Biology News | Sci.News

Lepidotrigla papilio. Image credit: Mike Jones.

Sea Robins Use Their Leg-Like Appendages as Sensory Organs, Marine Biologists Find

Sep 27, 2024 by News Staff

Sea robins are unusual ocean fish that possess specialized leg-like appendages used to ‘walk’ along the sea floor. New research shows that these appendages...

These 3,500-year-old kefir cheese samples are among the few dairy remains preserved more than 3,000 years and were produced by the Bronze Age Xiaohe population -- a population that possesses mixed lifestyles and techniques (e.g., farming, dairy production, hunting, etc.). Also, although early Xiaohe individuals show little genetic interaction with other populations, mitochondrial DNA data suggest maternal connections with East and West Eurasians. By recovering DNA information from ancient fermented dairy remains, Liu et al. investigated the lifestyle linked to the usage of fermented dairy by the Xiaohe population and explore the co-evolution between the fermented bacteria and their hosts. Image credit: Liu et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.08.008.

World’s Oldest Cheese Sheds Light on Origins of Kefir

Sep 25, 2024 by News Staff

Despite the long history of consumption of fermented dairy, little is known about how the fermented microbes were utilized and evolved over human history....

Amaga pseudobama, living specimen collected in Kingston, North Carolina in July 2020; the specimen was photographed in a Petri dish on a white background: (A) dorsal view from back; the head is at top; (B) dorsal view; the head is on the right; (C) ventral view; the pharynx (p) and gonopore (g), are indicated; the head is on the left. Image credit: Matthew A. Bertone.

New Species of Predatory Flatworm Invading Southern United States

Sep 25, 2024 by News Staff

Amaga pseudobama has been found in three locations in North Carolina and in some infested plants from Georgia. Amaga pseudobama, living specimen collected...

Angiotensin II-induced vascular inflammation involves early expansion of EndoMac progenitors in vivo. Image credit: Williamson et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-51637-7.

Researchers Discover New Type of Cell: EndoMac Progenitor

Sep 24, 2024 by News Staff

Dubbed EndoMac progenitors, the newly-discovered type of cell has the potential to enhance the future of tissue repair and generation, according to a team...

Tea catechins are produced following the flavonoid metabolic pathways, regulated by multiple enzymes and transcription factors. Image credit: Li et al., doi: 10.1093/hr/uhae178.

New Study Sheds Light on Catechin Biosynthesis in Tea Plants

Sep 23, 2024 by News Staff

Catechins are the major active compounds present in the tea plant (Camellia sinensis), the main industrial crop cultivated worldwide. Tea catechins are...

Koungoulos et al. discovered for the first time clear links between fossils of the iconic Australian dingo and dogs from East Asia and New Guinea. Image credit: Sharkolot.

Dingoes Have Evolved from East Asian Dog-Like Ancestor: Study

Sep 23, 2024 by News Staff

The dingo is a wild dog endemic to Australia with enigmatic origins. Dingoes are one of two remaining unadmixed populations of an early East Asian dog...

Semi-aquatic anoles live along Neotropical streams and frequently dive for refuge, remaining underwater for up to 16 minutes. Image credit: Lindsey Swierk.

Semi-Aquatic Anole Lizards Use Special Bubble Over Their Nostrils to Breathe Underwater: Study

Sep 17, 2024 by News Staff

Bubble use evolved in many small invertebrates to enable underwater breathing, but, until recently, there has been no evidence that vertebrate animals...

Syntretus perlmani, an adult male approximately 1.5 mm in length. Scale bar - 1 mm. Image credit: Moore et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07919-7.

New Parasitic Wasp Species Discovered in Eastern US

Sep 17, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Syntretus perlmani infects the adult stage of fruit flies in the genus Drosophila, including one of the most deeply studied model organisms in biology,...

There are now 47 blood group systems together containing more than 360 blood antigens. Image credit: Gerd Altmann.

New Blood Group System Discovered: MAL

Sep 15, 2024 by News Staff

Blood groups are complex. The two best known blood group systems are ABO and Rh. Within each blood group, red cells can carry surface markers called antigens....

Illustration of a human hand as it might appear if the new tissue transparency effect proves effective in humans. Currently, the effect has only been tested with animals in a laboratory setting. Note that dyes may be harmful. Always exercise caution with dyes and do not consume directly, apply to people or animals, or otherwise misuse. Image credit: Keyi ‘Onyx’ Li / U.S. National Science Foundation.

