January 4, 2011, 6:46 AM CT

Protein inhibit cancer metastasis

By sticking a chemical group to it at a specific site, a protein arrests an enzyme that may worsen and spread cancer, an international research team led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports in the recent issue of Nature Cell Biology

In addition to highlighting a novel anti-cancer pathway, the team observed that the same deactivation of the enzyme called EZH2 is necessary for the formation of bone-forming cells from the stem cells that make them and other tissues.

"EZH2 is overexpressed in aggressive solid tumors and tied to cancer progression and metastasis," said the paper's senior author, Mien-Chie Hung, Ph.D., professor and chair of MD Anderson's Department of Molecular and Cellular Oncology. "We have observed that another protein, CDK1, deactivates EZH2".

The team's basic research findings provide a rationale for developing an EZH2 inhibitor or a drug that mimics the protein that deactivates it as new cancer drugs. "You have to understand the molecular details of cancer formation and progression to develop new therapies that improve therapy and prevention," Hung said.

In a series of experiments, the team demonstrated how CDK1 interferes with EZH2, reducing cell migration and invasion in breast cancer cell lines......... Posted by: Janet      Read more         Source

December 30, 2010, 6:44 AM CT

Hybrid string blossom thinner tested in peach orchards

Peach producers have traditionally relied heavily on hand thinning, a necessary but costly and labor-intensive field practice. Impacted by increasing labor costs and a limited workforce, peach and other stone fruit growers are turning to mechanical methods such as string thinners to minimize the need for hand thinning. A new ''hybrid'' string thinner prototype showed promising results when it was reviewed in four U.S. growing regions; the trials resulted in significant labor savings and increased peach size.

As per Pennsylvania State University's T. Auxt Baugher, corresponding author for the research report published in HortTechnology, the goal of the study was to determine if a new string thinner prototype designed to thin vase or angled tree canopies could be adapted for varying orchard systems. Trials with the hybrid mechanical blossom string thinner were performed in California, South Carolina, Washington, and Pennsylvania commercial orchards. The prototype used in the experiments was a hybrid of a vertical rotating string thinner designed to remove apple blossoms in organic orchards and a horizontal prototype reviewed in prior peach thinning trials. The scientists reviewed blossom removal rate, fruit set, labor mandatory for follow-up hand thinning, fruit size distribution at harvest, yield, and economic impact. Additional information was collected using case study interviews of growers and orchard managers......... Posted by: Erica      Read more         Source

December 30, 2010, 6:43 AM CT

Genetic relationship between Hungarian and Turkish apricots

Apricots are important to Turkey, the country where more apricot crops are grown and exported than anywhere in the world. Looking to unlock the mystery of apricots' origins and increase crop production, researchers are studying the genetic relationship between apricot varieties. New research from a team of Hungarian and Turkish researchers has confirmed the genetic link between Turkish and Hungarian apricot cultivars, yielding information that provides valuable data for apricot growers and breeders.

It is widely believed that apricots originated in China, arriving in Europe through central Asia and Asia Minor. Apricot cultivars are classified into four major eco-geographical groups: central Asian, Irano-Caucasian, European, and Dzhungar-Zailing. The central Asian and Irano-Caucasian (including Turkish cultivars) groups show the richest diversity, while the European group�including cultivars grown in North America, Australia, and South Africa�is believed to be the least diverse. Apricots from eastern European cultivars have clearly distinguished characteristics from other cultivars of European origin. Eventhough a number of studies have been done on Turkish apricots, there remains uncertainty about the self-incompatibility genotypes for a number of Turkish cultivars.

A team of scientists from the Corvinus University of Budapest and Ataturk University and the Malatya Fruit Research Institute in Turkey published a study in the Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science that confirms an evolutionary theory. "Microsatellite analyses have suggested that Hungarian and European apricot cultivars might have originated through hybridization among Irano-Caucasian genotypes", said corresponding author J�lia Hal�sz. This assumption seems to be confirmed by historical and linguistic evidence; during the Ottoman occupation of Hungary numerous records documented the introduction of Turkish graft-wood and other propagation materials to Hungary......... Posted by: Erica      Read more         Source

December 30, 2010, 6:41 AM CT

Turfgrass fertility, pesticide programs

Traditional turfgrass management programs rely heavily on the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. In response to increased public scrutiny and legislation, organic and biological alternatives are becoming more accepted, but research indicates that these alternatives have not been widely adopted by either homeowners or the lawn care industry. Results of a newly released study that compared common but disparate turfgrass management approaches may help lawn care professionals to evaluate, market, and implement alternative management programs.

