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Jun 17, 2013
Why Fruit Ripens and Spoils: Thousands of Plant Genes Activated by Ethylene Gas
It's common wisdom that one rotten apple in a barrel spoils all the other apples, and that an apple ripens a green banana if they are put together in a paper bag. Ways to ripen, or spoil, fruit have been known for thousands of years -- as the Bible can attest -- but now the genes underlying these phenomena of nature have been revealed (Salk Institute for Biological Studies/ScienceDaily June 11, 2013).
Continue reading "Why Fruit Ripens and Spoils: Thousands of Plant Genes Activated by Ethylene Gas"
Jun 11, 2013
Detection of Apple Juices and Cereals Which Exceed Permitted Levels of Mycotoxins
Researchers from the University of Granada (Spain) have analysed the presence of patulin, a type of toxin produced by fungi, in several commercial apple juices. The results show that more than 50% of the samples analysed exceed the maximum limits laid down by law. They have also discovered a sample of rice with more mycotoxins than permitted. For their part, researchers from the University of Valencia have also found these harmful substances in beers, cereals and products made from them, such as gofio flour (Plataforma SINC/ScienceDaily June 7, 2013).
Continue reading "Detection of Apple Juices and Cereals Which Exceed Permitted Levels of Mycotoxins"
Jun 11, 2013
Bees and Other Pollinating Insects Are Just One Factor in Food Production
No food for the human race without bees? It is not quite as straightforward as that. A case study by ecologists from ETH Zurich in a coffee-growing area in India reveals that pollinating insects are just one production factor among many. Farmers have several possibilities to increase their harvest (ETH Zurich/ScienceDaily June 5, 2013).
Continue reading "Bees and Other Pollinating Insects Are Just One Factor in Food Production"
Jun 02, 2013
Elevated Carbon Dioxide Making Arid Regions Greener
Scientists have long suspected that a flourishing of green foliage around the globe, observed since the early 1980s in satellite data, springs at least in part from the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere. Now, a study of arid regions around the globe finds that a carbon dioxide "fertilization effect" has, indeed, caused a gradual greening from 1982 to 2010 (American Geophysical Union/ScienceDaily May 31, 2013).
Continue reading "Elevated Carbon Dioxide Making Arid Regions Greener"
Jun 02, 2013
Global Warming Caused by CFCs, Not Carbon Dioxide, Researcher Claims in Controversial Study
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are to blame for global warming since the 1970s and not carbon dioxide, according to a researcher from the University of Waterloo in a controversial new study published in the International Journal of Modern Physics B this week (University of Waterloo/ScienceDaily May 30, 2013).
Jun 02, 2013
Improving 'Crop Per Drop' Could Boost Global Food Security and Water Sustainability
Improvements in crop water productivity -- the amount of food produced per unit of water consumed -- have the potential to improve both food security and water sustainability in many parts of the world, according to a study published online in Environmental Research Letters May 29 by scientists with the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment (IonE) and the Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES) at the University of Bonn, Germany (University of Minnesota/ScienceDaily May 29, 2013).
Jun 02, 2013
How Do Plants Grow Toward the Light? Scientists Explain Mechanism Behind Phototropism
Plants have developed a number of strategies to capture the maximum amount of sunlight through their leaves. As we know from looking at plants on a windowsill, they grow toward the sunlight to be able to generate energy by photosynthesis. Now an international team of scientists has provided definitive insights into the driving force behind this movement -- the plant hormone auxin (Technische Universitaet Muenchen/ScienceDaily May 28, 2013).
Jun 02, 2013
Scientists Develop CO2 Sequestration Technique
Lawrence Livermore scientists have discovered and demonstrated a new technique to remove and store atmospheric carbon dioxide while generating carbon-negative hydrogen and producing alkalinity, which can be used to offset ocean acidification (DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory/ScienceDaily May 28, 2013).
Continue reading "Scientists Develop CO2 Sequestration Technique"
Jun 02, 2013
KISS ME DEADLY Proteins May Help Improve Crop Yields
Dartmouth College researchers have identified a new regulator for plant hormone signaling -- the KISS ME DEADLY family of proteins (KMDs) – that may help to improve production of fruits, vegetables and grains (Dartmouth College/ScienceDaily May 27, 2013).
Continue reading "KISS ME DEADLY Proteins May Help Improve Crop Yields"
May 26, 2013
Tomatoes: The World's Favorite Fruit, Only Better-Tasting and Longer-Lasting
Tomatoes, said to be the world's most popular fruit, can be made both better-tasting and longer-lasting thanks to UK research with purple GM varieties (Norwich BioScience Institutes/ScienceDaily May 23, 2013).
