However no empirical data and genetic analyses were available. An international research team headed up by evolutionary biologists at the University of Zurich has identified now two genes responsible for the flowering of a tropical deciduous tree species Shorea beccariana.
After drought periods the two genes Sbft and Sbsvp undergo dramatic transcriptional changes directly before flowering.
The researchers can also confirm the flowering functions of these two genes using transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants. 85-meter canopy crane necessary for sample collectionthe Phd student Masaki Kobayashi his supervisor Professor
Kentaro Shimizu and their Malaysian Taiwanese and Japanese colleagues collected multiple buds from a single Shorea beccariana tree shortly before the start of flowering.
which was developed initially for human genome and disease research. In this way Kobayashi and Shimizu identified 98 genes that are associated with the flowering of the plant-including the genes Sbft and Sbsvp
which showed transcriptional changes after a drought period and directly before flowering. The scientists then combined their genetic results with the meteorological data of the region.
Kobayashi concludes that Flowering in Shorea beccariana is triggered by a four-week drought in combination with elevated sucrose levels.
The genes that have been identified now indicate when mass flowering is about to happen. Successively monitoring of gene activity can help predict
when mass flowering will take place explains Kobayashi. This will make it possible to coordinate the collection of seeds
and improve biodiversity and conservation programs substantially. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Zurich.
Scientists at the Network of Excellence for Functional Biomaterials (NFB) in the National University of Ireland Galway have published just their breakthrough polymerization method in Nature Communications.
We are currently investigating the use of these new materials for biomedical applications such as drug/gene delivery cross linkable hydrogel materials and skin adhesives.
#Top-class biofuel from the depths of the foresttops and branches from tree-felling sites are reborn in the laboratory as compact pellets.
In the raw form in which the biomass arrives at the laboratory it is regarded as a problematic and therefore low-value fuel.
The heat treatment has broken down the fibrous structure of the biomass. According to Skreiberg this has two benefits.
Pellets of torrefied biomass can withstand getting wet just like coal and are very stable under storage.
Besides the atmospheric impacts wildfires also modify terrestrial ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration soil fertility grazing value biodiversity and tourism.
It is the first time scientists have decoded the genome of a plant pathogen and its plant host from dried herbarium samples.
n Burbano from the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology. For research to be published in elife a team of molecular biologists from Europe
and the US reconstructed the spread of the potato blight pathogen from dried plants. Although these were 170 to 120 years old they were found to have many intact pieces of DNA.
The first contact between Europeans and Americans in Mexico in the sixteenth century coincides with a remarkable increase in the genetic diversity of Phytophthora.
The international team came to these conclusions after deciphering the entire genomes of 11 historical samples of Phytophthora infestans from potato leaves collected over more than 50 years.
Because of the remarkable DNA quality and quantity in the herbarium samples the research team could evaluate the entire genome of Phytophthora infestans and its host the potato within just a few weeks.
This study directly documents the effect of plant breeding on the genetic makeup of a pathogen.
#Genome sequence of Tibetan antelope sheds new light on high-altitude adaptationhow can the Tibetan antelope live at elevations of 4000-5000m on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau?
Investigators rom Qinghai University BGI and other institutes now provide evidence of genetic factors that may be associated with the species'adaption to harsh highland environments.
The data in this work will also provide implications for studying specific genetic mechanisms and the biology of other ruminant species. The Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii) is a native of the high mountain steppes and semidesert areas of the Tibetan plateau.
Interestingly it is the only member of the genus Pantholops. Tibetan antelope is sized a medium antelope with the unique adaptations to against the harsh high-altitude climate.
For nonnative mammals such as humans they may experience life-threatening acute mountain sickness when visiting high-altitude regions.
Using next-gen sequencing technology they have decoded the genome of Tibetan antelope and studied the underlying genetic mechanism of high-altitude adaptations.
Through the comparison between Tibetan antelope and other plain-dwelling mammals researchers found the Tibetan antelope had the signals of adaptive evolution
and gene-family expansion in genes associated with energy metabolism and oxygen transmission indicating that gene categories involved in energy metabolism appear to have an important role for Tibetan antelope via efficiently providing energy in conditions of low partial pressure of oxygen (PO2).
