determining cell wall chemistry to find plants with ideal genes. NREL's new High-Throughput Analytical Pyrolysis tool (HTAP) can thoroughly analyze hundreds of biomass samples a day
or algae it's all about the cell walls of the plants. Will they make it hard
Difference in Signal Intensity Identifies Gene Manipulationsthe lignin in a plant is crucial for its development
The ratios of lignin to carbohydrate components together with the intensity of the lignin peaks can tell a scientist how easily a plant will give up its sugars.
HTAP provides the information that combined with other genetic information tells us there's a gene controlling the plant's cell wall chemistry located somewhere on this chromosome--at the same location every time Davis said.
or some other factor affecting recalcitrance (the plant's resistance to give up its structural sugars).
For example the ratio of two types of lignin--guaiacol and syringol or G and S--speaks volumes about how much trouble enzymes will have getting to the cellulose in a particular plant.
With dynamic modeling we can better understand the behaviour of the treatment plant over time says senior author Fariborz Haghighat professor in Concordia's Department of Building Civil and Environmental Engineering and Concordia Research Chair
Application of dynamic models to estimate greenhouse gas emission by wastewater treatment plants of the pulp
No one had looked in detail at evidence from the plant record before. Our findings show that you shouldn't assume adaptations always came about in the same way that the trigger is the same environment every time.
and grit on plants and the ground is not new. In the case of Argentine mammals Strã mberg and her co-authors hypothesize that the teeth adapted to handle volcanic ash
because grasses take up more silica from soils than most other plants. Silica forms minute particles inside many plants called phytoliths that among other things help some plants stand upright
and form part of the protective coating on seeds. Phytoliths vary in appearance under a microscope depending on the kind of plant.
When plants die and decay the phytoliths remain as part of the soil layer. In work funded by the National Science Foundation Strã mberg and her colleagues collected samples from Argentina's Gran Barranca literally Great Cliff that offers access to layers of soil ash
and sand going back millions of years. The phytoliths they found in 38-million-year-old layers
Flowers mislead traditional taxonomyfor hundreds of years plant taxonomists have worked to understand how species are related.
Until relatively recently their only reliable source of information about these relationships was the plants'morphology--traits that could be observed measured counted categorized and described visually.
Yet evidence from DNA sequences suggested that these plants were closely related to two rainforest genera with true papilionate flowers Vatairea and Vataireopsis.
For these plants other morphological characteristics may indicate relationships more reliably. Floral traits are apparently more prone to rapid evolutionary changes in response to local ecological conditions Cardoso said
and habitat loss on plant-pollinator networksare plant-pollinator networks holding together as the insects and plants in the network are jostled by climate change and habitat loss?
and almost none follow both plants and insects. Which is why biologist Tiffany Knight and her then postdoctoral research associate Laura Burkle were delighted to discover meticulous data on a plant-pollinator network recorded by Illinois naturalist Charles Robertson between 1887 and 1916.
Recollecting 26 spring-blooming flowers from Robertson's network Knight Phd professor of biology at Washington University
Half the bee species associated with these flowers in Robertson's lifetime had disappeared some pollinators were active before their plants had bloomed plants weren't visited as often
The bees still have food plants are still getting pollinator service. But the service has declined the network's structure is weaker
The study the first to look at human disruption of plant-pollinator networks through the lens of historical data appears in the Feb 28th online edition of Science.
and butterflies as well as bees) to 456 plant species. He identified and described several hundred insects previously unknown to science.
Before Robertson said co-author John Marlin Phd a research affiliate at the University of Illinois's Prairie Research Institute who had recollected part of Robertson's network in the 1970s almost all insect collecting was done independently of the plant.
Robertson was one of the first to record the insect the plant it was collected on to the extent possible
which led to an explosion of information on insect-plant relationships. Burkle said she particularly enjoyed the sleuthing needed to figure out Robertson's methods
He studied forests he studied prairies he studied roadside plants he studied old fields; he even moved some plants to his own yard
so he could study them more easily. If it was a species of flowering plant within a 10-mile radius of Carlinville it was in his study.
To keep our project manageable Knight said we recollected a subset of the network Robertson collected focusing on one plant community:
forest spring ephemeral plants. We looked at 26 plant species in this community which were associated with 109 bees in Robertson's time.
