Chemical from Medicinal Plants May Be Used to Fight HIV

piggy submitted, created time 5 days 20 hours (www.sciencedaily.com)

Like other kinds of cells, immune cells lose the ability to divide as they age because a part of their chromosomes known as a telomere becomes progressively shorter with cell division. As a result, the cell changes in many ways, and its disease fighting ability is compromised.

But a new UCLA AIDS Institute study has found that a chemical from the Astragalus root, frequently used in Chinese herbal therapy, can prevent or slow this progressive telomere shortening, which could make it a key weapon in the fight against HIV

2 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: herbal medicine alternative medicine medicinal plants plants treatments astragalusimmunology atragalus root telomeres immune cells HIV Chinese herbal therapy HIV highly active antiretroviral therapy

Hey Bud, Spare Some Genes?

piggy submitted, created time 1 week 1 day (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)

A common European weed has turned its compact flower into an expansive, yellow-petalled blossom by borrowing a couple of genes from a close Italian relative. Researchers say the exchange is a rare documented example of beneficial genetic flow between species. It also challenges the notion that higher organisms must rely on their own genes to evolve.

The story starts three hundred years ago, when botanists introduced a yellow Sicilian flower called Senecio squalidus to Oxford, U.K. At the time, there was only one variety of a British weed known as the common groundsel (S

2 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: hybridization ragwort groundsel botany evolutionary biology evolution genetic flow genetics genes flowers plants

Plants' daily alarm clock discovered

sea-maid submitted, created time 2 months 6 days (www.newscientist.com)

A newly discovered family of genes acts as a plant's daily alarm, triggering a growth spurt just before dawn. By tweaking these genes, scientists may one day be able to engineer crops that grow for longer every day to produce bigger yields.

The timing of the growth spurt is known to be choreographed by the plant's circadian clock, which is reset by changes in light at dawn and dusk. The clock dictates when most physiological processes, such as the uptake of water and the breakdown of starch, happen throughout the day

2 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: genetics agriculture Plants circadian rhythms circadian rhythms

Biotechnology: Can hydrogels solve our water problem?

Darkfrog submitted, created time 2 months 1 week (www.nature.com)

I remember reading BIll Bryson's description of a pre-blight American chestnut tree. When he came to the transpiration of water, he said, "imagine how much metal and noise humans would have to use to move that many gallons water."

Well artificial water transport just got a bit quieter, even if it can't match the chestnut just yet. A tiny microtree made from the same type of gel used to make contact lenses has mimicked water transport in plants. Scientists say that it could be used to extract water in dry places or make more efficient cooling systems

1 comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: water trees biotechnology hydrogels plants transpiration chips ground water water economy water supply water quality water use

LlLIM1 mediates Ca and H regulation of actin dynamics in pollen tubes

kavin submitted, created time 6 months 4 days (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

The researchers explored the function of a lily (Lilium longiflorum) pollen-enriched LIM-domain-containing protein, LlLIM1, in regulating the actin dynamics in elongating pollen tube. Co-sedimentation assays revealed that the binding affinity of LlLIM1 to F-actin was simultaneously regulated both by pH and Ca(2+): LlLIM1 showed a preference for F-actin binding under low pH and low Ca(2+) concentration.

2 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: actin plants reproduction pollen tube actin dynamics LlLIM1

Involvement of CBF Transcription Factors in Winter Hardiness in Birch

kavin submitted, created time 6 months 1 week (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Cold acclimation of plants involves extensive reprogramming of gene expression. And in the paper, the researchers suggest that in addition to their role in cold acclimation during the growing season birch CBFs appear to contribute to control of winter hardiness in birch.

3 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: trees plants winter seasons botany Birch transcription CBF Transcription Factors

Rapid Synthesis of Auxin via a New Tryptophan-Dependent Pathway Is Required for Shade Avoidance in Plants

Vincent submitted, created time 7 months 2 weeks (www.cell.com)

Plants grown at high densities perceive a decrease in the red to far-red (R:FR) ratio of incoming light, resulting from absorption of red light by canopy leaves and reflection of far-red light from neighboring plants. These changes in light quality trigger a series of responses known collectively as the shade avoidance syndrome. During shade avoidance, stems elongate at the expense of leaf and storage organ expansion, branching is inhibited, and flowering is accelerated

1 comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: tropisms phototropism plants tryptophan auxins sensitivity to light infra-red light

Shocks make plants produce more chemicals

What Does a Plant Sound Like

Plant's way - cluster genes to defense

"SUN" controls fruit shape

How to Keep a Wasp from Cheating

Vincent submitted, created time 8 months 1 week (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)

It would be easy for fig wasps to cheat. These tiny insects pollinate figs in exchange for a share of the tree's seeds--and theoretically, the wasps could lay claim to more seeds than they deserve. But they don't, and now biologists know why. Parasitic wasps, usually thought of as the bad guys, keep the pollinators honest.

7 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: mutualism symbiosis parasites pollination pollen plants entymology insects sex fidelity

Local birds starve as foreign shrubs escape!

Darkfrog submitted, created time 8 months 2 weeks (www.nytimes.com)

People worry their heads off about genetically engineered crop plants, but these are often the same people who plant off-continent shrubs in their gardens. They escape. The bugs can't eat 'em. The birds go hungry. The end.

This quote in particular struck me:

"Although gardeners might believe that when they plant a butterfly bush, native to China, they are helping butterflies, they are merely attracting the adults who sip the nectar. The plant cannot be eaten by the butterfly larvae."

Now, ordinarily, I don't care to feed larvae. I want them to die because they're horrid

Submit comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: decorative plants ornamental plants plants gardening landscaping shrubs shrubbery ecology local ecology birds birdwatching insects science and culture ecosystems butterflies

Trash-Based Biofuels: From Landfill to Full Tank of Gas

sumsung submitted, created time 9 months 1 week (www.sciam.com)

The remains of plants processed for human purposes molder in landfills across the world. Whether waste paper or raked leaves, the plant remnants still contain cellulose, a sugar in greenery that bonds with the chemical compound lignin to furnish a plant's structure. Microbes living in the landfills break down this cellulose into methane, which slowly seeps to the surface and into the atmosphere, where it is a potent greenhouse gas. BlueFire Ethanol, Inc., in Irvine, Calif., would rather harvest that energy for use as cellulosic ethanol fuel.

Submit comment | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: ethanol global warming biofuels climate change energy alternative energy greenhouse gasses methane cellulose plants waste

DNA barcoding for botanical identities