A new spectroscopy method is bringing researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) closer to understanding – and artificially replicating – the solar water-splitting reaction at the heart of photosynthetic energy production.
Associate Professor Edward L. Webb, from the Department of Biological Sciences at the National University of Singapore (NUS), and NUS PhD graduate Dr Jacob Phelps, have uncovered a previously little recognised Southeast Asian wildlife trade – the illegal sale of wild-collected ornamental plants, especially orchids.
Orchids, a fantastically complicated and diverse group of flowering plants, have long blended the exotic with the beautiful. Previously, botanists have proposed more than a half dozen explanations for this diversity. Now, research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, published last week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, corroborates many of these explanations, but finds no evidence for other logical suggestions, such as that deceitful pollination.
Click to view today's top stories.
While this pathogen is not new to Florida, this is the first report of it infecting the wild date palm. The good news is that you can prevent the spread of F. oxysporum f. sp. canariensis most of the time by sterilizing pruning tools prior to pruning or by using a new pruning tool.
The milkweed plants growing in 40 cube-shaped chambers on a hilltop at the University of Michigan Biological Station provide a glimpse into the future that allows researchers to ask a question: How will monarch butterflies fare?
The Amorphophallus titanum (corpse flower) is getting ready to open and unleash its stinky odor at Binghamton University’s E.W. Heier Teaching Greenhouse for the third time in just five years. Watch a live stream of the corpse flower at http://bit.ly/1EQIFvF.
Edward H. Egelman, PhD, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, has used the Titan Krios microscope to determine the structure of the bamboo mosaic virus, a flexible filamentous virus that has eluded researchers for decades.
Indiana University paleobotanist David Dilcher and colleagues in Europe have identified a 125 million- to 130 million-year-old freshwater plant as one of earliest flowering plants on Earth.
Native North Americans have long adorned themselves and their homes with fragrant sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata), a native plant used in traditional medicine, to repel biting insects, and mosquitoes in particular. Now, researchers report that they have identified the compounds in sweetgrass that keep these bugs at bay. The team will describe their approach at the 250th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.
Finding a technology to shift carbon dioxide (CO2), the most abundant anthropogenic greenhouse gas, from a climate change problem to a valuable commodity has long been a dream. Now, a team of chemists says they have developed a technology to economically convert atmospheric CO2 directly into highly valued carbon nanofibers for industrial and consumer products. They will present the research at the 250th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.
Tomato lovers rejoice: Adding or rearranging a few simple steps in commercial processing could dramatically improve the flavor of this popular fruit sold in the grocery store, according to researchers. They will present their new work on the topic in Boston at the 250th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.
Shade may limit the presence of invasive plants along streams and rivers, based on a study conducted using stream condition data collected by means of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Stream Visual Assessment Protocol (SVAP).
A UF/IFAS plant pathologist calls the finding a "game-changer" for the ornamental plant. But now, growers know the disease is out there and can make necessary adjustments, using fungicides for disease management.
The ground cover plant, Little Ruby alternanthera has been named the newest Texas Superstar plant.
Researchers have discovered how parasitic plants evolved the ability to detect and attack their hosts. Their findings could lead to new techniques to control the thieving weeds.
Healthy soils mean healthy food, protects human health
University of Adelaide research has shown for the first time that, despite not having a nervous system, plants use signals normally associated with animals when they encounter stress.
The French have spent centuries developing grapes with the unique flavor and character of Burgundy region wines. Cold-climate grape producers are counting on science to help shorten that process. Plant scientists Anne Fennell and Rhoda Burrows from South Dakota State University are part of the research team helping cold-climate grape growers carve a niche in the American wine industry through two U.S Department of Agriculture projects.
JBEI, UC Davis and Berkeley Lab researchers have identified a bacterial signaling molecule that triggers an immunity response in rice plants, enabling the plants to resist a devastating blight disease.
Are your plants dead or dying? New Mexico State University has an online Plant Diagnostic Clinic that might be able to help. Experts provide advice for homeowners, landscape professionals, nursery retailers and government agencies can find a photographs of plant problems to compare plant conditions.
Land managers may use fungi to ensure health of planting and reforestation efforts.
Basil can add a little zest to any meal. But downy mildew disease threatens the herb’s very existence. University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers are trying to manage the disease with little to no spraying.
A new variety of peanut, called OLé, has recently been released by a team of researchers at the United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) and their colleagues at Oklahoma State University. OLé peanuts have longer shelf lives and increased disease resistance compared to other peanut varieties, and pack high amounts of a heart-healthy fatty acid called oleic acid.
Scientists attending a workshop at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory slipped the leash of scientific caution and tried to imagine what they would do if they could redesign plants at will. The ideas they dreamed up may make the difference between full bellies and empty ones in the near future when population may outrun the ability of traditional plant breeding to increase yields.
