We think the surfactant used to suspend them in biological media is stripped off when they pass through the cell membrane.
The nanotube surfaces can be modified to improve biocompatibility and their ability to target certain types of cells.
ndez-Rivera former postdoctoral researcher Diana Yoon and Antonios Mikos the Louis Calder Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical and Biomolecular engineering all of Rice;
A new study co-authored by University of Florida researchers shows about 70 percent of published genetic sequence comparisons are not publicly accessible leaving researchers worldwide unable to get to critical data
Scientists are using the genetic data to construct the largest open-access tree of life as part of the National Science Foundation's $5. 6-million Assembling Visualizing
The study appearing today in PLOS Biology describes a significant challenge for the project which is expected to produce an initial draft tree by the end of the year.
Soltis said the missing genetic data has required project collaborators to contact hundreds of researchers to request information
#Promiscuity and sperm selection improves genetic quality in birdsnew research from the University of East Anglia has shown that females can maximise the genetic quality of their offspring by being promiscuous.
The genes in question (Major Histocompatibility Complex; MHC) play a key role in detecting and fighting infections.
Prof David S Richardson from UEA's school of Biological sciences said: Our research has shown that the females don't need to choose between males to produce the most healthy offspring.
and that they avoid artificial insemination which could lead to the genetic health of bred stocks being weaker.
The research was funded by Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) the Biotechnology and Biological sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Stockholm University the Schwartz'foundation Lars Hierta's foundation Knut & Alice
#Whole genome sequencing provides researchers with a better understanding of bovine TB outbreaksthe use of whole bacterial genome sequencing will allow scientists to inexpensively track how bovine tuberculosis (TB) is transmitted from farm to farm according to research presented this week
at the Society of General Microbiology Autumn Conference. Bovine TB is primarily a disease of cattle caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis.
and Biosciences Institute and the Department of agriculture and Rural development Northern ireland sequenced the genomes of 147 M. bovis samples collected over a decade of outbreaks in Northern ireland.
Hannah Trewby who is presenting this work says The inclusion of whole genome information in our data will give us unprecedented insight into how bovine TB spreads
While we do not yet have sufficient data to be definitive it is clear that whole genome sequencing of the bacterium will play an important part in solving this puzzle.
The above story is provided based on materials by Society for General Microbiology. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length t
A total of 211 participants ages 26 to 57 years had expanded an CAG repeat length (7) a certain genetic characteristic.
The research team--which included Jesse Nippert associate professor of biology--spent four years studying centuries-old eastern red cedar trees or Juniperus virginiana in the Central Appalachian mountains of West virginia.
The principal investigator on the project was Richard Thomas professor of biology at West Virginia University.
#Scientists sequence genome of high-value grape, seek secrets of wines aromademystifying the chemical processes that create a wine's aroma
and the invaluable potential application of that understanding in winemaking is the new objective of scientists in Uruguay who with European partners also recently sequenced the genome of the high-value Tannat grape from
the UN University's Venezuela-based BIOLAC programme which in 2013 marks 25 years of advancing regional economic and health interests by building biotech science throughout Latin america and the Caribbean.
Sequencing the grape's genome will allow vintners to protect a valuable niche in the world's $300 billion wine industry.
and other environmental factors affect the expression of genes in grapes and the chemistry of wine's aromas and color.
If we can determine through biotechnology the factors that determine a wine's aroma and color we can potentially apply that information to create more pleasing and valuable products.
Discovering in more detail the health-promoting compound in the Tannat grape requires us to continue work on its genome.
Crop pests include fungi bacteria viruses insects nematodes viroids and oomycetes. The diversity of crop pests continues to expand
A case of multiple genetic adaptationsa genetic phenomenon that allows for the selection of multiple genetic mutations that all lead to a similar outcome--for instance the ability to digest milk--has been characterised for the first time in humans.
and reveals that individuals from the Eastern African population have adapted to be able to digest milk but via different mutations in their genetic material.
A team of geneticists from UCL University of Addis ababa and Roskilde University have shown that five different alleles are found in the Ethiopian population that cause adult lactase production one of which is confirmed newly.
