and attacks it as it would normally do with a bacterium or a virus. This causes symptoms like swelling rashes pain and even life-threatening anaphylactic shocks.
when our immune system produces antibodies to destroy enemy molecules like those from bacteria and viruses.
and published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters investigated whether early-life experiences can alter behavioural responses to a naturally painful event in adulthood--giving birth
This research was presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Meeting 2014 held at Manchester University UK from the 1st--4th of July.
The above story is provided based on materials by Society for Experimental Biology. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
The key seems to be how plant litter chemistry regulates the soil biological activity that facilitates the buildup composition and stability of carbon-trapping organic matter in soil.
and suggest that it is the chemistry of plant biomass added to soil rather than the total amount of biomass that has the greatest influence on the ability of soil to harbor stable carbon.
and lentils that have a higher proportion of nitrogen in its biomass can accelerate the storage of carbon in soils Tharayil said.
and biological interactions that take place in the plant-soil interface shape plant communities. He is also the director of Clemson's Multi-User Analytical Laboratory
Unfortunately with the repeated use of the same insecticides flies develop resistance through genetic mutations that make these products less effective.
or each month and using biological control agents such as tiny parasitoid wasps. Genetic mutations are random
and can occur from sunlight radiation or from errors in copying DNA Scott said. They happen by chance he said.
Scott and colleagues published findings last fall in the journal Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology and are working to understand three main mutations that confer pesticide resistance in houseflies.
but can cause disease in some breeds of poultry according to research published in mbioâ the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
This rather changes our view of the biology of this nasty little bug says Paul Wigley of Institute for Infection and Global Health at the University of Liverpool an author on the study.
The above story is provided based on materials by American Society for Microbiology. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
#Tropical countries growing wealth may aid conservationwhile inadequate funding has hampered international efforts to conserve biodiversity in tropical forests a new Duke university-led study finds that people in a growing number of tropical countries
This could make a big difference in protecting tropical biodiversity and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
To measure how these countries'rising household incomes have affected public demand for biodiversity conservation and their governments'expenditures on it Vincent and a team of international scientists analyzed economic indicators from high income upper
Our findings provide a strong economic rationale for coupling international payments for carbon storage made to UMI tropical countries with biodiversity payments funded by those countries themselves.
The potential consequences of warming in the Arctic include changes in freshwater runoff and atmospheric water vapor and decreases in salinity that can affect marine biology and seawater circulation dynamics.
Biogeosciences contains surprising findings about the intensity and persistence of these impacts even in areas fully forested with mature oil palm trees.
Water from canals may have carried also harmful protozoa bacteria and viruses. But groups to the northeast would have been able to expand maize production into new areas as their populations grew he said.
and blue holiday to the fullest the American College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) offers some star-spangled tips.
The above story is provided based on materials by American College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI.
The study was led by Professor Helen Griffiths Professor in Biomedical sciences and Executive Dean of the School of Life and Health Sciences at Aston University in Birmingham UK.
to the University Research Priority Program on Global Change and Biodiversity. The findings are extremely important for assessing the resistance of tropical forests to climate change and reforestation.
and genetic defects that result in a thin coat can make the skin more sensitive to sunburn.
and Rocky mountain spotted fever and mosquitoes can spread West Nile Virus. Insect repellents are used to avoid exposure to pests that can bite attach
#Organic agriculture boosts biodiversity on farmlandsdoes organic farming foster biodiversity? The answer is yes however the number of habitats on the land plays an important role alongside the type and intensity of farming practices.
The study shows that even organic farms have to actively support biodiversity by for example conserving different habitats on their holdings.
An international team including scientists from Technische Universitã¤t Mà nchen (TUM) investigated the contribution of organic farming to supporting farmland biodiversity between 2010 and 2013.
and analyze it to establish the impact of farming methods and intensity and of landscape features on biodiversity.
Even organic farms need to increase habitatsto sustain farmland biodiversity which is currently under grave threat researchers have identified complement organic farming methods with dedicated efforts to conserve habitats.
or herbaceous strips in arable farms they have a huge impact on the biodiversity of a farm.
This will help us explain the biological relevance of odors in even greater detail. The mapping of odor codes opens up new possibilities for biotechnology applications.
