Biosentients - Science Biology… etc

There are hundreds of choices when picking a crabapple tree from the nursery, but a Purdue University expert says only a handful are resistant to a widespread fungus or other serious diseases. After reviewing 33 years of data, Janna Beckerman, a Purdue assistant professor of botany and plant pathology, observed that only five of 287 crabapple varieties had durable resistance to a serious disease of crabapple trees. The results of her study were reported in the recent issue of the journal HortScience…….

How did piranhas the legendary freshwater fish with the razor bite get their telltale teeth? Scientists from Argentina, the United States and Venezuela have uncovered the jawbone of a striking transitional fossil that sheds light on this question. Named Megapiranha paranensis, this previously unknown fossil fish bridges the evolutionary gap between flesh-eating piranhas and their plant-eating cousins……..

Prairie dogs may seem like harmless little creatures, but they can inflict serious injury on plants simply by snacking on them. Plants cannot flee from their furry predators, so how do they avoid becoming a prairie dog’s lunch?. Dr. John Freeman and his colleagues explore the role of metal hyperaccumulation in plant defense in the June 2009 issue of the American Journal of Botany Certain plants species growing on soils with high metal content (such as arsenic, copper, selenium, and lead) accumulate large quantities of metals in their leaves and stems. The purpose of this metal hyperaccumulation is not fully known, but metal hyperaccumulation may increase a plant’s ability to respond to drought, compete with other plants, or provide a defense against bacteria, viruses, and animals……..

Without the process of domestication, humans would still be hunters and gatherers, and modern civilization would look very different. Fortunately, for all of us who do not relish the thought of spending our days searching for nuts and berries, early civilizations successfully cultivated a number of species of animals and plants found in their surroundings. Current studies of the domestication of various species provide a fascinating glimpse into the past……..

-”To thine own self be true” may take on a new meaning-not with people or animal behavior but with plant behavior. Plants engage in self-recognition and can communicate danger to their “clones” or genetically identical cuttings planted nearby, says professor Richard Karban of the Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, in groundbreaking research reported in the current edition of Ecology Letters……..

The largest animals ever to have walked the face of the earth may not have been as big as previously thought, reveals a paper published recently in the Zoological Society of London’s Journal of Zoology Scientists have discovered that the original statistical model used to calculate dinosaur mass is flawed, suggesting dinosaurs have been oversized……..

Emergency plans to counteract global warming by artificially shading the Earth from incoming sunlight might lower the planet’s temperature a few degrees, but such “geoengineering” solutions would do little to stop the acidification of the world oceans that threatens coral reefs and other marine life, report the authors of a newly released study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters*. The culprit is atmospheric carbon dioxide, which even in a cooler globe will continue to be absorbed by seawater, creating acidic conditions……..

The zebra mussels that have wreaked ecological havoc on the Great Lakes are harder to find these days not because they are dying off, but because they are being replaced by a cousin, the quagga mussel. But zebra mussels still dominate in fast-moving streams and rivers. Research conducted by Suzanne Peyer, a doctoral candidate in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Zoology, shows that physiological differences between the two species might determine which mollusk dominates in either calm or fast-moving waters……..

A Purdue University study shows that introducing a new hybrid of the American chestnut tree would not only bring back the all-but-extinct species, but also put a dent in the amount of carbon in the Earth’s atmosphere. Douglass Jacobs, an associate professor of forestry and natural resources, observed that American chestnuts grow much faster and larger than other hardwood species, allowing them to sequester more carbon than other trees over the same period. And since American chestnut trees are more often used for high-quality hardwood products such as furniture, they hold the carbon longer than wood used for paper or other low-grade materials……..

Snake locomotion may seem simple in comparison to walking or galloping. But in reality, it’s no easy task to move without legs. Prior research has assumed that snakes move by pushing off of rocks and debris around them. But a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says that it’s all in their design–specifically, their scales……..