Biosentients - Science Biology… etc

In the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park, a team of scientists partially funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) discovered a new bacterium that transforms light into chemical energy. The discovery of the chlorophyll-producing bacterium, Candidatus chloracidobacterium (Cab.) thermophilum, is described in the July 27, 2007, issue of Science in a paper led by Don Bryant of Penn State University and David M. Ward of Montana State University……..

To help molecular biologists in the difficult task of keeping abreast of current events in the world of cells and organisms, they employ reporter genes to ‘broadcast’ specific happenings. For example, if a scientist is interested in the whereabouts and activities of a certain gene, the reporter ‘follows’ it, and when this gene is activated in any way, the reporter gene produces an easily detectable protein, such as green fluorescent protein (GFP). The scientists are then able to ‘read’ this ‘report’ and learn about the specific events that are occurring and in what regions……..

The wolves are back, and for the first time in more than 50 years, young aspen trees are growing again in the northern range of Yellowstone National Park. The findings of a new study, just published in Biological Conservation, show that a process called the ecology of fear is at work, a balance has been restored to an important natural ecosystem, and aspen trees are surviving elk browsing for the first time in decades……..

This is an important summer for kori bustards at the Smithsonians National Zoo. Four chicks of this threatened African bird have hatched in June and July. Along with the bumper crop of baby birds is a bumper crop of new information for researchers working to preserve the species, thanks to an electronic egg that transmits real-time incubation data from the nest……..

Over the last five years, large, predatory Humboldt squid have moved north from equatorial waters and invaded the sea off Central California, where they may be decimating populations of Pacific hake, an important commercial fish. Ironically, these squid may have benefited from the decline of large tuna and billfish in the Equatorial Pacific, which previously preyed upon and competed with the Humboldt squid for food. This biological shift is documented in an article by postdoctoral scholar Louis Zeidberg of Stanford University and senior scientist Bruce Robison of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in the July 31, 2007 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences……..

Following the convention of the Royal Horticultural Society, I’ve used the name Rubus Tayberry Group for this hybrid. The original tayberry, a cross between the early-ripening Rubus ‘Aurora’ (a blackberry) and a large-fruited tetraploid raspberry (tetraploids have 4 sets of chromosomes instead of the usual two and tend to be more robust), was hybridized at the Scottish Crops Research Institute in Invergowrie, Scotland (sources: Plants for a Future and Wikipedia). In efforts to improve it (e.g., a longer fruiting season or improving hardiness or thornlessness), other plant breeders would ………

I think this is the first plant on BPotD named after a banker; Ernest Galpin (also see Wikipedia) was a South African born banker who had a life-long interest in plants due to his mother’s influence. Dierama galpinii is actually one of several species named in honour of this meticulous collector of South African flora. In fact, two genera are named in relation to him: Galpinia and Mosdenia (named after his ………

Today’s image is again courtesy of our “BPotD correspondent in Mexico”, David ………

Britain’s gardens are vital habitats for nesting bumblebees, new research has found. The results come from the National Bumblebee Nest Survey, which are published online in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology, and the findings will help conservationists understand and hopefully address the factors responsible for declining bumblebee populations……..

Neuroresearchers are attempting to understand if structural changes in the brain are correlation to sensory experience or the performance of learned behavior, and now University of Washington scientists have found evidence that one species of songbird apparently has something in common with a few baseball sluggers. Both rely on steroids, birds to increase the size of song production areas of their brain and some players, apparently, to knock a fastball out of the park……..