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. Scientists from Ghent University and VIB (The Flemisch Institute for Biotechnology) have demonstrated how nematodes, also known as roundworms, manipulate the transport of the plant hormone auxin in order to force the plant to produce food for them. Their findings, published January 16 in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens, could open up new possibilities for the development of nematode-resistant plants. http://www.physorg.com/news151319496.html Biology Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:11:36 EST news151319496 It has been known for some time that plants respond to environmental cues that guide their flowering. Chief among these signals are light, temperature and vernalization, when flowering is promoted by prolonged exposure to cold temperatures. http://www.physorg.com/news151251480.html Biology Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:18:00 EST news151251480 (PhysOrg.com) -- A comprehensive investigation of plant emissions led by University of South Australia molecular biologist Dr Ellen Nisbet has put pay to the assertion that plants are producing and releasing large quantities of methane into the environment. http://www.physorg.com/news151176747.html Biology Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:32:27 EST news151176747 Water and energy are two resources on which modern society depends. As demands for these increase, researchers look to alternative technologies that promise both sustainability and reduced environmental impact. Engineered osmosis holds a key to addressing both the global need for affordable clean water and inexpensive sustainable energy according to Yale researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news151174174.html Technology Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:49:34 EST news151174174 (PhysOrg.com) -- A researcher at Iowa State University has developed a tool to determine what market conditions are needed for ethanol producers to make a profit. http://www.physorg.com/news151172429.html Other Sciences Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:20:29 EST news151172429 U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) Ecologist Jim Miller, Ph.D., one of the foremost authorities on nonnative plants in the South, today identified the invasive plant species he believes pose the biggest threats to southern forest ecosystems in 2009. http://www.physorg.com/news150991399.html Space & Earth Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:03:19 EST news150991399 Currently, plant testing in the United States to determine potential ecological risks from chemical pesticides to nontarget plants requires two tests, both of which use immature plants. Protection of the plant development and reproduction are not considered, unlike tests required for the protection of animals. Past research conducted by the USEPA and others have shown that plant development/reproduction is not adequately protected with the current test protocols. http://www.physorg.com/news150558365.html Biology Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:46:05 EST news150558365 Contact with nature has long been suspected to increase positive feelings, reduce stress, and provide distraction from the pain associated with recovery from surgery. Now, research has confirmed the beneficial effects of plants and flowers for patients recovering from abdominal surgery. http://www.physorg.com/news149776173.html Biology Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:29:33 EST news149776173 Plants, genetically modified to ease the breaking down of their woody material, could be the key to a cheaper and greener way of making ethanol, according to researchers who add that the approach could also help turn agricultural waste into food for livestock. http://www.physorg.com/news149185976.html Biology Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:32:56 EST news149185976 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 In the face of climate change, being able to increase crop yields by enabling plants to take up nutrients and water more efficiently becomes increasingly important, as fertiliser and water supplies incur significant energy and environmental costs. http://www.physorg.com/news148485535.html Biology Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:58:55 EST news148485535 Scientists have discovered that plant roots can sense UV-B light and have identified a specific gene that is a vital player in UV-B signaling, the communication between cells. http://www.physorg.com/news147979343.html Biology Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:22:23 EST news147979343 How a bacterium overcomes a tomato plant's defences and causes disease, by sneakily disabling the plant's intruder detection systems, is revealed in new research out today (4 December) in Current Biology. http://www.physorg.com/news147616827.html Biology Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:40:27 EST news147616827 The wild pea pod is big and heavy, with seemingly little prayer of escaping the shade of its parent plant. And yet, like a grounded teenager who knows where the car keys are hidden, it manages - if it has a reasonable chance of escape. http://www.physorg.com/news147544744.html Biology Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:39:04 EST news147544744 Interleukin-12 is a naturally occurring protein essential for the proper functioning of the human immune system. Having either too much or too little interleukin-12 may play a role in the development of many diseases, including some cancers and auto-immune disorders like Crohn's, psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis. In turn, modulating interleukin-12 levels could yield new therapies for those conditions. http://www.physorg.com/news147529487.html Biology Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:24:47 EST news147529487 The lowly sea slug, "Elysia chlorotica," may not seem like the most exciting of creatures, but don't be fooled: it behaves like a plant and is solar-powered, says a Texas A&M University biologist who has been studying these tiny creatures for the past decade and, along with collaborators from several universities, has identified a possible cause of their ability to behave like plants. http://www.physorg.com/news146830510.html Biology Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:15:10 EST news146830510 Hybrid plants, like corn, grow bigger and better than their parents because many of their genes for photosynthesis and starch metabolism are more active during the day, report researchers from The University of Texas at Austin in a new study published in the journal