Ajayan is the Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Engineering and a professor of mechanical engineering and materials science chemistry and chemical and biomolecular engineering.
#Genomes of peregrine and saker falcons throw lights on evolution of a predatory lifestylein a collaborative study published online in Nature Genetics researchers from Cardiff University BGI International Wildlife Consultants Ltd
. and Abu dhabi Falcon Hospital have completed the genome sequencing and analysis of two iconic falcons the peregrine (Falco peregrinus) and saker (Falco cherrug).
The work provides an invaluable resource for the deep understanding of the adaptive evolution in raptors and the genetic basis of their wide distribution.
They conducted whole genome sequencing and assembled the high quality 1. 2 Gb reference genomes for each falcon species. Phylogenic analysis suggested that the two falcon species might diverged 2. 1 million years ago.
Comparing with chicken and zebra finch researchers found the transposable element composition of falcons was most similar to that of zebra finch.
and zebra finch and comprise less than 1%of both falcon genomes. They also found that a gene expansion in the olfactory receptor Î-c clade in chicken
and zebra finch is not present in falcons possibly reflecting their reliance on vision for locating prey.
Observing genome-wide rapid evolution for both falcons chicken zebra finch and turkey researchers found that the nervous system olfaction
and sodium ion transport have evolved rapidly in falcons and also the evolutionary novelties in beak development related genes of falcons and saker-unique arid-adaptation related genes.
Shengkai Pan bioinformatics expert from BGI said The two falcon genomes are the first predatory bird genome published.
and immune strength respectively--though the former seems to signal a genetic benefit and the latter can affect an'adopted'chick's health suggesting nurture is involved.
and the size of black breast stripe on the genetic mother. The immaculateness of both genetic and foster mother's white cheek patch was related to the strength of chick's immune response suggesting that this was due to both nurture and genetics.
In contrast the body size of a chick was related only to the body size of its genetic mother and not to ornamentation at all.
In these socially monogamous birds both the males and females are coloured brightly however neither the cheek patch nor the stripe in males affected the health of the babies.
#Peach genome offers insights into breeding strategies for biofuels cropsrapidly growing trees like poplars and willows are candidate biofuel crops from
and genetics of trees and scientists are turning to long-domesticated fruit trees for hints. The relationship between a peach and a poplar may not be obvious at first glance
The close relationship between peach and poplar trees is evident from their DNA sequence said Jeremy Schmutz head of the Plant Program at the U s. Department of energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI.
In the March 24 edition of Nature Genetics Schmutz and several colleagues were part of the International Peach Genome Initiative (IPGI) that published the 265-million base genome of the Lovell variety of Prunus persica.
Using comparative genomics approaches characterization of the peach sequence can be exploited not only for the improvement
and sustainability of peach and other important tree species but also to enhance our understanding of the basic biology of trees the team wrote.
They compared 141 peach gene families to those of six other fully sequenced diverse plant species to unravel unique metabolic pathways for instance those that lead to lignin biosynthesis--the molecular glue that holds the plant cells together
--and a key barrier to deconstructing biomass into fuels. For bioenergy researchers the size of the peach genome makes it ideal to serve as a plant model for studying genes found in related genomes such as poplar one of the DOE JGI's Plant Flagship Genomes
(http://bit. ly/JGI-Plants) and develop methods for improving plant biomass yield for biofuels.
One gene we're interested in is the so-called evergreen locus in peaches which extends the growing season said Daniel Rokhsar DOE JGI Eukaryotic Program head under
whose leadership sequencing of the peach genome began back in 2007. In theory it could be manipulated in poplar to increase the accumulation of biomass.
The publication comes three years after the International Peach Genome Consortium publicly released the draft assembly of the annotated peach genome on the DOE JGI Plant portal Phytozome. net and on other websites.
The decision to sequence the peach genome was announced first during the 2007 Plant and Animal Genome XI Conference.
Learn more about poplar and DOE JGI Plant Flagship Genomes at http://genome. jgi. doe. gov/programs/plants/flagship genomes. jsf.
In the United states the Initiative was funded by the U s. Department of energy Office of Science and led by researchers at the DOE JGI The Hudsonalpha Institute for Biotechnology Clemson University North carolina State university and Washington state University.
Additional support was contributed by U s. Department of agriculture and by the Energy Biosciences Institute of the University of California Berkeley who supported senior author Therese Mitros.
