ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News

Scientists have discovered that symbiotic single-celled algae that live inside of and feed corals can reproduce not only by mitosis, but also sexually. Encouraging sex in these algae can accelerate their evolution to produce strains better able to help reefs cope with climate change.

The renewable proportion of petrol is set to increase to 20 per cent over the coming years, meaning the discovery of a new production pathway for these additives could help in the fight to cut carbon dioxide emissions and tackle climate change. Engineers propose a process to generate one such additive, solketal, using waste from both biochemical and nuclear industries -- termed a nuclear biorefinery.

Studying a species of beetle mite, an international research team has demonstrated for the first time that animals can survive over very long periods of time (possibly millions of years) entirely without sex.

Right now, U.S. veterinarians rely on three types of drugs to kill the hookworms, but the parasites appear to becoming resistant to all of them. Dog hookworms can also infect humans.

A species of roundworm that is widely used in biological research can sense and respond to sound, despite having no ear-like organs.

A large international research team has identified three key indicators that together summarize the integrative function of terrestrial ecosystems: 1. the capacity to maximize primary productivity, 2. the efficiency of using water, and 3. the efficiency of using carbon. The monitoring of these key indicators will allow a description of ecosystem function that shapes the ability to adapt, survive and thrive in response to climatic and environmental changes.

Eating your daily calories within a consistent window of 8-10 hours is a powerful strategy to prevent and manage chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, according to a new article.

Many children, as well as adults, dislike Brassica vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. In the mouth, enzymes from these vegetables and from bacteria in saliva can produce unpleasant, sulfurous odors. Now, researchers have found that levels of these volatile compounds are similar in parent-child pairs, suggesting shared oral microbiomes. They also found that high levels cause children to dislike the vegetables.

Scientists seeking to unravel the details of how plants produce and accumulate oil have identified a new essential component of the assembly line. They discovered a particular sterol -- a molecule related to cholesterol -- that plays a key role in the formation of oil droplets. The findings may suggest new ways to engineer the oil content of a variety of plant tissues for potential applications in bioenergy, chemical engineering, and nutrition.

Hoverflies use a combination of the sun and their body clock to navigate when they fly south for the winter, new research shows.

Proteins in the brain called prions are well known for their involvement in causing disease, but a new study suggests they may help yeast cope with rapidly changing environmental conditions.

New research amongst the world's biggest consumers of dairy foods has shown that those with higher intakes of dairy fat - measured by levels of fatty acids in the blood - had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared to those with low intakes. Higher intakes of dairy fat were not associated with an increased risk of death.