For example knowing more about the odor codes of crop plants and fruits at molecular level can be useful to breeders.
and Immunology the scientific publication of the American College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) there is increased anxiety and strain for caregivers of children allergic to milk and eggs.
The above story is provided based on materials by American College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI.
#Win-win-win solution for biofuel, climate, and biodiversityfossil fuel emissions release billions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year
In Brazil the demand for alternative energy sources has led to an increase in biofuel crops. A new News and Views paper in Nature Climate Change co-authored by Woods Hole Research center scientists Marcia Macedo
and Eric Davidson reviews new research conducted by Brazilian colleagues demonstrating the high carbon costs of converting intact Brazilian savanna compared to the carbon gains obtained from converting underutilized pastureland for biofuel
and palm oil the rapid growth rate of sugar cane has put it at the forefront of biofuel crops.
Unlike the Amazon which remains over 80%forested over half of the Cerrado has been cleared for agriculture including sugar cane biofuel crops.
With over 2. 5 million square kilometers of existing cleared lands in Brazil much of which is degraded pasture lands there is already a large potential area for biofuel crop expansion.
which includes using degraded pastures for a combination of reforestation expansion of biofuel and food crops and intensification of cattle production.
and fuel with no further biodiversity loss minimal carbon costs and even a carbon gain
and tumor growth and embryonic growth and development has been a topic of interest to mathematicians and biologists for decades.
which corresponds to the rate of invasion of cells as well as the extracellular matrix concentration (the medium surrounding cells that provides structural and biochemical support to cells).
An important topic in ecology and evolutionary biology dispersal can either be directed random or. Random movement as the name indicates describes dispersal patterns that are unbiased
and Horst Thieme model disease persistence of a virus called Bluetongue using a system of several delay differential equations.
In sheep the bluetongue virus can cause abortion congenital abnormalities and death though mild cases completely recover.
They say their research published in the journal Global Change Biology provides a valuable insight into how managing the interaction of different species could influence changes in animal distributions predicted under climate change.
Study co-author Dr Stephen Willis in Durham University's Department of Biological and Biomedical sciences said:
As the global climate warms many animals are moving to higher latitudes and altitudes where it is cooler.
Fellow study co-author Dr Philip Stephens also in Durham University's Department of Biological and Biomedical sciences added:
The bitter perception is highly complex according to Hayes with 25 known bitter receptor genes. It's also not destiny.
Other additives can mask or mitigate a bitter taste. Lactisole for example made from carboxylic acid salt derived from Columbian coffee can negate sweet taste.
A new resource for advanced biofuels researchresearchers at the U s. Department of energy (DOE)' s Joint Bioenergy Institute (JBEI) have unveiled the first glycosyltransferase clone collection specifically targeted for the study of the biosynthesis of plant cell walls.
The idea behind what is being called the JBEI GT Collection is to provide a functional genomic resource for researchers seeking to extract the sugars in plant biomass
This is a major drawback for bioenergy research where the goal is to modify plant biomass for maximum fuel yields.
To address this problem especially as it pertains to cell wall biosynthesis a large team of JBEI researchers led by Joshua Heazlewood director of JBEI's Plant Systems Biology program has cloned
In plant biology Arabidopsis is the reference plant for species like poplar and rice the reference plant for grasses.
and beneficial for the survival of African elephants explained first author Robert Pringle a Princeton assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.
Ricardo Holdo a savanna ecologist and assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of Missouri said that the researchers present enough data to potentially determine the amount of pastureland that wild Sodom-apple eaters would be able to keep free of
so they're actually promoting a higher biomass of high-quality habitat for livestock. So it's a win-win in the sense that you're creating a situation in
Pringle worked with Corina Tarnita a Princeton mathematical biologist and assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology as well as with collaborators from the University of Wyoming the University of Florida the University of California-Davis the Mpala Center
Dracaena a genus consisting of approximately 40 different species including the widely recognized lucky bamboo is among the most frequently imported group of ornamentals to enter the U s. for domestic sale and eventual export to Canada.
Outcomes also revealed that high irradiance levels resulted in the highest vegetative biomass and fruit production for all ratios.
