ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News

When strep throat is something else: Forgotten bacterium is cause of many severe sore throats in young adults Posted: 16 Feb 2015 05:03 PM PST New research suggests that Fusobacterium necrophorum more often causes severe sore throats in young adults than streptococcus — the cause of the much better known strep throat. The findings, suggest physicians should consider F. necrophorum when treating severe sore throat in young adults and adolescents that worsens.

First-ever evidence of drastic climate change of Northern China region 4,200 years ago Posted: 16 Feb 2015 01:00 PM PST Using a relatively new scientific dating technique, geologists were able to document -- for the first time -- a drastic climate change 4,200 years ago in northern China that affected vegetation and led to mass migration from the area.

Complex nerve-cell signaling traced back to common ancestor of humans and sea anemones Posted: 16 Feb 2015 12:57 PM PST New research shows that a burst of evolutionary innovation in the genes responsible for electrical communication among nerve cells in our brains occurred over 600 million years ago in a common ancestor of humans and the sea anemone. The research reveals many of these genes, which when mutated in humans can lead to neurological disease, first evolved in the common ancestor of people and a group of animals that includes jellyfish, coral, and sea anemones.

In the short run, a high-fat diet may help minimize heart attack damage Posted: 16 Feb 2015 12:57 PM PST A high-fat diet, eaten one day to two weeks days before a heart attack, reduced heart attack damage in mice by about 50 percent, according to a new study. The finding could provide insight into the "obesity paradox," by which obesity appears to provide protection to heart attack patients. Researchers emphasize the study is not a license to eat a lot of cheeseburgers and ice cream.

Anti-inflammatory mechanism of dieting and fasting revealed Posted: 16 Feb 2015 10:11 AM PST Researchers have found that a compound produced by the body when dieting or fasting can block a part of the immune system involved in several inflammatory disorders such as type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, and Alzheimer's disease.

Ancient rocks show life could have flourished on Earth 3.2 billion years ago Posted: 16 Feb 2015 10:11 AM PST A spark from a lightning bolt, interstellar dust, or a subsea volcano could have triggered the very first life on Earth. But what happened next? Life can exist without oxygen, but without plentiful nitrogen to build genes -- essential to viruses, bacteria and all other organisms -- life on the early Earth would have been scarce. The ability to use atmospheric nitrogen to support more widespread life was thought to have appeared roughly 2 billion years ago. Now research looking at some of the planet's oldest rocks finds evidence that 3.2 billion years ago, life was already pulling nitrogen out of the air and converting it into a form that could support larger communities.

Genetic evidence shows penguins have 'bad taste' Posted: 16 Feb 2015 10:11 AM PST Penguins apparently can't enjoy or even detect the savory taste of the fish they eat or the sweet taste of fruit. A new analysis of the genetic evidence suggests that the flightless, waddling birds have lost three of the five basic tastes over evolutionary time. For them, it appears, food comes in only two flavors: salty and sour.

Researchers unearth county colic risk in horses Posted: 16 Feb 2015 10:02 AM PST A particular gastrointestinal disorder, which causes colic, or abdominal pain, in horses, is more prevalent in Lancashire compared with other nearby counties, according to researchers.

Mothers can pass traits to offspring through bacteria's DNA, mouse study shows Posted: 16 Feb 2015 09:54 AM PST A new study in mice has shown that the DNA of bacteria that live in the body can pass a trait to offspring in a way similar to the parents' own DNA. According to the authors, the discovery means scientists need to consider a significant new factor -- the DNA of microbes passed from mother to child -- in their efforts to understand how genes influence illness and health.

Newly discovered bacterial family may become a weapon in the fight against malaria Posted: 16 Feb 2015 06:21 AM PST A new family of bacteria that are common in malaria mosquitoes has been described by researchers in a recent publication. Now, attempts are made to use these bacteria in the fight against malaria.

More infectious diseases emerging in animals as climate changes, say zoologists Posted: 16 Feb 2015 03:49 AM PST The appearance of infectious diseases in new places and new hosts is a predictable result of climate change, say zoologists in a new article. Climate change brings humans, crops, wildlife and livestock into contact with new pathogens, which are more likely to jump from one host to another than scientists previously believed.

Cold-blooded animals grow bigger in the warm on land, but smaller in warm water Posted: 16 Feb 2015 03:48 AM PST Scientists studying arthropods, the group of cold-blooded animals that includes crabs and insects, have found that individuals within species living on land tend to grow to a larger size in the warm and nearer the equator, but that the reverse is true of species found in water.

Climate change can cause loss of important ice dynamics in streams Posted: 16 Feb 2015 03:48 AM PST Ice and winter floods are important natural disturbances for maintaining species-rich riparian zones along northern watercourses. If the climate becomes warmer this disturbance might be lost. This could potentially lead to a less diverse riparian zone.

Large scale study warns of unsustainable ecological decline in rural China Posted: 16 Feb 2015 03:48 AM PST The agricultural development of a region of eastern China is ecologically unsustainable and actions are needed soon to reverse its decline, according to a new study. The work used complex system science to examine the long-term health of the ecosystem of the Lower Yangtze River Basin, around Nanjing and Shanghai. Researchers found the region has been in environmental decline since it passed a tipping point in the late 1970s.

How do vertebrates take on their form? Posted: 16 Feb 2015 03:47 AM PST A simple physical mechanism that can be assimilated to folding, or buckling, means that an unformed mass of cells can change in a single step into an embryo organized as a typical vertebrate. Thanks to microscopic observations and micromechanical experiments, the scientists have discovered that the pattern that guides this folding is present from the early stages of development. The folds that will give a final shape to the animal form along the boundaries between cell territories with different properties. This work has shed light on the mechanism for the formation of vertebrates and thus how they appeared during evolution.

An Italian cemetery may provide clues on cholera's evolution Posted: 15 Feb 2015 03:51 PM PST A team of archaeologists and other researchers hope that an ancient graveyard in Italy can yield clues about the deadly bacterium that causes cholera.

iSpot: Crowdsourcing effective for gathering biodiversity data Posted: 12 Feb 2015 09:23 AM PST New research on iSpot -- The Open University's platform to help people share and learn more about nature -- has recognised crowdsourcing as having a key role in the identification of plant species and wildlife.