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Categories: Biology: Microbiology, Offbeat: Plants and Animals

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A new study has used a series of innovative field experiments to show how plants combine circadian clock signals with environmental cues under naturally fluctuating conditions.

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Chlamydiae are sexually transmitted pathogens that can apparently survive in the human gut for a long time.

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Primate ornamentation plays a crucial role in communication not only within social groups but also between them, according to a new study. The research reveals that the males of species with overlapping home ranges often display vibrant colors or elaborate features, traits that may help reduce intergroup aggression by enabling quick assessments of potential rivals.

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While a mosquito bite is often no more than a temporary bother, in many parts of the world it can be scary. One mosquito species, Aedes aegypti, spreads the viruses that cause over 100,000,000 cases of dengue, yellow fever, Zika and other diseases every year. Another, Anopheles gambiae, spreads the parasite that causes malaria. The World Health Organization estimates that malaria alone causes more than 400,000 deaths every year. Indeed, their capacity to transmit disease has earned mosquitoes the title of deadliest animal.

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A new study has revealed what animals do after they have feigned death in order to avoid being killed by a predator and what the context of this behavior is.

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Studying how single DNA molecules behave helps us to better understand genetic disorders and design better drugs. Until now however, examining DNA molecules one-by-one was a slow process. Biophysicists have developed a technique that speeds up screening of individual DNA molecules at least a thousand times. With this technology, they can measure millions of DNA molecules within a week instead of years to decades.

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Mono Lake is a beautiful but harsh environment, its salty and arsenic-laced water home to brine shrimp, alkali flies and little else. Scientists recently discovered an unsuspected resident, however, a microscopic creature -- a choanoflagelatte -- that forms colonies that harbor their own unique bacterial microbiomes. The creature, part of the sister group to all animals, could shed light on the evolution of animals' intimate interactions with bacteria and the rise of multicellular life.

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Managing hard-to-treat respiratory illnesses like asthma and pulmonary fibrosis just got easier if a new drug-carrying molecule is as sneaky as its inventors think.

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A new study reveals that tarantulas are often on friendly terms with amphibians, reptiles, and even army ants, which are known to feed on spiders. The researchers suggest that the dense hair covering tarantulas may have in fact evolved as a defense mechanism against these predatory ants.

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A new flu vaccine candidate incorporates proteins from 8 strains of influenza.

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When you get infected with a virus, some of the first weapons your body deploys to fight it were passed down to us from our microbial ancestors billions of years ago. According to new research, two key elements of our innate immune system came from a group of microbes called Asgard archaea.

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New research shows that rainwater could have helped create a meshy wall around protocells 3.8 billion years ago, a critical step in the transition from tiny beads of RNA to every bacterium, plant, animal, and human that ever lived.

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In preclinical models, the inhalation of a mixture of living Lactobacilli bacteria attenuated pulmonary inflammation and improved lung function and structure for the chronic lung diseases bronchopulmonary dysplasia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This study determined the mechanism of this live biotherapeutic product -- a powder mixture of living Lactobacilli bacteria -- to reduce neutrophilic inflammation and reduce a broad swath of inflammatory markers in BPD and COPD.

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Honey bees may play a role in increasing virus levels in wild bumble bees each spring, according to researchers who analyzed seasonal trends of parasite and virus transmission in bees.

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Archeologists say new findings might help resolve the debate about Clovis points and reshape how we think about what life was like roughly 13,000 years ago. After an extensive review of writings and artwork -- and an experiment with replica Clovis point spears -- a team of archaeologists says humans may have braced the butt of their weapons against the ground in a way that would impale a charging animal. The force would have driven the spear deeper into the predator's body, unleashing a more damaging blow than even the strongest prehistoric hunters would have been capable of by throwing or jabbing megafauna.

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Tortilla chips and fresh salsa are tasty, but they could be even more appealing if you grow the ingredients yourself. Now, researchers report that some salsa ingredients -- cilantro, bell pepper and jalapeno -- can be more sustainably cultivated with recycled glass. Their pilot study found that partially substituting soil in a planter with recycled glass fragments speeds up plant development and reduces unwanted fungal growth.

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Researchers warn the animals we eat could be the gateway for a pandemic in the form of antimicrobial resistance, unleashing a wave of deadly superbugs. The World Health Organization estimates that drug-resistant diseases could cause up to 10 million deaths each year by 2050.

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An insect species that evolved 130 million years ago is the inspiration for a new research study to improve navigation systems in drones, robots, and orbiting satellites.

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A new study on songbirds sheds light on the power of social interaction to facilitate learning, insights that potentially apply to human development. Researchers discovered that zebra finches deprived of early social experiences could still form strong bonds with a partner later in life. Once placed into cohabitation with a male, females that had never heard a mating song before could quickly develop a preference for his melody.

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For nearly a century, scientists have waged war on antibiotic-resistant microbes. Researchers say they've found a new way to prevent it -- by unleashing 'DNA scavengers' in wastewater treatment plants.