Their study is published in The American Journal of Human genetics. Professor Dallas Swallow from the Department of Genetics Evolution and Environment senior author of the paper said:
Our genetic make-up determines our ability to digest milk into adulthood. Just over a third of the global population have inherited genes that allow us to make lactase the enzyme that digests milk as adults.
This study shows that several different genetic changes that allow our bodies to make lactase have emerged independently.
Changes to our lifestyle over the past 10000 years--including diet altitude acclimatisation and infectious disease resistance--will likely have caused many genetic adaptations of this kind.
We need lactase when we are babies to digest our mother's milk so in babies large amounts of lactase enzyme are expressed by our genes.
When we are older we no longer rely on our mother's milk for essential nutrients so in most humans manufacture of the lactase enzyme stops through de-activation of the corresponding gene.
However subtle mutations in the regulatory region of the gene in some individuals cause lactase to carry on being expressed into adulthood.
Different mutations are likely to affect lactase expression using slightly different mechanisms. This parallel selection of different gene mutations that have the same phenotypic effect--in this case lactase persistence--is known as a soft selective sweep.
Soft selective sweeps have not been described so clearly before in humans one reason being caused that variations by soft selective sweeps are more likely to be caused by genetic mutations in regulatory sequences rather than mutations found in coding regions of genes.
Most statistical methods that analyse genetic variation assume we are looking for only one variation as the cause of genetic adaptation.
But in soft selective sweep patterns more than one genetic variation is selected in parallel which makes them more difficult to detect.
Dr Bryony Jones also from the UCL Department of Genetics Evolution and Environment and lead author of the paper said:
Such variations have so far been studied very poorly and it will be important for them to be better characterised to understand better the relationship between historic adaptation and 21st century disease susceptibility.
Only in the last 5-10000 years have started humans drinking the milk of other animals following advances in our ability to herd animals.
since the lactase persistence genes are likely to have come under selection. Our studies on other African and Middle Eastern populations show quite different geographic distributions with overlap in Ethiopia suggesting that their origins are all different
The combination of mutation large effective population size migration and selection has been shown to be important in generating this kind of pattern of diversity namely parallel selection of multiple alleles of similar function a so-called soft selective sweep.
leopardsresearch by Clemson University conservation geneticists makes the case that landscape-level tiger and leopard conservation that includes protecting the corridors the big cats use for travel between habitat patches is the most effective conservation strategy for their long-term survival.
Sandeep Sharma and Trishna Dutta with colleagues from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute reveal their findings in articles in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B:
Biological sciences and Evolutionary Applications. Their articles say that forest corridors play an essential role in maintaining the flow of genes between tiger
and leopard populations in central India and are paramount for sustaining the genetic variation required for their long-term persistence.
In the first ever gene-flow analysis of these big cats Sharma and Dutta analyzed the genes of the estimated 273 tigers
and 217 leopards living in four distinct populations in the 17375-mile Satpura-Maikal region of central India then used computer modeling to compare contemporary and historical gene flow among the region's tiger
and leopard populations. The genetic data showed that the region's tiger population divided rapidly twice in history:
First into two clusters about 700 years ago when great swathes of central India's forestland were cleared for agricultural use during the early Mughal era;
then into four clusters around 200 years ago when The british Empire cut vast tracts of timber to build railroads and ships.
The genetic data assembled from nearly 1500 hair and fecal samples indicates that while the flow of genes between the four tiger and leopard populations has decreased over time clusters linked by contiguous forest corridors have maintained a high rate of gene flow.
Reserves that have lost connectivity between them have seen the greatest decline in gene flow The research suggests that given the fact of limited financial and human capital the big cats would be served better by extending conservation efforts beyond source habitats to a larger landscape scale.
The viability of the forest corridors connecting tiger habitats has a direct affect on a tigers'chance of finding an unrelated mate
and on the ability of tiger populations to maintain genetic diversity Dutta said. As we know genetic diversity allows species to survive disease
and habitat stress and encourages long-term survival. Currently central India's tiger corridors have no legal protection
and possibly obstruct the flow of genes between the habitats. In cases where habitats become islands
and a genetic bottleneck occurs dramatic human intervention is required to save isolated populations of cats from the perils of inbreeding.