Unless humans slow the destruction of Earth’s declining supply of plant life, civilization like it is now may become completely unsustainable, according to a paper published recently by University of Georgia researchers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Scientists discovered that coffee berry borers worldwide share 14 bacterial species in their digestive tracts that degrade and detoxify caffeine. They also found the most prevalent of these bacteria has a gene that helps break down caffeine. Their research sheds light on the ecology of the destructive bug and could lead to new ways to fight it.
A new study on the genomic signatures of adaptation in crop plants can help predict how crop varieties respond to stress from their environments. It is the first study to document that these genomic signatures of adaptation can help identify plants that will do well under certain stresses, such drought or toxic soils.
Other topics include autism research, biofuel sources, nutrition supplements, and more...
Helpful bacteria promote growth, less fertilizer on crops.
Other topics include memories and protein, physics and gas mileage, agriculture and food safety, vaccine for Dengue, retinoblastoma proteins in cancer progression, and more.
Researchers at the University of Georgia have a message for Southern tree farmers worried about unexplainable pine tree deaths: Don’t panic. A new study published in Forest Ecology and Management analyzed growth in thousands of pine tree plots across the Southeast and indicates that “southern pine decline” isn’t happening on a large scale.
Three-quarters of the population will get an itchy red rash if exposed to the urushiol oil inside poison ivy's leaves, stem and roots. One-quarter of people will not have any reaction to exposure.
The Herbarium at West Virginia University, the largest collection of preserved plant specimens in the state, is participating in a National Science Foundation project to make plant collections from the Southeast United States available online for international study.
A team of UW biologists has identified a key mechanism plants use to decide when to release their floral scents to attract pollinators. Their findings, published the week of June 29 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, connect the production and release of these fragrant chemicals to the innate circadian rhythms that pulse through all life on Earth.
The discovery was made during an analysis of a species of mistletoe whose apparent ability to survive without key genes involved in energy production could make it one of the most unusual plants on Earth.
Topics include: treating advanced skin cancer, big data and bioenergy, cancer research, 10 reasons to eat quinoa, sleep issues in the nursing field, advances in cancer surgery, genes for sleep, brain receptor for cocaine addiction, and nano imaging on insect adaptations.
A team of University of Washington researchers has identified a mechanism that some plant cells use to receive complex and contradictory messages from their neighbors.
A team of scientists have shown that two species of silver flies from the Pacific Northwest will attack and eat hemlock woolly adelgid, the pest responsible for killing millions of hemlock trees in seventeen East Coast states. The team has released the flies, from Washington State, in experiments in Tennessee and New York, and early results look promising. If their experiment succeeds, these flies could help protect threatened eastern and Carolina hemlock trees.
University of Delaware researchers have discovered a soil microbe that mobilizes an “iron shield” to block the uptake of toxic arsenic in rice. The UD finding gives hope that a natural, low-cost solution — a probiotic for rice plants — may be in sight to protect this global food source from accumulating harmful levels of one of the deadliest poisons on the planet. Rice currently is a staple in the diet of more than half the world’s population.
Her name is Bartzella, and she is something of a novelty and relative newcomer in the world of peonies. She definitely stands out among the other peonies in the Smithsonian’s Mary Livingston Ripley Garden in Washington, D.C. Her top distinction is the color of her petals: yellow.
New research has revealed that parasitic ‘vampire’ plants that attach onto and derive nutrients from another living plant may benefit the abundance and diversity of surrounding vegetation and animal life.
Researchers at the University of Georgia have used a gene editing tool known as CRISPR/Cas to modify the genome of a tree species for the first time. Their research opens the door to more rapid and reliable gene editing of plants.
A new Cornell study of New York state apple orchards finds that pesticides harm wild bees, and fungicides labeled “safe for bees” also indirectly may threaten native pollinators.
“Our results contribute to the conversation about how natural or humanized the landscape of America was when Europeans first arrived,” co-author Steve Tulowiecki says.
The rare corpse flower, widely known as the world’s smelliest plant, has started to bloom McMaster, one of only a handful in the world to do so this year.
Trending news releases with the most views in a single day. Topics include: gun regulation, psychology and altruism, big data, threats to coral reefs, extra-terrestrial life, personalized diets, metabolic syndrome and heart health, new drug target to treat arthritis, and archeologists find oldest tools.
Researchers at Kansas State University have looked into how vegetables take up different soil contaminants. They also considered how different gardening practices could reduce this uptake. They found that, in the majority of examples, eating vegetables grown in the contaminated soils studied was safe.
Scores of young transgenic American chestnut trees developed at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) will take root this spring across New York state, representing one more step in the restoration of a once-dominant species that has virtually vanished from the landscape.
Silver nanoparticles produced with an extract of wormwood can stop several strains of the fungus phytophthora dead in its tracks.
RSS
Medicine keyboard_arrow_right
Sciencekeyboard_arrow_right
Life keyboard_arrow_right
Business keyboard_arrow_right
Journal News keyboard_arrow_right
By Location keyboard_arrow_right
Meetings, Grants, and Events keyboard_arrow_right