News tagged with host plants

Can indigenous insects be used against the light brown apple moth?

The light brown apple moth (LBAM), Epiphyas postvittana (Walker), an invasive insect from Australia, was found in California in 2006. The LBAM feeds on apples, pears, stonefruits, citrus, grapes, berries and many other plants ...

Biology / Ecology

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Bacterial plasmids -- the freeloading and the heavy-lifters -- balance the high price of disease

Studying self-replicating genetic units, called plasmids, found in one of the world's widest-ranging pathogenic soil bacteria -- the crown-gall-disease-causing microorganism Agrobacterium tumefaciens -- Ind ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers learn how pathogen causes speck disease

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have discovered how the structure of a protein allows a certain bacteria to interfere with the tomato plant's immune system, causing bacterial speck disease.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Dec 15, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Medicago genome sequence sheds new light on how plants evolved nitrogen-fixing symbioses

The genome of Medicago, a close relative of alfalfa and a long-established model for the study of legume biology, has been sequenced by an international team of scientists, capturing around 94 per cent of its ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Nov 16, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Butterfly legs 'taste' plants for egg laying: study

A species of butterfly uses its legs to taste plants to see which leaves offer its eggs the best chance of survival, Japanese scientists said Wednesday.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 16, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 2

A new species of gall makers in the aphid genus of plant lice was found in China

Aphid researchers from Chinese Academy of Sciences found one new species, Aleurodaphis sinojackiae Qiao & Jiang, 2011 from Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces, China. It forms leaf galls on Jack trees (Sinojackia x ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 01, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Insect gut microbe with a molecular iron reservoir

Microbes are omnipresent on earth. They are found as free-living microorganisms as well as in communities with other higher organisms. Thanks to modern biological techniques we are now able to address the ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Sep 01, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Targeting toxin trafficking

Toxins produced by plants and bacteria pose a significant threat to humans, as emphasized by the recent effects of cucumber-borne Shiga toxin in Germany. Now, new research published on July 21st by the Cell Press journal ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jul 21, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Asian 'megapest' is chomping up US orchards

A stink bug from Asia is chomping up US vegetable fields, orchards and vineyards, causing experts to scramble through an arsenal of weapons to try and halt this stealthy, smelly predator.

Biology / Ecology

created Jun 28, 2011 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0

How ants tame the wilderness: Rainforest species use chemicals to identify which plants to prune

Survival in the depths of the tropical rainforest not only depends on a species' ability to defend itself, but can be reliant on the type of cooperation researchers discovered between ants and tropical trees. ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 12, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Scientists sequence genomes of two major threats to American food and fuel

An international team of researchers co-led by a University of Minnesota scientist has sequenced the genomes of two fungal pathogens -- one that threatens global wheat supplies and another that limits production of a tree ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 05, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Instant evolution in whiteflies: Just add bacteria

In just six years, bacteria in the genus Rickettsia spread through a population of the sweet potato whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), an invasive pest of global importance. Infected insects lay more eggs, develo ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 07, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Identity theft by aphids

Collaborative research at the University of Guam has people asking: "What IS a species" and entomologists wondering about the relationship between an insect species and the host plant or plants it feeds on.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 19, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Evolutionary arms race between smut fungi and maize plants

Fungi are a major cause of plant diseases and are responsible for large-scale harvest failure in crops like maize and other cereals all over the world. Together with scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum in ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Dec 09, 2010 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Scientists study essential oils to attract asian citrus psyllid

(PhysOrg.com) -- Chemicals emitted by citrus plants and their relatives that attract Asian citrus psyllids are being tested by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and their cooperators, and could ...

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 08, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0