Visual marker in petunia flowers offers glimpse into little-known process. A Purdue University-led research team has begun translating the complex molecular language of petunias. Their grammar and vocabulary are well hidden, however, within the countless proteins and other compounds that fill floral cells. Being rooted to the ground, plants can’t run away from insects, pathogens or other threats to their survival. But plant scientists have long known that they do send warnings to each other via scent chemicals called volatile…
Room-temperature, ambient-pressure conversion reaction for carbon monoxide could be part of a larger cascade strategy for efficiently turning atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into liquid fuel. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (UNC) have demonstrated the selective conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into methanol using a cascade reaction strategy. The two-part process is powered by sunlight, occurs at room temperature and at ambient pressure, and employs a recyclable…
Cellulose, abundantly available from plant biomass, can be converted into molecules used to make a new class of recyclable polymers, to sustainably replace some plastics. Researchers at Hokkaido University have taken a significant step forward in the drive to make recyclable yet stable plastics from plant materials. This is a key requirement to reduce the burden of plastic pollution in the environment. They developed a convenient and versatile method to make a variety of polymers from chemicals derived from plant…
Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have synthesized unique scandium polynitrides under extreme conditions, with exotic chemistry and potential applications as high-energy-density materials. Their results are published in the “Nature Communications” journal. High-energy density materials (HEDMs) are pivotal in various applications due to their superior energetic performance, which includes high detonation velocity, detonation pressure, and energy storage capacity. Their application in space exploration as rocket propellants and in defense as explosives is of critical importance for modern society. The unique…
The curvature of a surface determines the migration behavior of biological cells. They preferentially move along valleys or grooves while avoiding ridges. These findings with contribution from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) and the Weizmann Institute of Science gave rise to a model predicting cellular behavior. Such universal principles now allow a better understanding of the migration of immune and cancer cells, paving the way for new treatment options. Cell migration within the body is a…
In nerve cells, the hormone regulates whether mitochondria are shut down or kept running. The hormone insulin controls many cellular processes and adapts them to the body’s current energy supply. One of the insulin-regulated processes is the quality control of cellular power plants in neurons, Angelika Harbauer and her team at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence discovered. When sufficient energy is available in the body, insulin facilitates the elimination of defective mitochondria. When energy is scarce or when…
Results enable research on better breast cancer treatment options. Cell lines are an important in vitro model in breast cancer research. A team around biochemist Dr. Sonja Eberth and bioinformatician Dr. Claudia Pommerenke from the Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH (Braunschweig, Germany) has extensively characterized the molecular properties of the breast cancer cell lines from the institute’s collection. The results of the study, recently published in the renowned journal Cells, allow the individual breast cancer…
How the brain switches between different behaviors. How does our brain switch between different behaviors? A current study has now provided the first answers to this key question in neuroscience. Using mice, the researchers investigated electrical activity in a certain area within the brain. Results were then analyzed with the help of an adaptive computer algorithm. This artificial intelligence identified a type of typical fingerprint in the signals. Analyzing this signal allowed researchers to predict which behavior the animals would…
Anyone who wants to produce medication, plastics or fertilizer using conventional methods needs heat for chemical reactions – but not so with photochemistry, where light provides the energy. The process to achieve the desired product also often takes fewer intermediate steps. Researchers from the University of Basel are now going one step further and are demonstrating how the energy efficiency of photochemical reactions can be increased tenfold. More sustainable and cost-effective applications are now tantalizingly close. Industrial chemical reactions usually…
T cells are often called “assassins” or “killers” because they can orchestrate and carry out missions to hunt down bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells throughout the body. Mighty as they may be, recent research has shown that once T cells infiltrate the environment of a solid tumor, they lose the energy needed to combat the cancer. A research team led by Jessica Thaxton, PhD, MsCR, associate professor of cell biology and physiology and co-leader of the Cancer Cell Biology Program…
New insights into the release of Candidalysin promise progress in the treatment of Candida albicans infections. The toxin Candidalysin of the yeast Candida albicans is incorporated into an unusual protein structure during an infection, the composition of which has so far been unknown to scientists. Researchers at the Leibniz-HKI have now succeeded in deciphering the function of this unusual arrangement. By modifying the protein structure, the pathogenicity of the fungus could also be reduced. The new findings were used to…
Research team at the TWINCORE and the HZI shows how an enzyme regulates the pathogenicity of a clinically relevant pathogen. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important opportunistic pathogen responsible for life-threatening infections that are associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Researchers from TWINCORE, the Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research in Hannover, and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig have now been able to show that an enzyme controls virulence through modification of tRNAs. They…
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena and the Ilmenau University of Technology, Germany, show that plant observations collected with plant identification apps such as Flora Incognita allow statements to be made about the developmental stages of plants – both on a small scale and across Europe. “The snowdrops have never bloomed as early as this year, have they?” Many people who explore nature with keen senses will surely have asked themselves such questions. The German Weather…
Cooperation project involving Kiel University aims at facilitating import of sustainably produced energy. Germany can probably only meet its demand for climate-friendly hydrogen by imports, for example from South America or Australia. For such long-distance transport, hydrogen can be converted into ammonia, for example. To facilitate the release of the hydrogen afterwards, researchers from the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry at Kiel University (CAU) and their cooperation partners have developed a more active and cost-effective catalyst. The results were obtained as…
Contrary to common belief, not all viruses are harmful to their hosts. Sometimes viruses can even protect their hosts from infection by other viruses. Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg and their collaborators have now demonstrated that this is the case for so-called endogenous virophages: small DNA viruses that are mostly found inserted into the genomes of single-cell eukaryotes – organisms whose cells have a membrane-bound nucleus. Moreover, the scientists show that virophages are highly specific towards…
Cells form adhesion structures to anchor themselves in their environment. The coordinated assembly and disassembly of these adhesions also enables cells to move from one place to another. There are various forms of adhesions. Focal adhesions are the best-studied type. Until now, they were believed to be always built up anew when cells move. A study led by a team of researchers from Kaiserslautern has now shown for the first time that different forms of adhesions can interconvert. During this…
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