ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News

Crop improvement often involves the transfer of genetic material from one organism to another to produce a valuable trait. Some major examples of crops with these so-called 'transgenes' include disease-resistant cotton and beta-carotene-enhanced golden rice. However, when foreign DNA is introduced into a host organism, a natural defensive response in plants is to repress or silence the expression of the unfamiliar genetic material. This 'silencing,' a process known to involve DNA methylation, is a multimillion-dollar problem in the global agricultural improvement industry.

Researchers have shown that there is a genetic component underlying the amazing spatial memories of Mountain Chickadees. Although the genetic basis for spatial memory has been shown for humans and other mammals, direct evidence of that connection has never before been identified in birds.

A remarkably well-preserved fossil elephant cranium from Kenya is helping scientists understand how its species became the dominant elephant in eastern Africa several million years ago, a time when a cooler, drier climate allowed grasslands to spread and when habitually bipedal human ancestors first appeared on the landscape.

Experts can make crucial decisions about future biodiversity management by using artificial intelligence to learn from past environmental change, according to new research.

Bacteria found in children's upper respiratory systems could help fight chronic middle ear infections, the leading cause of preventable hearing loss and deafness in Indigenous communities.

Cancer researchers show for the first time that cellular senescence, which occurs when aging cells stop dividing, is caused by irreversible damage to the genome rather than simply by telomere erosion.

The sun rises over the Senegalese savannah. The Guinea baboons have spent the night on their sleeping trees and set off together to forage. In order to depart simultaneously as a group and roam together during the day, the animals have to coordinate well. Researchers have studied which animals lead the group and how they decide when and in which direction to set off. They observed Guinea baboons (Papio papio) on their forays for two years. The overarching goal was to elucidate which factors favor despotic versus democratic decisions in groups. The authors found that both males and females initiate group departures and that both sexes are similarly successful in doing so. This pattern distinguishes Guinea baboons from hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas), in which group movements are initiated and led exclusively by males.

Honey bee colonies worldwide have suffered from a range of damaging diseases. A new study has provided clues on how changing weather patterns might be driving disease in UK colonies.