Wildlife biologists are forced sometimes to move animals from one population to another. In places where breeding and migratory patterns have been disrupted
and behavior affect how genes express themselves in offspring should help health care providers and public health officials develop more precise prenatal strategies to maximize the health of newborn children.
Liver samples were taken from the lambs born to these ewes at four months of age to examine their genes and proteins.
and the health of our children--right down to the genetic level said Gerald Weissmann M d. Editor-In-chief of The FASEB Journal.
The above story is provided based on materials by Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. Note:
or larviciding by adding chemicals or biological larvicides to standing water to kill larvae. Currently the use of long-lasting insecticide treated bed nets and indoor residual spraying of homes are used widely for malaria transmission control
Study co-author Steve Lindsay Professor in the School of Biological and Biomedical sciences at Durham University said:
This paper is a landmark publication demonstrating that in many places larval source management should be used as a supplementary weapon against malaria.
PSW Research Wildlife Biologist Dr. Hartwell Welsh and Garth Hodgson examined two species of woodland salamanders across four stages of tree development at Mill Creek--a disturbed
#Parasitic worm genome uncovers potential drug targetsresearchers have identified five enzymes that are essential to the survival of a parasitic worm that infects livestock worldwide
The team sequenced the genome of Haemonchus contortus or the barber pole worm a well-studied parasitic worm that resides in the gut of sheep and other livestock globally.
This genome could provide a comprehensive understanding of how treatments against parasitic worms work and point to further new treatments and vaccines.
so its genome is a good model to understand how drug resistance develops in this complex group of closely related parasites
#oeour reference genome allows researchers to understand how H. contortus and other worms of this type acquire resistance to a wide range of anthelmintics#the drugs used to treat worm infections#says Dr James Cotton senior author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.#
#The team sequenced the genome of a strain of H contortus that was susceptible to all major classes of drugs against parasitic worms.
#oethe H. contortus genome provides a rich and essential platform for future research in this and other types of parasitic worms#says Professor Neil Sargison author from the University of Edinburgh Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.#
Getting to grips with genomes such as that of H. contortus is our best option to tackle the issue of drug resistance
and drug target candidates the team identified a set of genes that are more active in certain stages of the parasite life cycle and within the parasite s gut.
when and where each gene is turned on or off in the cells and tissues of H. contortus to reveal new insights into the worm s lifecycle.
The researchers also described the full gene repertoires for known drug target families. This gives a comprehensive understanding of how several important treatments work against worms
and begins to unravel why resistance has occurred in these genes.##oenot only is this worm closely related to many other parasites of livestock it is also similar to some species of worms in humans.#
An international research group including Professor of Biology Jens-Christian Svenning Aarhus University has analysed which species will be able to grow in the climate expected in Greenland in 2100.
Shortly before the first farmers settled in Europe a genetic mutation occurred in humans that resulted in the ability to produce lactase throughout their lives.
and their mentors from different disciplines i e. anthropology archeology chemistry and genetics has been looking at the role played by milk cheese
Adam Powell a mathematician and population geneticist based in London will be contributing his skills as a modeler and statistician to the team of Mainz anthropologists.
#Report proposes microbiologys grand challenge to help feed the worlda greater focus on the role of microbiology in agriculture combined with new technologies can help mitigate potential food shortages associated with world population increases according to a new report from the American Academy
of Microbiology. Microbes are essential partners in all aspects of plant physiology but human efforts to improve plant productivity have focused solely on the plant says Ian Sanders of University of Lausanne chair of the colloquium that produced the report.
The above story is provided based on materials by American Society for Microbiology. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
and cow cartilage tissue was funded by medical research charity Arthritis Research UK the Biotechnology and Biological sciences Research Council's (BBSRC) Diet and Health Research Industry Club (DRINC
The study involved researchers from UEA's schools of Biological sciences Pharmacy and Norwich Medical school along with the University of Oxford and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.
Researchers from the School of Biological sciences and Norwich Medical school are now embarking on a small scale trial in osteoarthritis patients due to have knee replacement surgery to see
Ian Clark professor of musculoskeletal biology at UEA and the lead researcher said: The results from this study are very promising.
