In The News: School of Life Sciences
Invasive Asian giant hornets—popularly known as "murder hornets"—could spread rapidly throughout western North America if left unchecked, researchers have found.
Giant hordes of blood-sucking mosquitoes have reportedly swarmed livestock to death in Louisiana this month, the latest gift 2020 has brought to Americans.
In the American Southwest, native desert bighorn sheep populations found in landscapes with minimal human disturbance, including several national parks, are less likely to be vulnerable to climate change, according to a new study led by Oregon State University.
Glycerol, used in the past as antifreeze for cars, is produced by a range of organisms from yeasts to vertebrates, some of which use it as an osmoprotectant—a molecule that prevents dangerous water loss in salty environments—while others use it as an antifreeze. Here, scientists from the University of Nevada and Miami University in Ohio show that two species of the single-celled green algae Chlamydomonas from Antarctica, called UWO241 and ICE-MDV, produce high levels of glycerol to protect them from osmotic water loss, and possibly also from freezing injury. Presently, only one other organism, an Arctic fish, is known to use glycerol for both purposes. Both species synthesize glycerol with enzymes encoded by multiple copies of a recently discovered ancient gene family. These results, published today in the open-access journal Frontiers in Plant Science, illustrate the importance of adaptations that allow life to not only survive but to thrive in extreme habitats.
Glycerol, used in the past as antifreeze for cars, is produced by a range of organisms from yeasts to vertebrates, some of which use it as an osmoprotectant - a molecule that prevents dangerous water loss in salty environments - while others use it as an antifreeze. Here, scientists from the University of Nevada and Miami University in Ohio show that two species of the single-celled green algae Chlamydomonas from Antarctica, called UWO241 and ICE-MDV, produce high levels of glycerol to protect them from osmotic water loss, and possibly also from freezing injury. Presently, only one other organism, an Arctic fish, is known to use glycerol for both purposes. Both species synthesize glycerol with enzymes encoded by multiple copies of a recently discovered ancient gene family. These results, published today in the open-access journal Frontiers in Plant Science, illustrate the importance of adaptations that allow life to not only survive but to thrive in extreme habitats.
Glycerol, used in the past as antifreeze for cars, is produced by a range of organisms from yeasts to vertebrates, some of which use it as an osmoprotectant – a molecule that prevents dangerous water loss in salty environments – while others use it as an antifreeze.
Despite being located in the hot and dry Mojave Desert, Nevada is home to 52 fish species found nowhere else in the world.
United States authorities are trying to eradicate Asian giant wasps , which are often dubbed killer wasps . However, the wasp which was first reported to appear there at the end of 2019 is feared to spread throughout the country and become a permanent species.
Asian giant hornets have the potential to spread across the United States and establish a permanent presence in the country, experts have told Newsweek.
A cave deep in the wilderness of central Nevada is a repository of evidence supporting the urgent need for the Southwestern U.S. to adopt targets aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a new UNLV study finds.
Nearly three weeks since a 5-month-old pup died of toxic shock after a dip in the Virgin River at Zion National Park, park and health officials are still puzzled how the deadly organisms wound up in the waters.