London – Newborn or newly hatched animals such as chicks, turtles, and insect larvae are not "blank slates." They possess numerous weak, innate biases that combine to allow them to make vital decisions without prior learning. This is shown by a new mathematical model published by researchers at Queen Mary University of London in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B… Read more »
New York – The invasive spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) has spread explosively in the US since its discovery in 2014. A new genetic study from New York University now shows that adaptation to urban conditions in its native China – heat, pollution, and pesticides – has apparently “pre-hardened” the insects and facilitated their successful invasion of North American cities… Read more »
Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have shown in a study published in the journal "The American Naturalist" that sibling contact is beneficial for the offspring of beetles, regardless of whether the parents are present during brood care. This finding challenges the previous assumption that sibling competition for parental resources is detrimental to offspring. The study of the black-horned burying beetle (Nicrophorus vespilloides)... Read more »
Most of life's most important strategies originated far back in Earth's history. To understand how and when living organisms began using arsenic, one has to travel an incredible 2,1 billion years into the past. In 2010, the Moroccan-French geologist Abderrazak El Albani from the University of Poitiers discovered arsenic in 2,1-billion-year-old clay shales from Gabon… Read more »
Wild relatives possess valuable genes from which our cultivated plants can benefit. However, technical hurdles and a lack of genomic resources have so far severely hampered the effective use of so-called introgressions between cultivated and wild plants. An international research team led by the IPK-Leibniz Institute has now created a pangenome of bulbous barley (Hordeum bulbosum), the closest wild relative of barley. An international research team… Read more »
Chlamydia are known human pathogens. A better understanding of these bacteria is essential for combating them. A team of microbiologists at the University of Vienna has now shown that some chlamydia strains completely forgo an infectious extracellular form and instead spread directly from host cell to host cell. This opens up new perspectives on the development of symbiotic and pathogenic lifestyles in… Read more »
Mammals avoid acidic foods, but many birds enjoy eating sour fruits. A new study shows that the acid receptors in birds are suppressed when they consume highly acidic foods. This inhibits the transmission of acid signals and thus increases tolerance. The study's findings suggest that the molecular evolution of acid receptors in birds played a key role in their evolutionary history and diversification… Read more »
Researchers have discovered a crucial role for rapid DNA repair in maintaining genome stability. A new study shows that the repair of double-strand breaks (DSBs) in nuclear DNA provides effective protection against the integration of foreign DNA from chloroplasts—a phenomenon that, while important for evolution, can severely destabilize the genome. The research expands our understanding… Read more »
Researchers in South Africa have found new clues about how our fossil human relatives might have used their hands. Led by Samar Syeda, a postdoctoral researcher at the American Museum of Natural History, and in collaboration with researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, the University of the Witwatersrand, the University of Kent, Duke University, and the National Geographic Society… Read more »
For a long time, life was limited to organisms consisting of simple prokaryotic cells – for example, archaea, the earliest bacteria. Even today's bacteria are prokaryotic cells in which the genetic material floats freely in the cytoplasm. In contrast, the cells of fungi, plants, and animals are significantly more complex. Their genes are well protected, packaged within the nucleus, and there are also… Read more »