If any community is going to be affected by climate change Knight said it would be this one because the plants flower soon after the winter snow melts.
In many ways the most startling finding to emerge from the re-collection was that half Robertson's bees were nowhere to be found.
The re-collection also revealed timing mismatches between the bees and the plants. Plants were flowering earlier than they had in Robertson's time:
on average. 9. 5 days earlier. Bees were active earlier too: on average 11 days earlier. But despite similar average shifts timing mismatches occurred
and no such pattern occurred among the plants. Moreover everything had speeded up. The flowers were in bloom eight fewer days on average
Of the 532 pairings between the plants and bees that linked the subset of Robertson's network Knight
All the network diagrams say is the bee is present the plant is present and we saw them interacting at least once Knight points out.
I spent two seasons collecting on 24 plants that Robertson had collected on. One of the plants Marlin studied was Claytonia virginica commonly known as'spring beauty.'
'We were interested very in Claytonia virginica because it is the plant in the network currently visited by the greatest diversity of bees Knight said.
Marlin's dataset gave us visitation rate a quantitative measure of pollination we otherwise wouldn't have had.
Since pollen from another species of plant is at best unusable and at worst can clog up pistils preventing fertilization the bee washings also pointed to a decline in pollination services.
The bottom linei was surprised by how tenuous a lot of these plant-bee interactions are said Burkle. We've pushed on these communities a lot
We can't just kick these plant-pollinator networks forever and expect them to keep functioning Knight said.
Organic dairy farms use more plant fodder grown on site and do not import soybean meal. This strategy pays off according to HÃ lsbergen:
Also modern soil samples consistently contain pollen from the Australian pine (Casuarinaceae Casuarina) a plant which is an invasive species from Australia never found in prehistoric samples.
The tools were examined for evidence of plant residues particularly starch grains and phytoliths (plant silica bodies.
and to identify plants and their features of agronomist interest. The morphological characters of the fruit are of special interest for the variability and heritability
what can open possibilities of plant breeders to obtain proper varieties to market needs. The 78 polymorphic DNA fragments found reveal that the presence of a wide genetic diversity giving researchers strong hopes for developing new varieties.
According to the authors organic farming exposes plants to greater stress than conventional farming. They suggest that this increased stress may be the reason organic tomatoes had higher levels sugars Vitamin c and pigment molecules like lycopene an antioxidant compound--all of
and vegetables should aim to balance plant stress with efforts to maximize yield and fruit size rather than trying to eliminate stress to increase yields.
#Climate change effect on plant communities is buffered by large herbivores, new research suggestscan existing ecological communities persist intact as temperatures rise?
The results of the research suggest that plant communities in the Arctic are more likely to resist destabilization by climate change
and 1990s was focused primarily on how fluctuations in such factors as temperature precipitation and nutrient availability directly affected plant communities.
If the planet continues to warm by 1. 5-to-3. 0 degrees Celsius over the next century as the models predict we need to know not only what the warming will do to plants
one in which plants and herbivores continued to live together as the temperatures climbed within the warming chambers;
and the plants were left ungrazed. The study tested a classic ecological hypothesis but with a new angle Post said.
whether species-rich plant communities are more stable and hence persistent in the face of environmental disturbance than species-poor communities.
After 10 years of careful observation of the Kangerlussuaq Greenland plant communities Post found that the grazed
and musk ox act as a buffer against the degradative effects of warming on plant species diversity Post said.
and birch became the dominant plants in response to warming where the herbivorous animals were excluded from the ecosystem.
When these shrubs expand in the plant community they tend to shade their neighbors and the build up of leaf litter around the shrubs tends to cool the soil surface reducing the availability of soil nutrients for other plants Post said.
As a result shrubs can quickly out-compete other plants and reduce species diversity in the process.
On the other hand in those areas where caribou and musk ox were able to graze freely shrub responses to warming were muted
and species diversity within the plant community was maintained. Post said the take-home message from his study is that in a warming climate intact populations of large herbivores may be crucial to the maintenance of plant-community diversity and to the persistence of existing plant communities.