Further research revealed that both the Tibetan antelope and the highland American pika have signals of positive selection for genes involved in DNA repair and the production of ATPASE.
Considering the exposure to high levels of ultraviolet radiation positive selective genes related to DNA repair may be vital to protect the Tibetan antelope from it.
Qingle Cai Project manager from BGI said The completed genome sequence of the Tibetan antelope provides a more complete blueprint for researchers to study the genetic mechanisms of highland adaptation.
This work may also open a new way to understand the adaptation of the low partial pressure of oxygen in human activities.
The findings appear in the journal Global Change Biology. Most predictions that tropical cold-blooded animals especially forest lizards will be hard hit by climate change are based on global-scale measurements of environmental temperatures
which miss much of the fine-scale variation in temperature that individual animals experience on the ground said the article's lead author Michael Logan a Ph d. student in ecology and evolutionary biology.
The genomics revolution has given them mountains of DNA data that they can sift through to reconstruct the evolutionary history that connects all living beings.
or of snails on the tree of mollusks said Antonis Rokas Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Biological sciences at Vanderbilt University.
when scientists are grappling with how best to detect the signature of evolutionary history from a deluge of genetic data.
This significant work will certainly challenge the community of evolutionary biologists to rethink how best to reconstruct phylogeny said Michael F. Whiting program director of systematics
and biodiversity science at the National Science Foundation which funded the study. To gain insight into this paradox Salichos assembled
and analyzed more than 1000 genes--approximately 20 percent of the entire yeast genome--from each of 23 yeast species. He quickly realized that the histories of the 1000-plus genes were all slightly different from each other as well as different from the genealogy constructed from a simultaneous analysis of all the
genes. I was surprised quite by this result Salichos pointed out. By adapting an algorithm from information theory the researchers found that they could use these distinct gene genealogies to quantify the conflict
and focus on those parts of the tree that are problematic. In broad terms Rokas and Salichos found that genetic data is less reliable during periods of rapid radiation
when new species were formed rapidly. A case in point is the Cambrian explosion the sudden appearance about 540 million years ago of a remarkable diversity of animal species without apparent predecessors.
The researchers also found that the further back in time they went the less reliable the genetic data becomes.
Solanum is the largest genus of the family and with 1500 species is one of the largest genera of flowering plants.
A project funded by the United states National Science Foundation's Planetary Biodiversity Inventory program begun in 2004 sought to redress this situation by attempting to accelerate species-level taxonomy
and at the same time prove a robust genetic background to the research. This research is a part of this effort providing a revision of all the species of an entire clade of Solanum.
Work by participants of the'PBI Solanum'project will result in a modern monographic treatment of the entire genus available on-line.
The researchers recently published their study in the journal Biological Control. They found that plantings of sweet alyssum attracted a host of spiders
The researchers state that the use of sweet alyssum for biological control can be integrated easily with standard orchard-management practices
The article Flowers promote aphid suppression in apple orchards was published in the July 2013 edition of Biological Controlstory Source:
The genomics revolution has given them mountains of DNA data that they can sift through to reconstruct the evolutionary history that connects all living beings.
or of snails on the tree of mollusks said Antonis Rokas Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Biological sciences at Vanderbilt University.
when scientists are grappling with how best to detect the signature of evolutionary history from a deluge of genetic data.
This significant work will certainly challenge the community of evolutionary biologists to rethink how best to reconstruct phylogeny said Michael F. Whiting program director of systematics
and biodiversity science at the National Science Foundation which funded the study. To gain insight into this paradox Salichos assembled
and analyzed more than 1000 genes--approximately 20 percent of the entire yeast genome--from each of 23 yeast species. He quickly realized that the histories of the 1000-plus genes were all slightly different from each other as well as different from the genealogy constructed from a simultaneous analysis of all the
genes. I was surprised quite by this result Salichos pointed out. By adapting an algorithm from information theory the researchers found that they could use these distinct gene genealogies to quantify the conflict
and focus on those parts of the tree that are problematic. In broad terms Rokas and Salichos found that genetic data is less reliable during periods of rapid radiation
when new species were formed rapidly. A case in point is the Cambrian explosion the sudden appearance about 540 million years ago of a remarkable diversity of animal species without apparent predecessors.
