ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News |
| How superbugs uses mirror images to create antibiotic resistance Posted: 17 Feb 2022 03:17 PM PST Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterial infection that has become resistant to most of the antibiotics used to treat regular staph infections. Computer scientists are working to develop new enzyme inhibitors to fight MRSA. In recent research, the team discovered how a single small mutation makes a big difference in drug efficacy. |
| Engineered bacterial strains could fertilize crops, reduce waterways pollution Posted: 17 Feb 2022 01:30 PM PST Researchers have engineered strains of the ubiquitous, nitrogen-fixing soil bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii to produce ammonia and excrete it at high concentrations, transferring it into crop plants in lieu of conventional chemical fertilizers. |
| An easier way to grow model organs Posted: 17 Feb 2022 12:52 PM PST A laboratory has developed a new, significantly simpler way of cultivating a 3D model of the intestine that leads to increased complexity and organization. |
| Fewer rainy days leading to earlier spring in northern climes Posted: 17 Feb 2022 12:52 PM PST A drop in the total number of rainy days each year is contributing to an earlier arrival of spring for plants in northern climates, a new study finds. |
| New medicines for treating heart patients Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:13 AM PST New research discovered a unique class of medications that act as blood thinners by inhibiting an enzyme in the genes of tick saliva. The research focused on novel direct thrombin inhibitors from tick salivary transcriptomes, or messenger RNA molecules expressed by an organism. The result is the development of new anticoagulant medications that can be used to treat patients with a variety of coronary issues, including heart attacks. |
| CROPSR: A new tool to accelerate genetic discoveries Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:13 AM PST Scientists have developed CROPSR, the first open-source software tool for genome-wide design and evaluation of guide RNA (gRNA) sequences for CRISPR/Cas9 experiments. This tool significantly shortens the time required to design a CRISPR experiment and reduces the challenge of working with complex crop genomes. It should accelerate bioenergy crop development as well as broader crop improvements and other gene-editing research. |
| Scientists reveal how Venus fly trap plants snap shut Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:13 AM PST Scientists have revealed the three-dimensional structure of Flycatcher1, an aptly named protein channel that may enable Venus fly trap plants to snap shut in response to prey. The structure of Flycatcher1 helps shed light on longstanding questions about the remarkably sensitive touch response of Venus fly traps. The structure also gives the researchers a better understanding of how similar proteins in organisms including plants and bacteria, as well as proteins in the human body with similar functions (called mechanosensitive ion channels), might operate. |
| More evidence suggests self-awareness is also for some fish Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:13 AM PST Researchers address criticisms to previous work by providing additional evidence to suggest the cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus has Mirror Self-Recognition. |
| Groundbreaking study finds widespread lead poisoning in bald and golden eagles Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:13 AM PST A first-of-its-kind, eight-year study has found widespread and frequent lead poisoning in North American bald and golden eagles impacting both species' populations. Researchers evaluated lead exposure in bald and golden eagles from 2010 to 2018. |
| Reducing negative impacts of Amazon hydropower expansion on people and nature Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:13 AM PST Rapid hydroelectric dam expansion in the Amazon poses a serious threat to Earth's largest and most biodiverse river basin. There are 158 dams in the Amazon River basin, with another 351 proposed; these projects are typically assessed individually, with little coordinated planning. A new study provides a computational approach for evaluating basin-level tradeoffs between hydropower and ecosystem services, with the goal of guiding sustainable dam siting. |
| Flies possess more sophisticated cognitive abilities than previously known Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST Common flies feature more advanced cognitive abilities than previously believed. Using a custom-built immersive virtual reality arena, neurogenetics and real-time brain activity imaging, researchers found attention, working memory and conscious awareness-like capabilities in fruit flies. |
| Tall trees in the Amazon can suffer from warmer temperatures Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST Tall trees in Central Amazonia are impacted by periods of high maximum temperatures, which can cause them to shed their leaves and branches. With deforestation increasing, forests are becoming fragmented and this exposes their interiors and increases the temperatures they experience, making these losses even worse. With climate change jeopardizing tall trees around the world, this new evidence of spiraling negative effects from fragmentation is bad news, and highlights the urgent need to reduce deforestation in the Amazon. |
| Scientists pinpoint genetic target with promise for treating many forms of blindness Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST Developing therapies for genetic forms of blindness is extremely challenging, in part because they vary so widely, but scientists have now highlighted a target with great promise for treating a range of these conditions. The scientists have highlighted that a specific gene (SARM1) is a key driver in the damage that ultimately leads to impaired vision (and sometimes blindness), and -- in a disease model -- showed that deleting this gene protects vision after a chemical kick-starts the chain of dysfunction that mimics a host of ocular conditions. |