What this experiment suggests is that factors that threaten the persistence of large herbivores may threaten the plant communities they exist in as well.
Conservation of these herbivores in the rapidly changing Arctic will require careful mediation of interacting stressors such as human exploitation mineral extraction
Post said that the next step in his research will be to study the contribution of plant diversity to long-term stability of carbon dynamics in the atmosphere and in the soil.
which leaves are saved from predation because of alterations in its genes finds an study published in Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Plant Biology.
and in plants it is somatic mutation which allows a single tree to produce both nectarines and peaches.
While this loss of control probably has a high evolutionary cost it allows the tree to survive the insect-plant war.
#Growing medicines in plants requires new regulations, experts sayscientists say amending an EU directive on GMOS could help stimulate innovation in making cheaper vaccines pharmaceuticals
and organic plastics using plants. In a paper to be published in Current Pharmaceutical Design six scientists from the US
and to make progress in this area we need to make sure they are applied sensibly to allow pharmaceuticals to be produced in plants.
Advantages of using plants to produce therapeutic proteins include the ability to produce large quantities quickly and cheaply the absence of human pathogens the stability of the proteins and the ease with
They propose amendments to EU Directive 2001/18 to allow pharmaceutical products from GM plants to be commercialised without needing authorisation to enter the human food or animal feed chain.
They chose the first plant-derived anti-HIV monoclonal antibody to be tested in humans. It was isolated purified
Another was establishing good manufacturing practices for biologically active proteins expressed in transgenic plants. Story Source:
A new study'Small RNA profiling reveals phosphorus deficiency as a contributing factor in symptom expression for citrus Huanglongbing disease'published online February 19 in the journal Molecular Plant profiled small
Ribonucleic acids (srnas) from both diseased and healthy plants and found that some of these tiny molecules could potentially be developed into early diagnosis markers for HLB.
To study the expression of citrus srnas in response to HLB we grafted 19 greenhouse-grown healthy sweet orange plants with HLB-positive bark or leaf pieces.
As controls five plants were mock-inoculated with pathogen-free healthy tissue. Samples were collected at 10-and 14-week post inoculation/grafting for small RNA profiling.
In particular mir399 which is induced by P starvation in other plant species was discovered to be induced by HLB infection in the diseased citrus trees.
It is known that mir399 is important for P translocation in plants by suppressing A p signalling pathway gene.
The study found that the phosphorus level in leave of HLB-positive plants was on about 65%of that in healthy plants suggesting that HLB is associated with P starvation in the citrus plants
Compared with the mock-treated plants the P-treated trees had a greener appearance and more vigorous growth.
Fruit yield increased approximately twofold compared with the mock-treated plants. It should be noted that the application of phosphorus solutions did not cure the trees
This along with the potential use of mirnas to diagnose infected trees earlier could have real practical significance given the global economic importance of citrus plants and the rising costs of HLB management.
because globally plants and the oceans absorb around half of the carbon dioxide that humans release into the air through the use of fossil fuels.
#Microbes team up to boost plants stress tolerancewhile most farmers consider viruses and fungi potential threats to their crops these microbes can help wild plants adapt to extreme conditions according to a Penn State virologist.
Discovering how microbes collaborate to improve the hardiness of plants is a key to sustainable agriculture that can help meet increasing food demands
in addition to avoiding possible conflicts over scare resources said Marilyn Roossinck professor of plant pathology and environmental microbiology and biology.
and her colleagues found an example of a collaboration between plants and viruses that confer drought tolerance to many different crop plants.
and several different plants including crops such as rice tomato squash and beets and showed that the viruses increased the plants'ability to tolerate drought.
Virus infection also provided cold tolerance in some cases. A leafy plant related to a common weed known as lamb's quarter was infected also with a virus that caused a local infection.
The infection was enough to boost the plant's drought tolerance and may mean that the virus does not have to actively replicate in the cells where the resistance to drought occurs according to Roossinck.
In studies on plants that thrive in the volcanic soils of Costa rica and in the hot geothermal ground in Yellowstone national park viruses and fungi work together with plants to confer temperature hardiness said Roossinck.
Researchers found that fungi and a type of grass--tropical panic grass--found in Yellowstone national park grow together in temperatures above 125 degrees Fahrenheit.