The researchers also found that the further back in time they went the less reliable the genetic data becomes.
Solanum is the largest genus of the family and with 1500 species is one of the largest genera of flowering plants.
A project funded by the United states National Science Foundation's Planetary Biodiversity Inventory program begun in 2004 sought to redress this situation by attempting to accelerate species-level taxonomy
and at the same time prove a robust genetic background to the research. This research is a part of this effort providing a revision of all the species of an entire clade of Solanum.
Work by participants of the'PBI Solanum'project will result in a modern monographic treatment of the entire genus available on-line.
The researchers recently published their study in the journal Biological Control. They found that plantings of sweet alyssum attracted a host of spiders
The researchers state that the use of sweet alyssum for biological control can be integrated easily with standard orchard-management practices
The article Flowers promote aphid suppression in apple orchards was published in the July 2013 edition of Biological Controlstory Source:
#New non-GM technology platform for genetic improvement of sunflower oilseed cropscientists have developed techniques for the genetic improvement of sunflowers using a non-GMO based approach.
The new technology platform can harness the plant's own genes to improve characteristics of sunflower develop genetic traits
and Plant science at NUI Galway and has been published in the journal BMC Plant Biology. Among oilseed crops sunflowers are one of the most important sources of edible vegetable oil for human consumption worldwide.
The oils are also for industrial processes such as making soaps cosmetics perfumes paints and biofuels.
Dr Chatterjee is currently a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) ETS Walton Fellow at NUI Galway collaborating with the SFI Genetics and Biotechnology Lab of Professor Charles Spillane.
Dr Chatterjee's research uses an approach called TILLING (Targeting Induced Lesions In The Genome) an established non-GM method for creating
However along the way many useful genetic variations have been lost. This new technology allows us to pinpoint key genetic information relating to various useful traits in the sunflower including wild sunflower species. It gives us a method to quickly create variability for further breeding to enhance the quantity quality and natural
performance of the crop. In this era of increasing global food crisis and changing climatic regimes such ability is highly desirable.
The research breakthrough was part of a collaborative project between Bench Bio (India) URGV Lab INRA (France) NUI Galway Plant and Agribiosciences Research Centre (Ireland) and Advanta
and Agribiosciences Research Centre (PABC) to improve the bioenergy crop Miscanthus. Also known as elephant grass miscanthus is one of a new generation of renewable energy crops that can be converted into renewable energy by being burned in biomass power stations.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by National University of Ireland Galway. Note:
#Bird flu in live poultry markets are the source of viruses causing human infectionson 31 march 2013 the Chinese National Health and Family planning Commission announced human cases of novel
H7n9 influenza virus infections. A group of scientists led by Professor Chen Hualan of the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has investigated the origins of this novel H7n9 influenza virus
and published their results in Springer's open access journal Chinese Science Bulletin (Springeropen). Following analysis of H7n9 influenza viruses collected from live poultry markets it was found that these viruses circulating among birds were responsible for human infections.
These results provide a basis for the government to take actions for controlling this public health threat.
The novel H7n9 influenza virus was identified in China as the agent that causes a flu-like disease in humans resulting in some deaths.
Of these samples 20 were positive for the presence of H7n9 influenza viruses. All of the positive samples originated from live poultry markets in Shanghai.
The complete genome of three H7n9 isolates from a chicken pigeon and environmental sample was sequenced
Genetic analysis of these isolates revealed high homology across all eight gene segments. The analysis of these novel H7n9 influenza virus isolates showed that that the six internal genes were derived from avian H9n2 viruses
but the ancestor of their hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes is unknown. HA receptor-binding specificity is a major molecular determinant for the host range of influenza viruses.
Within the HA protein of novel H7n9 viruses there was a leucine residue at position 226
which is characteristic of the HA gene in human influenza viruses. This finding implies that H7n9 viruses have acquired partially human receptor-binding specificity.
The authors conclude: We suggest that strong measures such as continued surveillance of avian and human hosts control of animal movement shutdown of live poultry markets
and culling of poultry in affected areas should be taken during this initial stage of virus prevalence to prevent a possible pandemic.
