All Ecology & Evolution articles – Page 3
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NewsScientists untangle interactions between the Earth’s early life forms and the environment over 500 million years
A new perspective explores the intricate feedbacks among ancient life forms, including algae, plants and animals, and the chemical environment in the current Phanerozoic Eon, which began approximately 540 million years ago.
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NewsResearchers identify structural characteristics of newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 variants
A new study has revealed the spike (S) protein structures of the recently emerged BA.2.86, JN.1, EG.5, EG.5.1 and HV.1 subvariants of SARS-CoV-2, and conducted systematic comparative analysis on these subvariants.
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NewsHow evolution tamed a deadly virus and why we should still worry
The story of the rise and fall of western equine encephalitis as a lethal disease offers essential lessons about how a pathogen can gain or lose its ability to jump from animals to humans.
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NewsInter-variant recombination, genomic perspectives and pathogenicity of emerging sub-variants of Omicron
A review highlights recent updates on newly identified Omicron sub-variants, focusing on their genomic alterations, infectivity patterns, and pathogenic manifestations.
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NewsRhythm led by plants is crucial for symbiosis with nutrient-providing bacteria
Recent research on Lotus japonicus has unveiled that the interaction between legume roots and rhizobia is characterized by periodic gene expression with a six-hour rhythm, maintained with the help of the plant hormone cytokinin.
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NewsWastewater could yield thousands of novel viruses, study reveals
Deep metagenomic sequencing of wastewater in Berlin over 17 months shows this technique could help forecast disease outbreaks and monitor the spread of human pathogens. It can also reveal thousands of novel viruses, a new study reveals.
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NewsAncient microbes offer clues to how complex life evolved
A single-celled organism, a close relative of animals, harbors the remnants of ancient giant viruses woven into its own genetic code, shedding light on how complex organisms may have acquired some of their genes.
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NewsScientists build roadmap to bioengineer plants that produce their own nitrogen fertilizer
Nitrogen fertilizers make it possible to feed the world’s growing population, but they are also costly, harm ecosystems and require a lot of energy to manufacture. However, a few plants have evolved the ability to make their own nitrogen with the help of bacteria. A new study helps explain how ...
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NewsHibernation status matters when white-nose syndrome pathogen infects bats
The fungal pathogen that causes white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats uses different cell entry strategies depending on the host’s hibernation status – cold and inactive, or warm and active.
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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.