| Nano-sized plastics may enter and permeate cell membranes Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST Researchers have used molecular modelling methods to investigate the movement of nano-sized plastics in membrane structures. The results indicate that for some microplastics, passive transport through the cell membrane may be a significant gateway into the cell. |
| Discovery of key protein in malaria parasite opens door to novel treatment Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST An international team has discovered a protein that plays a key biological role in a parasite that causes malaria. Deactivating this protein reduces in vitro growth of Plasmodium falciparum, the protozoa behind the most virulent form of the disease, by more than 75%. |
| Less antibiotic use in dentistry gave no increase in endocarditis Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST Sweden is one of the few countries that have removed the dental health recommendation to give prophylactic antibiotics to people at a higher risk of infection of the heart valves, so-called infective endocarditis. Since the recommendation was removed in 2012, there has been no increase in this disease, a registry study shows. |
| Temperature, reproduction link holds promise for insect control Posted: 17 Feb 2022 10:47 AM PST Scientists have uncovered a set of neurons in fruit flies that shut down in cold temperatures and slow reproduction, a system conserved in many insects, including mosquitoes, which could provide a target for pest control. |
| Musicians, chemists use sound to better understand science Posted: 17 Feb 2022 10:19 AM PST A team of researchers from music, chemistry and computer science is using sound to better understand biochemical processes such as the physical mechanisms of protein folding. |
| A fish story with a human tell Posted: 17 Feb 2022 09:23 AM PST Elephant sharks offer a novel perspective on how humans evolved. A new study parses some previously unexplained reproductive differences. |
| The surprising structural reason your kitchen sponge is disgusting Posted: 17 Feb 2022 09:23 AM PST Researchers have uncovered a basic but surprising fact: your kitchen sponge is a better incubator for diverse bacterial communities than a laboratory Petri dish. But it's not just the trapped leftovers that make the cornucopia of microbes swarming around so happy and productive, it's the structure of the sponge itself. |
| Rare bacterial strain isolated and sequenced Posted: 17 Feb 2022 07:20 AM PST Certain types of bacteria are unable to survive and thrive outside host organisms. This makes their isolation and identification technically challenging. Recently, a researcher successfully isolated a new bacterial strain of the candidate bacterial group, Candidatus phylum Dependentiae, from a pond. |
| Independent evolution of a complex sucking pump in arthropods Posted: 17 Feb 2022 07:20 AM PST Whether nectar-sucking butterflies or blood-sucking mosquitoes - the ingestion of liquid food has long been known for many insects and other arthropods. A research team now shows that millipedes also use a sucking pump to ingest liquid food. A sucking pump has thus evolved independently in different groups of organisms over several 100 million years. In the process, astonishingly similar biomechanical solutions for ingesting liquid food have evolved in widely distant animal groups. |
| Explosive fossil fruit found buried beneath ancient Indian lava flows Posted: 17 Feb 2022 07:20 AM PST Just before the closing scenes of the Cretaceous Period, India was a rogue subcontinent on a collision course with Asia. Before the two landmasses merged, however, India rafted over a 'hot spot' within the Earth's crust, triggering one of the largest volcanic eruptions in Earth's history, which likely contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs. In a recent study, scientists excavating the fossilized remains of plant material wedged between layers of volcanic rock describe a new plant species based on the presence of distinctive fruit capsules that likely exploded to disperse their seeds. |
| Core strength could help dogs avoid knee injuries Posted: 17 Feb 2022 06:07 AM PST Agility dogs lacking core strength from routine physical exercise may be more susceptible to one of the most common canine knee injuries, a cranial cruciate ligament rupture, which is similar to an ACL tear in humans. According to a research survey documenting activity and injury odds of more than 1,200 agility dogs, just about any physical exercise seems to lower the risk of rupturing the ligament, but some exercises seem to increase the risk. In addition, the size and shape of the dog -- and thereby certain breeds -- were also found to be at higher risk. Balance and core strengthening exercises as well as activities like dock diving, barn hunt and scent work are associated with a decreased rate of ligament rupture. |
| All abuzz: Larvicidal flavonoids inhibit key enzyme in yellow fever mosquitoes Posted: 16 Feb 2022 05:48 PM PST Researchers have discovered how certain flavonoids -- a type of metabolic product from plants and other organisms -- can kill yellow fever mosquito larvae. These compounds inhibit an enzyme, called Nobo, which is used to synthesize ecdysone, a key hormone in the life cycle of insects. The most efficient flavonoid tested, desmethylglycitein (DMG), could be used to make new types of insecticides to replace current ones, to which mosquitoes are becoming resistant. |
| Unexpected findings detailed in new portrait of HIV Posted: 16 Feb 2022 12:39 PM PST Using powerful tools and techniques developed in the field of structural biology, researchers have discovered new details about the human immunodeficiency virus, HIV. |
| City trees and soil are sucking more carbon out of the atmosphere than previously thought Posted: 16 Feb 2022 12:39 PM PST Research uncovers new information about the role that forest edges play in buffering global impacts of climate change and urbanization. |