Additionally it is also imperative to evaluate the pathogenicity and transmissibility of these H7n9 viruses and to develop effective vaccines
and antiviral drugs so as to reduce their adverse effects upon human health. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Springer.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e
#Molecular basis of strawberry aromayou know that summer is here when juicy red strawberries start to appear on the shelves.
Wilfried Schwab head of Biotechnology of Natural Products at TUM who has spent many years researching the biological structure of this substance explains:
Arne Skerra from the TUM Chair of Biological Chemistry. In this process a molecule precursor binds to the Faeo enzyme (Fragaria x ananassa enone oxidoreductase) which converts it into the final product namely HDMF.
To understand how enzymes catalyze the biosynthesis of these new metabolic products the research team took advantage of X-ray structural analysis. This allowed them to view the 3d structure of the molecules.
--and ended up understanding how Faeo produces the HDMF flavor compound explains Dr. Andr Schiefner from The chair of Biological Chemistry.
which could lead to useful applications in industrial biotechnology. The latest research results provide valuable insight into the development of taste in widespread cultivated plants as Skerra explains:
Unlike coffee or vanilla the biochemical processes that produce the strawberry aroma are very complex.
But now our TUM research team has shed light on an important step in its biosynthesis . Thus biosynthetic processes might be used soon to prepare the true flavor of strawberry from fructose for example to make drinks
and trampling that disturbs biological soil crusts. The work was published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology by researchers from Oregon State university Augustana College and the U s. Geological Survey.
Cattle trampling also appeared to disturb biological soil crust that offers a second defensive barrier against cheatgrass and further speeds the invasion.
This study provides the first evidence that early limited formula (ELF) can provide important benefits to some newborns said lead author Valerie Flaherman MD MPH an assistant professor of pediatrics and epidemiology and biostatistics
and in other populations said senior author Thomas Newman MD MPH a professor of pediatrics and epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF and a pediatrician at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital.
#Carnivorous plant throws out junk DNAGENES make up about 2 percent of the human genome. The rest consists of a genetic material known as noncoding DNA
and scientists have spent years puzzling over why this material exists in such voluminous quantities. Now a new study offers an unexpected insight:
The clues lie in the genome of the carnivorous bladderwort plant Utricularia gibba. The U. gibba genome is the smallest ever to be sequenced from a complex multicellular plant.
The researchers who sequenced it say that 97 percent of the genome consists of genes--bits of DNA that code for proteins--and small pieces of DNA that control those genes.
It appears that the plant has been busy deleting noncoding junk DNA from its genetic material over many generations the scientists say.
This may explain the difference between bladderworts and junk-heavy species like corn and tobacco--and humans.
The study was directed by LANGEBIO Director and Professor Luis Herrera-Estrella and UB Professor of Biological sciences Victor Albert with contributions from scientists in the United states Mexico China Singapore Spain and Germany.
The big story is that only 3 percent of the bladderwort's genetic material is so-called'junk'DNA Albert said.
what makes up plant genomes. What that says is that you can have a perfectly good multicellular plant with lots of different cells organs tissue types
This includes mobile elements called jumping genes that have the ability to copy (or cut) and paste themselves into new locations of the genome.
Scientists have spent countless hours puzzling over why noncoding DNA exists--and in such copious amounts.
A recent series of papers from ENCODE a highly publicized international research project began to offer an explanation saying that the majority of noncoding DNA (about 80 percent) appeared to play a role in biochemical functions such as regulation and promotion of DNA conversion
which for genes feeds into the machinery that makes proteins. But Herrera-Estrella Albert and their colleagues argue that organisms may not bulk up on genetic junk for reasons of benefit.
Instead they say some species may simply have an inherent mechanistic bias toward deleting a great deal of noncoding DNA
The new U. gibba genome shows that having a bunch of noncoding DNA is not crucial for complex life.
The U. gibba genome has about 80 million DNA base pairs--a miniscule number compared to other complex plants
U. gibba has about 28500 genes comparable to relatives like grape and tomato which have much larger genomes of about 490 and 780 million base pairs respectively.
The small size of the U. gibba genome is even more surprising given the fact that the species has undergone three complete genome doublings
since its evolutionary lineage split from that of tomato. That is at three distinct times in the course of its evolution the bladderwort's genome doubled in size with offspring receiving two full copies of the species'entire genome.