#Genetic treasure hunting in sorghum may benefit crop improvementa consortium of researchers from The University of Queensland the Queensland Department of agriculture Fisheries
and Forestry (DAFF Qld) and BGI has discovered that sorghum a drought-tolerant African crop holds vastly more genetic variation than previously reported.
This study published in Nature Communications today provides an invaluable resource for the genetic improvement of sorghum
and feed cereal crop but also can be used as the basis of biofuel. Its resistance to heat and water stress allows it to grow in poor dryland regions as a staple food resource for 500 million poor people in Africa
Furthermore sorghum's special features such as a small diploid genome and phenotypic diversity make it an ideal C4 grass model.
By conducting whole-genome sequencing the team obtained the genomic data of 44 sorghum lines to represent all major races of cultivated grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) in addition to its progenitors and the allopatric Asian species S. propinquum.
The analysis indicated that sorghum possesses a diverse primary gene pool but with decreased diversity in both landrace and improved groups.
and the first resequenced genome of S. propinquum was presented. The researchers'analyses revealed that sorghum has a strong racial structure
The study identified 8m high-quality SNPS 1. 9m indels and specific gene loss and gain events in S. bicolor providing the largest dataset obtained in sorghum to date.
Crop domestication and genetic improvement are the key points for breeding research. Our joint efforts yield an invaluable genetic resource for researchers to explore sorghum evolution
and its genetic improvement. said Shuaishuai Tai Project Manager from BGI BGI is making continuous efforts for the advancement of agricultural research.
This is another significant breakthrough made by BGI on population genomics research after rice soybean and maize.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by BGI Shenzhen. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
That's happening because of increased irrigation technology crop genetics and water management strategies. As a result researchers anticipate that
because it delivers oxygen independent of blood flow may also have diverse applications to the salvage repair and regeneration of soft tissue following trauma.
I did not expect that said noted ecologist Gene Likens a co-discoverer of acid rain in 1963 who collaborated with Kaushal on this research.
No wonder biologist Himadri Pakrasi's team is excited by the project they are undertaking. If they succeed the chemical apparatus for nitrogen fixation will be miniaturized automated and relocated within the plant
in St louis. Engineering with biological partsalthough there is plenty of nitrogen in the atmosphere atmospheric nitrogen is not in a form plants can use.
This award is one of four funded by the National Science Foundation jointly with awards funded by the Biotechnology
and Biological sciences Research Council in the United kingdom. The teams will collaborate with one another and meet regularly to share progress
and successes. A proof of principleas a proof of principle Pakrasi and his colleagues plan to develop the synthetic biology tools needed to excise the nitrogen fixation system in one species of cyanobacterium (a phylum of green bacteria formerly considered to be algae)
Tae Seok Moon Phd and Fuzhong Zhang Phd both assistant professors of energy environmental and chemical engineering in the School of engineering & Applied science at Washington University;
and Costas D. Maranas the Donald B. Broughton Professor of Chemical engineering at Pennsylvania State university. Ultimately what we want to do is take this entire nitrogen-fixation apparatus
because it has the largest contiguous cluster of genes related to nitrogen fixation of any cyanobacterium. Roughly 30 genes are part of the same functional unit under the control of a single operating signal or promoter.
The scientists hope this cluster of genes can be moved to another cyanobacterial strain in a single mega-transfer.
The one they've picked as the host Synechocystis 6803 is studied the best strain of cyanobacteria.
Not only has its genome been sequenced it is naturally transformable and able to integrate foreign DNA into its genome by swapping it with similar native strands of DNA.
The scientists will need to figure out how to connect the transplanted nitrogen-fixing gene cluster to Synechocystis'clock.
and neither can be included in any known Asian genus. Earlier work on the global distribution of bamboos has shown that bamboos evolved in the southern hemisphere on a landmass called Gondwanaland parts
The investigation was conducted as part of the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) Study established in 1993 to assess the relationships among dietary lifestyle genetic factors and cancer risk.
