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Largest-Ever Map of Interactions of Plant Proteins Produced

By Guest PostJuly 31, 2011Scienceagriculture, arabidopsis, arabidopsis interactome mapping consortium, arabidopsis network map, arabidopsis thaliana, crop plants, interactome, joseph ecker, map of protein interactions, model organism for biological studies of plants, model plant, mustard plant, national science foundation, pharmaceuticals, plant growth and disease resistance, protein to protein, salk institute

*New map of protein interactions in model plant may help scientists improve plant species used in agriculture and pharmaceuticals*

An international consortium of scientists has produced the first systematic network map of interactions that occur between proteins in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. (Arabidopsis is a mustard plant that has 27,000 proteins and serves as a popular model organism for biological studies of plants, analogous to lab rats that serve as popular model organisms for biological studies of animals.)

Known as an “interactome,” the new Arabidopsis network map defines 6,205 protein-to-protein Arabidopsis interactions involving 2,774 individual proteins. By itself, this map doubles the volume of data on protein interactions in plants that is currently available. (more…)

Think Globally, but Act Locally When Studying Plants, Animals, Global Warming, Researchers Advise

By Guest PostMarch 22, 2011Environment, Natureagriculture, air pollution, butterfly, camille parmesan, climate, climate change, climate change impacts, effects of climate change, extinctions, global scale, global warming, greenhouse gas, habitat fragmentation, human activities, invasive species, los angeles, mediterranean geraniums, michael singer, multiple factors, natural changes, nobel prize, plants and animals, policy makers, quino checkerspot butterfly, san diego, southern california, species, united states, urban sprawl

AUSTIN, Texas — Global warming is clearly affecting plants and animals, but we should not try to tease apart the specific contribution of greenhouse gas driven climate change to extinctions or declines of species at local scales, biologists from The University of Texas at Austin advise.

Camille Parmesan, Michael C. Singer and their coauthors published their commentary online this week in Nature Climate Change.

“Yes, global warming is happening. Yes, it is caused by human activities. And yes, we’ve clearly shown that species are impacted by global warming on a global scale,” says Parmesan, associate professor of integrative biology. (more…)

Like Humans, Amoebae Pack a Lunch Before They Travel

By Guest PostJanuary 25, 2011Nature, Scienceagriculture, amoebae, bacteria, beneficial bacteria, biologists, david queller, debra brock, dictyostellum discoideum, farmer amoebae, george gilchrist, harmful bacteria, joan strassmann, migratory systems, slime molds, social amoebae, strains of bacteria, tracy douglas, tuberculosis bacteria

*Amoebae increase survival odds through rudimentary form of agriculture; finding has implications for human diseases*

Some amoebae do what many people do. Before they travel, they pack a lunch.

In results of a study reported in the journal Nature, evolutionary biologists Joan Strassmann and David Queller of Rice University show that long-studied social amoebae Dictyostellum discoideum (commonly known as slime molds) increase their odds of survival through a rudimentary form of agriculture. (more…)

War, Plague No Match for Deforestation in Driving CO2 Buildup

By Guest PostJanuary 22, 2011Environmentagriculture, Antarctica, atmosphere, black death, black death in europe, burning of coal and oil, carbon dioxide, China, conquest of the americas, deforestation, demand for gasoline, earth, Environment, fall of the ming dynasty, forests, genghis khan, global carbon budget, global carbon cycle, greenland, human impact on climate, industrial era, julia pongratz, ken caldeira, mongol hordes, mongol invasions in asia, vegetation cover

Stanford, CA — Genghis Khan and his Mongol hordes had an impact on the global carbon cycle as big as today’s annual demand for gasoline. The Black Death, on the other hand, came and went too quickly for it to cause much of a blip in the global carbon budget. Dwarfing both of these events, however, has been the historical trend towards increasing deforestation, which over centuries has released vast amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, as crop and pasture lands expanded to feed growing human populations. Even Genghis Kahn couldn’t stop it for long. (more…)

Global Rivers Emit Three Times IPCC Estimates of Greenhouse Gas Nitrous Oxide

By Guest PostDecember 21, 20103 commentsEnvironmentagriculture, atmosphere, atmospheric ozone layer, chelsea crenshaw, denitrification, dinitrogen, global, greenhouse gas, henry gholz, human activities, inert gas, ipcc, jake beaulieu, microbes, microbial process, nitrogen, nitrous oxide, oxide emissions, ozone, river networks, stratospheric, waterways

*Waterways receiving nitrogen from human activities are significant source*

What goes in must come out, a truism that now may be applied to global river networks.

Human-caused nitrogen loading to river networks is a potentially important source of nitrous oxide emission to the atmosphere. Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change and stratospheric ozone destruction. (more…)

Fragmented forests result in more snakes, fewer birds

By Guest PostMay 25, 20102 commentsScienceagriculture, badgers, cache river state, circumstantial, coyotes, eastern north America, florida keys, forest edge, foxes, fragmented forest, gerardo carfagno, hawks, natural area, ornithologists, parental activity, patrick weatherhead, predator, prey, raccoons, rat snakes, southern Illinois, southern Ontario, texas, unfragmented forest, university of Illinois, video cameras, wooded or semi-wooded habitat

About half of all bird nests don’t survive due to predators, particularly in fragmented forest areas, but why?

(more…)

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