This surprisingly rich history of duplication paired with the current small size of the bladderwort genome is further evidence that the plant has been prolific at deleting nonessential DNA
but at the same time maintaining a functional set of genes similar to those of other plant species says Herrera-Estrella.
Besides LANGEBIO and UB institutions with researchers contributing to the study included: University of Arizona Tucson;
Max Planck Institute for Molecular genetics; Indiana University; Rutgers University; and the Donald Danforth Plant science Center.
#Sacred lotus genome sequence enlightens scientiststhe sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) is a symbol of spiritual purity and longevity. Its seeds can survive up to 1300 years its petals
Now researchers report in the journal Genome Biology that they have sequenced the lotus genome and the results offer insight into the heart of some of its mysteries.
and so lacks a signature triplication of the genome seen in most other members of this family said University of Illinois plant biology
and Institute for Genomic Biology professor Ray Ming who led the analysis with Jane Shen-Miller a plant
and biology professor at the University of California at Los angeles (who germinated a 1300-year-old sacred lotus seed);
Whole-genome duplications--the doubling tripling (or more) of an organism's entire genetic endowment--are important events in plant evolution Ming said.
Some of the duplicated genes retain their original structure and function and so produce more of a given gene product--a protein for example he said.
Some gradually adapt new forms to take on new functions. If those changes are beneficial the genes persist;
if they're harmful they disappear from the genome. Many agricultural crops benefit from genome duplications including banana papaya strawberry sugarcane watermelon
and wheat said Robert Vanburen a graduate student in Ming's lab and collaborator on the study.
Although it lacks the 100 million-year-old triplication of its genome seen in most other eudicots sacred lotus experienced a separate whole-genome duplication about 65 million years ago the researchers found.
A large proportion of the duplicated genes (about 40 percent) have been retained they report. A neat thing about the duplication is that we can look at the genes that were retained
and see if they are in specific pathways Vanburen said. The researchers found evidence that duplicated genes related to wax formation
which allows the plant to repel water and remain clean) and survival in a mineral-starved watery habitat were retained for example.
By looking at changes in the duplicated genes the researchers found that lotus has a slow mutation rate relative to other plants Ming said.
These traits make lotus an ideal reference plant for the study of other eudicots the researchers said.
Influenza viruses circulating in pigs, birds could pose risk to humansin the summer of 1968 a new strain of influenza appeared in Hong kong.
The researchers led by Ram Sasisekharan the Alfred H. Caspary Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT also found that current flu vaccines might not offer protection against these strains.
Influenza evolutionin the past 100 years influenza viruses that emerged from pigs or birds have caused several notable flu pandemics.
When one of these avian or swine viruses gains the ability to infect humans it can often evade the immune system which is primed to recognize only strains that commonly infect humans.
In 2009 a strain of H1n1 emerged that was very similar to the virus that caused a 1918 pandemic that killed 50 million to 100 million people.
Genetic similaritiesin the new study the researchers compared the 1968 H3n2 strain and about 1100 H3 strains now circulating in pigs
and birds focusing on the gene that codes for the viral hemagglutinin (HA) protein. After comparing HA genetic sequences in five key locations that control the viruses'interactions with infected hosts the researchers calculated an antigenic index for each strain.
This value indicates the percentage of these genetic regions identical to those of the 1968 pandemic strain
and helps determine how well an influenza virus can evade a host's immune response. The researchers also took into account the patterns of attachment of the HA protein to sugar molecules called glycans.
The virus'ability to attach to glycan receptors found on human respiratory-tract cells is key to infecting humans.
Seeking viruses with an antigenic index of at least 49 percent and glycan-attachment patterns identical to those of the 1968 virus the research team identified 581 H3 viruses isolated
since 2000 that could potentially cause a pandemic. Of these 549 came from birds and 32 from pigs.
either directly or via genetic reassortment Sasisekharan says. One of the amazing things about the influenza virus is its ability to grab genes from different pools he says.
There could be viral genes that mix among pigs or between birds and pigs. Sasisekharan and colleagues are now doing a similar genetic study of H5 influenza strains.
The H3 study was funded by the National institutes of health and the National Science Foundation Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Massachusetts institute of technology.
The original article was written by Anne Trafton. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e
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