The results showed that the highest biomass production (excluding fruit) occurred using the 19:1 ratio while higher fruit production was obtained using the 5: 1 ratio.
They also determined that an increase in red light increased biomass production and slightly lowered the amount of fruit production.
and linking the data to the residential addresses of approximately 1000 participants in the Northern California-based Childhood Risk of Autism from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) Study.
#Pig whipworm genome may aid to treat autoimmune diseasesan international team composed of 11 institutions from six countries including BGI presented the whole-genome sequence of Trichuris suis a parasitic worm in pig.
Understanding the genetics mechanisms underlying the pig parasite may aid to modify the human immune response that could result in better treatments for autoimmune diseases including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and multiple sclerosis.
The latest research was published online in Nature Genetics. The human whipworm (Trichuris) infects around 1 billion people worldwide
In this study researchers sequenced the genomes of single adult female and male pig whipworm at about 140-fold coverage producing draft assemblies of 76 Mb and 81 Mb respectively.
and XY karyotypes for female and male whipworm respectively but in this study researchers found no evidence for A y chromosome among the male-specific scaffolds suggesting that the sex chromosomes were the smallest chromosomal pair
and masculinizing developmental genes respectively. According to the authors this is the first time they observed such results in a metazoan.
Li Hu Project Manager from BGI said The constructed pig whipworm genome sequence provides us a genetic resource for deeply investigating the mechanisms underlying human autoimmune diseases.
LMU biologist Professor Susanne Renner and her research group have looked now at the effects of this warming trend on the timing of leaf emergence (leaf-out in a broad range of shrubs and trees.
This could revolutionise Norwegian bioenergy production he says. Four men including professors from Hawaii and Hungary and two SINTEF researchers are gathered round a machine in a heat technology laboratory at Glã¸shaugen in Trondheim.
and is being used to analyse how biological material reacts to heat and pressure. We're trying to find the optimum conditions for making charcoal from forestry waste.
If we can convert this cheap easily available biomass into a high-quality homogeneous fuel that is easy to handle that would have major consequences in terms of the use of biofuel in Norway.
which biomass is heated under pressure. From one to thousands of units of energy This is all
One biomass unit of energy in results in thousands of units of energy out in the form of electricity produced by the solar cell during its lifetime.
Peak load is the portion of energy production from a bioenergy installation that cannot be covered by the plant's primary source of fuel on the coldest days.
so that it will contain as much as possible of the biomass's energy. It must be of a quality that is good enough to use as a reducing agent in the metal industry and as a fuel.
and tars bio-oils) says Skreiberg. Skreiberg hopes that an industrial company such as Elkem which now uses imported charcoal will get involved
Its white paper on climate said that there has to be a major focus on bioenergy including a tripling of funds for research combined with a target to double the use of bioenergy from 2008 levels by 2020.
but we are still trailing behind the target of doubling the use of bio-energy.
The discovery at Tell Zeidan in Syria was made by an international team of archaeologists and biological anthropologists working at Cambridge (UK) The Cyprus Institute (Cyprus) and the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute (USA.
#Testing biological treatment for pathogens that are killing honeybees and batsa researcher at Georgia State university is studying a new biological treatment for bacterial and fungal pathogens that are killing honeybees and bats in record numbers.
Dr. Christopher Cornelison a postdoctoral researcher is testing how effective Rhodococcus rhodochrous a species of bacteria is in fighting pathogens affecting honeybees and bats.
#Genetic control mechanism for major livestock pest developedresearchers from North carolina State university have developed a technique to control populations of the Australian sheep blowfly--a major livestock pest in Australia
Scott says that the gene construct responsible for lethality in antibiotic-free diets is female-specific Interestingly
and unexpectedly the genetically modified female larvae containing the tetracycline lethality genes also took on a crimson color due to overexpression of the linked red fluorescent protein marker gene.
Overexpression of the gene responsible for the reliance on tetracycline also seems to overexpress this marker gene Scott says.
This is essential for a male-only genetic control program to reduce blowfly populations Scott says as fertile males would pass the lethality construct on to female offspring
In the study the researchers showed that the tetracycline gene construct also works in Drosophila the fruit fly lab rat of the insect world that is a distant cousin of the sheep blowfly.
