Phys.org Biology

• 'Peculiar' crocodile ancestor started life on four legs before learning to walk on two

  A "peculiar" ancient relative of the crocodile which experts believe began life on four legs before, in adulthood, it learned how to walk on just two has been revealed in a new study. Named Sonselasuchus cedrus, this archaic reptile was part of the shuvosaurid group, most of which had an appearance mimicking that of the ornithomimid dinosaurs that it shared the landscape with during the Late Triassic (approximately 225–201 million years ago).

• New fossil reveals the weird 'tooth cushions' of an apex predator from 425 million years ago

  Roughly 425 million years ago, in the warm seas over what is now southern China, there lived a meter-long bony fish with jaws full of clusters of spiky teeth.

• How a protein pair ensures that faulty mRNA is destroyed

  Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is one of the most important processes in our cells to ensure that no faulty or incomplete proteins are produced. Scientists have now identified a central mechanism behind this control system.

• Heat-tolerant corals may help some reefs persist, but most still erode

  A recent report on global tipping points warned that coral reefs face widespread dieback and have reached a point from which they cannot recover.

• Philippines' 'Cockroach Lord' goes to bat for misunderstood bugs

  A thin band of light from Cristian Lucanas's headlamp pierces the blackness of a Philippine rainforest as he digs through the underbrush before gently scooping up a cockroach with his bare hands.

• Contraceptive vaccine reduces fertility in animals to address wildlife overpopulation

  A Purdue University contraceptive vaccine seeks to address animal overpopulation by markedly reducing fertility in feral horses, deer, swine and other animals. Dr. Harm HogenEsch, distinguished professor of immunopathology in Purdue University's College of Veterinary Medicine, and Dr. Raluca Ostafe, director of Purdue University's Molecular Evolution Protein Engineering and Production Facility, both members of the Purdue Institute for Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease, have designed the vaccine based on the IZUMO1 mammalian sperm protein. It induces a robust and long-lasting immune response and infertility in female mammals.

• Twenty-nine years of warming linked to soil fungi shift in Colorado plots

  Long-term ecosystem warming changes not only plants but the fungi in the soil below, according to a new study including researchers from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. "Hidden mycorrhizal fungi below ground are much more vulnerable to warming winters than we expected before," said Associate Professor Stephanie Kivlin from UT's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, senior author on a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

• Plant mitochondria actively pull oxygen from chloroplasts, researchers discover

  A new study from the University of Helsinki reveals how plant mitochondria draw molecular oxygen away from chloroplasts, an interaction not previously documented. The discovery sheds new light on how plants regulate oxygen inside their tissues, with implications for understanding plant metabolism and stress acclimation. The research, led by Dr. Alexey Shapiguzov (Ph.D., Docent) from the University's Centre of Excellence in Tree Biology on the Viikki campus, has been published in Plant Physiology.

• New report links ecology and phosphorus in English rivers

  The Environment Agency and the University of Stirling have published a new report on the links between phosphorus concentrations and ecology in English rivers. Phosphorus remains one of the most significant pollutants in England's rivers. In recent decades, the overall concentration of phosphorus in English rivers has declined, most likely due to the introduction of phosphorus removal technologies at sewage treatment works (STWs), changes to fertilizer use and adoption of best management practices in agriculture.

• What's in your salad? Crops exposed to nanoplastics may boost heavy metal intake

  Leafy vegetables like lettuce are readily available in grocery stores and often seen as a healthy food choice. As researchers work to understand how emerging contaminants behave in plants, new research is shedding light on how lettuce responds to combined environmental stressors.

• Mixed-flower Australian honey packs a stronger anti-microbial punch

  Honeybees collecting nectar from a "buffet" of Australian native plants made honey with anti-microbial abilities that is more potent than "single origin" honey made from only one source of plant or flower, a University of Sydney-led study has found. The findings could help develop new treatments for drug-resistant infections while supporting bushfire recovery and sustainable beekeeping practices across Australia. They also place native Australian honey as a strong competitor on the global landscape.

• A new clue to how the body detects physical force

  Every time we feel a gentle tap on the skin, specialized nerve cells convert that physical force into an electrical signal the brain can interpret as touch. While scientists have long known that a protein called PIEZO2 acts as a key sensor for touch, it remained unclear why PIEZO2 is specialized for the localized mechanical forces experienced by sensory neurons, whereas its close relative PIEZO1 responds to broader mechanical stresses such as those generated when cells stretch, as occurs in blood vessels.

