#New research reveals how wild rabbits were transformed genetically into tame rabbitsthe genetic changes that transformed wild animals into domesticated forms have long been a mystery.
The domestication of animals and plants a prerequisite for the development of agriculture is one of the most important technological revolutions during human history.
Domestication of animals started as early as 9000 to 15000 years ago and initially involved dogs cattle sheep goats and pigs.
When domestication occurred the wild ancestor the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) was confined to the Iberian peninsula and southern France.
because they are hunted by eagles hawks foxes and humans and therefore must be very alert
In fact Charles darwin wrote In on the Origin of Species that â#no animal is more difficult to tame than the young of the wild rabbit;
scarcely any animal is tamer than the young of the tame rabbit. Darwin used domestic animals as a proof-of-principle that it is possible to change phenotypes by selection.
The scientists involved in the current study have now been able to reveal the genetic basis for this remarkable change in behaviour
and that the accumulation of many small changes led to the inhibition of the strong flight response--one of the most prominent phenotypic changes in the evolution of the domestic rabbitwe predict that a similar process has occurred in other domestic animals
The Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlã¢ntica) is one of the most important and threatened biodiversity hotspots in the world containing the only living examples of nearly 10000 species of plant and more bird species than all of Europe.
and many of the benefits that come from the forest's ecosystem such as pest control and pollination.
--and protect its plants birds and other animals--by paying land owners on a large scale to set aside land for conservation.
Local communities and landowners will benefit not only from regular payments but also from the benefits that a flourishing ecosystem brings.
Jean paul Metzger from the University of SãO Paulo collected data on birds mammals and amphibians living in the forest.
Using mist nets to capture birds as well as pitfall traps to capture mammals and amphibians they painstakingly recorded information on 25000 individuals made up of 140 species of birds 43 species of mammals and 29 species of amphibians.
They collected data in 79 different forest regions across 150 kilometres and estimated that to maintain a similar level of biodiversity
To find new weapons especially against superbugs that resist nearly all antibiotics synthetic chemists pursue the complex process of mimicking the structures of effective natural molecules as they build drug candidates atom by atom.
If you use the sponge that you use to wash dishes research has shown that those sponges actually contain a lot of other bacteria
#Charting the global invasion of crop pestsmany of the world's most important crop-producing countries will be saturated fully with pests by the middle of the century
More than one-in-ten pest types can already be found in around half the countries that grow their host crops.
If this spread advances at its current rate scientists fear that a significant proportion of global crop-producing countries will be overwhelmed by pests within the next 30 years.
Crop pests include fungi bacteria viruses insects nematodes viroids and oomycetes. The research published in the journal Global Ecology
and trends in their spread using global databases to investigate the factors that influence the number of countries reached by pests and the number of pests in each country.
If crop pests continue to spread at current rates many of the world's biggest crop producing nations will be inundated by the middle of the Century posing a grave threat to global food security.
The study identifies the pests likely to be the most invasive in coming years including:
three species of tropical root knot nematode whose larvae infect the roots of thousands of different plant species;
The study looked at the current distributions of 1901 crop pests and pathogens and historical observations of a further 424 species. Significant use was made of historical CABI records which document crop pests and diseases around the world from 1822 to the present day.
Dr Timothy Holmes Head of Technical Solutions at CABI's Plantwise knowledge bank said: By unlocking the potential to understand the distribution of crop pests
and diseases we're moving one step closer to protecting our ability to feed a growing global population.
It supports the view of previous studies that climate change is likely to significantly affect pest pressure on agriculture with the warming Earth having a clear influence on the distribution of crop pests.
The authors also describe the global game of cat -and-mouse as crops are introduced to pest free regions
and briefly thrive before their pursuers catch up with them. Professor Sarah Gurr of Biosciences the University of Exeter added:
New virulent variants of pests are constantly evolving. Their emergence is favoured by increased pest population sizes and their rapid life-cycles
which force diversified selection and heralds the appearance of new aggressive genotypes. There is hope if robust plant protection strategies
The gene was identified in Arabidopsis thaliana a small unassuming plant related to cabbage and canola that is the lab rat of plant research.
