The answer may be found somewhere within the genetics of the sheep and the course of the disease assessment and control of tick populations and biological control of ticks.
in order to reduce pest population levels this is known as biological control. Killing ticks from insideingeborg Klingen Head of Section of Invertebrate Pests at Bioforsk Plant Health and Plant Protection Division and her group are currently conducting field trials with BIPESCO 5
This type of biological control is known as augmentation biological control and is an alternative to chemical control says Klingen.
She sees a potential in using this biological control method in confined recreational areas perhaps in combination with other measures.
We know a great deal about the tick's biology and its natural enemies. In collaboration with the Norwegian Institute of Public health and several other parties we could use this knowledge in a strategy for the control of ticks--also in recreational areas.
and also for how long it is present in the wild after having been applied as a biological control agent.
With the new discovery the scorpions from this genus found in the country go up to a total of five known species. The study was published in the open access journal Zookeys.
Euscorpius is a genus of scorpions commonly called small wood-scorpions. As their name suggest these scorpions don't impress with a large size the biggest representative being around 5 cm long.
Further studies are in progress to understand the quantity and distribution of the different species and populations of the genus Euscorpius in Turkey and their relationship with the Greek populations.
For example the described technique is used to develop tomatoes with resistance to tomato yellow leaf curl virus
The technique includes reliably rearing whiteflies with a specific virus while omitting the possibility of cross-contamination to other viruses--an easily encountered problem because of the sheer number of whiteflies used in testing.
Such contamination would jeopardize the results of an entire experiment. After exposing large numbers of a particular plant species to a specific whitefly-transmitted virus a researcher can then note which individual plants resisted infection and why.
This article outlines how to generate hundreds or thousands of infected plants year-round by exposing them to whiteflies each week.
However the new research which is published in Nature Communications reveals morphological and genetic evidence for management of cattle in north-eastern China around 10000 years ago around the same time the first domestication of taurine
The combination of the age of the jaw the unique wear and genetic signature suggests that this find represents the earliest evidence for cattle management in northeast China;
As well as researchers from the Departments of Biology and Archaeology at York the research team also included scientists from Yunnan Normal University Kunming;
But according to a presentation at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) you may no longer have to avoid the food entirely.
The above story is provided based on materials by American College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI.
and Immunology (ACAAI) found use of ACE inhibitors can cause what is known as a priming effect in oral allergy syndrome sufferers.
The above story is provided based on materials by American College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI.
We are suggesting that a partnership of researchers work closely with farmers to develop the suite of practices that are needed to reduce nutrient losses from agricultural fields said U of I biogeochemist Mark David who has been studying nitrate loss since 1993.
tile bioreactors; constructed wetlands; buffer strips; and conversion of row crops to CRP or perennial crops.
For example end-of-pipe practices such as tile bioreactors or constructed wetlands have substantial construction costs require land to be taken out of production
The Rice lab of bioengineer Jane Grande-Allen found through studies of pigs'heart valves that age plays a critical role in the valves'progressive hardening
The new work detailed in the American Heart Association journal Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology opens up a huge line of investigation Grande-Allen said.
or chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) antifungal agents and additives that synergistically affect the growth of a variety of pathogenic fungi.
Chitosan is a nontoxic biopolymer biocompatible and naturally degradable with antibacterial antiviral and antifungal properties obtained from chitin the main constituent of hard body parts of invertebrates such as the shells of shrimp lobsters crabs
Chitosan and the antifungal additives some based on the identification of molecular targets of chitosan contribute to produce a novel alternative to control fungal diseases
(or COS) and other antifungals and ARL1 gene inhibitor in inhibiting the growth of mold and yeast.
The chitosan or COS and a joint inhibition of some of its gene targets block the cell cycle
and gene expression associated with the Mets . Thus this new study shows even greater potential such that by normalizing oxidative inflammatory response
#Carbon storage recovers faster than plant biodiversity in regrowing tropical forestsa new study of regrowing tropical forests has concluded that plant biodiversity takes longer to recover than carbon storage following major disturbances such as clearance for farming.
The new study is the first large-scale analysis of the recovery of both plant biodiversity
and plant biodiversity. Each site had comparable data for a nearby site that was relatively free of human disturbance.
