News by Subject Biology

The microbiome study of seven drawings from Leonardo Da Vinci reveals that conservation work, geographical location, and past contaminations leave invisible traces on drawings despite their optimal storage conditions: a novel aspect of art objects that could be monitored to establish a bioarchive of our artistic heritage.

A researcher from Edith Cowan University in Western Australia led an investigation into how swamp wallabies spread truffle spores around the environment. Results demonstrate the importance of these animals to the survival of the forest.

In a recent study published in PhytoFrontiers journal, plant pathologists confirmed that 13 natural and semi-synthetic glucosinolate derivatives are efficient fungicides alone or when used in combination against widespread genetically distant species of fungal plant pathogens. Combinations of these compounds showed strong synergistic fungitoxic effects.

Microbes and other microscopic organisms could serve as sustainable "factories" to create many types of industrial materials because they naturally convert nutrients such as sugars into byproducts. However, creating industrial amounts of organic acids from renewable resources poses a challenge, because not many organisms can grow in highly acidic environments. With the help of gene editing and computational modeling tools, a team of researchers explored one type of yeast that could survive in the harsh environment created by acidic products.

A new study shows for the first time that Xyleborus affinis beetles are cooperative breeders, where females disperse to found new nests or stay to help their mother raise siblings, while also reproducing themselves. They grow an asexual Raffaella fungus alongside their nest galleries, apparently their only source of food.

How can new life forms that we cannot see be discovered? Using a novel method based on looking for DNA in soil samples, researchers at Uppsala University have revealed the existence of two hitherto unknown, but very common fungus species. They are thought to perform a key function in the ecosystem, but their exact role remains to be clarified. The study is published in the journal IMA Fungus.

In the current study, the authors showed that similar fungi inhabited sugar beet fields in California, suggesting that a group of naturally occurring fungi, given the right conditions, might be able to dramatically reduce nematode populations in one season.

University of Illinois and USDA plant pathologists found that several different arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi species from different families reduced the number of cysts on soybean roots by 59 to 80 percent. They also found that one AMF species reduced counts of SCN by 60 percent and was able to suppress egg hatching by as much as 30 percent.

Ant farmers in tropical forests respond to the nutritional needs of their fungus gardens. And just as in human agriculture, the needs of each partner become more specialized as the relationship evolves.