• Study reveals new technique to identify individual night-flying birds for the first time

  Millions of birds invisibly migrate through the night sky each autumn, most flying in near silence toward their wintering grounds. Now, scientists have developed a way to see and identify many of those birds for the first time.

• New study reveals differences between 'Demon Slayer' bamboo muzzle and actual bamboo

  In storytelling, even small visual details can become unforgettable. In the globally popular anime "Demon Slayer," one such detail is the short bamboo muzzle worn by a central character. It looks simple and believable, just a piece of green bamboo tied across the mouth. But a new study suggests that this familiar object could not exist in nature as shown in the anime.

• Largest known Mesozoic crocodyliform egg clutch discovered in Brazil

  In a study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, researchers Dr. Giovanna M. X. Paixão and her colleagues analyzed the fossilized remains of three Upper Cretaceous egg clutches. One of these clutches, totaling 47 eggs, is the largest known Mesozoic crocodyliform egg clutch ever found. The discovery indicates new evolutionary implications for one of the most diverse fossil crocodylomorph faunas, providing insight into their complex and successful reproductive habits and adaptations.

• Villages: An underestimated habitat with potential for pollinators

  When it comes to research on habitats for pollinating insects, villages have so far received relatively little attention. The project Summende Dörfer (Buzzing Villages), based at the Chair of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology (Zoology III) at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU), aims to change that. In the Würzburg region and the Rhön, researchers examined a total of 40 villages to investigate which habitats within village environments are particularly insect-friendly and species-rich—and where improvements could be made. The results have now been published in the journal Ecological Applications.

• Landowner trust and experience influence feral hog management, researchers find

  Trust in others and prior experience with feral hogs were significant factors in whether landowners would commit effort and dollars to controlling the destructive animals, two studies have found.

• Simultaneously decoding the transcriptome, epigenome and 3D genome within a single cell

  The origin of many diseases begins at the cellular level and involves multiple molecular interactions. However, previous methods have struggled to accurately observe changes in individual cells. Analyzing average values across thousands of cells made it challenging to detect the early signals of disease.

• Starting point for a COVID drug is the 5000th protein structure decoded at BESSY II

  Many proteins have a complex architecture that enables biological functions. Molecules can bind to specific sites on a protein and alter its function. A team at HZB has now investigated the Nsp1 protein, which plays a role in infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They analyzed protein crystals, previously mixed with molecules from a fragment library, and discovered a total of 21 candidates as starting points for drug development. At the same time, they also decoded the 5000th structure at BESSY II. The study is published in the journal Acta Crystallographica Section D Structural Biology.

• Methanol-tolerant microbial strain could make sustainable biomanufacturing more economically viable

  A research team affiliated with UNIST has engineered a microbial strain capable of rapidly growing in high concentrations of methanol, marking a significant step forward in biorefinery technology. This breakthrough provides a foundational platform for sustainable biomanufacturing using microbial processes.

• A new 'molecular switch' for inborn immunity identified

  Innate immune sensors—known as pattern recognition receptors (PRRs)—detect specific molecular components of bacterial or viral intruders. The PRRs forward the signals which results in the production of interferons, which in turn guide the immune cells. However, until now the precise mechanism of how these signals are forwarded has remained enigmatic.

• Light-guided 'optovolution' evolves proteins that switch states on schedule

  EPFL researchers have developed a light-based method that can produce proteins that switch states, respond to signals, and even compute, using light and the cell cycle.

• Satellite images uncover new threat to emperor penguins during their annual molt

  The tall black-and-white residents of Antarctica, who waddle around its icy landscape, are in peril thanks to the rapidly warming global climate. Emperor penguins go through an annual transformation called catastrophic molting, during which they replace all of their feathers over a short period. This process begins in December and is usually completed before the end of February. During this time, the penguins depend on stable ice to stay warm and dry because the protective coat that normally makes them waterproof and cold-proof is still growing in.

• Meet 'Tous'—an entirely new genus of mammal

  Mammals are not especially diverse. Roughly 6,800 mammal species are known to exist, compared with about 8,800 species of amphibian, 11,000 species of bird and 12,500 of reptile. Yet when most people picture biodiversity, they often think of charismatic mammals first: pandas, orangutans, elephants or tigers.

• Researchers thought inbred koalas were at risk of extinction—what they discovered upends genetic conventions

  If you follow media coverage of koalas, you could be forgiven for feeling confused. Recent stories describe a "koala paradox": endangered in the north of Australia, abundant in the south; genetically diverse in some regions, genetically depleted in others.