All Ecology & Evolution articles – Page 7
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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.
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NewsGenomes of ‘star algae’ shed light on origin of land plants
An international group of researchers has generated the first genome data of on four filamentous ‘star algae’ of the genus Zygnema - among the most closely related to land plants.
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NewsIn medieval England, leprosy spread between red squirrels and people, genome evidence shows
Evidence from archaeological sites in the medieval English city of Winchester shows that English red squirrels once served as an important host for Mycobacterium leprae strains that caused leprosy in people, researchers report.
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NewsScientists ID transcripts involved in antibiotic resistance mechanism of two critical superbugs
A new study uncovers a drug resistance gene’s divergent evolution, which could open new vistas for MDR prognosis and can be informative in antimicrobial therapeutics research.
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NewsBioinformatics professor discovers surprising evolutionary pattern in landmark yeast study
A new study challenges accepted frameworks within which yeast evolution is studied and provide access to an incredibly rich yeast analysis dataset that could have major implications for future evolutionary biology and bioinformatics research.
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NewsThe rise of microbial cheaters in iron-limited environments
Competition and cooperation are fundamental forces that govern the evolutionary and ecological dynamics among species. The balance between these forces varies across ecological contexts, with some environments favoring cooperative behaviors that promote mutual benefit, while others reward competitive strategies that maximize individual fitness. Among microbial communities, chemicals ...
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NewsSynthetic droplets cause a stir in the primordial soup
A synthetic droplet may give researchers clues on how the simplest forms of life on the planet could navigate their surroundings.
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NewsUndiscovered diversity of Micropsalliota: Seven new species and one newly recorded species in southern China
Multi-gene phylogeny and morphological characters reveal seven new species of Micropsalliota (Agaricales, Agaricaceae) from southern China, with an updated key for the species distributed in China.
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NewsCoral identified as oldest bioluminescent organism, suggesting new model of ancient ecology
Researchers have identified eight organisms with previously unknown luminosity. Using genetic findings, they estimated coral bioluminescence originated about 540 million years ago in the Cambrian period, making them the earliest bioluminescent organisms.
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NewsYeast study helps answer age-old biology question of specialists vs. generalists
Researchers have mapped the genetic blueprints, appetites, and environments of more than 1,000 species of yeasts, building a family tree that illuminates how these single-celled fungi evolved over the past 400 million years.
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NewsNew technology uncovers mechanism affecting generation of new COVID variants
Researchers have developed a new technology called tARC-seq that revealed a genetic mechanism affecting SARS-CoV-2 divergence and enabled the team to calculate SARS-CoV-2’s mutation rate.
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NewsLongest known SARS-CoV-2 infection of 613 days led to unique highly mutated variant
New research to be presented at next week’s ESCMID Global Congress highlights the risk of new immune-evasive SARS-CoV-2 variants emerging in immunocompromised patients.
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NewsDiscovery of bacterial proteins that induce asexual reproduction in insects
From microbes in the human gut to symbiotic algae in coral reefs, research in recent decades has increasingly revealed the pivotal roles that microorganisms (or microbial species) play in shaping the biology of host organisms and of broader ecosystems. For example, some endosymbionts—microbes that live within the cells of a ...
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NewsStudy confirms how RNA chemical modifications benefit HIV-1
A chemical modification in the HIV-1 RNA genome whose function has been a matter of scientific debate is now confirmed to be key to the virus’s ability to survive and thrive after infecting host cells, a new study has found.
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NewsThe nitroplast revealed: a nitrogen-fixing organelle in a marine alga
A nitrogen-fixing bacterial endosymbiont of marine algae is evolving into a nitrogen-fixing organelle, or nitroplast, thereby expanding a function that was thought to be exclusively carried out by prokaryotic cells to eukaryotes.