Carbon sink or carbon source? Aerosols play role in shifts
...rature, which alters the rate of photosynthesis in plants and the CO2 emissions by soil. Since plants want to take in CO2 but also preserve water at the same time, Niyogi believes the lack of shade and ...NC State gets $1.59M grant to map genome of parasitic worm
...ts. So you can have multiple generations infecting plants in one season," Opperman says. Above ground, infected plants will show stunted growth or become yellowed or wilted. The root-knot nematode does not discriminate,...Canola study solves seed oil mystery
...d a previously unknown metabolic mechanism used by plants to create seed oil. The results, described Wednes...standing question in plant biology why do oilseed plants rely on a seemingly inefficient metabolic process to produce such prodigious amount of energy-rich o...Birds, butterflies, bacteria same law of biology appears to apply
...s, provides the majority of nitrogen needed by the plants we eat," Horner-Devine says. "So understanding the...een to say, "Our data firmly establishes that like plants and animals, microbes are not randomly distributed but rather exhibit spatially predictable, aggrega...Global bird populations face dramatic decline in coming decades, study predicts
...om apple trees, coffee shrubs, oak trees and other plants have resulted in significant increases in insect pests and consequent plant damage," the authors wrote, adding that the extreme specializations of many insectivorous birds, especially in the tropics, make it unlikely that other organisms will be able...Dwarf mistletoe reveals its sexual secrets
...fers to the fact that offspring of these parasitic plants start to grow on a new tree host after being eaten and deposited by a bird, complete with their own kick-start fertilizer. But the dwarf mistletoe takes spreading its seed into its own hands. Through a painstaking microscopic analysis of the se...Exploring ocean life and color on the internet
... in phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are free-floating plants that are the foundation of the ocean's food chain. Giovanni stands for the "Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) Online Visualization and Analysis Infrastructure." NASA recently released three Giovanni tutorials demo...NASA finds trees and insect outbreaks affect carbon dioxide levels
...unt of greenery is reduced on Earth, the remaining plants take in less carbon dioxide. As a result, say scientists, more of this gas remains in the air, instead of being trapped in wood, fiber, leaves and other foliage parts. The findings about tree planting and insect control are the subjects of two techni......ing the breeding of agriculturally cultivated crop plants for many years. For his work he uses molecular plant genetics, which enables the breeding of plants that are resistant to pathogens through carefully directed genetic manipulation. He successfully det...50,000-year-old plant may warn of the death of tropical ice caps
...ie Thompson to discover a bed of previously hidden plants that date back at least 50,000 years. And while th...t's the implication that those perfectly preserved plants may suggest that really excites him. Thompson, a professor of geological sciences at Ohio State Univ...Science's Breakthrough of the Year: Salty, acidic soup could have supported life on Mars
...s this year that surveyed amphibians, butterflies, plants and birds. Not only is species richness decreasing, additional evidence suggests that climate change is altering the natural history of many different areas. Water, Not Just on Mars: While evidence of an ancient, wet Mars grabbed the spotlight in 2...Permanent resistance to antibiotics cannot be prevented
... an important issue for human health. For example, plants can have a gene inserted which enables them to sec...ermanently resistant to the antibiotic so that the plants still become diseased. The first resistant plant fungi have already been found in India. Evolution ...... antibiotic-producing bacteria are used to protect plants successfully against other pathogens, the phenazine antibiotics they contain cannot stop B. cinerea. This is because they also activate the production of the BcatrB protein and are therefore immediately pumped back out again. This new information is ...NASA study finds tiny particles in air may influence carbon sinks
...in the atmosphere, may be changing how much carbon plants and ecosystems absorb from or release to the air. ... to Earth's surface. As a result, less sunlight on plants caused less photosynthesis to occur. The study, which benefited from NASA satellite data, focused on......niversity of Nevada, Reno recently discovered that plants play a significant role in how mercury travels. ... Health. "We were wrong. What happened is that the plants absorbed the mercury from the air." According to Nevada researchers, once a tree's leaves contain me...High-flying observatory reveals land changing to desert
...seful for understanding the global carbon cycle as plants breath in and lock up the greenhouse gas CO2 . NPP data, though, are not as important as are the changes in the type and distribution of vegetation as an area transitions into desert. Using the (AVIRIS), the scientists are able to analyze the physica...Potent anticancer drug increases function of axons in mouse model of neurodegeneration
...k neurons." Microtubule-binding drugs derived from plants (taxol) and other biological organisms such as sponges (discodermolides) have been used as anti-cancer drugs because they prevent cells from dividing. They do this by keeping microtubules stabilized, which blocks cell division and causes cell death. ...Essential oils could help to stamp out MRSA
... compounds found within aromatic plants, which the plants use to fight off infections. Researchers tested 4...ital instigated the research and said: "The use of plants in medicine is nothing new but some people regard the use of essential oils as unconventional. Our r...Urban ecology study witnessing the birth of a 'designer ecosystem'
...ous fronts. From air quality to birds and bugs and plants to water quality and usage, to landscaping choices...ich has a distinctive mixture of native and exotic plants and animals, but differs even further in the dynamics of how these organisms interact. "We have bee...Scientists discover unique microbe in California's largest lake
...ina , but different from any found in other higher plants or algae. The primary pigment, called chlorophyll d , is only made by Acaryochloris and it is what enables these species to use infrared light." The new microbe is one of only three organisms known to science that use a combination of near-infrare...