5/24/12
Herbivores evaluate their host’s readiness for defence May 23, 2012 A few minutes after an herbivore attack, plants produce jasmonic acid, a hormone which activates the plants’ defences to insect attacks, with the result that toxic substances like nicotine or digestion inhibitors accumulate in ...
5/22/12
German and Swedish research groups at Kiel University and Umeå Plant Science Centre have identified the long-sought bolting gene B in the sugar beet crop. The gene called BvBTC1 determines if and when a beet plant will flower. Early flowering has the undesired effect of terminating the root ...
5/16/12
Scientists of KIT and the University of Birmingham have identified relevant new functions of a gene that plays a crucial role in Fanconi anemia, a life-threatening disease. The FANCM gene is known to be important for the stability of the genome. Now, the researchers found that FANCM also plays a ...
5/7/12
Joint Press Release with the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen Bremen, 4 May 2012. To most people, algal blooms are an annoyance, which interferes with their summer days by the sea. In the coastal zone of temperate regions a spring algal bloom is not a sign of excessive ...
5/7/12
Formal opening of the premises of the IAPN (pug) A new joint institute of the University of Göttingen and K+S KALI GmbH is dedicated to practice-oriented research in the field of plant nutrition. The Institute of Applied Plant Nutrition (IAPN) will investigate topical, practical questions ...
5/4/12
Joint Committee Selects Joint Proposal from Three States / Exploration and Protection of the Natural Foundations of Life / 33 Million Euros Initially through 2016 / Based in Leipzig The decision on the establishment of the new Research Centre of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German ...
5/4/12
In classical mythology, the cypress tree is associated with death, the underworld and eternity. Indeed, the family to which cypresses belong, is an ancient lineage of conifers, and a new study of their evolution affords a unique insight into a turbulent era in the Earth’s history. During the ...
5/2/12
Plants cannot see, but they can perceive the quantity and quality of light. As they have evolved, plants have developed numerous molecular photodetectors such as phytochromes. Phytochromes can detect changes in the light situation. The undergrowth of forests thus manages to grow towards the few ...
4/27/12
Alpine and polar lichens could also survive on Mars. Planetary researchers at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) simulated the conditions on Mars for 34 days and exposed various microorganisms to this environment. "During this period, the lichens and ...
4/26/12
At the supermarket checkout, hardly anybody enters pricesmanually anymore. Using scanners that can read the barcodes is much faster. Biologists now want to use a similar procedure for identifying domestic animal and plant species more efficiently. German Barcode of Life (GBOL) is the name of an ...