If the plant and fungus are separated however both die in the same heat levels. Because viruses are often present in plant fungi Roossinck wondered
if viruses played a role in the reaction. I noticed that all of the samples from the geothermal soils had a virus
The researchers found that there was no heat tolerance without the virus. Once the researchers cured the fungus of the virus the plant was unable to withstand the heat.
When the virus was reintroduced the plant regained heat tolerance. A virus is required absolutely for thermal tolerance said Roossinck.
While researchers do not entirely understand the role of viruses in helping plants withstand extreme conditions Roossinck said that future research may help the agricultural industry naturally develop hardier plants rather than rely on chemical solutions that threaten the environment.
#Avoiding virus dangers in domesticating wild plants for biofuel usein our ongoing quest for alternative energy sources researchers are looking more to plants that grow in the wild for use in biofuels plants such as switchgrass.
However attempts to domesticate wild-growing plants have a downside as it could make the plants more susceptible to any number of plant viruses.
In a presentation at this year's meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Michigan State university plant biologist Carolyn Malmstrom said that
when we start combining the qualities of different types of plants into one there can be unanticipated results.
Most wild plants are perennials while most of our agriculture crops are said annuals Malmstrom. Sometimes when you mix the properties of the two unexpected things can happen.
For example annual domestic plants are made to grow quickly. In agriculture we select more for growth she said.
There is a reduced need for the plants to defend themselves because we have taken care of that.
If pest control measures aren't taken these annual plants can serve as amplifiers producing lots of viruses
In contrast perennial plants in nature grow slower but are equipped usually better to fight off invading viruses.
In the domestication of wild plants for bioenergy long-lived plants are being selected for fast growth like annuals.
Now you have a plant that could be a long-term reservoir but it also happens to be faster growing
and the study of viral interactions between wild-growing plants and agricultural crops is an expanding field.
#Wild plants are infected with many viruses and still thriveresearchers have studied viruses as agents of disease in humans domestic animals
and plants but a study of plant viruses in the wild may point to a more cooperative benevolent role of the microbe according to a Penn State virologist.
Most of these wild plants have said viruses Marilyn Roossinck professor of plant pathology and environmental microbiology and biology who has examined more than 7000 individual plants for viruses.
But they don't have any of the symptoms that we usually see in crop plants with viruses.
Most of the viruses Roossinck studied are new viruses although they are related to viruses that have been examined in crops.
According to the researcher about half of the viruses that infect wild plants tend to be continually present in the plant--persistent.
The viruses get passed from plants to their offspring through the seeds. Researchers are still trying to uncover exactly
what viruses are doing in the plants. Since the viruses are found so often they may be playing some role in the life of the plant according to Roossinck.
In fact studies indicate that viruses can be beneficial to some plants making them hardier and helping them survive extreme temperatures
and drought said Roossinck who reported on her research today (Feb 17) at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
However on a research trip in Costa rica a biodiversity hot spot in Central america she noticed that unmanaged wild plants looked healthier than managed agricultural fields.
During her research Roossinck observed that most of the approximately 10000 species of wild plants at the study site appeared healthy.
The wild plants she studied included Fabaceae an abundant family of plants related to beans. However commercial crops--melons oranges pineapple and aloe--that were growing near the site were not as healthy.
When I went to the forest the wild plants looked healthy and gorgeous Roossinck said.
and the plants in the agricultural field were not looking so healthy. In the forest the plants are full of microbes:
viruses fungi and bacteria whereas in crops farmers try to eliminate the microbes. Perhaps there is a connection.
while in the wild plants there were no symptoms. Analyzing the viruses suggested that they were moving from the crops into the wild plants
but somehow the wild plants remained healthy. Roossinck said she is curious about how the wild plants avoid disease
and if there is a way this can be used in agriculture. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Penn State.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
#Researchers find potential new therapeutic target for treating non-small cell lung cancerresearchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have found a potential targeted therapy for patients with tobacco-associated non-small cell lung cancer.
and other plants to absorb atmospheric CO2 for photosynthesis. In nature the CO2 is released eventually back into the atmosphere as the plant decays.
Biochar is a plant byproduct similar to charcoal that can be made from lumber waste dried corn stalks and other plant residues.