Nature. http://www.physorg.com/news146666930.html Biology Sun, 23 Nov 2008 12:48:50 EST news146666930 Research from the University of Pittsburgh published in the Nov. 20 edition of Heredity could finally provide evidence of the first stages of the evolution of separate sexes, a theory that holds that males and females developed from hermaphroditic ancestors. These early stages are not completely understood because the majority of animal species developed into the arguably less titillating separate-sex state too long ago for scientists to observe the transition. http://www.physorg.com/news146420175.html Biology Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:16:15 EST news146420175 Plants that range northward because of climate change may be better at defending themselves against local enemies than native plants. http://www.physorg.com/news146328549.html Biology Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:49:09 EST news146328549 Why do poppies and sunflowers grow as a single flower per stalk while each stem of a tomato plant has several branches, each carrying flowers? In a new study, published in this week's issue of the open access journal PLoS Biology, Dr. Zachary Lippman and colleagues identify a genetic mechanism that determines the pattern of flower growth in the Solanaceae (nightshade) family of plants that includes tomato, potato, pepper, eggplant, tobacco, petunia, and deadly nightshades. Manipulation of the identified pathway can turn the well known tomato vine into a highly branched structure with hundreds of flower-bearing shoots, and may thereby result in increased crop yields. http://www.physorg.com/news146220203.html Biology Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:43:23 EST news146220203 Construction of new coal-fired power plants in the United States is in danger of coming to a standstill, partly due to the high cost of the requirement - whether existing or anticipated - to capture all emissions of carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas. But an MIT analysis suggests an intermediate step that could get construction moving again, allowing the nation to fend off growing electricity shortages using our most-abundant, least-expensive fuel while also reducing emissions. http://www.physorg.com/news146144305.html Technology Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:38:25 EST news146144305 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists may have overcome a major hurdle to calculating how much carbon dioxide (CO2) is absorbed and released by plants, vital information for understanding how the biosphere responds to stress and for determining the amount of carbon that can be safely emitted by human activities. The problem is that ecosystems simultaneously take up and release CO2. The key finding is that the compound carbonyl sulfide, which plants consume in tandem with CO2, can be used to quantify gas flow into the plants during photosynthesis. The research is published in the November 14, issue of Science. http://www.physorg.com/news145815134.html Space & Earth Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:12:14 EST news145815134 (PhysOrg.com) -- Underground nuclear power plants no bigger than a hot tub may soon provide electricity for communities around the world. Measuring about 1.5 meters across, the mini reactors can each power about 20,000 homes. (Please see below for an update) http://www.physorg.com/news145561984.html Technology Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:53:04 EST news145561984 Measurement of chlorophyll fluorescence is an effective way of determining how well plants can cope with low-water conditions. The technique described in the open access journal Plant Methods, published by BioMed Central, allows a quantitative and precise determination of viability in intact, drought-stressed plants. http://www.physorg.com/news145708573.html Biology Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:36:13 EST news145708573 Researchers at the University of Delaware have provided what is believed to be the first experimental evidence that plants can take up nanoparticles and accumulate them in their tissues http://www.physorg.com/news145700483.html Nanotechnology Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:21:23 EST news145700483 Scientists from VIB at Ghent University, Belgium, have succeeded in converting annual plants into perennials. They discovered that the deactivation of two genes in annuals led to the formation of structures that converted the plant into a perennial. This was most likely an important mechanism in plant evolution, initiating the formation of trees. http://www.physorg.com/news145514195.html Biology Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:36:35 EST news145514195 (PhysOrg.com) -- In 752, Japanese Empress Koken wrote a short poem about the summertime yellowing of a field in what is thought to be the first account of a viral plant disease. More than 1,250 years later, scientists concluded that the virus Koken described was part of the particularly insidious geminivirus family that continues to decimate tomato, tobacco and cotton crops worldwide. Now, new research shows how cunning an enemy one of these ancient viruses can be, manufacturing a protein that deforms and sterilizes plants and at the same time wrecks their defenses against the pests that spread the disease to others. http://www.physorg.com/news144605069.html Biology Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:04:29 EST news144605069 VIB researchers at Ghent University (Belgium) have discovered the substance that governs the formation of root offshoots in plants, and how it works. Root offshoots are vitally important for plants - and for farmers. Plants draw the necessary nutrients from the soil through their roots. Because they do this best with a well-branched root system, plants must form offshoots of their roots at the right moment. The VIB researchers describe how this process is controlled in the prominent professional journal Science. http://www.physorg.com/news143987252.html Biology Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:27:32 EST news143987252 An enigma - unique to flowering plants - has been solved by researchers from the University of Leicester (UK) and POSTECH, South Korea. The discovery is reported in the journal Nature on 23 October 2008. http://www.physorg.com/news143899812.html Biology Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:10:12 EST news143899812 The Earth is in the midst of the sixth mass extinction of both plants and animals, with nearly 50 percent of all species disappearing, scientists say. http://www.physorg.com/news143738612.html Biology Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:23:32 EST news143738612