Tools and technology

Jul

1

2008
 
 

Cow pharming



Drugged cows produce more milk, cutting greenhouse gas emissions

cowCows might cultivate an image of gentle, vegetarian all-round pleasantness, but don’t be duped: their methane-laden flatus is the source of ten percent of the global annual emissions of this powerful greenhouse gas. Judith Capper and colleagues report a technological solution in this week’s PNAS. The Cornell University researcher has studied the effects of supplementing cow feed with recombinant bovine somatotropin, the main effect of which is to boost milk production. The knock-on effect of this is a reduction of energy input and waste output for a given quantity of milk. The laced cows have a relatively low environmental impact, presenting conservation-minded sorts with a tricky dilemma: should we ditch high impact organic dairy farming for the pharmacologically modified alternative? Source: Capper JL, Castañeda-Gutiérrez, Cady RA & Bauman DE (2008) The environmental impact of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) in dairy production. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0802446105

Image: © VeSilvio

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Jun

14

2008
 
 

Tree of life



Oldest plant seed germinates, but is it a boy or a girl?

Oldest date aroundThere’s great news this week in Science for anyone interested in seed banks: a date palm Phoenix dactylifera seed unearthed during archaeological investigations of Herod’s Masada fortress has been successfully germinated. The seeds were discovered under a pile of rubble in the 1960s, and were stored at room temperature for the following four decades. But in 2005, Sarah Sallon, a plant biologist based at the Hadassah Medical Organization, Israel, and curious colleagues popped three of the ancient pips into plant pots. Eight weeks later one of the seeds had sprouted, and having survived re-potting it currently stands some four feet in height. Sallon hopes it’s a female (she won’t know for a couple of years), as that raises the possibility of resurrecting this long gone cultivar: if it was fit for a king, it will probably be worth the effort. Radiocarbon studies have demonstrated this to be the oldest seed ever deliberately germinated, as long as the dates haven’t been muddled up, so to speak. Source: Sallon S, Solowey E, Cohen Y, Korchinsky R, Egli M, Woodhatch I, Simchoni O & Kislev M (2008) Germination, genetics and growth of an ancient date seed. Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1153600

Image: © Guy Eisner

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Jun

11

2008
 
 

Tree of death



Evolutionary phylogeny of British birds flags up species at future risk

scary, isn't it?British bird species with declining populations are more closely related than expected, according to findings published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. The study’s author, Imperial College’s Gavin Thomas, suggests the link might help identify those species most at risk of extinction. The evolutionary tree, which Thomas constructed by comparing mitochondrial gene sequences of Britain’s resident birds, shows that red listed species are clustered together. The reason is simple: closely related species tend to share physical traits, so what’s bad for one is bad for another. However, the findings also suggest a way for conservationists to identify vulnerable species – by looking at those currently in decline it should be possible to work out which ones are next in line to fall off the perch. Source: Thomas G (2008) Phylogenetic distributions of British birds of conservation concern. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0549

Image: © Graham McKenzie-Smith

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Jun

4

2008
 
 

A fish called… what?



Overfished species sold mislabeled, hindering consumer choice

What's your fish?Mmmm, red snapper. But hang on, is that really what you’re eating? A group of Stanford University scientists, led by Cheryl Logan, have used DNA forensics to uncover fishy goings on in the seafood marketplace. Taking 77 “Pacific red snapper” whole fish or fillets from a range of sources in California and Washington, including grocers, fish markets and sushi restaurants, they found a total of eleven species, only one of which was true red snapper Lutjanus campechanus. Between 60% and 63% of the samples were from fish not on the FDA Seafood list. Writing in Biological Conservation, Logan’s team say that although around 80% of all fish landed are identified to species level, that picture changes somewhat by the time they reach our plates. This “institutionalized mislabeling” is preventing customers from making informed, conservation-minded choices about what fish to eat and what to avoid. Source: Logan CA, Alter SE, Haupt AJ, Tomalty K & Palumbi SR (2008) An impediment to consumer choice: overfished species are sold as Pacific red snapper. Biol. Conserv. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2008.04.007

Image: © Jill Chen

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May

20

2008
 
 

Tom meets Jerry



Extinct thylacine DNA comes to life in a laboratory mouse

big dog Scientists have extracted DNA from a hundred year old pickled Tasmanian tiger and inserted into a mouse. The extinct marsupial Thylacinus cynocephalus was a remarkable example of convergent evolution, looking like and doing pretty much what modern eutherian canids (big fierce doggy predators) do. Writing in PLoS ONE, University of Texas molecular geneticist Richard Behringer and colleagues have shown it’s possible to go further than simply work out the DNA sequence of long-lost organisms. By swapping in the resurrected stretch of DNA – not a gene as such, but able to control the expression of one – the researchers made a remarkable discovery: the thylacine DNA worked the same way as the mouse’s own. The findings should pave the way to understanding how individual genes and their functions have evolved within species. A different kind of Jurassic Park perhaps lies ahead… Source: Pask AJ, Behringer RR, Renfree MB (2008) Resurrection of DNA function in vivo from an extinct genome. PLoS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002240

Image: Benjamin A. Sheppard

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May

15

2008
 
 