Like BECCS the goal is to permanently lock carbon underground instead of letting CO2 re-enter the atmosphere as the plant decomposes.
Wildfires also threaten biodiversity including many unique plants and animals found only on the continent.
Spectral analysis a method of analyzing the electromagnetic radiation coming from plants and other objects is being used in the K-State Agronomy Department to determine the level of photosynthetic activity of vegetation in many different situations.
and other plants produce toxic substances termed mycotoxins. Some health experts regard mycotoxins as the most serious chronic dietary risk factor greater than the potential health threats from pesticides and insecticides.
Plants protect themselves by binding or conjugating glucose sulfur or other substances to the mycotoxin producing conjugated mycotoxins that are not harmful.
The roots of trees like all plants need oxygen to survive. One strategy that trees use to cope in waterlogged soil is to enlarge porous structures known as lenticels in their stems to allow air to enter
which the plants are grown beneath a diverse canopy of trees. In an effort to increase production much of the acreage has been converted to sun coffee
This study is a milestone in linking plant-level physiology measurements with large-scale climate to predict vulnerability to climate change in these forests.
and the nutrients in such forms are difficult for plants to use. The active labile fraction however is a modest but important part of the organic matter.
and sample the soil as it will have captured pollen from plants growing at the time. Shells in the gravel section suggest the path was made probably from waste material from the water filter gravel beds that still exist opposite the hall of residence.
The team expected several small metal garden tags they discovered to bear the names of plants.
#Scientists identify genetic mechanism that contributed to Irish Faminewhen a pathogen attacks a plant infection usually follows after the plant's immune system is compromised.
and deciphered how it succeeded in crippling the potato plant's immune system. The Genus phytophthora contains many notorious pathogens of crops.
and soybean) resulting first in a suppression of host immunity and thereafter in an increase in the plants'susceptibility to disease.
Known as RNA gene silencing this suppression plays an important role in regulating plant growth and development.
When RNA silencing is impaired by effectors the plant is more susceptible to disease. Basic RNA silencing processes are conserved in plant and mammalian systems.
They serve as a major defense mechanism against viruses in plants and invertebrates. RNA silencing has also been implicated in antibacterial plant defense.
The discovery by Ma's lab is the first to show that RNA silencing regulates plant defense against eukaryotic pathogens.
Phytophthora effectors have a motif or signature--a specific protein code--that allows the proteins to be delivered into host cells Ma said.
In addition to determining the compatibility of traditional plants or landrace diversity and intensified agriculture Zimmerer also addressed important links between migrant communities and smallholder farms.
and peoples'livelihoods there that will ultimately determine the fate of humankind's global centers of biodiversity and agrobiodiversity in particular--unequalled and unique types of many major food plants as well as minor and increasingly familiar ones.
The plant has played a vital role in the world economy since 1876. Currently Asia accounts for about 93%of global supply of rubber.
Instead they should encourage more kinds of plants in fields and woods as a buffer against sudden ecosystem disturbance.
The team selectively burned plots to compare areas of mostly grasses with areas of mixed grasses and diverse native plants.
if climate change is associated with increased plant growth under elevated carbon dioxide. But if this effect declines or climate warming occurs due to something other than a carbon dioxide increase we expect to see a significant release of carbon from tropical ecosystems.
Fortunately this carbon release is counteracted by the positive effects of carbon dioxide fertilisation on plant growth under most scenarios of the 21st century
And a better root system can lead to improved function for the plant as a whole If you can protect the investment the plants made in the root system explains Below you can realize everything that roots do like take up nutrients
and water and provide anchorage. The researchers conducted experiments over two years growing resistant and non-resistant crops and applying five different amounts of nitrogen.
Additionally increasing plant populations could further increase yield. When you have a higher population of plants each individual plant has a smaller root system
so that made it difficult to increase plant population when you had insects chewing on the roots explains Below.
With the Bt corn though you can protect the root system and grow more plants.
In addition to its utility in crop production Below is hopeful that Bt corn will open up new avenues of research as scientists begin to better understand root systems.
Plant roots are below ground and are hard to study. It's a big unexplored horizon both in agronomics and crop biology.
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