ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News

Meningitis is a very serious brain infection with limited treatment options. In a new study performed in rats, researchers present an alternative treatment based on immune cells that helps rinse away toxins that accumulate during the infection.

Researchers have identified a chemical compound that may be suitable as an active agent against several different unicellular parasites. Among these are the pathogens that cause malaria and toxoplasmosis. The point of attack for this promising substance is the protein tubulin: It helps cells divide and therefore is essential for the multiplication of the parasites.

The value of UK agriculture could be boosted by millions of pounds a year if thousands of honeybee hives were deployed on solar parks across the country, a new study reveals. However, scientists caution that the benefits of managing solar parks for wild pollinators over honeybees should be prioritized where appropriate and should be assessed on a site by site basis.

A new study has uncovered neuronal circuitry in the brain of rodents that may play an important role in mediating pain-induced anhedonia -- a decrease in motivation to perform reward-driven behaviors. Researchers were able to change the activity of this circuit and restore levels of motivation in a pre-clinical model of pain tested in rodents.

Marsh plants can play a major role in mitigating coastal damage as sea levels rise and storm surges increase. A new study provides greater detail about how these protective benefits work under real-world conditions shaped by waves and currents.

The scientists' new 'binder-tag' technique allows researchers to pinpoint and track proteins that are in a desired shape or 'conformation,' and to do so in real time inside living cells. The scientists demonstrated the technique in, essentially, movies that track the active version of an important signaling protein -- a molecule, in this case, important for cell growth.

Despite the prevalent view that some 98% of our genome is junk DNA, new research shows that one piece of junk DNA -- the promoter of a virus-based transposon -- plays a critical role in cell proliferation and timing of embryo implantation in mice. The group found virus-based promoters linked to genes involved in development in other mammals, including humans, suggesting that transposons have been broadly repurposed for important regulatory roles.

Researchers have found that the benefits of migration have been eroded by the effects of climate change and human pressure.

Plants need water to grow. So if there's water, shouldn't there be more plants? New research shows it's a lot more complicated than that.

Over the last few decades, scientists have discovered that long-term calorie restriction provides a wealth of benefits in animals. Researchers have largely assumed that reduced food intake drove these benefits by reprogramming metabolism. But a new study finds that reduced calorie intake alone is not enough; fasting is essential for mice to derive full benefit.

Are animals born to seek rewards or avoid punishment? Researchers found that mice have pre-programmed neurons and circuits that process 'positive' and 'negative' stimuli. Their findings may be useful for studying neurological and psychiatric disorders in humans.

The variety of humble algae that cover the surface of ponds and seas could hold the key to boosting the efficiency of artificial photosynthesis, allowing scientists to produce more energy and lower waste in the process. A study showed how encasing algae protein in liquid droplets can dramatically enhance the algae's light-harvesting and energy-conversion properties by up to three times. This energy is produced as the algae undergoes photosynthesis, which is the process used by plants, algae and certain bacteria to harness energy from sunlight and turn it into chemical energy. When light hits the droplet, light waves travel around the curved edges of the droplet. Light is effectively trapped within the droplet for a longer period of time, giving more opportunity for photosynthesis to take place, hence generating more energy.

A research team led by Dr Karen Wing Yee YUEN, Associate Professor from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), revealed the mechanism of artificial chromosome (AC) formation in the embryos of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, a 1-mm long, transparent nematode.

While the onion, garlic, scallion, shallot and chives have been on our plates for centuries, becoming staple foods around the world, their group, the genus Allium, seems to be a long way from running out of surprises. Recently, a group of researchers from India described a new onion species from the western Himalaya region, long known to the locals as 'jambu' and 'phran.'

Scientists have gained new insights into the diet, population density and social interactions of a group of Brazilian jaguars.

Researchers have described a novel host strategy for combating viruses such as measles virus that affect the mitochondria, structures within the cell. The presence of the RNA genome of the measles virus activates one pathway of innate immunity, and the release of mitochondrial DNA into the cell through the action of the virus also triggers a separate pathway dependent on a molecule known as cGAS.