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Researcher Discovers Mitochondria Share an Ancestor with SAR11

By Guest PostJuly 27, 2011Scienceancient ocean, archaeplastida, bacteria, chromalveolata, computer programs, eukaryotic cells, evolutionary event, excavata, genomics of sar11 strains, global ocean, marine bacteria, michael rappe, microorganisms on earth, mitochondria, oregon state university, organelle, osu, phylogenetic analysis, physiology of sar11, sar11, university of hawaii at manoa

Billions of years ago, an astounding evolutionary event occurred: certain bacteria became obliged to live inside other cells, thus starting a chain of events that resulted in what is now the mitochondria, an organelle found in all eukaryotic cells. A recent study by researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the Oregon State University (OSU) provides strong evidence that mitochondria share a common evolutionary ancestor with a lineage of marine bacteria known as SAR11, arguably the most abundant group of microorganisms on Earth.

“This is a very exciting discovery,” said Michael Rappe, Associate Researcher at the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at UH Mānoa. “The results that we present make sense in a lot of ways: the physiology of SAR11 makes them more apt to be dependent on other organisms, and based on the contemporary abundance of SAR11 in the global ocean, the ancestral lineage may have also been abundant in the ancient ocean, increasing encounters between this bacterial lineage with the host of the original symbiosis event.” (more…)

US West Coast Erosion Spiked In Winter 2009-10, Previewing Likely Future As Climate Changes

By Guest PostJuly 13, 2011Environmentamerican geophysical union, california, climate change scenarios, climatic pattern, el niño, el nino modoki, equatorial pacific, global warming, ocean beach, oregon state university, pacific coast, pacific northwest, patrick barnard, san diego, san francisco, scripps institution of oceanography, us west coast, willapa bay

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Knowing that the U.S. west coast was battered during the winter before last by a climatic pattern expected more often in the future, scientists have now pieced together a San Diego-to-Seattle assessment of the damage wrought by that winter’s extreme waves and higher-than-usual water levels. Getting a better understanding of how the 2009-10 conditions tore away and reshaped shorelines will help coastal experts better predict future changes that may be in store for the Pacific coast, the researchers say.

“The stormy conditions of the 2009-10 El Niño winter eroded the beaches to often unprecedented levels at sites throughout California and vulnerable sites in the Pacific Northwest,” said Patrick Barnard, USGS coastal geologist. In California, for example, winter wave energy was 20 percent above average for the years dating back to 1997, resulting in shoreline erosion that exceeded the average by 36 percent, he and his colleagues found. (more…)

University of Maryland Bat Research Promises New Aircraft Speed Detectors

By Guest PostJune 26, 2011Scienceaerodynamic control, aerodynamic prowess, aircraft, arrays of sensors, bat species, bats brains, belinda batten, big brown bat, chen chiu, clark school, dynamic pressure, electrophysiological response, flying speed, fruit bat, merkel receptors, mohit chadha, oregon state university, pitot tubes, secrets of bats, somatosensory cortex, speedometers, susanne sterbing d angelo, tiny domed hairs, university of maryland

*Tiny hairs on bats’ wings act as speedometers*

COLLEGE PARK, Md.- Anyone watching bats skillfully maneuvering through the air to catch their dinner is impressed by how they quickly change direction and speed. Now researchers in the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland believe they have uncovered one of the secrets of bats’ aerodynamic prowess: rows of microscopic, domed hairs on their wings that might act like speedometers and stall indicators.

In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), Susanne Sterbing-D’Angelo and her colleagues have found empirical evidence for what researchers have long suspected: the tiny domed hairs function as arrays of sensors that transmit airspeed information to bats’ brains, helping them control their flight and avoid stalling. (more…)

Tag Archives: oregon state university

Researcher Discovers Mitochondria Share an Ancestor with SAR11

US West Coast Erosion Spiked In Winter 2009-10, Previewing Likely Future As Climate Changes

University of Maryland Bat Research Promises New Aircraft Speed Detectors