Purdue University scientists reported on a field study that reviewed and compared the aesthetic and economic characteristics of four turfgrass fertility and pesticide programs. In a recent issue of HortTechnology Victoria A. Caceres, Cale A. Bigelow, and Douglas S. Richmond noted that the reasons that homeowners and professionals do not adopt organic alternatives "primarily revolve around a combination of high aesthetic standards and a perceived lack of reliability or cost effectiveness linked to biologically based alternatives." For the study, the scientists compared four turfgrass fertility and pesticide programs in an effort to provide a framework for lawn care professionals. Programs included a consumer program (CP), an integrated pest management program (IPMP), a natural organic program (NOP), and a no-input program (NIP). The scientists measured aesthetic characteristics such as canopy greenness and turfgrass quality (color, density, and uniformity) and determined economic aspects by recording the cost of materials and labor linked to each fertility and pesticide program......... Posted by: Janet      Read more         Source

December 29, 2010, 6:48 AM CT

Fly Embryos for High-Throughput Experiments

Scientists have developed a microfluidic device that automatically orients hundreds of fruit fly and other embryos to prepare them for research. The device could facilitate the study of such issues as how organisms develop their complex structures from single cells - one of the most fascinating aspects of biology.

Researchers know that among an embryo's first major developments is the establishment of its dorsoventral axis, which runs from its back to its belly. Determining how this axis development unfolds - specifically the presence and location of proteins during the process - requires the ability to simultaneously monitor large numbers of embryos with different genetic backgrounds at several time points.

"Collecting and analyzing the signaling and transcriptional patterns of the dorsoventral axis typically requires manual manipulation of individual embryos to stand them on their ends, making it difficult to conduct high-throughput experiments that can achieve statistically significant results," said Hang Lu, an associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering.

To enable large-scale quantitative analyses of protein positional information along the dorsoventral axis, Lu designed a microfluidic device that reliably and robustly orients several hundred embryos in just a few minutes......... Posted by: Janet      Read more         Source

December 29, 2010, 6:44 AM CT

Genome sequence could make finest chocolate better

The production of high quality chocolate, and the farmers who grow it, will benefit from the recent sequencing and assembly of the chocolate tree genome, as per an international team led by Claire Lanaud of CIRAD, France, with Mark Guiltinan of Penn State, and including researchers from 18 other institutions.

The team sequenced the DNA of a variety of Theobroma cacao, considered to produce the world's finest chocolate. The Maya domesticated this variety of Theobroma cacao, Criollo, about 3,000 years ago in Central America, and it is one of the oldest domesticated tree crops. Today, a number of growers prefer to grow hybrid cacao trees that produce chocolate of lower quality but are more resistant to disease.

"Fine cocoa production is estimated to be less than 5 percent of the world cocoa production because of low productivity and disease susceptibility," said Guiltinan, professor of plant molecular biology.

The scientists report in the current issue of Nature Genetics "consumers have shown an increased interest for high-quality chocolate made with cocoa of good quality and for dark chocolate, containing a higher percentage of cocoa, while also taking into account environmental and ethical criteria for cocoa production".

Currently, most cacao farmers earn about $2 per day, but producers of fine cacao earn more. Increasing the productivity and ease of growing cacao can help to develop a sustainable cacao economy. The trees are now also seen as an environmentally beneficial crop because they grow best under forest shade, allowing for land rehabilitation and enriched biodiversity......... Posted by: Erica      Read more         Source

December 29, 2010, 6:18 AM CT

Improving greenhouse, plant microclimates

study in HortTechnology featured a new technology that improved greenhouse climates by reducing solar heat radiation and temperatures during the hot summer season. The study, published by a team of Canadian researchers, was the first investigation into the effects of application of the liquid foam technology as a shading method. Results showed that the technology improved greenhouse and plant microclimates and decreased air temperature more than conventional shading curtains traditionally used by greenhouse growers.

