(Press-News.org) For the ancient ancestors of plants and animals, a partnership with other microbes was once formed during an endosymbiotic event to give rise to eukaryotes. Plants and animals, over billions of years of trial and error, made efficient use of different energy sources in the environment, namely carbon dioxide and oxygen.
In the advanced online edition of Molecular Biology and Evolution, authors Maurino, et. al., explore the evolution of a family of enzymes, called 2-hydroxy acid oxidase, or 2-HAOX, that break down fats in both plant and animals. They wanted to test and see if they could trace the evolution of 2-HOAX back to a common ancestor that once gave rise to these enzymes. They built a database of all known 2-HAOX sequences in plants, animals and bacteria and reconstructed phylogenetic trees to test their hypothesis as wells as examining the functional differences through enzyme tests.
Their data supports the evolution of 2-HOAX from a common ancestral gene, with plants and animals evolving these enzymes independently, in ancient organisms responsible for the evolution of simpler animals and plants. This provides an example of how plants and animals have adapted differently to similar environmental conditions in order to meet their energy needs.
INFORMATION: END
Metabolism gives a boost to understanding plant and animal nutrient evolution
Recent highlights in Molecular Biology and Evolution
2014-02-14
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Gene for dissected leaves
2014-02-14
This news release is available in German. Spinach looks nothing like parsley, and basil bears no resemblance to thyme. Each plant has a typical leaf shape that can differ even within the same family. The information about what shape leaves will be is stored in the DNA. According to researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne, the hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) has a particular gene to thank for its dissected leaves. This homeobox gene inhibits cell proliferation and growth between leaflets, allowing them to separate from each ...
Our brain has switch board to guide behavior in response to external stimuli
2014-02-14
How do our brains combine information from the external world (sensory stimulation) with information on our internal state such as hunger, fear or stress? NERF-scientists demonstrate that the habenula, a specific part in our brain consisting of neural circuits, acts as a gate for sensory information, thus regulating behavior in response to external stimuli.
Emre Yaksi (NERF – VIB/imec/KU Leuven): "Our brain has high levels of spontaneous activity, even in the absence of sensory stimulation. We think that this spontaneous neural activity in combination with sensory stimulation ...
Inside out at the 2014 AAAS meeting: The impact of gut flora on diabetes and obesity
2014-02-14
In recent years, the 1.5 kilos of bacteria that live inside our bodies, mainly in the gut, have proven their crucial importance for our healthy functioning. Beyond their more obvious role in digestion, they are also involved, for example, in the development of the immune system and the neuronal system, and in the onset of certain diseases.
Three leading European researchers on the gut microbiome will share their recent findings on the relations between gut flora and obesity, diabetes, and cardio-metabolic diseases in general.
Links Between Human Gut Microbiota and Metabolic ...
NASA's IBEX helps paint picture of the magnetic system beyond the solar wind
2014-02-14
Understanding the region of interstellar space through which the solar system travels is no easy task. Interstellar space begins beyond the heliosphere, the bubble of charged particles surrounding the sun that reaches far beyond the outer planets. Voyager 1 has crossed into this space, but it's difficult to gain a complete global picture from measurements in only one direction.
Spacecraft data in the past five years from near Earth and cosmic ray observations have painted a better picture of the magnetic system that surrounds us, while at the same time raising new questions. ...
Impaired recovery from inflammation linked to Alzheimer's
2014-02-14
New research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that the final stage of the normal inflammatory process may be disrupted in patients with Alzheimer's disease. A study published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia shows that levels in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid of the molecules necessary for tissue recovery through the clearance of harmful inflammatory substances are lower than normal in patients with Alzheimer's disease. The study also showed association between the lower levels of these molecules with impaired memory function.
Alzheimer's disease is ...
Social norms strongly influence vaccination decisions and the spread of disease
2014-02-14
Our response to societal pressures about vaccination has a direct effect on the spread of pediatric infectious diseases in areas where inoculation is not mandatory, says new research published this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
By incorporating social norms into predictive mathematical modelling, a research team from the University of Guelph and the University of Waterloo found that they can foresee the observed patterns of population behaviour and disease spread during vaccine scares—times when anti-vaccine sentiment is strong.
