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Categories: Biology: Biochemistry, Engineering: Graphene
Published Honey bees experience multiple health stressors out-in-the-field
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source It's not a single pesticide or virus stressing honey bees, and affecting their health, but exposure to a complex web of multiple interacting stressors encountered while at work pollinating crops, found new research. Scientists have been unable to explain increasing colony mortality, even after decades of research examining the role of specific pesticides, parasitic mites, viruses or genetics. This led the research team to wonder if previous studies were missing something by focusing on one stressor at a time.
Published Probiotic feed additive boosts growth, health in poultry in place of antibiotics
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The growing need for antibiotic-free products has challenged producers to decrease or completely stop using antimicrobials as feed supplements in the diet of broiler chickens to improve feed efficiency, growth rate and intestinal health. A research team conducted a study of natural feed additives that are promising alternatives to substitute for antimicrobial growth promoters.
Published New class of antimicrobials discovered in soil bacteria
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have discovered toxic protein particles, shaped like umbrellas, that soil bacteria known as Streptomyces secrete to squelch competitors in their crowded microbial communities, especially others of their own species. What makes these newly detected antibacterial toxins different is that, unlike the Streptomyces' small-molecule antibiotics, umbrella toxins are large complexes composed of multiple proteins. They are also far more specific in the bacteria they target. They tend to go after bacteria that form branching filaments, an usual growth pattern among bacteria. The scientists are intrigued by the potential clinical clinical applications of this discovery, because they suspect the pathogens that cause tuberculosis and diphtheria might be sensitive to umbrella toxins.
Published Mountain chickadees have remarkable memories. A new study explains why
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Mountain chickadees have among the best spatial memory in the animal kingdom. New research identifies the genes at play and offers insight into how a shifting climate may impact the evolution of this unique skill.
Published Solving a mini mystery of cell division
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Trying to hit a target size before dividing seems like the best strategy for maintaining a precise cell size, but bacteria don't do that. Now we know why.
Published Marine plankton behavior could predict future marine extinctions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Marine communities migrated to Antarctica during the Earth's warmest period in 66 million years long before a mass-extinction event.
Published Plant sensors could act as an early warning system for farmers
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Using a pair of sensors made from carbon nanotubes, researchers discovered signals that help plants respond to stresses such as heat, light, or attack from insects or bacteria. Farmers could use these sensors to monitor threats to their crops, allowing them to intervene before the crops are lost.
Published Dog attacks on mountain tapirs highlight a growing threat to endangered wildlife
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers who captured footage of dog attacks on endangered mountain tapirs in Colombia are calling for action to protect threatened wildlife.
Published How soil microbes survive in harsh desert environments
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Prolonged droughts followed by sudden bursts of rainfall -- how do desert soil bacteria manage to survive such harsh conditions? This long-debated question has now been answered by microbiologists. The study reveals that desert soil bacteria are highly adapted to survive the rapid environmental changes experienced with each rainfall event.
Published E-tongue can detect white wine spoilage before humans can
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source While the electronic tongue bears little physical resemblance to its namesake, the strand-like sensory probes of the 'e-tongue' still outperformed human senses when detecting contaminated wine in a recent study. In a recent experiment, the e-tongue identified signs of microorganisms in white wine within a week after contamination -- four weeks before a human panel noticed the change in aroma. This was also before those microbes could be grown from the wine in a petri-dish. Winemakers traditionally rely on these two methods, sniffing the wine and petri-dish testing, to identify potential wine 'faults' or spoilage.
Published Copper beads in pig feed reshape swine gut microbiome
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Copper is a natural antimicrobial material that, when added to pig feed, may promote the growth and health of the animals. Since pigs can tolerate high levels of the metal, researchers recently investigated whether copper might be used to promote their gut health and reduce the shedding of microbes to the environment.
Published Tracking a protein's fleeting shape changes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a powerful, new technique to generate 'movies' of changing protein structures and speeds of up to 50 frames per second.
Published Research explores how a father's diet could shape the health of his offspring
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A mice study suggests a father's diet may shape the anxiety of his sons and the metabolic health of his daughters before they are even conceived.
Published Making crops colorful for easier weeding
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source To make weeding easier, scientists suggest bioengineering crops to be colorful or to have differently shaped leaves so that they can be more easily distinguished from their wild and weedy counterparts. This could involve altering the crops' genomes so that they express pigments that are already produced by many plants, for example, anthocyanins, which make blueberries blue, or carotenoids, which make carrots orange. Then, they say, weeding robots could be trained to remove only the weeds using machine learning.
Published Storks fly with a little help from their friends
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source All storks choose to migrate with conspecifics, but young storks rely more on social influences than adults do.
Published Researchers uncover human DNA repair by nuclear metamorphosis
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have discovered a DNA repair mechanism that advances understanding of how human cells stay healthy, and which could lead to new treatments for cancer and premature aging.
Published New butterfly species created 200,000 years ago by two species interbreeding
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have shown that an Amazonian butterfly is a hybrid species, formed by two other species breeding together almost 200,000 years ago. Researchers have shown that an Amazonian butterfly is a hybrid species, formed by two other species breeding together almost 200,000 years ago.
Published Coral reef microbes point to new way to assess ecosystem health
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study shows that ocean acidification is changing the mix of microbes in coral reef systems, which can be used to assess ecosystem health.
Published Reproductive success improves after a single generation in the wild for descendants of some hatchery-origin Chinook salmon
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers who created 'family trees' for nearly 10,000 fish found that first-generation, wild-born descendants of hatchery-origin Chinook salmon in an Oregon river show improved fitness.
Published Real-time detection of infectious disease viruses by searching for molecular fingerprinting
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers develop breakthrough technology for wide-ranging and ultra-sensitive active nano-spectral sensor, surpassing current limitations.