#Cheetah menu: Wildlife instead of cattlescientists from the German Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) can give the all-clear:
in a recent study they showed that cheetahs primarily prefer wildlife on their menu. The cheetah is a vulnerable species that only exists on Namibia's commercial farmland in large populations.
Here local farmers see cheetahs as a potential threat for their cattle. The conflict is an old one:
wherever there are carnivorous wild animals farmers are concerned about their livestock. In Namibia the concern refers to the possible threat from cheetahs on cattle.
When farmers in Namibia are missing a bovine calf cheetahs are regularly under suspicion--nowhere else in the world are there as many animals of this vulnerable species as on commercial farmland in Namibia.
But the suspicion can rarely be confirmed without demur. In their recent study scientists of the IZW investigated
whether cattle is on top of the cheetahs'menu. For this purpose they used an indirect method with
which they were able to assess the diet over longer periods. Traditionally carnivore diet is determined by examining samples of fresh faeces.
Faecal samples only provide a snapshot of the diet based on the detected hair and bone samples of prey animals.
One cannot therefore conclude which food items cheetahs devour in the long run explains Christian Voigt from the IZW.
Instead the scientists used samples of cheetah hair to determine the stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen.
Herbivores have different food webs. One is based on shrubs trees and herbs whose photosynthesis contains intermediate products with three carbon atoms (C3).
In contrast grasses exhibit a C4 photosynthesis. These food webs can be differentiated with the help of the involved carbon isotopes.
Herbivores typically only belong to one food web and the isotope ratio hence deposits in their body tissue.
Small antelopes such as springbok or steenbok specialise on shrubs and herbs whereas the oryx antelope feeds on grass--just like the cattle.
One step up in the food chain the isotope ratio of the prey transfers to its predator.
The study shows that herbivores of the C4 food chain to which cattle belong are nearly irrelevant to the cheetah's diet.
when they occur in groups of two or three animals. In this project the IZW scientists collaborated closely with the farmers.
The farmers passed on their experience in dealing with these big cats as cheetahs cannot be lured simply with bait like many other carnivores she adds.
This is owed to the fact that cheetahs only eat prey they brought down themselves. Thus aided by the farmers the scientists installed box traps at marking trees
which were hidden by thorn bushes except for a narrow passage. The only way to reach their tree is passing the trap.
Once a cheetah is captured it is sedated and thoroughly examined: body length and weight are determined samples of blood
and hair are taken and then the scientists release the cheetah equipped with a tracking collar.
We conclude that the farmer's problems are smaller than they had assumed before this study Voigt sums up.
This study published in the scientific online journal PLOS ONE will contribute to the protection of cheetahs--but not in adversity to the interest of the farmers.
therefore an important mile stone to resolve the conflict between farmers and cheetahs. Story Source:
#More wolf spiders feasting on American toads due to invasive grass, study showsan invasive grass species frequently found in forests has created a thriving habitat for wolf spiders who then feed on American toads a new University of Georgia study has found.
In a new study recently published in the journal Ecology UGA researchers found that Japanese stiltgrass also is affecting arachnid predators:
Lycosid spiders commonly known as wolf spiders thrive in the grass. As their numbers grow more spiders then feed on young American toads ultimately reducing the amphibian's survival wherever this grass grows.
John Maerz an associate professor in UGA's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural resources and one of the paper's authors said they found the grass had the greatest negative impact on toad survival in forests where toad survival
was naturally high. In other words the grass is degrading the best forests for young toad survival Maerz said.
Another important finding was that the invasive grass affects toads by changing interactions among native species rather than the grass having a direct effect on the native toads.
Jayna Devore who led the project while earning her doctorate in the Warnell School said people often don't fully realize how much structural changes in an environment can affect how animals interact.
Ecosystems are so incredibly complex that it can be surprisingly difficult to foresee just how environmental changes such as an invasion will affect organisms living in affected areas said Devore who is now a postdoctoral fellow with the University of Sydney in Australia.