"If vaccination is not ...
New insight into protein misfolding in neurodegenerative disorders
2014-02-14
Research by the University of Southampton has provided new insight into the consequence of accumulated 'misfolded proteins' in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Prion and Alzheimer's disease.
Prion and Alzheimer's disease are protein misfolding brain diseases, where genetic mutations, or more commonly, interactions between an individual's genetics and environmental influences cause functional proteins in neurons to become misfolded or misrouted. In these diseases, there is a progressive death of nerve cells in specific brain regions, which is associated with the increasing ...
Geographical passwords worth their salt
2014-02-14
It's much easier to remember a place you have visited than a long, complicated password, which is why computer scientist Ziyad Al-Salloum of ZSS-Research in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, is developing a system he calls geographical passwords.
Writing in a freely available "open access" research paper in the International Journal of Security and Networks, Al-Salloum emphasizes how increasingly complicated our online lives are becoming with more and more accounts requiring more and more passwords. Moreover, he adds that even strong, but conventional passwords are a security risk ...
Antimicrobial preservation strategies to prevent food contamination
2014-02-14
New Rochelle, NY, February 13, 2014—Food spoiling and poisoning caused by microbial contamination can cause major health, social, and economic problems. The broad scope of antimicrobial approaches to kill or prevent the growth of microorganisms in foods and beverages, including a variety of natural and artificial preservative strategies, are described in a comprehensive Review article in Industrial Biotechnology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the Industrial Biotechnology website.
In the Review "Ingredient ...
New depression treatments reported
2014-02-14
MAYWOOD, IL – New insights into the physiological causes of depression are leading to treatments beyond common antidepressants such as Prozac and Zoloft, researchers are reporting in the in the journal Current Psychiatry.
Depression treatments on the horizon include new medications, electrical and magnetic stimulation of the brain and long-term cognitive behavioral therapy for stress management.
Authors are Murali Rao, MD, and Julie M. Alderson, DO. Rao is professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at Loyola University Chicago ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Breathable yet protective: Next-gen medical textiles with micro/nano networks
Frequency-engineered MXene supercapacitors enable efficient pulse charging in TENG–SC hybrid systems
Developed an AI-based classification system for facial pigmented lesions
Achieving 20% efficiency in halogen-free organic solar cells via isomeric additive-mediated sequential processing
New book Terraglossia reclaims language, Country and culture
The most effective diabetes drugs don't reach enough patients yet
Breast cancer risk in younger women may be influenced by hormone therapy
Strategies for staying smoke-free after rehab
Commentary questions the potential benefit of levothyroxine treatment of mild hypothyroidism during pregnancy
Study projects over 14 million preventable deaths by 2030 if USAID defunding continues
New study reveals 33% gap in transplant access for UK’s poorest children
Dysregulated epigenetic memory in early embryos offers new clues to the inheritance of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
IVF and IUI pregnancy rates remain stable across Europe, despite an increasing uptake of single embryo transfer
It takes a village: Chimpanzee babies do better when their moms have social connections
From lab to market: how renewable polymers could transform medicine
Striking increase in obesity observed among youth between 2011 and 2023
No evidence that medications trigger microscopic colitis in older adults
NYUAD researchers find link between brain growth and mental health disorders
Aging-related inflammation is not universal across human populations, new study finds
University of Oregon to create national children’s mental health center with $11 million federal grant
Rare achievement: UTA undergrad publishes research
Fact or fiction? The ADHD info dilemma
Genetic ancestry linked to risk of severe dengue
Genomes reveal the Norwegian lemming as one of the youngest mammal species
Early birds get the burn: Monash study finds early bedtimes associated with more physical activity
Groundbreaking analysis provides day-by-day insight into prehistoric plankton’s capacity for change
Southern Ocean saltier, hotter and losing ice fast as decades-long trend unexpectedly reverses
Human fishing reshaped Caribbean reef food webs, 7000-year old exposed fossilized reefs reveal
Killer whales, kind gestures: Orcas offer food to humans in the wild
Hurricane ecology research reveals critical vulnerabilities of coastal ecosystems
[Press-News.org] Metabolism gives a boost to understanding plant and animal nutrient evolutionRecent highlights in Molecular Biology and Evolution