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Categories: Biology: Evolutionary, Ecology: Endangered Species

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Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Researchers improve seed nitrogen content by reducing plant chlorophyll levels      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Chlorophyll plays a pivotal role in photosynthesis, which is why plants have evolved to have high chlorophyll levels in their leaves. However, making this pigment is expensive because plants invest a significant portion of the available nitrogen in both chlorophyll and the special proteins that bind it. As a result, nitrogen is unavailable for other processes. In a new study, researchers reduced the chlorophyll levels in leaves to see if the plant would invest the nitrogen saved into other process that might improve nutritional quality.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Biology: Evolutionary Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species
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Early primates likely lived in pairs      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Primate social organization is more flexible than previously assumed. According to a new study, the first primates probably lived in pairs, while only around 15 percent of individuals were solitary.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Ecology: Endangered Species Environmental: General Environmental: Water Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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Electronic 'soil' enhances crop growth      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Barley seedlings grow on average 50% more when their root system is stimulated electrically through a new cultivation substrate. Researchers have now developed an electrically conductive 'soil' for soil-less cultivation, known as hydroponics.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Molecular Biology: Zoology Ecology: Sea Life
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How jellyfish regenerate functional tentacles in days      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

At about the size of a pinkie nail, the jellyfish species Cladonema can regenerate an amputated tentacle in two to three days -- but how? Regenerating functional tissue across species, including salamanders and insects, relies on the ability to form a blastema, a clump of undifferentiated cells that can repair damage and grow into the missing appendage. Jellyfish, along with other cnidarians such as corals and sea anemones, exhibit high regeneration abilities, but how they form the critical blastema has remained a mystery until now.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Ecology: Endangered Species
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Discovery: Plants use 'Trojan horse' to fight mold invasions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have discovered that plants send tiny, innocuous-seeming lipid 'bubbles' filled with RNA across enemy lines, into the cells of the aggressive mold. Once inside, different types of RNA come out to suppress the infectious cells that sucked them in.

Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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Unveiling ancient secrets: 3D preservation of trilobite soft tissues sheds light on convergent evolution of defensive enrollment      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers describe unusual trilobite fossils prepared as thin sections showing the 3D soft tissues during enrollment. The study reveals the soft undersides of enrolled trilobites and the evolutionary mechanism that allows arthropods to enroll their bodies for protection from predators and adverse environmental conditions.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Trees
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New larks revealed in Africa      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have studied the relationships between five closely related species of larks that occur in Africa south of the Sahara. Two of these have not been observed for decades, so the researchers analyzed DNA from museum specimens, some of which were over 100 years old.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature
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Common insect species are suffering the biggest losses      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Insect decline is being driven by losses among the locally more common species, according to a new study. The meta-analysis of 923 locations around the world notes two significant trends: 1) the species with the most individuals (the highest abundance) are disproportionately decreasing in number, and 2) no other species have increased to the high numbers previously seen. This likely explains the frequent observation that there are fewer insects around now than ten, twenty, or thirty years ago. 

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species
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Wildflowers increasingly doing without insect pollinators      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have discovered that flowering plants growing in farmland are increasingly doing without insect pollinators. As reproduction becomes more difficult for them in an environment depleted in pollinating insects, the plants are evolving towards self-fertilization.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Biology: Zoology Environmental: Water
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The evolutionary timeline of diminished boric acid and urea transportation in aquaporin 10      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Aquaporin (Aqp) 10 water channels in humans allow the free passage of water, glycerol, urea, and boric acid across cells. However, Aqp10.2b in pufferfishes allows only the passage of water and glycerol and not urea and boric acid. Researchers sought to understand the evolutionary timeline that resulted in the variable substrate selection mechanisms among Aqp10s. Their results indicate that Aqp10.2 in ray-finned fishes may have reduced or lost urea and boric acid permeabilities through evolution.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: General Ecology: Research
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Research offers a reason why diversity in plant species causes higher farming yield, solving 'a bit of a mystery'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A study appearing in Nature Communications based on field and greenhouse experiments at the University of Kansas shows how a boost in agricultural yield comes from planting diverse crops rather than just one plant species: Soil pathogens harmful to plants have a harder time thriving. While crop rotation and other farming and gardening practices long have reflected benefits of a mix of plants, the new research puts hard data to one important mechanism underpinning the observation: the numbers of microorganisms in the soil that eat plants.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Ecology: Animals Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Genetic diversity of wild north American grapes mapped      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Wild North American grapes are now less of a mystery after researchers decoded and catalogued the genetic diversity of nine species of this valuable wine crop.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species
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Genetics of host plants determine what microorganisms they attract      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Plants often develop communities with microorganisms in their roots, which influences plant health and development. Although the recruitment of these microbes is dictated by several factors, it is unclear whether the genetic variation in the host plants plays a role.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research
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Study uncovers major hidden human-driven bird extinctions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Humans have wiped out around 1,400 bird species -- twice as many as previously thought -- with major implications for the ongoing biodiversity crisis, a new study has found. The estimated extinctions would mean almost 12 per cent of bird species have died out over modern human history, since the Late Pleistocene around 130,000 years ago, with the vast majority of them becoming extinct directly or indirectly due to human activity.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Ancient DNA reveals how a chicken virus evolved to become more deadly      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of scientists led by geneticists and disease biologists has used ancient DNA to trace the evolution of Marek's Disease Virus (MDV). This global pathogen causes fatal infections in unvaccinated chickens and costs the poultry industry over $1 billion per year. The findings show how viruses evolve to become more virulent and could lead to the development of better ways to treat viral infections.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Research Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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AI provides more accurate analysis of prehistoric and modern animals, painting picture of ancient world      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study of the remains of prehistoric and modern African antelopes found that AI technology accurately identified animals more than 90% of the time compared to humans, who had much lower accuracy rates depending on the expert.

Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular
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New understanding of ancient genetic parasite may spur medical breakthroughs      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have determined the structure of the most common material in our genomes. New treatments for autoimmune diseases, cancer and neurodegeneration may follow.