Biology-blog.com Archive page

Spread Of Rabies In Raccoon Outbreak

Analyzing 30 years of data detailing a large rabies virus outbreak among North American raccoons, scientists at Emory University have revealed how initial demographic, ecological and genetic processes simultaneously shaped the virus's geographic spread over time. The study appears online in the Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences. "Our study demonstrates the combined evolutionary and population dynamic processes characterizing........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 5/17/2007 7:04:53 PM)

Foeniculum vulgare 'Purpureum' (tentative)

Botany Photo of the Day will have brief written entries on weekends, holidays and my vacations from April through September. I'm on vacation today. – Danie Thank you to Jacki of Oregon, aka jacki-dee@Flickr for today's photograph (original | BPotD Flickr Group Pool)........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 5/15/2007 9:52:13 PM)

Attach Genes To Minichromosomes

A team of researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia has discovered a way to create engineered minichromosomes in maize and attach genes to those minichromosomes. This discovery opens new possibilities for the development of crops that are multiply resistant to viruses, insects, fungi, bacteria and herbicides, and for the development of proteins and metabolites that can be used to treat human illnesses. In a paper reported in the........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 5/14/2007 10:39:13 PM)

Species Distribution Patterns In Tropical Forests

Looking at a rainforest its easy to see that there are hundreds of different tropical plant species that inhabit the forest. Eventhough the patterns of plant distributions in tropical forests have been widely studied, the reasonings behind these patterns are not as well known. This study, published in Nature, explores these patterns. A contingent of scientists from around the world, including Panama, Gera number of, USA and Canada, have........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 5/14/2007 10:29:50 PM)

Dodecatheon pulchellum

Few-flowered shooting star (or darkthroat shootingstar or prairie shooting star or pretty shooting star) is native throughout western North America. I've so far found it on grass-covered hills with localized moist (but not saturated) soils owing to springtime melts Pollination of plants in the genus Dodecatheon is aided by buzz pollination (more), in which a strong pulse of rapid buzzing by a bee vibrates the anthers, causing the pollen to........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 5/13/2007 3:08:37 PM)

A Zookeeper's Adventuresin Belize

In February, Prospect Park Zoo keeper Crystal DiMiceli visited Belize, but unlike most travelers to this Central American country, she didn't go there for sandy beaches and tropical drinks. Instead, she went for business. Monkey business. DiMiceli joined other staff from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) zoos to participate in a survey to identify and count black howler monkeys over a three-week period. WCS has been working since 1992........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 5/10/2007 10:34:06 PM)

Asymmetry due to Perfect Balance

Cortical polarity is a prerequisite for a variety of cellular processes like cell division, local cellular growth, the secretion of substances and a number of steps in the embryonic development of organisms. To establish an asymmetric distribution of membrane proteins, diffusion has to be countered for a long enough time to allow the molecules to accumulate and fulfill their functions. This is possible through active and directed transport........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 5/10/2007 10:29:41 PM)

Plants tag insect herbivores with an alarm

Rooted in place, plants can't run from herbivoresbut they can fight back. Sensing attack, plants frequently generate toxins, emit volatile chemicals to attract the pest's natural enemies, or launch other defensive tactics. Now, for the first time, researchers reporting in the June 2007 issue of Plant Physiology have identified a specific class of small peptide elicitors, or plant defense signals, that help plants react to insect attack. ........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 5/9/2007 11:14:28 PM)

First Marsupial Genome Sequence

An international team, led by scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today announced the publication of the first genome of a marsupial, belonging to a South American species of opossum. In a comparison of the marsupial genome to genomes of non-marsupials, including human, reported in the May 10 issue of the journal Nature, the team observed that most innovations leading........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 5/9/2007 10:29:13 PM)

Tulipa 'Zurel'

Botany Photo of the Day will have brief written entries on weekends, holidays and my vacations from April through September. – Danie Tulipa 'Zurel' is coloured purple and white, photographed here en masse with an errant unknown red tulip. One of the charms of the Roozengaarde tulip fields was the presence of uniformity-breaking individuals in different colours scattered throughout the plots – that little dash of........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 5/7/2007 8:13:47 PM)