Common Food Dye Makes Skin, Muscle Reversibly Transparent in Live Animals

Sep 5, 2024 by News Staff

Researchers at Stanford University have found that an aqueous solution of a common food color approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, tartrazine,...

Shells of Haliotis pirimoana from Manawatāwhi Three Kings Islands (A-D) and Haliotis virginea (E-G). Scale bar - 5 mm in (A-C) and 0.5 mm in (D-G). Image credit: Jean-Claude Stahl.

New Species of Abalone Discovered in New Zealand Waters

Sep 4, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Named Haliotis pirimoana, the newly-identified gastropod species is only found at Manawatāwhi Three Kings Islands, off New Zealand’s North Island. Shells...

Peña Martinez et al. observed a total of 53,000 i-motifs among three human cells lines: MCF7, U2OS, HEK293T. Image credit: Peña Martinez et al., doi: 10.1038/s44318-024-00210-5.

Mysterious I-Motif Structures are Common in Human Genomic DNA, Study Finds

Sep 3, 2024 by News Staff

The so-called i-motifs are knot-like DNA structures formed in the nuclei of human cells and believed to provide critical genomic regulation. In new research,...

Humans, dolphins, elephants, and marmoset monkeys are the only known species that vocally label their conspecifics. Image credit: Oren et al., doi: 10.1126/science.adp3757.

Marmoset Monkeys Use Names to Communicate with Each Other

Sep 2, 2024 by News Staff

Scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have recorded spontaneous ‘phee-call’ dialogues between pairs of marmoset monkeys. They’ve found...

The T091-5 strain of the genus Rhodococcus. Image credit: Pylkkö et al., doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1432475.

Scientists Find Two Potential Antibiotics in Marine Bacteria from Arctic Sea

Aug 30, 2024 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Finland and Norway has identified two potential antivirulence compounds for enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) infections...

While circumnutations are ubiquitous in plant systems, and generally associated with exploratory movements, a quantitative understanding of their role is elusive. Nguyen et al. report, for the first time, their role in facilitating an optimal growth pattern for a crowded group of mutually shading plants. Image credit: Manuel H.

Study: Crowded Groups of Mutually Shading Plants ‘Dance’ Together to Share Sunlight

Aug 28, 2024 by News Staff

Typically, plants grow in crowded environments, where neighboring plants shade each other while competing for light. The presence of neighbors varies over...

A nucleosome composed of DNA (gray) and histones (blue) with a single hemimethylated cytosine bound by CDCA7 (purple). Image credit: Kyohei Arita / Yiming Niu.

Scientists Discover New Sensor for DNA Methylation

Aug 28, 2024 by News Staff

DNA methylation is a broadly observed epigenetic modification in living systems, playing diverse functions in transcriptional regulation, transposable...

Artistic reconstruction of Beorn leggi (top) and Aerobius dactylus (bottom) in a hypothetical fossilization environment. Image credit: Franz Anthony.

Cretaceous Amber Fossils Shed New Light on Evolutionary Origin of Tardigrades

Aug 23, 2024 by News Staff

Tardigrades are a diverse group of microscopic invertebrates widely known for their extreme survival capabilities. Molecular clocks suggest that tardigrades...

Several animal species use tools for foraging; however, very few manufacture and/or modify those tools. Humpback whales, which manufacture bubble-net tools while foraging, are among these rare species. Using animal-borne tag and unoccupied aerial system technologies, Szabo et al. examine bubble-nets manufactured by solitary humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Southeast Alaska while feeding on krill. They demonstrate that the nets consist of internally tangential rings and suggest that whales actively control the number of rings in a net, net size and depth and the horizontal spacing between neighboring bubbles. They argue that whales regulate these net structural elements to increase per-lunge prey intake by, on average, sevenfold. Image credit: Szabo et al., doi: 10.1098/rsos.240328.

Humpback Whales Wield and Manufacture Their Own Tools

Aug 21, 2024 by News Staff

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) create the so-called ‘bubble-net tools’ to hunt, but researchers from the University of Hawai’i and the...

Hare Indian dog, lithograph by John Woodhouse Audubon.

Ancient mtDNA Reveals Presence of Indigenous Dogs at Jamestown Colony in Early 17th Century

Aug 20, 2024 by News Staff

Multiple studies have demonstrated that European colonization of the Americas led to the extinction of nearly all North American dog mitochondrial lineages...