Getting at the root of the mountain pine beetle's rapid habitat expansion and forest

This week in Molecular Biology and Evolution

2014-04-23

(Press-News.org) The mountain pine beetle has wreaked havoc in North America, across forests from the American Southwest to British Columbia and Alberta, with the potential to spread all the way to the Atlantic coast. Millions of acres of forest have been lost, with severe economic and ecological impacts from a beetle outbreak ten times larger than previous outbreaks.

Because of its importance and impact on forestry, the mountain pine beetle's genome has been recently sequenced. Using this new resource, authors Janes, et.al. examined how the pine beetle could undergo such rapid habitat range expansion, and if population genetics and the cataloguing of genome wide mutations could shed any light on possible molecular causes of the outbreak. From beetles collected at 27 sites in Alberta and British Columbia, they looked for any patterns amongst their catalog of 1536 mutations (single-nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs).

They found several candidate genetic markers and conclude that the mountain pine beetle may have been able to spread by adjusting its cellular and metabolic functions to better withstand cooler climates and facilitate a larger geographic dispersal area. Such information could give important new clues for the forestry industry to help curb the current devastation of North American forests from this pest.

INFORMATION: END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Researchers identify link between fetal growth and risk of stillbirth

2014-04-23

Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch and the Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network have identified a link between stillbirth and either restricted or excessive fetal growth. Findings from the study are online in the April 22 issue of PLOS Medicine. Using a new approach developed by the network to estimate gestational age in stillborn babies, Dr. Radek Bukowski, lead researcher and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UTMB, and his colleagues evaluated 663 stillbirths and 1932 live births that occurred over a two-and-a-half year period at 59 ...

Best practices in communication for the animal world

2014-04-23

Coral Gables, Fla. (April 21, 2014) -- There are all sorts of signaling strategies in nature. Peacocks puff out their feathers and spread their colorful tails; satin bowbirds build specialized stick structures, called bowers, and decorate them with blue and shiny objects; and European bitterling males show off bright nuptial coloration during spawning season. Each species has evolved a unique method to communicate with others. "Signaling can have profound fitness implications for individuals that are either signaling or receiving the signal," says Gavin M. Leighton, ...

New drugs offer hope for migraine prevention

2014-04-22

MINNEAPOLIS – Two new studies may offer hope for people with migraine. The two studies released today will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 66th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, April 26 to May 3, 2014. Both studies involve drugs that are aimed at preventing migraine attacks from occurring, rather than stopping the attacks once they have started. These studies are the first to test monoclonal antibodies for the prevention of migraine, and both are directed against a relatively new target in migraine prevention, the calcitonin gene-related peptide, or ...

Glaucoma drug helps women with blinding disorder linked to obesity

2014-04-22

An inexpensive glaucoma drug, when added to a weight loss plan, can improve vision for women with a disorder called idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. IIH, also called pseudotumor cerebri, predominantly affects overweight women of reproductive age. An estimated 100,000 Americans have it, and the number is rising with the obesity epidemic. The most common symptoms are headaches and visual problems, including blind spots, poor side vision, double vision and temporary episodes of blindness. About ...

Quality improvement program helps lower risk of bleeding, death following stroke

2014-04-22

In a study that included more than 71,000 stroke patients, implementation of a quality initiative was associated with improvement in the time to treatment and a lower risk of in-hospital death, intracranial hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain), and an increase in the portion of patients discharged to their home, according to the study appearing in the April 23/30 issue of JAMA, a neurology theme issue. Intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA; an enzyme that helps dissolve clots) reduces long-term disability when administered early to eligible patients with acute ...

Conservative management of vascular abnormality in brain associated with better outcomes

2014-04-22

Patients with arteriovenous malformations (abnormal connection between arteries and veins) in the brain that have not ruptured had a lower risk of stroke or death for up to 12 years if they received conservative management of the condition compared to an interventional treatment, according to a study in the April 23/30 issue of JAMA, a neurology theme issue. Interventional treatment for brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVMs) with procedures such as neurosurgical excision, endovascular embolization, or stereotactic radiosurgery can be used alone or in combination to ...

Medication helps improve vision for patients with neurological disorder

2014-04-22

In patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension and mild vision loss, the use of the drug acetazolamide, along with a low-sodium weight-reduction diet, resulted in modest improvement in vision, compared with diet alone, according to a study in the April 23/30 issue of JAMA, a neurology theme issue. Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a disorder primarily of overweight women of childbearing age, characterized by increased intracranial pressure with its associated signs and symptoms, including debilitating headaches and vision loss. Acetazolamide is commonly ...

Study examines patient preferences for emergency treatment of stroke

2014-04-22

The majority of adults surveyed indicated they would want administration of clot-dissolving medications if incapacitated by a stroke, a finding that supports clinicians' use of this treatment if patient surrogates are not available to provide consent, according to a study in the April 23/30 issue of JAMA, a neurology theme issue. "In life-threatening emergencies involving incapacitated patients without surrogates, clinicians may intervene without obtaining informed consent, applying the presumption that reasonable people would consent to treatment in such circumstances. ...

Specialized ambulance improves treatment time for stroke

2014-04-22

Using an ambulance that included a computed tomography (CT) scanner, point-of-care laboratory, telemedicine connection and a specialized prehospital stroke team resulted in decreased time to treatment for ischemic stroke, according to a study in the April 23/30 issue of JAMA, a neurology theme issue. Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability. In acute ischemic stroke, thrombolysis (dissolving of blood clots) using intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is the treatment of choice after excluding bleeding in the brain by imaging. Past studies have shown ...

Study examines effectiveness of medications for treating epileptic seizures in children

2014-04-22

Although some studies have suggested that the drug lorazepam may be more effective or safer than the drug diazepam in treating a type of epileptic seizures among children, a randomized trial finds that lorazepam is not better at stopping seizures compared to diazepam, according to a study in the April 23/30 issue of JAMA, a neurology theme issue. Status epilepticus is a prolonged epileptic seizure or seizures that occurs approximately 10,000 times in children annually in the United States. Rapid control of status epilepticus is essential to avoid permanent injury and ...

Getting at the root of the mountain pine beetle's rapid habitat expansion and forest

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: