ScienceDaily: Plants & Animals News

Hidden meaning and 'speed limits' found within genetic code Posted: 12 Mar 2015 02:38 PM PDT Speed matters when it comes to how messenger RNA deciphers critical information within the genetic code -- the complex chain of instructions critical to sustaining life. The investigators' findings give scientists critical new information in determining how best to engage cells to treat illness -- and, ultimately, keep them from emerging in the first place.

Unique proteins found in heat-loving organisms attach to plant matter Posted: 12 Mar 2015 12:41 PM PDT Unique proteins newly discovered in heat-loving bacteria are more than capable of attaching themselves to plant cellulose, possibly paving the way for more efficient methods of converting plant matter into biofuels.

You are when you eat: Limiting flies to specific eating hours protects their hearts against aging, study finds Posted: 12 Mar 2015 11:30 AM PDT Limiting flies to specific eating hours protected their hearts against aging, a study has demonstrated. Previous research has found that people who tend to eat later in the day and into the night have a higher chance of developing heart disease than people who cut off their food consumption earlier. "So what's happening when people eat late?" asked a biologist whose research focuses on cardiovascular physiology. "They're not changing their diet, just the time."

Super-resolution microscopes reveal link between genome packaging, cell pluripotency Posted: 12 Mar 2015 10:08 AM PDT In 1953 Watson and Crick first published the discovery of the double helix structure of the DNA. They were able to visualize the DNA structure by means of X-Ray diffraction. Techniques, such as electron microscopy, allowed scientists to identify nucleosomes, the first and most basic level of chromosome organization. Until now it was known that our DNA is packaged by regular repeating units of those nucleosomes throughout the genome giving rise to chromatin. However, due to the lack of suitable techniques and instruments, the chromatin organization inside a cell nucleus could not be observed in a non-invasive way with the sufficient resolution.

High-tech gas sensing capsules for better gut health Posted: 12 Mar 2015 10:07 AM PDT High-tech gas sensing capsules that can send data from inside the gut direct to a mobile phone have been developed by scientists, opening new possibilities for diagnosis, treatment and health analysis.

Nature's inbuilt immune defense could protect industrial bacteria from viruses Posted: 12 Mar 2015 09:33 AM PDT Findings from a new study that set out to investigate the evolution of immune defenses could boost the development of industrial bacteria that are immune to specific viral infections.

Some genes 'foreign' in origin and not from our ancestors Posted: 12 Mar 2015 09:33 AM PDT Many animals, including humans, acquired essential 'foreign' genes from microorganisms co-habiting their environment in ancient times, according to new research. The study challenges conventional views that animal evolution relies solely on genes passed down through ancestral lines, suggesting that, at least in some lineages, the process is still ongoing.

Social status has impact on overall health of mammals Posted: 12 Mar 2015 08:23 AM PDT High social status has its privileges -- when it comes to aging -- even in wild animals. In a first-of-its-kind study involving a wild species, researchers have shown that social and ecological factors affect animal health. The results focused on spotted hyenas in Kenya.

Government corruption in South Africa contributes to overfishing, study finds Posted: 12 Mar 2015 07:07 AM PDT Bribery among government officials who inspect fishing along the coast of South Africa contributes to overfishing, according to new study. A researcher examined how corruption has hampered the implementation of the regulations that are meant to keep fishing at sustainable levels.

Secret of how plants regulate their vitamin C production revealed Posted: 12 Mar 2015 07:07 AM PDT In the regulation of vitamin C, it is the level of vitamin C itself in each plant cell that decides whether RNA turns into the protein which makes vitamin C, researchers have found. "Understanding these mechanisms may help in plant breeding programs to produce hardier plant crops and improve human health because iron deficiency anemia is the most common form of malnutrition worldwide," explains one expert.

Engineers create chameleon-like artificial 'skin' that shifts color on demand Posted: 12 Mar 2015 07:07 AM PDT Borrowing a trick from nature, engineers have created an incredibly thin, chameleon-like material that can be made to change color -- on demand -- by simply applying a minute amount of force.

Post-fire logging can reduce fuels for up to 40 years in regenerating forests, new study finds Posted: 12 Mar 2015 06:23 AM PDT Harvesting fire-killed trees is an effective way to reduce woody fuels for up to four decades following wildfire in dry coniferous forests, a study has found. "Large wildfires can leave behind thousands of acres of fire-killed trees that eventually become fuel for future fires. In the past, post-fire logging has been conducted primarily to recover economic value from those fire-killed trees," said the study's leader.

Giant sea creature hints at early arthropod evolution Posted: 12 Mar 2015 05:36 AM PDT Newly discovered fossils of a giant, extinct sea creature show it had modified legs, gills on its back, and a filter system for feeding -- providing key evidence about the early evolution of arthropods.

Farming a threat to endangered Chinese giant salamander Posted: 11 Mar 2015 06:04 PM PDT Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) farms risk the extinction of wild salamander populations instead of supporting their conservation, a new study concludes. Wild salamanders are illegally poached to supplement farmed populations which often do not breed successfully. Farmed salamanders are traded across China and are kept in crowded conditions, both of which promote devastating disease outbreaks. Untreated wastewater from farms is discharged into local river systems, potentially spreading diseases to wild populations.

Scientists transfer pathogen-sensing ‘ANTENNA’ gene to wheat Posted: 11 Mar 2015 06:04 PM PDT Scientists have successfully transferred a receptor that recognizes bacteria from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana - a dicot, to wheat -- a monocot. They showed that the receptor can trigger a defensive response and confers increased resistance to bacterial disease. The research findings demonstrate that the signalling pathways or circuitry downstream of the receptor are conserved between evolutionary distant monocots and dicots.

Study yields insights into how plant cells grow Posted: 11 Mar 2015 03:58 PM PDT A study by engineers advances our understanding of how plants control their shape and development at the cellular level. The team used a combination of experimental data from live plant cells and computational modeling to gain new insights into how plant cytoskeletons -- intricate networks of protein fibers and tubes within cells -- cooperate to produce complex cell shapes.

Understanding plants' immune systems could lead to better tomatoes, roses, rice Posted: 11 Mar 2015 01:05 PM PDT Spring is just around the corner and for millions of Americans, that means planting a garden with plenty of fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes. Now, a research team has uncovered new regulations of defense pathways for plants. This discovery could lead to helping those home-grown tomatoes fight off certain bacteria better and has implications for pear trees, roses, soybeans and rice.

Low-oxygen impacts on West Coast groundfish, research shows Posted: 11 Mar 2015 01:05 PM PDT Low-oxygen waters projected to expand with climate change create winners and losers among deep-dwelling groundfish, new research shows. Some species are adapted to handle low-oxygen conditions such as those increasingly documented off the West Coast, while the same conditions drive other species away.

Length matters, for genes Posted: 11 Mar 2015 01:04 PM PDT Mutations in the MECP2 gene are the cause of the devastating childhood neurological disorder Rett Syndrome. Despite intense efforts spanning several decades the precise function of MECP2 has been difficult to pin down. Research reveals important information that could lead to new treatment approaches. The study shows that MECP2 dampens the expression of long genes.

Scientists take first-ever images of an intact molecular machine responsible for bacterial infections Posted: 09 Mar 2015 12:53 PM PDT Armed with a microscope capable of zooming in on organisms measured in billionths of a meter, scientists report they are the first to observe one of the tiny molecular machines that bacteria use to infect host cells.