This holds promise that the genetic system will function in the New world and Old world screwworm two major livestock pests that are close relatives of the sheep blowfly.
Efficient genetic control systems have the potential to help eradicate some of the biggest problem pests across the globe he said.
and nutrients for plants as well as a bioreactor to purify and filter water it is crucial to our quality of life.
University biologist found a surprisingly wide span of as much as three months in leaf-out times.
#Evolutionary biology: Why cattle, pigs are even-toedduring evolutionary diversification of vertebrate limbs the number of toes in even-toed ungulates such as cattle
Scientists at the University of Basel have identified a gene regulatory switch that was key to evolutionary adaption of limbs in ungulates.
To this aim they compared the activity of genes in mouse and cattle embryos which control the development of fingers and toes during embryonic development.
in mouse embryos the so-called Hox gene transcription factors are distributed asymmetrically in the limb buds which is crucial to the correct patterning of the distal skeleton.
and other even-toed ungulates says Developmental Geneticist Prof. Rolf Zeller. Loss of asymmetry preceded the reduction
and loss of digitsthe scientists in the Department of Biomedicine then focused their attention on the Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) signaling pathway as it controls Hox gene expression and the development of five fingers and toes in mice and humans.
They discovered that the gene expression in limb buds of cattle embryos is altered such that the cells giving rise to the distal skeleton fail to express the Hedgehog receptor called Patched1.
The identified genetic alterations affecting this regulatory switch offer unprecedented molecular insights into how the limbs of even-toed ungulates diverged from those of other mammals roughly 55 million years ago explains Rolf Zeller.
what inactivation of the Patched1 gene regulatory switch. We assume that it is the result of progressive evolution as this switch degenerated in cattle
when their crops need the most water they can plant accordingly said Keith Ingram an associate scientist in UFÂ##s agricultural and biological engineering department part of the Institute of food and agricultural sciences.
ARID could have wide uses Woli said. â#oearid has potential to predict various responses by a crop that are related water stress â such as grain yield total biomass produced pest
However researchers of the German Biodiversity and Climate Centre and the Goethe University now found out that the prime example of an invasive species is originally from Central europe and thus no immigrant after all.
and plant species in Central europe that are thought to have a significant negative impact on biodiversity economy and health.
In the spring of 2010 researchers of the Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre and the Goethe University collected 300 specimens of the snail in 60 locations in France Spain the UK and the Benelux countries
It follows that Arion is unresolved very genus from a taxonomic point of view. But looking into the genes of the slugs yielded even more insights.
Shared mutations in the genetic information of different individuals indicate relationships between them. On the basis of this we created a phylogenetic tree
and related it to the geographic distribution. It showed why we could not find Arion lusitanicus in its alleged homeland.
Alien species are one of the main threats to biodiversity and native species as well as causing immense economic damage e g. via yield losses in agriculture.
so a team of researchers led by the US Department of energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) deployed high throughput DNA sequencing
The study was published online June 6 2014 in Genome Research We wanted to understand why some sheep produce a lot
and three variants of a gene encoding an important methane-forming reaction that were involved in elevated methane yields.
and methanogen abundance across sheep were rather subtle the team reported that the expression levels of genes involved in methane production varied more substantially across sheep suggesting differential gene regulation perhaps controlled by hydrogen concentration in the rumen
The above story is provided based on materials by DOE/Joint Genome Institute. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
but the concentration of bird markets makes them very suitable for infection should the virus be introduced there
which could provide advance warning should the virus spread and allow authorities to move quickly to contain it said Tim Robinson a scientist with ILRI's Livestock Systems
The existence of wetland-related agriculture near the markets such as farms that raise ducks in flooded rice fields appeared to be a contributing factor linked to the initial emergence of the virus
despite remarkably strict control efforts the virus has continued to slowly expand to new areas--evidence that H7n9 is difficult to contain along poultry market chains
and females respond differently to climate change and biological challenges. But more fundamentally just as people climb mountains in The himalayas
Lance Noll master's student in veterinary biomedical science Greensburg; T. G. Nagaraja university distinguished professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology;
and quantify major genes specific for E coli O157. Developing a method to detect E coli before it can potentially contaminate the food supply benefits the beef industry by preventing costly recalls
or polymerase chain reaction that detects bacteria based on genetic sequences which are the bacteria's fingerprints Nagaraja said.