Excess temperature, solar radiation, and high vapor pressure deficit are major greenhouse concerns during the summer season. These extreme conditions increase plant stress and decrease crop productivity and fruit quality. Methods such as cooling pads and fogging systems have been used to prevent plant heat stress during the day, and various shading techniques are often used by growers to decrease solar radiation and reduce air and leaf temperatures. Shade cloths reduce the amount of solar energy entering the greenhouse and consequently decreased air temperature by partially cutting the heat portion of the solar radiation, but this incoming energy commonly contains more than 50% heat (infrared radiation), which is not useful for plant growth in the summer......... Posted by: Erica      Read more         Source

December 29, 2010, 6:13 AM CT

Solutions to common pear disease

Diseases caused by a species of fungus called Phytophthora syringae are responsible for significant economic losses on a wide range of plants, including pear. In the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, disease occurs during the winter in nursery stock, particularly on trees that are harvested and stored in coolers or in outdoor sawdust beds. Recent field observations by growers suggest that increased nitrogen content in nursery trees resulting from foliar sprays with urea in the autumn increases tree susceptibility to infection by Phytophthora syringae The results of new research suggest the relationship between tree susceptibility to P. syringae and tree nitrogen concentration appears to be specific to the form of nitrogen, delivery method, or timing of nitrogen applications.

Scientists from Oregon State University's Department of Horticulture and the USDA-Agricultural Research Service published a study in HortTechnology that contains new answers for nursery operators. The experiments investigated the effects of soil nitrogen (N) availability and spraying pear trees with combinations of urea, chelated copper ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (CuEDTA), and phosphonate-containing fungicides on stem N concentration and susceptibility to infection by P. syringae........ Posted by: Erica      Read more         Source

December 29, 2010, 6:09 AM CT

Willow cut-stem growers surveyed

Woody ornamental plants with colorful or uncommonly shaped stems, buds, flowers, or fruits represent a growing specialty niche in cut flower production markets. These unique plants can be good prospects for off-season production, offering distinct benefits such as extended growing seasons, respectable financial returns, hardiness, and the ability to produce multiple harvests from single plantings.

A research team from the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture at the University of Connecticut recently published the results of a poll of North American willow "cut stem" producers. The study was designed to identify willow growers' profiles, production acreages, and gross sales, to evaluate consistency in production practices, and to assess the prospective market value for crop expansion. As per Yulia A. Kuzovkina, corresponding author of the study, the potential exists to significantly expand the consumer market for woody cut stems, but until recently "woody floral crops have received little formal research attention to determine the best cultural practices for optimal yields".

Willow is among the most popular woody plant used in cut stem production operations; species and varieties exhibit a range of unique ornamental attributes, including showy catkins, brightly colored stems, and contorted, or "fasciated", stems. Willows are typically harvested during the late winter months when few plants are available for field production in temperate climates. Cash returns for willow growers can range from $1.25-1.75 per stem for species harvested for ornamental catkins, and annual gross financial returns for willow plants�reported at up to $24.94 per plant�are much higher than for a number of other woody florals......... Posted by: Erica      Read more         Source

December 21, 2010, 6:41 AM CT

New national study on nitrogen water pollution

A Kansas State University professor is part of a national research team that discovered that streams and rivers produce three times more greenhouse gas emissions than estimated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Through his work on the Konza Prairie Biological Station and other local streams, Walter Dodds, university distinguished professor of biology, helped demonstrate that nitrous oxide emissions from rivers and streams make up at least 10 percent of human-caused nitrous oxide emissions -- three times greater than current estimates by the climate change panel.

"This research deals with two important issues," Dodds said. "First, nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas. Second, nitrous oxide also destroys ozone in the upper atmosphere, exposing us to more ultra violet radiation".

The research, "Nitrous oxide emission from denitrification in stream and river networks," appears in this week's Online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

For the article, scientists from 23 institutions -- including K-State -- measured nitrous oxide production in 72 streams that drain native, urban or agricultural lands. Nine of those streams were in the Manhattan area, with three at Konza.

The level of nitrous oxide in streams and rivers is correlation to human activities that can release nitrogen into the environment, such as sewage runoff or crop fertilization. When this nitrogen reaches rivers and streams, it undergoes denitrification, a microbial process that converts nitrogren to nitrous oxide gas, called N2O, and an inert gas called dinitrogen, or N2......... Posted by: Janet      Read more         Source