Continue reading "Tomatoes: The World's Favorite Fruit, Only Better-Tasting and Longer-Lasting"
May 26, 2013
Drought Makes Borneo's Trees Flower at the Same Time
Tropical plants flower at supra-annual irregular intervals. In addition, mass flowering is typical for the tropical forests in Borneo and elsewhere, where hundreds of different plant timber species from the Dipterocarpaceae family flower synchronously. This phenomenon is all the more puzzling because both temperature and day length are relatively constant all year round due to geographical proximity to the equator (University of Zurich/ScienceDaily May 22, 2013).
Continue reading "Drought Makes Borneo's Trees Flower at the Same Time"
May 26, 2013
Ants and Carnivorous Plants Conspire for Mutualistic Feeding
An insect-eating pitcher plant teams up with ants to prevent mosquito larvae from stealing its nutrients, according to research published May 22 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Mathias Scharmann and colleagues from the University of Cambridge and the University Brunei Darussalam (Public Library of Science/ScienceDaily May 22, 2013).
Continue reading "Ants and Carnivorous Plants Conspire for Mutualistic Feeding"
May 20, 2013
Agriculture in China Predates Domesticated Rice: Discovery of Ancient Diet Shatters Conventional Ideas of How Agriculture Emerged
Archaeologists have made a discovery in southern subtropical China which could revolutionise thinking about how ancient humans lived in the region. They have uncovered evidence for the first time that people living in Xincun 5,000 years ago may have practised agriculture -- before the arrival of domesticated rice in the region (University of Leicester/ScienceDaily May 17, 2013).
May 20, 2013
Insecticides Lead to Starvation of Aquatic Organisms
Neonicotinoid insecticides have adverse effects not only on bees but also on freshwater invertebrates. Exposure to low but constant concentrations of these substances -- which are highly soluble in water -- has lethal effects on these aquatic organisms (EAWAG: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology/ScienceDaily May 15, 2013).
Continue reading "Insecticides Lead to Starvation of Aquatic Organisms"
May 20, 2013
Scientific Consensus On Anthropogenic Climate Change
A comprehensive analysis of peer-reviewed articles on the topic of global warming and climate change has revealed an overwhelming consensus among scientists that recent warming is human-caused (Institute of Physics/ScienceDaily May 15, 2013).
Continue reading "Scientific Consensus On Anthropogenic Climate Change"
May 20, 2013
Flower Power Fights Orchard Pests
May 14, 2013 — Washington State University researchers have found they can control one of fruit growers' more severe pests, aphids, with a remarkably benign tool: flowers. The discovery is a boon for organic as well as conventional tree fruit growers. The researchers recently published their study in the journal Biological Control. They found that plantings of sweet alyssum attracted a host of spiders and predator bugs that in turn preyed on woolly apple aphids, a pest that growers often control with chemical sprays (Washington State University/ScienceDaily May 14, 2013).
May 20, 2013
Do Potatoes Grow On Vines? A Review of the Wild Relatives of Some Favorite Food Plants
The Solanaceae, also called the potato or nightshade family, includes a wide range of flowering plants, some of which are important agricultural crops. Tomatoes, potatoes, aubergines, peppers and wolfberries are all representatives of the family present on many tables across the world. Solanum is the largest genus of the family, and with 1500 species, is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. Solanum has 13 major evolutionary groups,or clades (Pensoft Publishers/ScienceDaily May 14, 2013).
May 19, 2013
New Non-GM Technology Platform for Genetic Improvement of Sunflower Oilseed Crop
Scientists have developed techniques for the genetic improvement of sunflowers using a non-GMO based approach. The new technology platform can harness the plant's own genes to improve characteristics of sunflower, develop genetic traits, which will improve its role as an important oilseed crop (National University of Ireland, Galway/ScienceDaily May 13, 2013).
Continue reading "New Non-GM Technology Platform for Genetic Improvement of Sunflower Oilseed Crop"
May 12, 2013
Sacred Lotus Genome Sequence Enlightens Scientists
The sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) is a symbol of spiritual purity and longevity. Its seeds can survive up to 1,300 years, its petals and leaves repel grime and water, and its flowers generate heat to attract pollinators (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign/ScienceDaily May 10, 2013).
Continue reading "Sacred Lotus Genome Sequence Enlightens Scientists"
May 12, 2013
'Power Plants': How to Harvest Electricity Directly from Plants
The sun provides the most abundant source of energy on the planet. However, only a tiny fraction of the solar radiation on Earth is converted into useful energy (University of Georgia/ScienceDaily May 9, 2013).
Continue reading "'Power Plants': How to Harvest Electricity Directly from Plants"