The Italian government also supported this international effort including the work of first author Ignazio Verde of the Fruit tree Research Centre/Agricultural Research Council in Rome Italy.
Contributions were made also from research institutes in Chile Spain and France. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by DOE/Joint Genome Institute.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e
#Genetic analysis saves major apple-producing region of Washington statein August 2011 researchers from the U s. Department of agriculture were presented with a serious and potentially very costly puzzle in Kennewick Wash.
Since Kennewick lies within a region near the heart of Washington state's $1. 5 billion apple-growing region an annual survey of fruit trees is performed by the Washington state Department of agriculture (WSDA) to look for any invading insects.
But the real fear was represented that they an expansion in the range of the invasive apple maggot fly known to biologists as Rhagoletis pomonella.
and accurately figuring out which one of the flies was in that tree says Jeffrey Feder professor of biological sciences
One larva was sent to Notre dame for genetic analysis. The study sought to compare Notre dame's genetic analysis to Yee's visual identification after the larvae had developed into adults.
Fortunately the fly identified Rhagoletis indifferens is known not to infest apples. The Notre dame group further demonstrated that it is possible to genetically identify the correct fly species within two days compared to the four months required to raise
The Feder team is continuing to refine the genetic assays to develop a portable test that would be valuable in apple-growing regions as well as ports of entry where fruit infested by nonlocal insect species can be detected rapidly to prevent the spread of the insect.
It is documented well that corn residues introduce a host of physical chemical and biological effects that negatively influence corn yields.
#Microalgae could be a profitable source of biodieseldinoflagellate microalgae could be used as a raw material to obtain biodiesel easily and profitably.
This is the conclusion of a study led by Universitat Autã noma de Barcelona (UAB) scientists in collaboration with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) published recently in Biomass and Bioenergy.
Researchers at the UAB's Institute of Environmental science and Technology (ICTA-UAB) and the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) have analysed the potential of different species of microalgae for producing biodiesel comparing their growth production of biomass
Their study shows that one type of marine algae that has received little attention till now--dinoflagellate microalgae--is highly suitable for cultivation with the aim of producing biodiesel.
microalgae cultures are close to producing biodiesel profitably even in uncontrolled environmental conditions. If we make simple adjustments to completely optimise the process biodiesel obtained by cultivating these marine microalgae could be an option for energy supplies to towns near the sea points out Sergio Rossi an ICTA researcher at the UAB.
Among these adjustments scientists highlight the possibility of reusing leftover organic pulp (the glycerol and protein pulp that is not converted into biodiesel)
and using air pumps and more efficient cultivation materials. Though similar studies have been done on other alga species dinoflagellate microalgae have shown themselves to be a very promising group that stands out from the rest.
so they would present no environmental threat in the event of leakagethird-generation biodieselfirst-generation biodiesel
The possibility of creating energy from hydrocarbons extracted from organisms like marine phytoplankton the so-called third-generation biodiesel has several advantages.
and Technology (ICTA) and involved researchers from the Department of Marine and Oceanographic Biology of the Institute of Marine Sciences of the CSIC from the UAB spin-off Inã dit Innovaciã SL in the UAB Research
Park and from the SOSTENIPRA research group of the UAB's Department of Chemical engineering. Story Source:
Rising minimum temperatures may be the best way to predict how climate change will affect an ecosystem said Robert Warren assistant professor of biology at SUNY Buffalo State.
Global Change Biology published a study conducted by Warren with Ph d. candidate Lacy Chick of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
#In triplicate, genes make maize tolerant to toxic soilrendering some of the world's toxic soils far less unfriendly the U s. Department of agriculture Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research
In this effort when plant scientists searched the maize genome for clues as to why some plants can tolerate toxic aluminum in soil they found three copies of the same gene known to affect aluminum tolerance according to new USDA/Cornell-led research.
The MATE1 gene which was found in triplicate in aluminum-tolerant maize turns on in the presence of aluminum ions
He added that the extra gene copies had a cumulative effect of coding for more protein that transports aluminum-binding citric acid into the soil.
The study Aluminum tolerance in maize is associated with higher MATE1 gene copy number appeared online March 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The finding points to the importance of looking for multiple copies of a gene for higher expression of certain traits.
which provided the aluminum-tolerant maize germplasm where the 3-copy allele was discovered. Lead author Lyza Maron a senior research associate at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell also collaborated with researchers at the University of Florida Gainesville the University of Missouri Arizona Genomics Institute
and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to verify the finding. By sequencing the genomic regions that harbor the MATE1 gene in aluminum-tolerant
and aluminum-sensitive plants she found a similar MATE1 allele (version of a gene) in both types of plants.