and biofuel crops could be grown and maintained in many places where it wasn't previously possible such as deserts landfills
The additive a simple mixture of organic waste such as chicken manure and zeolite a porous volcanic rock could be used to support agriculture in both the developed and developing world
Researchers from the University of Cambridge have demonstrated that with the addition of the biofertiliser biofuel crops can be grown successfully
Using coal waste from the site of a former colliery in Nottinghamshire as a substrate the researchers grew rapeseed flax sugar beet and maize with different additives:
and Hydrology (CEH) University of East Anglia University of Bristol and Institute of Zoology instead took advantage of bumblebees'unusual genetics.
which means they are related highly in genetic terms. We decided to exploit this interesting aspect of their biology using a novel combination of genetics field studies
and landscape modelling. The team sampled DNA non-lethally from live wild bumblebees including 2577 worker and 537 queen bees of five different species. Back in the laboratory they genotyped the samples
and urban areas and to enhance pollination services for crops and biodiversity. Under current agri-environment schemes the UK Government pays farmers to manage their land for the benefit of particular habitats
#Genesis and evolution of H7n9 influenza virusan international team of influenza researchers in China the United kingdom and the United states has used genetic sequencing to trace the source
and evolution of the avian H7n9 influenza virus that emerged in humans in China earlier this year.
From these samples the researchers isolated several influenza viruses and genetically sequenced those of the H7n9 subtype as well as related H7n7 and H9n2 viruses.
The researchers compared the differences between the two sets of sequences to reconstruct how the H7n9 virus evolved through various species of birds
and to determine the origin of genes. According to their analysis domestic ducks and chickens played distinct roles in the genesis of the H7n9 virus infecting humans today.
Within ducks and later within chickens various strains of avian H7n9 H7n7 and H9n2 influenza exchanged genes with one another in different combinations.
The resulting H7n9 virus began causing outbreaks among chickens in live poultry markets from which many humans became infected.
Given these results the authors write continued surveillance of influenza viruses in birds remains essential.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases.
In an article published recently in the American Ornithologist Union's publication The Auk research wildlife biologist Scott Stoleson of the U s. Forest Service's Northern Research Station suggests that forest regrowth in clearcuts
of which have large territories may play in forest regeneration through digesting and passing seeds from fruits.
Given the biomass of crocodiles in many subtropical and tropical wetlands and their capacity for ingesting large numbers of fruits we consider it likely that crocodilians function as significant seed dispersal agents in many freshwater ecosystems.
The new research is published today 21 august in the journal Biology Letters. Honeyguides are intriguingly odd birds that are best-known for their unique mutually beneficial relationship with humans.
Naturalists are very comfortable with the idea of animals gaining a biological advantage by choosing to live together in high density'colonies'--such as ant nests or seabird rookeries--in certain parts of the landscape notes Hall.
#PHS gene prevents wheat from sprouting: Fewer crop losses anticipateda new study about the common problem of preharvest sprouting or PHS in wheat is nipping the crop-killing issue in the bud.
and cloned a gene in wheat named PHS that prevents the plant from preharvest sprouting.
because preharvest sprouting is a very difficult trait for wheat breeders to handle through breeding alone said Bikram Gill university distinguished professor of plant pathology and director of the Wheat Genetics Resource Center.
With this study they will have a gene marker to expedite the breeding of wheat that will not have this problem.
Gill conducted the study with Guihau Bai a researcher with the Hard Winter Wheat Genetics Research Unit of the USDA-ARS adjunct professor of agronomy at Kansas State university and the study's lead author.
and Characterization of a Critical Regulator for Pre-Harvest Sprouting in Wheat appears in a recent issue of the scientific journal Genetics.
I think that this gene is a big step toward establishing a white wheat industry in Kansas. Gill said identifying the PHS gene creates a greater assurance before planting a crop that it will be resistant to preharvest sprouting once it grows a year later.
and test whether it has the preharvest sprouting resistance gene rather than finding out once the crop grows.
Much of the work to isolate the PHS gene came from Gill and his colleagues'efforts to fully sequence the genome--think genetic blueprint--of common wheat.
Wheat is the only major food plant not to have sequenced its genome. The genome of wheat is nearly three times the size of the human genome.
Researchers were able to study sequenced segments of the common wheat genome and look for a naturally occurring resistance gene.
Gill said without the sequenced segments finding the PHS gene would have been impossible. Story Source:
The above story is provided based on materials by Kansas State university. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
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