ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Scientists encounter holes in tree of life, push for better data storage
• Promiscuity and sperm selection improves genetic quality in birds
• Whole genome sequencing provides researchers with a better understanding of bovine TB outbreaks
• Sleep boosts production of brain support cells
• Birds choose sweet-smelling mates
• Blind mole-rats are resistant to chemically induced cancers
• An easier way to control genes
• Lessons from the worm: How the elderly can live an active life
• Bringing coral reefs back from the brink
• Cracking bacteria's secrets may lead to new treatments
• Oldest land-living animal from Gondwana found
• Mouse groups reveal complex relationships: Mice living together exhibited a social structure based on multiple-level interactions
• Language and tool-making skills evolved at the same time
• Death by asexuality: Biologists uncover new path for mutations to arise
• Lobster shell disease expanding north: One of several diseases of marine organisms causing worry
• Deep-sea squid with tentacle tips that 'swim' on their own
• Tissue loss triggers regeneration in planarian flatworms
• First estimate of total viruses in mammals
• Scientists discover new bat species in West Africa
• Fish embryos possess a mechanism for protection against chemicals

Scientists encounter holes in tree of life, push for better data storage Posted: 03 Sep 2013 04:41 PM PDT When it comes to public access, the tree of life has holes. A new study shows about 70 percent of published genetic sequence comparisons are not publicly accessible, leaving researchers worldwide unable to get to critical data they may need to tackle a host a problems ranging from climate change to disease control.

Promiscuity and sperm selection improves genetic quality in birds Posted: 03 Sep 2013 04:39 PM PDT Research shows that females can maximize the genetic quality of their offspring by being promiscuous. Researchers studied red junglefowl and found that mating with different males helps females produce healthier offspring -- due to a mechanism in their reproductive tract which favors sperm from the most genetically different males. This is important for animal breeders because it shows that allowing multiple matings produces the most disease resistant and genetically healthy offspring.

Whole genome sequencing provides researchers with a better understanding of bovine TB outbreaks Posted: 03 Sep 2013 04:39 PM PDT The use of whole bacterial genome sequencing will allow scientists to inexpensively track how bovine tuberculosis is transmitted from farm to farm, according to new research.

Sleep boosts production of brain support cells Posted: 03 Sep 2013 04:38 PM PDT Sleep increases the reproduction of the cells that go on to form the insulating material on nerve cell projections in the brain and spinal cord known as myelin, according to an animal study. The findings could one day lead scientists to new insights about sleep's role in brain repair and growth.

Birds choose sweet-smelling mates Posted: 03 Sep 2013 09:36 AM PDT For most animals, scent is the instant messenger of choice for quickly exchanging personal profiles. Scientists, however, have long dismissed birds as odor-eschewing Luddites that don't take advantage of scent-based communications. Scientists have now demonstrated that birds do indeed communicate via scents, and that odor reliably predicts their reproductive success.

Blind mole-rats are resistant to chemically induced cancers Posted: 03 Sep 2013 09:35 AM PDT Like naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus gaber), blind mole-rats (of the genus Spalax) live underground in low-oxygen environments, are long-lived and resistant to cancer. A new study demonstrates just how cancer-resistant Spalax are, and suggests that the adaptations that help these rodents survive in low-oxygen environments also play a role in their longevity and cancer resistance.

An easier way to control genes Posted: 03 Sep 2013 09:35 AM PDT Researchers have shown that they can turn genes on or off inside yeast and human cells by controlling when DNA is copied into messenger RNA -- an advance that could allow scientists to better understand the function of those genes.

Lessons from the worm: How the elderly can live an active life Posted: 03 Sep 2013 09:30 AM PDT When the tiny roundworm C. elegans reaches middle age —- at about 2 weeks old -— it can't quite move like it did in the bloom of youth. But rather than imposing an exercise regimen to rebuild the worm's body-wall muscles, researchers can bring the wriggle back by stimulating the animal's neurons. And, they say, pharmaceuticals might have a similar effect in mammals.

