http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. After waiting for a warm, summery day, biologist Doug Taron and a handful of colleagues fanned out through a thousand acres of restored prairie this month, stroking plants with delicate paintbrushes in hopes of adding a little color next summer. http://www.physorg.com/news173379624.html Biology Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:01:21 EST news173379624 Cis-OPDA (12-oxophytodienoic acid) is a highly reactive plant hormone which simultaneously serves as a precursor molecule of the metabolic "master switch" jasmonic acid. Both signal herbivory in leaves and shoots of plants and activate the plants' defense reaction against caterpillars. Cis-OPDA, when reaching the hemolymph of the caterpillar, has a negative effect on the animal, leading to premature pupation and, apparently, an impaired immune system. http://www.physorg.com/news172162300.html Biology Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:30:01 EST news172162300 The smell of recent death or injury that repels living relatives of insects has been identified as a truly ancient signal that functions to avoid disease or predators, biologists have discovered. http://www.physorg.com/news171892983.html Biology Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:03:32 EST news171892983 (PhysOrg.com) -- A BBC expedition exploring inside the crater of an extinct volcano in Papua New Guinea (PNG) has discovered a lost world of dozens of weird new species and rare animals, including new frogs, a giant rat, many new insects and spiders, giant caterpillars, and a new bat species. http://www.physorg.com/news171612975.html Biology Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:20:01 EST news171612975 Plants are anything but as defenceless as they might seem. Various plant hormones work together to specifically fend off attacks. Dutch researcher Antonio Leon-Reyes has now shown how these hormones cooperate. By 'consulting' with each other plant hormones determine which defence mechanism they shall set in motion. http://www.physorg.com/news171137116.html Biology Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:10:01 EST news171137116 Travelers to the neotropics -- the tropical lands of the Americas -- might be forgiven for thinking that all of the colorful insects flittering over sunny puddles or among dense forest understory are butterflies. In fact, many are not. Some are moths that have reinvented themselves as butterflies, converging on the daytime niche typically dominated by their less hairy relatives. Now, a new revision of the taxonomic relationships among one such group of insects, the subfamily Dioptinae, sheds light on the diversity of tropical moth species and presents a unique story of parallel evolution. http://www.physorg.com/news170938009.html Biology Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:47:18 EST news170938009 Intelligent countryside management could improve the survival chances of animal and plant species threatened by climate change. The creation of small heat-shielded habitats and better links between habitats would counteract a moderate temperature increase and give threatened species more time to adapt better and/or to migrate to cooler regions. http://www.physorg.com/news165771682.html Biology Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:41:47 EST news165771682 Cabbage looper caterpillars (Trichoplusia ni) are able to alter the expression of genes associated with metabolism, homeostasis and immunity in response to feeding on plants carrying bacteria. Research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Frontiers in Zoology has shown that, as well as tailoring gene expression within their own digestive systems, the insects are able to pass this information along to their offspring. http://www.physorg.com/news160897189.html Biology Thu, 07 May 2009 06:40:27 EST news160897189 (PhysOrg.com) -- The strange interaction of a parasitic wasp, the caterpillar in which it lays its eggs and a virus that helps it overcome the caterpillar`s immune defenses has some scientists rethinking the definition of a virus. http://www.physorg.com/news153685639.html Biology Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:27:44 EST news153685639 Honeybees are important to plants for reasons that go beyond pollination, according to a new study published in the December 23rd issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. The insects' buzz also defends plants against the caterpillars that would otherwise munch on them undisturbed. http://www.physorg.com/news149171365.html Biology Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:29:25 EST news149171365 The adage that your enemies know your weaknesses best is especially true in the case of plants and predators that have co-evolved: As the predators evolve new strategies for attack, plants counter with their own unique defenses. http://www.physorg.com/news135957964.html Biology Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:06:04 EST news135957964