When Devore and Maerz originally found lower survival of American toads at eight locations in Georgia where stiltgrass is actively invading they initially speculated that the grass was reducing the toads'food supply by reducing insect populations--few native insects eat the Asian
However after noticing the wolf spiders routinely preying upon toads in invaded habitats it began to click Maerz said.
Spiders are incredible predators he explained and they eat everything--even other spiders. That typically keeps spider populations in check Maerz said
but Japanese stiltgrass is kind of like a tall shag carpet and it provides the cannibalistic spiders refuge from one another.
The accumulation of large predatory spiders in these invaded habitats then results in higher mortality for small toads that have emerged recently from wetlands.
To test their hypothesis Devore and Maerz created cages where they could control the presence of stiltgrass and spiders.
They found that spider densities were 33 percent higher and toad survival decreased by 65 percent in cages with the presence of stiltgrass.
The presence of stiltgrass alone in the absence of spiders did not affect toad survival.
Spiders are actually tremendously important and incredibly abundant predators on the forest floor and they will eat many of the small species that live there
so this effect is unlikely to only influence toads Devore said. And there are also other ways in
which invasion by this Asian plant may influence species on the forest floor. We documented changes in invertebrate densities
and soil characteristics that may affect other species that depend on these invertebrates for prey or are sensitive to changes in soil properties such as moisture
and ph. Devore and Maerz are trying to determine whether the grass invasion is affecting other amphibian species in similar or predictable ways.
It's logistically impossible to test the effects on an environmental change on every species that could be impacted Devore said
and welfare of beef cattle and other ruminant animals suffering from lameness and following castration dehorning and other painful but necessary management procedures.
The most recent data were taken with the Green Bank Telescope's high frequency imaging camera MUSTANG.
MUSTANG-1. 5 the even more-sensitive successor to MUSTANG and ARGUS a camera designed for mapping the distribution of organic molecules in space.
#Museum specimens, modern cities show how an insect pest will respond to climate changeresearchers from North carolina State university have found that century-old museum specimens hold clues to how global climate change
will affect a common insect pest that can weaken and kill trees --and the news is not good.
Recent studies found that scale insect populations increase on oak and maple trees in warmer urban areas which raises the possibility that these pests may also increase with global warming says Dr. Elsa Youngsteadt a research associate at NC State
and lead author of a paper on the work. More scale insects would be a problem
since scales can weaken or kill the trees they live on Youngsteadt says. But cities are unique
whether warming causes scale insect population explosions in rural forests the way it does in cities.
and Georgia. By evaluating the scale insect remains attached to each specimen Youngsteadt estimated scale population density
Scale insect density in rural areas was not as high as it was in the city but there was a common pattern Youngsteadt says Scale insects were most likely to be present on specimens collected during warm historical time periods
and scales were most abundant when temperatures were similar to modern urban Raleigh. Given the shared urban and historical pattern the researchers also predicted that scale insects would be more abundant in rural forests today than in the past as a result of recent climate warming.
To test this prediction Youngsteadt went to 20 sites where historical specimens were collected from 1970 to 1997
and sampled their modern scale insect populations. Sure enough scale abundance had increased at 16 of the 20 sites Youngsteadt says.
Overall we found a total of about five times more scale insects in 2013 than on the historical specimens from the same locations.
The urban and historical data are aligned so well that we can view scale insect populations in cities as a preview of what to expect elsewhere Youngsteadt adds.
It also suggests that we should begin looking at cities for clues to how other insect species will respond to higher global temperatures.
A comparison of herbivore response to urban and global warming is published in the journal Global Change Biology.
which showed that two species of scale insects infesting maple and oak benefit from urban warming.
The outcome of the study at the University's Roseworthy campus published in the journal Animal Reproduction Science is an important finding for pig producers.
Sows don't usually start their oestrous cycles again during lactation only coming on heat after their piglets have been weaned says Ms Alice Weaver Phd candidate with the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences.
Ms Weaver's study investigated whether oestrus could be stimulated while sows were still feeding their piglets so the sows could be mated before their piglets were weaned.
