Biology
Cilia, asymmetry, and genetic disease
The length and movement of motile cilia – microscopic hair-like organelles on the outside of our cells – have a remarkable effect on the asymmetric development of embryos, allowing organs to grow in the correct places in our bodies. Dr Susana Lopes and her team at the LYSOCIL project are investigating rare genetic diseases affecting the cilia, and how these […]
Integrative plant responses: How seagrasses adjust to light
The shallow coastal waters that house tropical seagrass meadows are often highly illuminated. In the Caribbean, the main habitat builder is the species Thalassia testudinum, characterised by a leaf physiology adapted to shade. Dense canopies allow the seagrass to survive in such environments, but depth colonisation requires canopy and underground mass adjustments. These integrative plant responses are essential to adjusting […]
Strains of honeybee viruses provide intelligence in the battle against global bee extinction
The large-scale death of bees could culminate in an ecological and agricultural disaster. This may present as significantly reduced wild and domestic flora, as well as drastically reduced availability of various fruits, vegetables and nuts. There are several pressures on the global bee population, e.g., use of pesticides, destruction of habitat and infection with pathogen-carrying mites. Professor Ivan Toplak, an […]
How did bacterial glycogen branching enzymes evolve?
Glycogen is a sugar which plays important roles in carbon and energy storage in bacteria. Glycogen with a highly branched, compact structure offers a more durable energy source – a characteristic linked with bacterial environmental durability, such as the ability to survive in deep sea vents. Dr Liang Wang at the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai and Ms Qing-Hua Liu at […]
Longer not stiffer: Targeting jute fibre quality
Jute is a phloem bast fibre crop grown for its fibres that are used in the manufacture of various goods. Due to its cheapness and biodegradable nature, jute is now in greater demand than other natural fibres. However, the fibre is short, making it hard to produce some jute products; moreover, the fibre is also stiffer than other plant fibres, […]
Whither now for jute wither? Emergence of a new pathogen
Being sessile, plants face a number of threats, in the form of changing climate and microbes that cause disease. Plant diseases can wipe out entire fields of crops, leading to huge economic losses. In the jute fields in Bangladesh, there have been incidences of wilting of the plants, leading to their ultimate death. Scientists at the Bangladesh Jute Research Institute […]
Cellular decoding via jute CDPKs
Plants grow and survive by cellular responses to various signals from the environment, other organisms, or from within themselves. The cellular machinery to decode these signals in plants is highly complex and consists of several specialised proteins. One such protein family is the calcium-dependent protein kinase (CDPK) group of proteins that decode developmental and environmental stimuli-induced calcium changes into physiological […]
Getting retting better by bacterial blending
Jute is the second most important fibre crop after cotton. Harvesting of jute is followed by retting, where the fibres are separated from stems. This is performed in open waters where natural microorganisms decompose the plant material. The fibre quality depends on retting efficiency. Given the water scarcity in Bangladesh and the resulting delays in harvest, the quality of fibres […]
Pure and sound: Isolating the finest RNA from jute
Jute is an important crop grown for human usage of its fibres in everyday materials. There has been an increasing interest to study the behaviour of this crop in the field, to maximise its yield. Detailed studies of this plant at the molecular level involves several techniques that require isolation of cellular material such as nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) […]
Searching TILL high yielding jute is unearthed
Jute fibres are sustainable, biodegradable alternatives to non-degradable plastic fibres. The cultivation of jute is hindered by the presence of only two cultivated varieties in Corchorus sp and their incompatibility for cross-breeding. Increasing the genetic diversity of jute is a priority, to increase the tolerance of this crop towards environmental stresses, as well as improving the quality of the fibres. […]