But when she examined copy number variation she found the aluminum-tolerant plant had three copies
while the intolerant plant had only one copy of the MATE1 allele. Copy number variation is documented well in the human genome Kochian said
and maize does a lot of this so there are probably many examples. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Cornell University.
and protein the researchers looked to monitor bioactivity between the peptides derived from the meals of soybean and various types of human cancer cells.
but without felling any trees said Ola Olsson a researcher at thedepartment of Biology Lund University.
This is one of the first examples in translational research using an edible plant as a delivery vehicle for a new approach to cholesterol said Judith Gasson a professor of medicine and biological chemistry director of UCLA
the use of alternative fuels like biofuels electricity and hydrogen; and strong government policies to overcome high costs and influence consumer choices.
Each combines highly efficient vehicles with at least one of three alternative power sources--biofuel electricity or hydrogen.
and biodiesel are the only biofuels to have been produced in commercial quantities in the U s. to date the study committee found much greater potential in biofuels made from lignocellulosic biomass
The report finds that sufficient lignocellulosic biomass could be produced by 2050 to meet the goal of an 80 percent reduction in petroleum use
#Suggestions for a middle ground between unlogged forest and intensively managed landsit is recognized increasingly that protected areas alone are not sufficient for successful biodiversity conservation
Retention forestry and agroforestry are two land management systems aiming to reconcile the production of human goods with biodiversity conservation.
when harvesting trees in an attempt to preserve local biodiversity. Agroforestry addresses this need through the intentional management of shade trees alongside agricultural crops.
and Environmental Studies at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) calls for studies addressing cost-effectiveness of different retention and agroforestry systems in relation to biodiversity conservation argues for a stronger
Researchers reporting on March 18 in Current Biology a Cell Press publication have evidence that puts the clock in cock-a-doodle-doo
The results of our work suggest perhaps for the first time that certain aspects of problem gambling behaviour may be hardwired related to basic neurobiological factors related to how we direct our attention he says.
The seasonally flooded grasslands around the Tonle Sap Southeast asia's largest freshwater lake are of great importance for biodiversity
Research published today in the journal Conservation Biology quantifies for the first time the area's catastrophic loss of tropical flooded grassland.
It is hugely important to both biodiversity and the livelihoods of some of the world's poorest communities.
and analyzing data about women's genetic background tumor characteristics and lifestyle choices immediately after diagnosis. Findings from this study along with the LACE study are providing objective information to help guide women as they make decisions following a breast cancer diagnosis;
and birds we've come up with a technique to predict sites where these viruses could mix
That could help detect a novel flu virus before it spreads worldwide the researchers said.
The research paper Predicting Hotspots for Influenza Virus Reassortment was published March 13 in the peer-reviewed public health journal Emerging Infectious diseases.
when viruses from humans and animals exchanged genes to create a new virus in a process called reassortment.
Recent research using mice confirms that genes from bird flu and human flu can combine to create dangerous new flu strains.
and human flu could serve as a mixing vessel for reassortment between the two viruses.
The mixing of genetic material between the seasonal human flu virus and bird flu can create novel virus strains that are more lethal than either of the original viruses said senior author Thomas Smith director of the Center for Tropical
Research and a professor at UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and the UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
and animals should be monitored for novel viruses which could help predict and prevent the next pandemic he said.
For each type of flu we identified variables that were predictive of the various virus strains Fuller said.
because many have a genetic predisposition for very low HDL (good) cholesterol Teran-Garcia said.
Recent genetic research has shed some light on whether family relationships play a role in these enigmatic
A recent study published in the Journal of Heredity questions this explanation using genetic data to describe the kinship of individual long-finned pilot whales involved in mass strandings in New zealand and Tasmania.
Researchers analyzed both MITOCHONDRIAL DNA which is inherited exclusively from the mother and microsatellite genotypes which are inherited from both parents from 490 whales involved in 12 stranding events.
To answer this question the researchers conclude that genetic samples are needed from all whales involved in strandings including from those individuals that do eventually make it back to sea.