Her project was under the supervision of Dr Will van Wettere who leads a number of research projects in improving pig fertility and life expectancy of piglets.
The research showed that providing sows daily contact with a mature male pig seven days after giving birth is sufficient to stimulate oestrus regardless of
or not says Ms Weaver. We've shown that piglet weaning age should be able to be increased with sows still producing the average 2. 4 litters a year.
#Sheepdogs use simple rules to herd sheepsheepdogs use just two simple rules to round up large herds of sheep scientists have discovered.
For the first time scientists used GPS technology to understand how sheepdogs do their jobs so well. Until now they had no idea how the dogs manage to get so many unwilling sheep to move in the same direction.
NERC fellow Dr Andrew King of Swansea University fitted a flock of sheep and a sheepdog with backpacks containing extremely accurate GPS devices designed by colleagues at the Royal Veterinary College London.
Daniel Strã mbom of Uppsala University and colleagues then used data from these devices together with computer simulations to develop a mathematical shepherding model.
The team found that sheepdogs likely use just two simple rulesl: to collect the sheep
'If you watch sheepdogs rounding up sheep the dog weaves back and forth behind the flock in exactly the way that we see in the model'says King.'
'We had to think about what the dog could see to develop our model. It basically sees white fluffy things in front of it.
If the dog sees gaps between the sheep or the gaps are getting bigger the dog needs to bring them together'he explains.'
'At every time step in the model the dog decides if the herd is cohesive enough or not.
If not cohesive it will make it cohesive but if it's already cohesive the dog will push the herd towards the target'says Strã mbom.'
'Other models don't appear to be able to herd really big groups--as soon as the number of individuals gets above 50 you start needing multiple shepherds
or sheepdogs'he says.''There are numerous applications for this knowledge such as crowd control cleaning up the environment herding of livestock keeping animals away from sensitive areas
and collecting or guiding groups of exploring robots'says King. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Natural Environment Research Council.
and shrubs were regarded now as identical to their distant Australian relatives all of which are serious agricultural pests known there as Burgan.
Furthermore the New zealand Kunzea species provide an important habitat for a wealth of endemic geckos orchids
and expertise at MU including genomics translational experiments with frog eggs research in the field cellular testing
Allergic reactions can have various symptoms including hives swelling of the lips vomiting breathing difficulties and anaphylactic shock.
#Pig pheromone proves useful in curtailing bad behavior in dogsa professor at Texas Tech discovers Androstenone can stop dogs from barking jumping.
In a sense John Mcglone was just like any other pet owner a few years ago. He simply wanted to keep his Cairn terrier from barking incessantly.
Then again Mcglone is not like most dog owners in that he is a professor at Texas Tech University who just happens to specialize in animal welfare and behavior.
And in that capacity he just happened to have a product on hand at his house from a previous research study called Boar Mate an odorous concoction which helps farmers with swine breeding.
So he gave one little spritz to his dog Toto and immediately the dog stopped barking.
Right on the spot.''It was said completely serendipitous Mcglone who works in the Animal and Food Sciences department of the College of Agriculture and Natural sciences.
One of the most difficult problems is that dogs bark a lot and it's one of the top reasons they are given back to shelters or pounds.
Suddenly an idea was born. After extensive testing and publishing of the results and with funding help from Sergeant's pet care products Stop That was developed
and hit store shelves under the Sentry pet products name about a year ago. It has been met with tremendous success by pet owners who were on their last legs in trying to curtail bad behavior in dogs.
My dogs were focused instantly and silenced with one spritz said one product reviewer on Amazon com.
It's changed my life. Assist to pigs Not only did the discovery of this product by Mcglone come by accident it came from a completely different species. Mcglone said Boar Mate contains a pig pheromone defined as substances secreted to the outside by an individual and received by a second individual of the same species in
and also affects dogs through their olfactory system. Androstenone is produced by pigs in their saliva
Mcglone contacted a canine research site he had worked with on previous experiments knowing this site had a wide array of adult dogs both mixed and pure breeds.
He also knew that about half of the 100 dogs there barked constantly and would be perfect for testing.
