Gene discovery holds key to growing crops in cold climates
Fresh insight into how plants slow their growth in cold weather could help scientists develop crops suited to cooler environments
2010-09-09
(Press-News.org) Fresh insight into how plants slow their growth in cold weather could help scientists develop crops suited to cooler environments.
Researchers have shown for the first time that a gene – known as Spatula – limits the growth of plants in cool temperatures, possibly helping them adjust to cool conditions.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh, who took part in the study, believe that by manipulating the gene, they could produce the opposite effect – enabling development of crops that grow well in cold climates.
Scientists studied the Spatula gene in a weed known as thale cress and found that when levels of the gene were low, the plant leaves grew almost twice as much at lower temperatures as they would normally.
Being able to improve crop growth under cool conditions – in which growth would typically be slow – could help ensure the availability of food supplies for future populations.
The study, carried out by the Universities of Edinburgh and York, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Royal Society, was published in Current Biology.
Dr Karen Halliday of the University of Edinburgh's School of Biological Sciences, who took part in the study, said: "We have pinpointed a key gene linked to the growth of plants according to the temperature – this could be of real interest in improving crop yields and food security in temperate climates."
INFORMATION: END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2010-09-09
One third of the world's population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), which leads to tuberculosis (TB), a leading cause of death world-wide. A new discovery, led by a team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, offers hope for new approaches to the prevention and treatment of TB. The team's discovery of a novel mechanism that may contribute to immune recognition of MTB is published in the September issue of Nature Structural and Molecular Biology.
Most individuals with TB recover from the initial infection and become asymptomatic, ...
2010-09-09
Essays
Title: The Prospects for Personalized Medicine
Author: Shara Yurkiewicz
Summary: Ten years after the release of a working draft of the human genome, major changes have made their way into medical practice, the marketplace, research, and policy.
Title: Personalized Medicine's Ragged Edge
Author: Leonard M. Fleck
Summary: The phrase "personalized medicine" has a built-in positive spin. But little attention has been given to some challenging issues of justice it raises. Some people will clearly benefit a lot, some people will clearly not benefit at all, and ...
2010-09-09
(WASHINGTON, September 9, 2010) – For cancer patients, who have an increased risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE) due to a hyperactive blood coagulation system, there is now an enhanced risk model to predict their chance of developing blood clots, according to a recent study published today in Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology. VTE, the formation of blood clots in the veins, develops in up to 20 percent of cancer patients and is one of the leading causes of death among this patient population. Patients with hematologic malignancies (blood ...
2010-09-09
EVANSTON, Ill. --- Tweet this, Ashton Kutcher, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears. Just because you have a ton of followers on Twitter doesn't necessarily mean you're among the most influential people in the Twitterverse, according to researchers from Northwestern University.
If you really want to know the most influential people tweeting on the hot topics of the day, go to pulseofthetweeters.com. The website went online in May and has been tracking the top trending topics from Twitter in real time ever since.
The website was created in the laboratory of Alok Choudhary, ...
2010-09-09
COLLEGE STATION, Sept. 9, 2010 – DNA analysis is poised to experience a significant advancement thanks to the work of a Texas A&M University chemical engineer, who has discovered a way to achieve more effective separation of DNA fragments.
Working with a widely used gelatin substance known as a hydrogel, Victor M. Ugaz, associate professor in the university's Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, and graduate student Nan Shi have been able to determine the specific type of conditions that result in the optimum gel pore structure for separation of a wide range ...
2010-09-09
As speech recognition systems become more commonplace - on the computer desktop top, at the call centre and even in the car - it is increasingly important to ensure that the voice signal is as clear as possible before it is processed by a computer and acted upon. It could mean the difference between anything from a profitable financial deal to a safe vehicle or aircraft maneuver. Similarly, mobile phone conversations and even the clandestine recording of speech for security and law enforcement purposes could benefit.
Now, researchers at the University Campus in Tunis, ...
2010-09-09
The existence of Dark Matter particles in the Sun's interior seems inevitable, despite dark matter never having been observed (there or elsewhere), despite intensive ongoing searches. Once gravitationally captured by the Sun, these particles tend to accumulate in its core.
In a paper to be published in the scientific journal " Science", Dr. Ilidio Lopes and Professor Joseph Silk propose that the presence of dark matter in the Sun's interior causes a significant drop in its central temperature. Their calculations have shown that, in some dark matter scenarios, an isothermal ...
2010-09-09
A survey in the latest issue of the Hastings Center Report found that most hospices in Oregon, the first state to legalize physician-assistance in dying, either do not participate in or have limited participation in requests for such assistance. Both legal and moral reasons are identified.
This finding is significant because hospices are considered important for assuring that physician-assisted death is carried out responsibly, write the authors, Courtney S. Campbell, the Hundere Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University, and Jessica C. Cox, the Hundere ...
2010-09-09
Ghent, 9 September 2010 – Factoring the planet's multi-trillion dollar ecosystem services into policy-making can help save cities and regional authorities money while boosting the local economy, enhancing quality of life, securing livelihoods and generating employment.
This is the finding from a major international study, launched in a report by TEEB for Local and Regional Policy Makers, being released in Belgium, Brazil, India, Japan and South Africa.
In the Framework of the Belgian Presidency of the European Union, the Flemish Ministry of Environment, Nature and ...
2010-09-09
New Rochelle, NY, September 8, 2010—Pediatric-onset obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette's disorder (TD) share similarities in their underlying genetic and environmental factors, psychiatric features, and treatment methods. Advances in understanding the neurobiological basis of these disorders and discovering new and more effective therapies are highlighted in a special issue on OCD and TD in Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com). The entire issue is available free ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Gene discovery holds key to growing crops in cold climates
Fresh insight into how plants slow their growth in cold weather could help scientists develop crops suited to cooler environments