Gene mutation linked to increased athletic performance

Whippets are bred for speed and have been clocked at speeds approaching 40 miles per hour over a 200-yard racing course. Researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have now discovered a genetic mutation that helps to explain why some whippets run even faster than others. Reported in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics, their findings will make for a fascinating........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 5/6/2007 4:59:47 PM)

First Genome Comparison of Plankton Species

An international team of researchers led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and the Department of Energy's (DOE) Joint Genome Institute has peered into the genetic makeup of two species of phytoplankton, the tiny plants key in global photosynthesis and carbon cycling, and come away with surprising results about evolutionary engineering and new ideas about the role that a poorly understood chemical element may play in the........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 4/30/2007 8:08:40 PM)

Seeing the trees for the forest

After completing a two-year pilot phase, researchers at the Woods Hole Research Center are expanding the scope of the "National Biomass and Carbon Dataset" for the year 2000 (NBCD2000), the first ever inventory of its kind, by moving into the production phase. Through a combination of NASA satellite datasets, topographic survey data, land use/land cover data, and extensive forest inventory data collected by the U.S. Forest Service Forest........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 4/30/2007 7:02:24 PM)

Major Advance In Structural Biology

Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Rice University have discovered a new way to analyze the moving parts of large proteins a breakthrough that will make it easier for structural biologists to classify and scrutinize the active sites of proteins implicated in cancer and other diseases. The breakthrough research will appear online this week and in an upcoming edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 4/30/2007 6:39:06 PM)

Bill To Protect Bristol Bay

Representatives Jay Inslee (D-WA), Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), and Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) has recently introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would permanently prohibit oil and gas leasing in Bristol Bay, Alaska and the surrounding waters in the Bering Sea. On January 9, 2007, President Bush rescinded a long-standing presidential moratorium that prohibited drilling in Bristol Bay. In July, the Minerals Management........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 4/29/2007 4:00:22 PM)

Elephants as Roadkill

What was once the remote heart of wild Africa has become an increasingly fragmented wilderness, crisscrossed with roads and swarming with human activity. The new roads that cut through the Congo Basin have spawned numerous human settlements and serve as direct conduits for loggers and poachers who come seeking the forest's bounty. For the little-known forest elephant, a native of the forests of west and central Africa, researchers are calling........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 4/29/2007 12:14:15 PM)

Rhododendron periclymenoides

BPotD is in brief entry mode on weekends and holidays from April through September. – Danie Thank you to Earl B. of the eastern USA for sharing today's photograph with us. This photograph was taken on April 6, 2007........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 4/29/2007 9:52:23 AM)

Planarians Offers Insight Into Germ Cell Development

The planarian is not as well known as other, more widely used subjects of scientific study - model creatures such as the fruit fly, nematode or mouse. But University of Illinois cell and developmental biology professor Phillip Newmark thinks it should be. As it turns out, the tiny, seemingly cross-eyed flatworm is an ideal subject for the study of germ cells, precursors of eggs and sperm in all sexually reproducing species. The planarian........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 4/24/2007 11:13:44 PM)

Prehistoric mystery organism verified as giant fungus

Scientists at the University of Chicago and the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., have produced new evidence to finally resolve the mysterious identity of what they regard as one of the weirdest organisms that ever lived. Their chemical analysis indicates that the organism was a fungus, the scientists report in the recent issue of the journal of Geology, published by the Geological Society of America. Called........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 4/23/2007 10:44:35 PM)

How much nitrogen is too much for corn?

North Carolina State scientists recently discovered a test that quickly predicts nitrogen levels in the humid soil conditions of the southeastern United States. These researchers report that the Illinois Soil Nitrogen Test (ISNT) can assess the nitrogen levels in soil with more accuracy than current soil-based tests. This test will allow growers to cut back on the amount of nitrogen-based fertilizer added to soil, leading to economic and........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 4/23/2007 10:17:06 PM)

Useful Traits in Wild Cottons

If you have Mom's smile, Dad's eyes and Grandpa's laugh, you might wonder what other traits you picked up from the genealogic fabric of the ol' family tree. Researchers at the Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension at Lubbock are studying the family tree of cotton for much the same reason. "Cotton genetic diversity has narrowed in recent years," said Dr. John Gannaway, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station cotton........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 5/16/2007 5:13:21 PM)

Blue-throated Hummingbird Spotted

A glance of the worlds smallest bird with that iridescent emerald green and electric blue patch on the throat would surely be mind-blowing for all. But unfortunately, this newly discovered species is already in need for protection against its biggest enemy — human encroachment Named, gorgetethe new species is easily twice as big as its otherwise thumb-sized counterparts found in the eastern United States. It measures between 3.5........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 5/15/2007 9:40:22 PM)

Remote Sensing Tools To Predict Bird Species Richness

Researchers at the Woods Hole Research Center, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Maryland have taken a novel approach to studying biological diversity by making use of laser remote sensing (lidar). Lidar data provide unique measurements of the 3-dimensional structure of vegetation, an important aspect of habitat diversity. Habitat heterogeneity and complexity have been shown in a number of places to be directly correlation........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 5/14/2007 10:45:00 PM)

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Ridge upon ridge of endless forest straddles the border between North Carolina and Tennessee in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. World renowned for the diversity of its plant and animal life, the beauty of its ancient mountains, and the quality of its remnants of Southern Appalachian mountain culture, this is America's most visited national park. Things to DoGreat Smoky Mountains National Park is a hiker's paradise with over 800 miles........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 5/13/2007 3:08:41 PM)

Monkeys wearing perfume?

Move over Ralph Lauren, Dolce & Gabbana and other purveyors of glamor perfumes. The next rage in masculine fragrance might be Eau de spider monkey.Scientists reported seeing two wild, male members of this primate group repeatedly dabbing themselves with something that seemed hard to describe as anything other than home-made cologne. The crushed-leaf scents "may play a role in the context of social communication, possibly for signaling of social........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 5/13/2007 3:06:18 PM)

Ape facial expressions foster group harmony

Com munication through facial expressions isn't the domain of humans alone, a study has found: facial expressions may foster social harmony among apes and our closer monkey relatives. The results seem to back up a theory that such expressions evolved to maintain group cohesion, according to the scientist who conducted the invest igation. Anthropologist Seth Dobson of Dartmouth College studied 12 primate species and found that greater variety of........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 5/13/2007 3:06:06 PM)

Personality-Gene makes Songbirds Curious

There is already evidence that variations (polymorphisms) in neurotransmitter-related genes are linked to personality differences among humans. Research from the last decade suggested a promising link between the Drd4-gene and the trait curiosity (novelty-seeking). Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen, together with a former lab member who is now at the Cawthron Institute in Nelson (New Zealand) and with........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 5/10/2007 10:27:42 PM)

DNA reveals hooded seals have wanderlust

Scientists have discovered a new fact about hooded seals, a mysterious 200 to 400 kilogram mammal that spends all but a few days each year in the ocean. An international team of scientists led by Dr. David Coltman, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Alberta, have learned that all the hooded seal populations in the world share the same genetic diversity. The scientists reached their conclusions after analysis of more than 20........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 5/9/2007 11:18:14 PM)

Is climate change likely to increase disease in corals?

Coral reefs, among Earth's richest ecosystems, traditionally teem with an abundance of life. But in recent years, corals have been dying in droves. Researchers suspect a variety of factors, ranging from accidental damage from fishing activity to the effects of polluted runoff from land. One threat that appears to be growing dramatically in Australia's famed Great Barrier Reef is white syndrome, a disease that is spreading rapidly, leaving........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 5/7/2007 11:08:04 PM)

Tropical plants go with the flow of nitrogen

Tropical plants are able to adapt to environmental change by extracting nitrogen from a variety of sources, as per a new study that appears in the May 7 early online edition of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. By demonstrating that not all plants specialize in one specific source of nitrogen, the result turns a usually held theory on its head. It also provides a dose of optimism that tropical forests will be able to........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 5/7/2007 10:54:33 PM)

Biologists out to Find Bear Population in Pennsylvania

Bear biologist Mark Ternent is busy these days with his daredeentering the dens to assess the health and size of Pennsylvania’s bruin population. Ternent, must complete 30 dens by the end of this month to figure out the optimal ratio of bears to people to determine how many bears need to be killed to keep the population under control Black bear encounters are growing in Pennsylvania and other Eastern states even though of the 20 bear........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 5/7/2007 7:55:14 PM)

Light sticks may lure turtles to fishing lines

Thousands of loggerhead turtles die every year when they get tangled or hooked in commercial fishing longlines meant for tuna or swordfish. New research suggests a possible reason why turtles swim into the lines. The glowing light sticks that lure fish to longlines also attract turtles, as per a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study. The light sticks used in longline fisheries resemble the disposable plastic tubes popular with........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 5/6/2007 4:43:53 PM)

Plants with male and bisexual flowers on the same plant

What would be the opening chapter of the Kamasutra of plant sex? A good pick would be a description of the numerous ways in which plants arrange their sexual organs: from both sexes in the same flower to sexes separated in different flowers or individuals. One widespread sexual strategy that remains an evolutionary enigma is the production of both male and bisexual flowers in the same plant, which occurs in approximately 4000 species. What is........Go to the Plant-science-blog (Added on 4/30/2007 6:56:53 PM)

Female ticks have market on gluttony

Sex makes you fat. If you're a female tick, that is. The "truly gluttonous" female ixodid tick increases her weight an astounding 100 times her original size after she mates, so a University of Alberta researcher investigated what it is about copulation that triggers such a massive weight gain. In a new research paper reported in the Journal of Insect Physiology, Dr. Reuben Kaufman, from the Department of Biological Sciences, suggests........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 4/29/2007 7:29:45 PM)

The Chimpanzee Stone Age

Before this study, chimpanzees were first observed using stone tools in the 19th century. Now, thanks to this new archaeological find, tool use by chimpanzees has been pushed back thousands of years. The authors suggest this type of tool use could have originated with our common ancestor, instead of arising independently among hominins and chimpanzees or through imitation of humans by chimpanzees. This study confirmed that chimpanzees and........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 4/29/2007 7:25:43 PM)

First-Ever Camera Trap Video of Rare Borneo Rhino

WWF has captured the first-ever "camera trap" footage of a species that just a few people have ever seen. WWF and Malaysia's Sabah Wildlife Department released footage of a Borneo Rhino which shows it eating, walking to the camera and sniffing the equipment. The first still photo of a Borneo rhino was captured only last year. Researchers estimate there are between 25 and 50 rhinos left on the island of Borneo, the last survivors of the........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 4/29/2007 3:57:42 PM)

Good News for Gorillas

Mountain gorillas are still hanging tough in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, one of only two places in the world where these endangered great apes live. A recent census in the park observed that the population has increased by 6 percent since the last census in 2002, up from 320 to 340 individual gorillas. Staff from Uganda Wildlife Authority, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Max Planck Institute of Anthropology, and other........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 4/29/2007 12:11:48 PM)

Hibernating Bears Conserve More Strength

A fascinating new study from the May/June 2007 issue of Physiological and Biochemical Zoology quantifiably measures the loss of strength and endurance in black bears during long periods of hibernation. T.D. Lohuis (Alaska Department of Fish and Game) and his coauthors find that black bears in hibernation lose about one-half as much skeletal muscle strength as humans confined to bed rest for similar periods of time do. "Fasting, unweighting,........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 4/24/2007 11:07:41 PM)

How Individual Molecules Recognise Each Other?

If one thinks that there are thousands of times more molecules forming our body than stars in the universe it is astonishing how all these molecules can work together in such an organised and efficient way. How can our muscles contract to make us walk? How can food be metabolised every day? How can we use specific drugs to relieve pain?. To work as a perfect machine, our body ultimately relies on the capability of each little part (molecule)........Go to the Biology-blog (Added on 4/23/2007 10:27:26 PM)

Mosquito genes and climate change

University of Oregon scientists studying mosquitoes have produced the first chromosomal map that shows regions of chromosomes that activate and are apparently evolving in animals in response to climate change. The map will allow scientists to narrow their focus to identify specific genes that control the seasonal development of animals. Such information will help predict which animals may survive in changing climates and identify which........Go to the Animal-science-blog (Added on 4/23/2007 10:02:23 PM)