeast NPC (nuclear pore complex) which reveals the interconnected architecture of its core scaffold. |
| Study finds reduced microbial diversity in guts of wild bears that eat human food Posted: 03 Jan 2022 09:17 AM PST A new study suggests that eating human food reduces microbial diversity in the guts of wild bears. |
| Lychee genome tells a colorful story about a colorful tropical fruit Posted: 03 Jan 2022 09:17 AM PST Radiant and flavorful, lychees were so beloved that they were domesticated not just once in ancient times, but independently in two different regions of China, a study finds. |
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