Fly in flowers



Neotropical insect biodiversity greater than previously thought

Still think we're all just bugs?DNA barcoding has once again revealed a wealth of unknown species, this time in neotropical insects. Writing in this week’s Science, a team of researchers led by Cornell College’s Marty Condon tell of their study of a group of fruit flies – the Blepharoneura – whose larvae munch their way unseen through species of plants in the particularly tasty Curcurbitaceae family, a group that includes cucumbers, pumpkins and melons. From a Central and South American study area measuring some 5500 km by 3000 km, they caught and reared 2857 flies from 24 host plant species, then ground them up and extracted their DNA for analysis. What they found was a remarkable degree of species diversity: 52 species of flies, many of which looked pretty much identical. However, this abundance of biodiversity was linked to a high level of specialization, with many species feeding not only a single plant species, but often just one sex or structure. With many species found at a lone site, the findings are likely to complicate conservation work, although welcome light has been thrown on the interaction between geography and diversity in this evolutionary epicenter. Source: Condon MA, Scheffer SJ, Lewis ML & Swensen SM (2008) Hidden neotropical diversity: greater than the sum of its parts. Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1155832

Image © Marty Condon

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May

14

2008
 
 

No sleep ’til bedtime



First study of free-living wild sloths shows they’re not so lazy after all

wide awake clubWe all know sloths love their shuteye. But that should be captive sloths, as a study published this week in Biology Letters makes crystal clear. Niels Rattenborg, a sleep specialist at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and the paper’s lead author, attached newly-developed miniature electroencephalogram (EEG) recorders to three adult female brown-throated three-toed sloths Bradypus variegatus, who were otherwise minding their own easy-going business in the Barro Colorado Island rainforest. Average sleep times per day were 9.63 hours, over six hours less than a previous study of captive animals had suggested. Whilst neurophysiologists will welcome the study’s novel approach as a means to understanding the functions of sleep, conservationists will no doubt also heed the message that zoo animals just ain’t the same as the wild, free, altogether more awake ones. Source: Rattenborg NC, Voirin B, Vyssotski AL, Kays RW, Spoelstra K, Kuemmeth, Heidrich W & Wikelski MC (2008) Sleeping outside the box: electroencephalographic measures of sleep in sloths inhabiting a rainforest. Biology Letters DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2008.0203

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May

12

2008
 
 

Cheetah problem spotted



Scientists reach to the bottom of a mystery illness in captive animals

out for the count?A lethal disease is ripping through captive cheetah Acinonyx jubatus populations, hampering efforts to save the embattled felid from extinction. This week in PNAS, a research team led by Keiichi Higuchi at Shinshu University, Japan, claim that AA amyloidosis – a protein-folding disorder related to BSE (“mad cow” disease) – doesn’t arise quite as spontaneously as previously thought. Although animals that succumb are usually already suffering another affliction, the presence of amyloid proteins in the feces of infected animals provides a potential transmission route among individuals that are housed together. Even a giant kitty-litter tray won’t help, as the excreted infectious proteins can probably hang around in the soil too. Although the findings don’t definitively establish a link between sick cheetahs and their poop, they strongly suggest it’s a possibility to sniff out, so to speak. Source: Zhang B, Une Y, Fu X, Yan J, Ge F, Yao J, Sawashita J, Mori M, Tomozawa H, Kametani F& Higuchi K (2008) Fecal transmission of AA amyloidosis in the cheetah contributes to high incidence of disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0800367105

Image © Eric Gevaert

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May

8

2008
 
 

The ghost at the feast



Loss of seed dispersers has far-reaching ecosystem impacts

one hungry tortoise

Rewilding is a controversial topic: when important native species have gone, is it OK to bring in exotic alternatives to perform an essential ecosystem role? This week in PLoS ONE Stanford University researcher Dennis Hansen and colleagues report on their experiments to help save the critically endangered tree Syzygium mamillatum, which grows only on the famously dodo-devoid oceanic island of Mauritius. Plants often depend on large herbivores to disperse their seeds: Hansen’s experiments addressed the Janzen-Connell effect, whereby seedling survivorship increases dramatically with dispersal distance by virtue of escaping the specialist herbivores that plague its poor mother. Using Aldabra tortoises Aldabrachelys gigantea as willing stand-ins for the two extinct Mauritanian giant tortoise species Cylindraspis triserrata and C. inepta, Hansen’s team recorded seedling survival in relation to distance from a mature tree and whether it had passed through the gut of one of those lucky tortoises. Despite relatively few gut-passed seeds surviving the ordeal, and coupled with a lower germination rate, the fact that they are likely to be deposited many meters from their parent tree could mean an overall benefit to tortoise seed predation. So, should tortoises be brought in to help save S. mamillatum? After all, they’re not exactly the most difficult animals to keep track of… Source: Hansen DM, Kaiser CN & Müller CB (2008) Seed dispersal and establishment of endangered plants on oceanic islands: the Janzen-Connell model, and the use of ecological analogues. PloS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002111

Image © Dennis Hansen

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Apr

21

2008
 
 

Heavy metal rock(cress)



Pollution-gobbling weed gives up its genetic secret to success

heavy metal fanMost plants don’t like heavy metals such as zinc or cadmium, but Arabidopsis halleri will happily put down roots in the most contaminated soils. Reporting in Nature this week, a team of scientists led by Max Planck Institute biologist Ute Krämer – now at the University of Heidelberg – has unraveled the genetic basis underlying the little weed’s hardiness. Extra copies of the HMA4 (HEAVY METAL ATPASE 4) gene – are responsible: splicing it into the much more famous A. thaliana confers the same pollution-tolerating ability. Toxins are stored in the plant’s leaf cells, raising the possibility of developing plants that, when harvested, could drain contaminated soil of its poisonous elements. Even weeds have their strengths. Source: Hanikenne M, Talke IN, Haydon MJ, Lanz C, Nolte A, Motte P, Kroymann J, Weigel D & Krämer U (2008) Evolution of metal hyperaccumulation required cis-regulatory changes and triplication of HMA4. Nature DOI: 10.1038/nature06877

Image © Vasiliy Koval

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