#In the study the researchers point out that these results show that forests that are regrowing following agricultural use may be more valuable for the carbon they store than for their biodiversity for the first 100 years.
and biodiversity are interchangeable. This work shows this is not the case. Co-author Professor James Bullock from the Centre for Ecology
. While the re-growth of forests following clearance is valuable in soaking up carbon the biodiversity benefits will take a very long time to emerge.#
In a paper scheduled for online publication Nov 5 in the journal PLOS Biology University of Michigan ecologist Elizabeth Pringle
All plant-animal mutualisms may employ a similar insurance model according to Pringle a postdoctoral fellow in the Michigan Society of Fellows and an assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and at the School of Natural resources and Environment.
The findings reported in PLOS Biology are based on observations as well as field experiments physiological data and an evolutionary model.
therefore reflect genetic adaptations to local conditions the researchers suggest. It's important that the key environmental factor in this system is rainfall
As the climate changes the increased frequency of extreme weather events such as drought may act together with rare biological events such as outbreaks of insect pests to profoundly alter the ecology and evolution of plant-animal interactions.
A report of the research is published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters this week.'
and won't be around to pass on their genes the next summer.''Because small birds can't reproduce without surviving the winter they have evolved a complex set of behaviours that enables them to maximise their chance of both surviving predators
but luckily for biologists there are tree rings. Beginning at a tree trunk's dense core and moving out to the soft bark the passage of time is marked by concentric rings revealing chapters of the tree's history.
But like biologists reading tree rings astronomers can read the rings in a galaxy's disk to unravel its past.
The bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) is one of the main causes of respiratory disease in cattle.
A study of the prevalence and infection distribution of the virus shows that it is possible to control the virus
The BRS virus is equivalent to the human RS virus and causes most of the cases of serious pneumonia that lead to fatalities in calves and to epidemics
and infection distribution of the virus between Norwegian cattle herds and found that during the course of one year nearly half of the cattle herds were infected newly
It therefore appears that the virus does not survive for a long time in one herd and that it should be possible to reduce the number of infections by preventing the herds becoming reinfected.
The infection dynamics of the BRSV virus was studied in 134 randomly selected Norwegian dairy herds.
Five calves in the herds were tested for antibodies against this virus and then again six months later.
if at least one animal aged between 150-365 days was shown to have antibodies against the virus The young age of the animals tested would indicate that they probably were infected quite recently i e. during the course of the last year.
The prevalence of the virus varied a great deal in different parts of the country. Several herds with negative test results were located in close proximity to herds infected by the virus
and some of the former remained free of the virus in spite of the presence of several newly infected herds in the neighbouring area.
This indicates that it is possible to prevent a herd becoming infected even in areas with a high prevalence of the virus. 42%of the herds that showed negative results on the first test showed positive results during the following six months.
The frequency of new infections was the same irrespective of the season. 33%of the herds
The findings of this study indicate that monitoring the prevalence of the virus in order to identify negative herds
#Genetic study demonstrates Israels wild boars originated in Europewild boars look more or less the same in Israel as they do anywhere else:
After a genetic and archaeological analysis the researchers suggest the wild boars living in Israel are domesticated descendants of pigs brought to Israel starting almost 3000 years ago by the Philistines and other seafaring raiders.
Genetics researchers divide the pigs of the world into three main groups: European Far Eastern and Near Eastern.
To the researchers'surprise each of the 25 modern-day wild boars they analyzed from Israel share a European genetic signature
whereas modern-day boars from nearby countries like Egypt Syria Turkey Armenia Iraq and Iran have a Near Eastern genetic signature.
and the beginning of the Iron age display the local Near Eastern genetic signature while a European genetic signature appears early in the Iron age around 900 BCE
and has been dominant ever since. Domestic European pig breeds may have been introduced by groups of Sea Peoples--including the Philistines mentioned in the Bible--who migrated to the coast of the Levant starting in the 12th century BCE and settled in places like Gaza Ashkelon and Ashdod.
