Researchers have shown that stress and retrovirus levels are tightly linked to disease in koalas. High KoRV loads make koalas more vulnerable to chlamydia, worsening epidemics in stressed populations. Protecting habitats, careful breeding, and antiviral trials are now being pursued to give koalas a fighting chance at survival.
Read moreAluminum toxicity is a major contributor to poor crop growth, especially in regions with acidic soils. How aluminum enters at the growing root tips of plants is not well understood. Researchers have found that pectin, a chemical component of the plant cell wall, may play a key role as a barrier to prevent aluminum from entering rice plants. The study sheds light on how rice plants may resist aluminum toxicity.
Read moreReported from six counties in coastal Alabama in 2017, cotton blue disease affected approximately 25% of the state's cotton crop and caused a 4% yield loss. The disease was reported again in 2018, affecting 3-100% of cotton fields in Alabama but causing only a 1% yield loss. Symptoms, which include slowed plant growth, loss of chlorophyll, and dwarfing of infected leaves, usually do not appear until last August after full bloom. To date, there are no recommended strategies for management of this disease.
Read moreResearchers have discovered a previously unknown virus infecting nearly a third of America's bald eagle population. Scientists found the virus while searching for the cause of Wisconsin River Eagle Syndrome, an enigmatic disease endemic to bald eagles near the Lower Wisconsin River. The newly identified bald eagle hepacivirus, or BeHV, may contribute to the fatal disease, which causes eagles to stumble and have seizures.
Read moreScientists have isolated a natural chemical that acts as a potent kryptonite against parasitic worms that burrow through human skin and cause devastating health problems. Researchers now describe the successful characterization of this chemical, which could help in finding new ways to fight the neglected tropical disease schistosomiasis.
Read moreThe roots of plants can do a lot of things: They grow in length to reach water, they can bend to circumvent stones, and they form fine root hairs enabling them to absorb more nutrients from the soil. A team of researchers has now identified an important regulator of this process.
Read moreSince its invention during the Second World War for soldiers stationed in countries where malaria transmission rates were high, researchers have worked to pinpoint precisely how DEET actually affects mosquitoes.
Read moreChemists have invented an efficient method for making a synthetic version of the plant compound bilobalide, which is naturally produced by gingko trees. It's a significant feat because bilobalide — and closely related compounds — hold potential commercial value as medicines and 'green' insecticides.
Read moreNew research shows that ants inhibit at least 14 different plant diseases. The small insects secrete antibiotics from glands in the body. On their legs and body, they also host colonies of bacteria that secrete antibiotics. It is probably these substances that inhibit a number of different diseases and researchers now hope to find biological pesticides that may conquer resistant plant diseases.
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