The above story is provided based on materials by American Genetic Association. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
greener concrete with biofuel byproductskansas State university civil engineers are developing the right mix to reduce concrete's carbon footprint
biofuel byproducts. The idea is to use bioethanol production byproducts to produce a material to use in concrete as a partial replacement of cement said Feraidon Ataie doctoral student in civil engineering Kabul Afghanistan.
They are finding success using the byproducts of biofuels made from corn stover wheat straw and rice straw.
which is produced biofuel from inedible material such as wood chips wheat straw or other agricultural residue.
and grain to make biofuel. Corn ethanol's byproduct--called distiller's dried grains--can be used as cattle feed
We have been working on applying viable biofuel pretreatments to materials to see if we can improve the behavior
This has the potential to make biofuel manufacture more cost effective by better using all of the resources that are being wasted
and biofuel production Ataie said. If you use this in concrete to increase strength and quality then you add value to this byproduct rather than just landfilling it
#Scientists map genome of fungus that causes Dutch elm diseaseresearchers from the University of Toronto and Sickkids Research Institute announced today that they have mapped successfully the genes in the fungus that causes Dutch elm disease.
The researchers believe this is the first time the 30 million DNA letters for the fungus Ophiostoma ulmi have been mapped.
The findings published in this week's online journal BMC Genomics could help scientists figure out how to prevent the fungus from destroying elm trees in the future.
Essentially Dutch elm disease is caused by a fungus that prevents the normal distribution of nutrients in the tree by blocking the flow of sap said Alan Moses an Assistant professor with the University of Toronto's department of Cell & Systems Biology one of the authors of the study.
We hope that the availability of the genome will encourage and speedup research on this fungus--it's only a matter of time before most the elm trees are gone.
#Goats milk with antimicrobial lysozyme speeds recovery from diarrheamilk from goats that were modified genetically to produce higher levels of a human antimicrobial protein has proved effective in treating diarrhea in young pigs demonstrating the potential for food products from transgenic animals to one
These results provide just one example that through genetic engineering we can provide agriculturally relevant animals with novel traits targeted at solving some of the health-related problems facing these developing communities.
and cows contains very little lysozyme prompting the effort to boost lysozyme levels in the milk of those animals using genetic modification.
Half of the pigs in the study were fed pasteurized milk that came from the transgenic goats
The lysozyme-enhanced milk used in this study came from a transgenic line of dairy goats developed in 1999 by Murray co-author Elizabeth Maga
and their colleagues to carry the gene for producing human lysozyme in their milk. Story Source:
He publishes his discovery that baleen is a highly mobile material that tangles in flowing water to form the perfect net for trapping food particles at natural whale swimming speeds in The Journal of Experimental Biology.
The above story is provided based on materials by The Journal of Experimental Biology. The original article was written by Kathryn Knight.
Additionally this opens the door to examine the use of gene silencing as a control mechanism for this devastating fungus.
Results of the study were published online March 10 in Nature Immunology. Krummel's lab team found that after individual T cells survey lymph nodes
and sample foreign matter such as vaccines bacteria or viruses they come together as a group during what he and his team call the critical differentiation period.
Krummel said the work also opens up new paths of research in immunology which his laboratory is currently pursuing.
#Whole genome sequencing of wild rice reveals the mechanisms underlying oryza genome evolutionin a collaborative study published online March 13 in Nature Communications researchers from Institute of Genetics
and Developmental Biology Chinese Academy of Sciences BGI-Shenzhen and University of Arizona have completed the genome sequencing of wild rice Oryza brachyantha.
This work provides new insights for researchers to understand the function and evolution of Oryza genomes.
The Genus oryza is an idea model system for studying plant comparative genomics evolutionary biology and functional biology.
It was also proved to have the most compact genome in the Genus oryza suggesting the genome may not experience many changes after the divergence of Oryza species. In this study researchers generated a high-quality reference genome sequence of O. brachyantha (261mb)
and 96%genome sequences are anchored on 12 chromosomes based upon BAC-based physical map. After the comprehensive analysis they found that the compact genome of O. brachyantha was caused by the silencing of LTR (Long terminal Repeats) retrotransposons and massive internal deletions of ancient elements.
Compared with the rice genome the team found that many gene families were expanded in rice where tandem duplications
and gene movements mediated by double-strand break repair are responsible for the amplification of these genes.
Researchers also observed that segmental and tandem duplications further expanded by transposable element insertions contributed to transition from euchromatin to heterochromatin in the rice genome reflecting the dynamic nature of the Oryza genomes.
Quanfei Huang Project Manager from BGI said This work revealed many important genomic mechanisms underlying Oryza genome such as the genome size variation gene movement and transition of euchromatin
to heterochromatin. In the near future I believe there will be more genomes of Oryza species to be cracked enabling the Genus oryza be unparalleled an system for functional and evolutionary studies in plants.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by BGI Shenzhen. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Using genetically-modified cyanobacteria the team linked butanol production to the algae s natural metabolism says Paul Hudson a researcher at the School of Biotechnology at KTH who leads the research.#
#oewith relevant genes integrated in the right place in cyanobacteria s genome we have tricked the cells to produce butanol instead of fulfilling their normal function#he says.
Hudson says that it could be a decade before production of biofuel from cyanobacteria is a commercial reality.#
#oewe are excited very that we are now able to produce biofuel from cyanobacteria. At the same time we must remember that the manufacturing process is very different from today's biofuels#he says.#
#oewe need to improve the production hundredfold before it becomes commercially viable. Already there is a demonstrator facility in New mexico U s. for producing biodiesel from algae
which is advanced a more process Hudson says. One of Sweden's leading biotechnology researchers Professor Mathias Uhl n at KTH has overall responsibility for the project.
He says that the use of engineering methods to build genomes of microorganisms is a relatively new area.
A bacterium that produces cheap fuel by sunlight and carbon dioxide could change the world. Hudson agrees.#
#oeone of the problems with biofuels we have today that is corn ethanol is that the price of corn rises slowly
After that more genes will have to be modified so that the end product becomes longer hydrocarbons that can fully function as a substitute for gasoline.
Union College Biology Professor Steve Horton likens this mostly underground portion of fungi (the mushrooms that pop up are the reproductive structures) to a tiny biological chain of tubular cells.
or PCR (a genetics tool) the Ecovative founders are grateful for their higher-ed partners.
because his research over the last 28 years has focused on the effect of genetic pathways on fungal physiology which factors greatly into
and the Fiehn Metabolomics Laboratory of the UC Davis Genome Center confirmed tobacco was smoked and likely grown in the region by at least A d. 860.
and various fragments found at village sites in Tolowa ancestral territory researchers found the biomarker nicotine indicating that tobacco had been smoked.
Co-authors of the study with Tushingham at UC Davis include Jelmer W. Eerkens a professor of anthropology whose research centers on hunter-gatherers and Oliver Fiehn professor in the department of molecular and cellular biology and the genome center.
#Pesticide application as potential source of noroviruses in fresh food supply chainscontaminated water used to dilute pesticides could be responsible for viruses entering the food chain warn scientists.
The virus is highly contagious causing vomiting and diarrhea and the number of affected cases is growing.
sufferers have to let the virus run its course for a few days. The consumption of fresh produce is associated frequently with outbreaks of hnov
but it remains difficult to identify where in the supply chain the virus first enters production.
A new study published in the International Journal of Food Microbiology investigated whether contaminated water used to dilute pesticides could be a source of hnov.
whether traces of the virus were present in the samples after the two elements were combined.
but may in fact also be a microbiological risk factor; both having consequences on public health. Story Source:
Leading the study was Dr Martin Broadley of the University's School of Biosciences he said:
and information on their genome is scarce. The cucumber Family cucurbitaceae includes many of our favorite foods:
Arun Pandey from the Department of Botany University of Delhi India and Susanne Renner from the Departments of Systematic Botany and Mycology University of Munich Germany decided to produce a checklist of the Cucurbitaceae of India that would bring up-to date the information
It may also provide vital genetic information to improve the current varieties of pumpkins cucumbers and their relatives.
and mined their presence in 989 fully sequenced genomes. In a previous study researchers in Caetano-Anoll s's group used SCOP and genomic information to reconstruct phylogenomic trees that describe the history of the protein world.
In these they are entire biological systems. In contrast the leaves of these new trees are protein domains
For the current study the researchers identified protein sequences in the genomes that had the same folding structure as known proteins.
The complexities of the biological functions of molecules are understood still poorly he said. If we mix the world of molecular dynamics with the world of molecular evolution we can then determine what aspects of sequences are important for molecular dynamics
and therefore we can apply them to genetic engineering synthetic biology and so on. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Illinois College of Agricultural Consumer and Environmental sciences.
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