#Gene responsible for hereditary cancer found to disrupt growth-regulating cellular pathwaywhitehead Institute scientists report that the gene mutated in the rare hereditary disorder known as Birt-Hogg-Dub cancer syndrome
In the case of Birt-Hogg-Dub syndrome the mutated gene prevents mtorc1 pathway activation early in the formation of tumors.
and that's a major contribution says Sabatini who is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and a professor of biology at MIT.
For the first time we have a biochemical function that's associated with it. And in my view that's an important first step to understanding how it might be involved in cancer.
In the early 2000s scientists determined that mutations in the gene coding for FLCN caused the rare cancer Birt-Hogg-Dub syndrome
which means that a child inheriting one mutated copy of the FLCN gene will eventually develop the syndrome.
Usually diseases are described first then the responsible gene or genes are identified and then that gene's molecular function is figured out says Tsun.
And you need to know the gene's function before you can start working on drugs or therapy.
We've done that third step which is a very important discovery for these patients.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. The original article was written by Nicole Giese Rura.
The new research published in October in the journal Molecular Biosystems is part of a worldwide effort to create fuels from plants that are plentiful
and that scientists will be able to assess more options for biofuel development than is possible today.
Seventy years later T. reesei is a star in the world of biofuels because of its ability to churn out enzymes that chew through molecules like complex sugars.
That would bring down the cost of producing biofuels. Wright's study focused on a subset of the fungus's collection of cutting tools on enzymes known as glycoside hydrolases.
Given the large additional area it would require such an approach would also not avert climate change spare biodiversity
and that also benefits from the yield increases made possible by biotechnology and inorganic fertilisers.
#Sex determiner gene of honey bee more complicated than thoughtbee colonies consist of a queen bee lots of female worker bees and some male drones.
The gene that determines the sex of the bees is much more complex than has been assumed up until now
This is the finding of an international team of scientists under the direction of Dr. Martin Hasselmann of the Institute for Genetics of the University of Cologne.
The study has been published in the Oxford journal Molecular biology and Evolution. Male honey bees (Apis mellifera) hatch from unfertilized eggs and females from fertilized ones.
In these fertilized eggs the condition of the complementary sex determiner (csd) gene is of crucial significance for the creation of female workers.
The queen bee who in the course of their mating flight mate with different drones multiple times passes on to fertilized eggs a random combinations of two csd copies so-called alleles.
If these alleles are different enough they develop into a female. If the csd gene in contrast is present in the fertilized eggs in two identical versions diploid drones develop.
These are eaten however by worker bees after they hatch. Up until now it was assumed that there were up to 20 csd alleles.
In the dataset which the research team under the direction of Hasselmann collected from all over the world
however 53 csd alleles found in localities in Kenya) and worldwide at least csd 87 alleles.
Using an evolutionary model the scientists extrapolated 116--145 csd alleles. New csd alleles were created in a relatively quick period for evolution: ca. every 400000 years.
A region inside the csd gene in particular represents a hot-spot with a high evolutionary rate that together with certain amino acid mutations decisively contributes to the formation of new csd alleles in the flanking regions.
The vitality of a bee population depends on amongst other things the genetic diversity of sex determining alleles.
These new findings are therefore very important for apiculture for minimizing the danger of inbreeding and thereby the production of diploid drones.
PD Dr. Martin Hasselmann has been the director of the research group Population Genetics of Social Insects at the University of Cologne as a DFG Heisenberg stipendiary since May 2012.
His research foci include the social insects honey bees bumble bees and stingless bees the unique biology
of which can be used as models to decipher the genetic fundaments of environmental interaction and evolutionary innovation.
#Chickens to benefit from biofuels bonanzachickens could be unexpected the beneficiaries of the growing biofuels industry feeding on proteins retrieved from the fermenters used to brew bioethanol thanks to research supported by the Engineering and Physical sciences Research Council (EPSRC.
The project was born out of the vision of biofuels pioneer Dr Pete Williams of AB Agri who was convinced valuable material was being overlooked
Dr Burton believes the project helps address an issue often raised in connection with cereal-based biofuels:
He is corresponding author of a study published online Oct 24 in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences.
