All Ecology & Evolution articles – Page 8
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NewsThe plague may have caused the downfall of the Stone Age farmers
Ancient DNA from bones and teeth hints at a role of the plague in Stone Age population collapse. Contrary to previous beliefs, the plague may have diminished Europe’s populations long before the major plague outbreaks of the Middle Ages.
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NewsStudy reveals next steps to uncover early life on Earth
Despite decades of research, there’s still much scholars don’t understand about life’s beginnings and early evolution. A UC Riverside paper has opened the door to understanding more and to framing future studies that could help predict climate change and search for life beyond Earth. Source: Tim ...
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NewsMagnetic bacteria could be key to the miraculous mystery of migration
The remarkable ability of migratory animals to navigate and recall routes may be attributed to a sensitivity to not just Earth’s magnetic fields, but perhaps an interaction with magnetic bacteria living inside them, a new study suggests.
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NewsNew species of insect-parasitising fungus discovered in lower Himalayas
Researchers have discovered a new species of fungi, Ophiocordyceps, in the lower Indian Himalayas. These fungi - fictionalised as the deadly fungi in The Last of Us - are well known as parasites of insects and are often prized for their medicinal qualities.
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NewsScientists map how deadly bacteria evolved to become epidemic
Pseudomonas aeruginosa evolved rapidly and then spread globally over the last 200 years, probably driven by changes in human behaviour, a new study has found.
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NewsGiant clams - and their algae - may hold the answers to making solar energy more efficient
Researchers present an analytical model for determining the maximum efficiency of photosynthetic systems based on the geometry, movement, and light-scattering characteristics of giant clams.
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NewsStudy illuminates cues algae use to ‘listen’ to their environment
Plants have long been known to release chemicals to respond to stress and relay information to their neighbors. A team of scientists from Bigelow Laboratory have shown that glaucophytes, a small group of single-celled algae distantly related to plants, appear to have the same penchant for chemical communication. This suggests ...
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NewsMycena mushrooms have ’massively expanded’ genomes to make them more adaptable
A study of multiple Mycena mushroom species, also known as ‘bonnets’, reported in the journal Cell Genomics on June 27 has found that they have unexpectedly large genomes. Source: Arne Aronsen Mycena epipterygia While the mushrooms had been thought to live by degrading dead organic material alone, ...
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NewsResearchers develop novel AI algorithm for analyzing microfossils
Microfossil analysis allows us to map the subsurface and understand past geological times. In research labs all over the world geologists spend countless hours looking through the microscope identifying and counting microfossils extracted from sedimentary rock below the seabed. Source: ZooFari Photo of an unidentified 10 million year ...
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NewsHidden partners: Symbiodolus bacteria found in various insect orders
Scientists have reported the discovery of the endosymbiont Symbiodolus, which is found in at least six different insect orders. They were able to show that Symbiodolus is present in all life stages and tissues of infected insects.
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NewsDiscovery of ancient microfossil sheds light on adaptive evolution of sulfate-reducing bacteria
A 518-million-year-old microbial fossil from China identified as an ancient sulfate-reducing bacterium sheds light on the adaptive evolution of sulfate-reducing bacteria in response to Earth’s oxygenation events.
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NewsGenome research reveals the global march of malaria
Researchers have reconstructed ancient Plasmodium genome-wide data from 36 malaria-infected individuals spanning 5,500 years of human history on five continents, reconstructing the worldwide spread of malaria and its historical impact.
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NewsTiny predator owes its shape-shifting ability to origami-like cellular architecture
For a tiny hunter of the microbial world that relies on extending its neck up to 30 times its body length to release its deadly attack, intricate origami-like cellular geometry is key.
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NewsRemarkable new plant species steals nutrients from underground fungi
A plant that steals nutrients from underground fungi, has been published as a new species. Thismia malayana is a mycoheterotroph, a plant that does not perform photosynthesis but acts as a parasite, stealing carbon resources from fungi on its roots.
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NewsGiant viruses found on Greenland ice sheet
New research suggests that giant viruses found on the Greenland ice sheet probably regulate the growth of snow algae on the ice by infecting them. Knowing how to control these viruses could help reduce some of the ice from melting.
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NewsResearchers reveal how symbiotic bacteria adapt to big environmental changes
Faced with a drastically changing environment following the closure of the Isthmus of Panama, symbiotic bacteria in lucinid clams acquired new metabolic skills to enable their own survival, new research has revealed.
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NewsResearchers expose new symbiosis origin theories, identify experimental systems for plant life
A Mississippi State faculty member’s work on symbiosis is pushing back against the newer theory of a ‘single origin’ of root nodule symbiosis (RNS)—that all symbiosis between plant root nodules and nitrogen-fixing bacteria stems from one point—instead suggesting a ‘multiple-origin’ theory of symbiosis which opens a better understanding of genetically ...
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NewsAncient viral DNA in the human genome linked to major psychiatric disorders
New research led by King’s College London has found that thousands of DNA sequences originating from ancient viral infections are expressed in the brain, with some contributing to susceptibility for psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. Published in Nature Communications, the study was part-funded ...
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NewsNew Rhizobia-diatom symbiosis discovery solves long-standing marine mystery
Scientists solve a longstanding marine mystery by uncovering a partnership between a diatom and a bacterium that can account for a large share of nitrogen fixation in vast regions of the ocean, with exciting implications also for agriculture.
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NewsLimited adaptability makes freshwater bacteria vulnerable to climate change
Researchers have uncovered specific evolutionary strategies that shape the lifestyles of bacteria with small genomes that frequently undergo prolonged periods of adaptive stagnation.