ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Gene responsible for short stature of dwarf pearl millet identified
• Researchers engineer plant cell walls to boost sugar yields for biofuels
• Gene discovery may yield lettuce that will sprout in hot weather
• Head-on collisions between DNA-code reading machineries accelerate gene evolution
• Picking apart photosynthesis: New insights could lead to better catalysts for water splitting
• Decimation of critically endangered forest elephant detailed
• DNA: How to unravel the tangle
• 'Waste heat' may economize CO2 capture
• Americans back preparation for extreme weather and sea-level rise
• What role do small dams play in pollution control?
• Robotic ants successfully mimic real colony behavior
• Pirate perch probably use chemical camouflage to fool prey
• Stem cell fate depends on 'grip'

Gene responsible for short stature of dwarf pearl millet identified Posted: 29 Mar 2013 01:12 PM PDT Recently, plant geneticists have successfully isolated the gene that creates dwarfed varieties of pearl millet. It is the first time a gene controlling an important agronomic trait has been isolated in the pearl millet genome.

Researchers engineer plant cell walls to boost sugar yields for biofuels Posted: 29 Mar 2013 01:12 PM PDT Using the tools of synthetic biology, researchers are engineering healthy plants whose lignocellulosic biomass can more easily be broken down into simple sugars for the production of clean, green and renewable advanced biofuels.

Gene discovery may yield lettuce that will sprout in hot weather Posted: 29 Mar 2013 09:53 AM PDT Plant scientists have identified a lettuce gene and related enzyme that put the brakes on germination during hot weather -- a discovery that could lead to lettuces that can sprout year-round, even at high temperatures.

Head-on collisions between DNA-code reading machineries accelerate gene evolution Posted: 29 Mar 2013 09:53 AM PDT The bacteria Bacillus subtilis places some of their genes in prime collision paths for the moving molecular machineries that read the DNA code. This spatial-organization tactic to evolve and adapt might be imitated in harmful Gram-positive bacteria to strengthen their virulence.

Picking apart photosynthesis: New insights could lead to better catalysts for water splitting Posted: 29 Mar 2013 09:53 AM PDT Chemists believe they can now explain one of the remaining mysteries of photosynthesis. The finding suggests a new way of approaching the design of catalysts that drive the water-splitting reactions of artificial photosynthesis.

Decimation of critically endangered forest elephant detailed Posted: 29 Mar 2013 09:53 AM PDT African forest elephants are being poached out of existence. A new study shows that a staggering 62 percent of all forest elephants have been killed across their range in central Africa, for their ivory over the past decade.

DNA: How to unravel the tangle Posted: 29 Mar 2013 09:44 AM PDT A chromosome is rarely found in the shape we are used to seeing in biology books, that is to say the typical double rod shape (the X pattern, to put it simply). It is usually "diluted" in the nucleus and creates a bundle that under the microscope appears as a messy tangle. In the last few years such chaos, however, has been "measured" and scientists have unveiled their secret: the genes in the tangle are actually arranged in regions that may perform a functional role.

'Waste heat' may economize CO2 capture Posted: 29 Mar 2013 06:06 AM PDT Scientists have found it may be possible to use "waste" heat to remove CO2 instead of the higher pressure steam needed to make electricity.

Americans back preparation for extreme weather and sea-level rise Posted: 29 Mar 2013 06:06 AM PDT The majority of Americans express support for stronger coastal development codes, according to a new survey.

What role do small dams play in pollution control? Posted: 29 Mar 2013 06:06 AM PDT There is a crucial need to gain a better understanding of what small dams mean for our water quality before they crumble and disappear.

Robotic ants successfully mimic real colony behavior Posted: 29 Mar 2013 06:06 AM PDT Scientists have successfully replicated the behavior of a colony of ants on the move with the use of miniature robots.

Pirate perch probably use chemical camouflage to fool prey Posted: 29 Mar 2013 05:59 AM PDT Dark and sleek, it hides beneath the water waiting for prey. A researcher says the target will never know what hit them because they probably can't smell the voracious pirate perch.

Stem cell fate depends on 'grip' Posted: 28 Mar 2013 11:24 AM PDT Scientists have generated new insight on how a stem cell's environment influences what type of cell a stem cell will become. They have shown that whether human mesenchymal stem cells turn into fat or bone cells depends partially on how well they can "grip" the material they are growing in.

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