This case represents the first record of conifer-feeding behavior in this family as well as the first specialist herbivore in the genus. Meanwhile the background match between Picea leaves
Professor Martã n RÃ os states that asthma is caused an illness by several factors (genetic propensity environment food etc.
and sent them to 289 preselected forest plots to measure the number of trees tree girth and biomass per hectare.
and equipment community members with limited education can accurately monitor forest biomass--previously thought to be the domain of highly-trained professionals.
and overwintering habitat loss are probably the main culprits said Karen Oberhauser a monarch biologist at the University of Minnesota
Gary Wellborn professor of biology in the OU College of Arts and Sciences and director of the Oklahoma Biological Station;
Our study documented the specific genetic changes that allow the amphipods to survive at 500-times the normal lethal dose of the pesticide says Wellborn.
We are using this study to warn Peruvians on the terrible impact of illegal mining in one of the most important enclaves of biodiversity in the world a place that we have vowed as a nation to protect for all humanity.
because we're talking about a global biodiversity hotspot. The region's incredible flora and fauna is being lost to gold fever.
and science the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular biology and Applied Ecology IME has optimized the cultivation and production engineering over the past few years.
This is why molecular biologists at IME and the research department of the automotive supplier built a pilot facility in MÃ nster that is capable of producing natural rubber by the ton.
and the properties of the blossom the researchers concurrently grew new varieties with a higher proportion of rubber and biomass yield.
With the aid of DNA markers we now know which gene is responsible for which molecular feature.
Prã fer is gathering comprehensive raw data for the first time on the individual varieties on their rubber content and on the biological mechanisms of production.
The yield of a crop depends on the genetic characteristics of the variety soil climate and crop management.
In the October 28 2013 online issue of Global Change Biology Robert Warren assistant professor of biology at SUNY Buffalo State and co-author Mark A. Bradford assistant professor in the Yale School of Forestry
#Surprises discovered in decoded kiwifruit genomea new study that decoded the DNA sequence of the kiwifruit has concluded that the fruit has many genetic similarities between its 39040 genes
The study also has unveiled two major evolutionary events that occurred millions of years ago in the kiwifruit genome.
The genome sequence will serve as a valuable resource for kiwifruit research and may facilitate the breeding program for improved fruit quality
when an extensive expansion of genes arose from an entire extra copy of the genome followed by extensive gene loss.
Fei explains The kiwifruit genome has undergone two recent whole-genome duplication events. When genes are duplicated the extra genes can mutate to perform entirely new functions that were not previously present in the organism.
This process called neofunctionalization can occur with no adverse effects in plants and in the case of kiwifruit was quite beneficial.
The duplication contributed to adding additional members of gene families that are involved in regulating important kiwifruit characteristics such as fruit vitamin C flavonoid
They then compared kiwifruit to the genomes of other representative plant species including tomato rice grape and the mustard weed Arabidopsis.
They uncovered about 8000 genes that were common among all five species. The comparison revealed important evolutionary relationships including the development genes related to fruit growth ripening nutrient metabolism and disease resistance.
but genome sequence data critical for its breeding and improvement had never been available. The kiwifruit genome sequence represents the first of a member in the Order ericales
thus providing a valuable resource for comparative genomics and evolutionary studies Fei says. We expect to continue generating genome sequences from other kiwifruit varieties to investigate the genetic diversity of kiwifruit
and elucidate regulatory networks of important biological processes. The sequence is accessible online at the Kiwifruit Genome Database.
Cornell University has television and ISDN radio studios available for media interviews. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Cornell University.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e
#The most widespread ant and its new relative: A revision of the genus Paratrechinalong considered to be one of the most species-rich ant genera latest research has stripped the ant genus Paratrechina down to a single species-Paratrechina longicornis.
This particular ant is one of the most widely distributed found in nearly every tropical and subtropical location on the planet due to accidental human transport
and is considered one of the world's worst invasive ant species. A recent review of the genus in the open access Journal of Hymenoptera Research announces the discovery of a second species P. zanjensis which presents a step forward into determining the native
Miombo is the Swahili word for the Brachystegia genus of trees which are an important tree species within miombo woodlands.
Given the economic and ecological impacts of Paratrechina longicornis discovering a close relative may provide us with insights into the biology of one of the world's worst invasive ant species. For instance
now that we know another species exist within the genus comparative studies can begin to perhaps understand the attributes that make P. longicornis such a good biological invader says Dr. John S Lapolla of Towson University USA.