It doesn't mean it's going to work on a lot of dogs just because it worked on one dog Mcglone said.
It might have been the noise of the spray that stopped them and not the chemical. Mcglone asked Sergeant's to make several spray cans that had the androstenone in different concentrations
Mcglone had four different groups of barking dogs in separate kennels. The first group of dogs simply had a person with another dog stand in front of the kennels.
The second group of dogs was sprayed with a placebo that made the startling spritz noise.
The third group of dogs was sprayed with the noise and a lower concentration(.01â g/ml) of androstenone in isopropyl alcohol.
The fourth group was sprayed with a higher concentration (1. 0 Â g/ml) of androstenone in isopropyl alcohol that also made the spritz sound.
In the first group 25 percent (3 out of 12 dogs) stopped barking. In the second group 44 percent (4 of 9 dogs) stopped barking.
In the third group sprayed with the lower concentration of the pheromone 78 percent (7 of 9 dogs) stopped barking.
In the fourth group sprayed with the higher concentration of androstenone 100 percent (6 of 6 dogs) stopped barking.
We sprayed it in their nose or toward their head while they were barking â#barking
'Mcglone and his group also tested the dogs to see if there were any physiological effects from the spray on the dogs observing them for 10 minutes before
and after being sprayed after outfitting the dogs with telemetry jackets and transmitters to monitor heart rate.
The androstenone had no effect on the dogs'heart rates either before or after being sprayed. Having shown its effectiveness Mcglone was able to classify androstenone not only as a pheromone
but also as an intermone a term developed by him and his team that refers to a product that is a pheromone in one species
and hit the stores as Stop That for both dogs and cats available at Petsmart or through Amazon com.
But Mcglone warns it's not an end-all beat-all to stopping dogs from barking as the effects last just about a minute.
If you continue to spray the dog again it will stop Mcglone said. If you (show the can) they will stop.
It's best used as a training tool rather than a circus act to stop animals from doing
either as he is testing those from dogs cats pigs and horses. For now though there are quite a few pet owners relieved to be able to stop their pets'bad behavior
and not have to resort to giving them up thanks to Stop That. It's kind of an amazing product actually Mcglone said.
#Evolutionary history of honeybees revealed by genomicsin a study published in Nature Genetics researchers from Uppsala University present the first global analysis of genome variation in honeybees.
The findings show a surprisingly high level of genetic diversity in honeybees and indicate that the species most probably originates from Asia
The honeybee (Apis mellifera) is of crucial importance for humanity. One third of our food is dependent on the pollination of fruits nuts and vegetables by bees and other insects.
Extensive losses of honeybee colonies in recent years are a major cause for concern. Honeybees face threats from disease climate change and management practices.
To combat these threats it is important to understand the evolutionary history of honeybees and how they are adapted to different environments across the world.
We have used state-of-the-art high-throughput genomics to address these questions and have identified high levels of genetic diversity in honeybees.
In contrast to other domestic species management of honeybees seems to have increased levels of genetic variation by mixing bees from different parts of the world.
The findings may also indicate that high levels of inbreeding are not a major cause of global colony losses says Matthew Webster researcher at the department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology Uppsala University.
Another unexpected result was that honeybees seem to be derived from an ancient lineage of cavity-nesting bees that arrived from Asia around 300000 years ago and rapidly spread across Europe and Africa.
This stands in contrast to previous research that suggests that honeybees originate from Africa. The evolutionary tree we constructed from genome sequences does not support an origin in Africa this gives us new insight into how honeybees spread
and became adapted to habitats across the world says Matthew Webster. Hidden in the patterns of genome variation are signals that indicate large cyclical fluctuations in population size that mirror historical patterns of glaciation.
This indicates that climate change has impacted strongly honeybee populations historically. Populations in Europe appear to have contracted during ice ages
whereas African populations have expanded at those times suggesting that environmental conditions there were more favourable says Matthew Webster.
and adaptation to climate knowledge that could be vital for protecting honeybees in a rapidly changing world says Matthew Webster.
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