The novelty of this test is that it targets four genes Nagaraja said. We are constantly working on finding better
and Nagaraja worked with two Kansas State university molecular biologists: Xiaorong Shi research assistant of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology and Bai.
As a graduate student in veterinary biomedical sciences I am proud to be a member of a multidisciplinary team in the College of Veterinary medicine that aims to make beef a safe product for the consumers.
what Dwomoh called a biodiversity hotspot. His study will focus on the remaining forest sections which are concentrated in Sierra leone Liberia CÃ'te d'Ivoire and Ghana.
#Discovery of bud-break gene could lead to trees adapted for a changing climatescientists have confirmed the function of a gene that controls the awakening of trees from winter dormancy a critical factor in their ability to adjust to environmental changes
While other researchers have identified genes involved in producing the first green leaves of spring the discovery of a master regulator in poplar trees (Populus species) could eventually lead to breeding plants that are adapted better for warmer climates.
No one has isolated ever a controlling gene for this timing in a wild plant outside of Arabidopsis a small flowering plant related to mustard
and cabbage said Steve Strauss co-author and distinguished professor of forest biotechnology at OSU. This is the first time a gene that controls the timing of bud break in trees has been identified.
The timings of annual cycles--when trees open their leaves when they produce flowers when they go dormant--help trees adapt to changes in environmental signals like those associated with climate
but the genetics have to keep up Strauss said. While trees possess the genetic diversity to adjust to current conditions climate models suggest that temperature
and precipitation patterns in many parts of the world may expose trees to more stressful conditions in the future.
Will there be sufficient genetic diversity around to evolve populations that can cope with a much warmer and likely drier climate?
Strauss called the confirmation of the bud-break gene --which scientists named EBB1 for short--a first step in developing the ability to engineer adaptability into trees in the future.
They developed modified trees that overproduced EBB1 genes and emerged from dormancy earlier in the year.
Strauss and Busov a former postdoctoral researcher at Oregon State led efforts to identify the genes responsible.
EBB1 also plays a role in suppressing genes that prepare trees for dormancy in the fall
Altogether they found nearly 1000 other poplar genes whose activity is affected by EBB1. It's unlikely that plant breeders will use the finding any time soon Strauss said.
Breeders tend to rely on large clusters of genes that are associated with specific traits such as hardiness tree shape or flowering.
However as more genes of this kind are identified the opportunity to breed or engineer trees adapted to extreme conditions will grow.
#Endangered species baby boom at zoothe Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute celebrated several births recently.
Three loggerhead shrike chicks hatched in Mid-may at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute In front Royal Va. Loggerhead shrikes also called butcher birds are songbirds that hunt small animals by impaling them on thorns or barbed wire.
Advantages Amplifies multiple genes simultaneously requires no cold chain built-in gel loading dye which facilitates the loading of PCR products directly onto the agaose gel without addition of sample loading buffer easy to follow steps minimises handling
and probably kill many other plant species so their use in large areas is not always practical said Thomas Mitchell associate professor of fungal biology
and molecular genetics at Ohio State university who is familiar with the research but not affiliated with it.
and has great potential as a biological control alternative. This type of approach using native pathogens to control noxious and invasive plants is gaining more much deserved recognition.
Stories of The irish Potato Famine were no more likely to boost support for disease-resistant genetically modified crops than were our generic crop-disease descriptions said Katherine A. Mccomas professor and chair of Cornell's Department of Communication
and benefits of agricultural genetic engineering --and perceptions about the fairness and legitimacy of the decision-making process--these things matter most Mccomas said.
and Joseph Steinhardt (Cornell) Mccomas will publish study results as Factors influencing U s. consumer support for genetic modification to prevent crop disease in the July 2014 journal Appetite--right about the time
If you think genetically modified crops are dangerous'frankenfoods 'and/or that crop disease is controlled best with chemicals
thus the whole game is rigged--plaintive tales of historical famines won't change your mind about genetic modification for disease resistance Mccomas said.
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