Due to this wide distribution and easy adaptation of P. longicornis the determination of its native range has proved a challenge to biologists.
and that the discovery of a new species native to Africa makes Paratrechina yet another example of an ant genus that possesses an Afro-asian distribution. explains Dr. John S. Lapolla.
thus benefitting crops and biodiversity on the islands. A recent survey by Mr Abhineshwar Prasad of The University of the South Pacific reported over 100 species of arthropods associated with road side patches of S. trilobata including Hymenoptera such as parasitoid wasps
Conservation areas such as Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls which formerly contained the highest biomass of mammals On earth depend on the delicate balance between predators
These results are good news for the effort to rebuild salmon populations in California said lead author Jacob Katz a biologist with California Trout.
The Ige-deficient mutant mice were developed previously by Hans Oettgen MD Phd associate professor of pediatric immunology at Harvard Medical school
Their findings published this week in the journal PLOS ONE could shed light on the current decline in bee species. Lead author Sandra Rehan an assistant professor of biological sciences at UNH worked with colleagues Michael Schwarz at Australia
Indeed the findings of this study have important implications for today's concern about the loss in diversity of bees a pivotal species for agriculture and biodiversity.
Subsurface drainage bioreactors--often called wood chip trenches --and specialized wetland systems also reduce nutrient export.
#Ignorance is sometimes blissfor the Oct 16 issue of Biology Letters a special issue commemorating the 50th anniversary of W. D. Hamilton's famous paper on kin selection two Washington University
in St louis biologists contributed an article describing intriguing exceptions to one of his predictions. The basic idea of natural selection is to pass on your genes
but Hamilton pointed out in an article that revolutionized the study of social evolution that you can pass on genes by helping your relatives as well as your offspring.
Hamilton predicted that organisms ought to evolve the ability to discriminate degrees of kinship more and more finely.
Genes that made them choosy would survive to future generations because the organisms would direct help to those individuals with whom they shared the most genes.
True say evolutionary biologists David Queller Phd the Spencer T. Olin Professor of Biology in Arts
& Sciences and Joan Strassmann Phd the Charles Rebstock Professor of Biology but there also seem to be many cases where a veil of ignorance prevents organisms from gaining this kind of information.
That forces them to consider a situation from the perspective of all members of their group instead of solely from their own perspective or that of their close kin.
But in others such as honeybee colonies the queen mates with multiple males and so there are 17 or 20 sets of paternal genes
Within-colony kin blindess is one example that shows how the benefits of cooperation can trump fine gradations of genetic relatedness she said.
Lifting the veil Hamilton predicted that kin recognition might reach all the way down to genes. He said it was possible that one gene might be able to detect other organisms carrying a copy of itself.
He was right. The red fire ant for example has a gene that worker offspring can recognize
and workers with this gene kill all queens that don't have it. Genes like this one are called greenbeards
because they confer an externally visible label that allows them to spot copies of themselves
much as if every man with a certain gene dyed his beard green. But what about the mother's genes and the father's genes in an embryo?
These long have been thought to lack self-identity and to be shrouded under their own veil of ignorance the assumption being that both sets of genes work for the common good.
We now know that some genes are marked as maternal or paternal through the addition of methyl groups while they are in the egg or sperm.
As a result of marking called imprinting the veil of ignorance is lifted. Considerable evidence suggests that imprinting leads to conflict between the matrigenes
and the patrigenes in the embryo Queller said. A mouse for example can mate with more than one male
It's in the interest of the father's genes to produce large offspring that compete for maternal resources at the expense of other pups.
And it's in the interest of the mother's genes that all of her offspring survive to adulthood
Not surprisingly many of the genes that are imprinted are involved somehow in growth and metabolism. The father's trying to crank up something that causes the offspring to get more
The phrase veil of ignorance is not original to biology. It comes from a long tradition of thinking about the social contract in human societies.
it's a matter of biology. But sometimes biological individuals or groups are able to arrive at something that resembles a social contract.
They don't do it consciously but sometimes it works out that way. But he then gives an example where the veil of ignorance produces injustice.
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