| eDNA a useful tool for early detection of invasive green crab Posted: 16 Feb 2022 11:04 AM PST As the green crab invasion in Washington state worsens, a new analysis method could help contain future invasions and prevent new outbreaks using water testing and genetic analysis. |
| Orangutans instinctively use hammers to strike and sharp stones to cut, study finds Posted: 16 Feb 2022 11:02 AM PST Untrained, captive orangutans can complete two major steps in the sequence of stone tool use: striking rocks together and cutting using a sharp stone, according to a new study. |
| How plants evolved to colonize land over 500-million years ago Posted: 16 Feb 2022 10:03 AM PST Scientists analyzing one of the largest genomic datasets of plants have discovered how the first plants on Earth evolved the mechanisms used to control water and 'breathe' on land hundreds of millions of years ago. The study has important implications in understanding how plant water transport systems have evolved and how these might adapt in future in response to climate change. |
| New study illuminates how tiny flies solve complex navigational challenges Posted: 16 Feb 2022 10:03 AM PST The Gnat Ogre is a tiny predator that grabs other insects out of the air, catching them with extreme precision. New research reveals how and may have implications for future nature-inspired innovations. |
| SARS-CoV-2 protein targeted by immune cells also triggers response in bat coronaviruses, study shows Posted: 16 Feb 2022 09:18 AM PST A future vaccine providing protection against a wide range of coronaviruses that jump from their original animal hosts to humans -- including SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19 -- may be possible, say researchers. |
| Posted: 16 Feb 2022 09:18 AM PST Researchers have shown that commensal microbes in the mouth, in contrast to commensal microbes colonizing other body surfaces, e.g., the gut or skin, modulate immune responses in the jaw bone that promote bone-resorbing osteoclasts and bone loss. In a preclinical model, depleting healthy commensal microbes in the mouth, using an antiseptic oral rinse, was shown to protect against this bone loss. |
| Posted: 16 Feb 2022 08:23 AM PST Researchers have identified a case of a sudden evolutionary change. In a new study, the scientists describe a population of columbines that have lost their petals, including the characteristic nectar spurs. The finding adds weight to the idea that adaptation can occur in large jumps, rather than merely plodding along over extended timespans. |
| Posted: 16 Feb 2022 08:22 AM PST A new study found that in a marine environment, microplastics absorb and concentrate toxic organic substances and thus increase their toxicity by a factor of 10, which may lead to a severe impact on human health. |
| Posted: 16 Feb 2022 08:22 AM PST Due to human-caused pressures and global warming, some soils in Europe's Mediterranean region are reaching what the researchers refer to as 'critical limits for their ability to provide ecosystem services,' which include farming and absorbing carbon, among others. Perhaps even more troubling, the problem could be even more extensive than we realize, says an author of a new study. |
| Preclinical study finds gut fungi influence neuroimmunity and behavior Posted: 16 Feb 2022 08:22 AM PST A specific group of fungi residing in the intestines can protect against intestinal injury and influence social behavior, according to new preclinical research. The findings extend a growing body of work identifying a 'gut-immunity-brain axis,' a signaling system that may have a wide range of effects on physiology in both health and disease, influenced not only by the body's own cells but also the resident microbes. |
| Hidden diversity: When one wasp species is actually 16 wasp species Posted: 16 Feb 2022 07:30 AM PST Some undiscovered species are hiding right under our noses. Ormyrus labotus, a tiny parasitoid wasp known to science since 1843, has long been considered a generalist with more than 65 host species. But a new study suggests wasps currently called Ormyrus labotus are actually at least 16 different species, identical in appearance but genetically distinct. |
| The immune system also helps a healthy body Posted: 16 Feb 2022 06:58 AM PST Were you also under the impression that the immune system only kicks in when you get sick? In fact, new research shows the immune system is also busy when you're perfectly healthy. For instance, it helps you convert fat into energy when you're fasting. |
| Ancestors of legionella bacteria infected cells two billion years ago Posted: 15 Feb 2022 01:34 PM PST Researchers have discovered that the ancestors of legionella bacteria infected eukaryotic cells as early as two billion years ago. It happened soon after eukaryotes began to feed on bacteria. These results are also relevant to the chicken-or-egg debate about whether mitochondria or phagocytosis came first. |
| Stay on the sunny side: Optimistic animal foragers have better lives in behavior model Posted: 15 Feb 2022 12:29 PM PST A new model for animal foraging considered 'valence-dependent optimism bias' -- a lopsided learning process in which information about bad outcomes is discounted or ignored. The model shows that when faced with decisions, foraging animals that gave mental weight to positive outcomes had an on-the-ground caloric advantage. |
| Driving conservation efforts with DNA data Posted: 15 Feb 2022 09:55 AM PST An international team of conservation experts has revealed how ancient and historical DNA (a/hDNA), such as genetic data from specimens stored in natural history museums, can be used to assess population genetic patterns and processes that are relevant for endangered species. |
| Stem cell infusion boosts sepsis survival in mice Posted: 15 Feb 2022 08:34 AM PST A one-time infusion of stem cells from bone marrow improves the survival of mice with sepsis. |
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