Scientists sequence genome of kind of organism central to biosphere's carbon cycle
... genetic confirmation of a hypothesis that diatoms evolved when a heterotroph, a single-cell microbe, engulfed what scientists say was likely a kind of red alga. The two became one organism, an arrangement called endosymbiosis, and swapped some genetic material to create a new hybrid genome. "This project ...New fossil sheds light on old mystery
...d, which demonstrates that this strange, long neck evolved twice within the group of protorosaurs," Dr. Rieppel said. Dinocephalosaurus' neck measures 1.7 meters, while its trunk is less than 1 meter long. Some of its cervical ribs, which are connected to neck vertebrae, span several intervertebral joints. ...A novel, safer strategy for regulating gene expression
...sts have theorized that these ribozymes might have evolved before proteins did and functioned as an ancient gene-control system. Mulligan, Yen and colleagues have taken the first step to demonstrate that this natural system could be adapted and exploited to treat human disease....Termites could hold the key to self-sufficient buildings
...nd moisture levels. Furthermore, the termites have evolved in such a way that they out source some biological functions, for example, digestive functions to a fungus that they farm inside the mound. They supply the fungus with chewed wood fibre which the fungus breaks down into nutritious food. The structure...NSF awards 22 new projects for plant genome research
... genetic mechanisms by which important traits have evolved in plants, such as the development of seeds. The second center, led by Yale University in collaboration with the University of California, Davis, will focus on using experimental approaches to define every gene -- perhaps as many as 60,000 -- in the ...UAF scientists discover new marine habitat in Alaska
...aska a very long time, perhaps long enough to have evolved into an entirely new species. While they search for funding to look for and identify additional rhodolith beds, Konar, Iken, and Riosmena-Rodriguez will submit a scientific paper on their discovery to a marine journal. And if one of their ...Scientists decipher genetic code of biothreat pathogen
...a mallei. The study found that B. mallei, a highly evolved pathogen that has been deployed in the past as a biological weapon, has an extremely regulated set of virulence genes and an unstable genome that may explain the bacterium's ability to thwart the immune responses of its host animals mainly horses, m...Resveratrol synthase uncovered: Cyclization specificity of type III polyketide synthases
... crystal structure of a STS and identified how STS evolved from its CHS ancestor by comparing the two at the structural and molecular levels. To prove their hypothesis, the Noel group used this information to convert alfalfa CHS into a functional STS by structure-guided engineering. Their work reveals an une...Washington University in St. Louis leads group studying aging process
.... Over its very long life span, cyanobacteria has evolved a system to survive a gradually increasing oxidizing environment, which is why Pakrasi and his group want to study the organism so closely. "The basic goal of the project is to model the networks that cyanobacteria, a model vascular plant called Arab...Human chromosome 5 final sequence analysis released to public
... the chromosome 5 sequence are clues to how humans evolved after branching away from chimpanzees. On average, the chromosome is more than 99 percent similar between chimpanzees and humans, with the greatest similarity found in genes that cause diseases when mutated. Despite similarities in the overall sequ...Genetic analysis rewrites salamander's evolutionary history
...l features you assume are conservative and haven't evolved much, and which you think are likely to have chang...ing tails and emerging onto land. Salamanders that evolved to live totally out of the water, however, lost the larval stage, emerging from the egg as a smaller...Missing genes may help explain why plague bacteria are so deadly
...pparently were inactivated as the plague bacterium evolved may be largely responsible for its virulence. In ... and DNA rearrangements that occurred as Y. pestis evolved "provide a sobering example of how a highly virulent epidemic (pathogen) can suddenly emerge from a ...Battle between bubbles might have started evolution
... of the previous thinking about how cells grew and evolved was based on the idea of the initial evolution of structural RNAs or ribozymes -- enzymes that could synthesize membrane molecules," said Szostak. The ribozymes might have made more membrane material while the structural RNAs might have formed a cyto...Essential smell gene may provide key to new insect repellents
... Vosshall. This is surprising because insects have evolved smell receptors tailored to their individual ecological niches: fruit flies detect fruit, for example, and mosquitoes sense humans and other warm-blooded animals. As a result, although different insect species have different genes coding for smell re...Humans march to a faster genetic 'drummer' than primates, UC Riverside research says
...g advancing knowledge about how life developed and evolved on earth. Other benefits include making it easier to identifying human predisposition to genetic disease, by comparing humans with other primate species. A third possible benefit is to underline the importance of protecting endangered primate species...Highlights of American Chemical Society national meeting in Philadelphia, Aug. 22-26
...ating systems, but were no longer needed once life evolved proteins to replicate DNA." His work sheds light on the molecules and chemical reactions that may have been responsible for the origin of life on Earth some 4 billion years ago. Hud's presentation is part of a daylong symposium, "Astrobiology and th...Streptococcus infects humans by thwarting blood clotting
...ne cells, trigger the human clotting system, which evolved in part as a defense against such infection," said...ze to many other human-specific bacteria that have evolved their own distinctive plasminogen-activating enzymes, said Ginsburg. Also, he said, the findings hig...Washington University in St. Louis plays key role in sequencing moss genome
...es are considered to be the first land plants that evolved about 450 million years ago, predating the flowering or seed plants by some two hundred million years. Although this non-vascular plant lacks structures such as flowers, seeds, true roots, stems and leaves, some of its traits, for instance, survivin...Evidence for sympatric speciation by host shift in the sea
...e found that a new species of reef fish might have evolved when some individuals of the ancestral population began inhabiting a novel species of coral and that this "host shift" could have happened without geographic isolation of the new population. Philip Munday and colleagues at James Cook University, Aust...Managing occupational exposures to potential bioterrorist agents
...lso, laboratory practices and safety measures have evolved over time, bringing improvements in engineering controls (such as directional airflow), advances in biosafety equipment (such as biological safety cabinets), and vaccines. A multifaceted policy of continued safety training, careful laboratory pract...