Bringing coral reefs back from the brink Posted: 03 Sep 2013 07:21 AM PDT Shocks caused by climate and seasonal change could be used to aid recovery of some of the world's badly-degraded coral reefs, scientists have proposed. Marine scientists suggest that it may be possible to restore living coral cover to a badly-degraded reef system -- though not easy.

Cracking bacteria's secrets may lead to new treatments Posted: 03 Sep 2013 07:21 AM PDT Scientists have found another chink in bacteria's armor, mapping for the first time the structure of a protein that plays an important role helping infection gain a foothold in the body.

Oldest land-living animal from Gondwana found Posted: 03 Sep 2013 07:21 AM PDT Scientists have discovered the oldest known land-living animal from Gondwana in a remote part of the Eastern Cape. It is a 350-million-year-old fossilized scorpion.

Mouse groups reveal complex relationships: Mice living together exhibited a social structure based on multiple-level interactions Posted: 03 Sep 2013 07:20 AM PDT In mouse groups, scientists find an inverse link between environmental and social complexity.

Language and tool-making skills evolved at the same time Posted: 03 Sep 2013 07:20 AM PDT The same brain activity is used for language production and making complex tools, supporting the theory that they evolved at the same time.

Death by asexuality: Biologists uncover new path for mutations to arise Posted: 03 Sep 2013 07:15 AM PDT Ground-breaking new research from a team of evolutionary biologists shows for the first time how asexual lineages of a species are doomed not necessarily from a long, slow accumulation of new mutations, but rather from fast-paced gene conversion processes that simply unmask pre-existing deleterious recessive mutations.

Lobster shell disease expanding north: One of several diseases of marine organisms causing worry Posted: 03 Sep 2013 07:15 AM PDT Recent reports that lobster shell disease has turned up along the coast of Maine have fisheries scientists worried. They have been working to understand what causes the disease that has, until recently, been confined primarily to the waters of southern New England and Long Island Sound.

Deep-sea squid with tentacle tips that 'swim' on their own Posted: 03 Sep 2013 06:16 AM PDT Many deep-sea animals such as anglerfish use parts of their body as lures to attract prey. Researchers have now described a deep-sea squid whose tentacle tips flap and flutter as if swimming on their own. The researchers hypothesize that the motion of these tentacle tips may induce small shrimp and other animals to approach within reach of the squid's arms.

Tissue loss triggers regeneration in planarian flatworms Posted: 03 Sep 2013 06:15 AM PDT By investigating regeneration in planarian flatworms, researchers have identified a mechanism -- involving the interplay of two wound-induced genes -- by which the animal can distinguish between wounds that require regeneration and those that do not. Because the genes identified in this study have homologs with conserved functions in most animals, this finding may provide insight into regeneration in other animals, including humans.

First estimate of total viruses in mammals Posted: 03 Sep 2013 06:14 AM PDT Scientists estimate that there is a minimum of 320,000 viruses in mammals awaiting discovery. Collecting evidence of these viruses, or even a majority of them, they say, could provide information critical to early detection and mitigation of disease outbreaks in humans. This undertaking would cost approximately $6.3 billion, or $1.4 billion if limited to 85 percent of total viral diversity -- a fraction of the economic impact of a major pandemic like SARS.

Scientists discover new bat species in West Africa Posted: 03 Sep 2013 06:10 AM PDT Biologists have discovered five new species of bats in West Africa.

Fish embryos possess a mechanism for protection against chemicals Posted: 03 Sep 2013 06:10 AM PDT Fish possess a number of different mechanisms for protection against harmful substances in an aquatic environment. These include, for example, molecular transport systems, such as the so called ABC (ATP binding cassette) transporters, which prevent the penetration of toxic substances into cells. ABC transporters have been well investigated for mammals. For fish and their embryos, however, little is known about such transporters. Ecotoxicologists have now found that the transport protein Abcb4 actively extrudes chemicals from the embryo of the zebrafish (Danio rerio).

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