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Categories: Biology: Biochemistry, Geoscience: Geology

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Cyanobacteria are a key species in Earth's history, as they introduced atmospheric oxygen for the first time. The analysis of their evolution therefore provides important insights into the formation of modern aerobic ecosystems. For a long time, a certain type of fossil lipid, so-called 2-methylhopanes, was considered to be an important biomarker for Cyanobacteria in sediments, some of which are hundreds of millions of years old. However, this came into doubt when it turned out that not only Cyanobacteria but also Alphaproteobacteria are genetically capable of producing these lipids.

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Bacteriophages, also called phages, are viruses that infect and kill bacteria, their natural hosts. But from a macromolecular viewpoint, phages can be viewed as nutritionally enriched packets of nucleotides wrapped in an amino acid shell. A study suggests that mammalian cells internalize phages as a resource to promote cellular growth and survival.

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A team of researchers studying the Ngogo community of wild chimpanzees in western Uganda's Kibale National Park for two decades has published a report showing that females in this population can experience menopause and post-reproductive survival.

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Noctilionoid bat species evolved wildly different faces as they adapted to exploit diverse food sources -- including insects, fruit, nectar, blood and fish. New research shows that those adaptations include dramatic, but also consistent, modifications to tooth number, size, shape and position.

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Imaging technology shows that bone-resorbing osteoclasts gather in distinct pockets, leading to new insights for osteoporosis and cancer treatment.

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Researchers have made a significant discovery by identifying and characterizing three novel species within the Minorisa genus of marine picoplankton. Before this study, only one species of Minorisa was recognized. This finding reveals previously unseen diversity of Minorisa, thereby enhancing species identification and our understanding of its ecological functions in marine ecosystems.  

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The explosion of the underwater volcano Kolumbo in the Aegean Sea in 1650 triggered a destructive tsunami that was described by historical eye witnesses. A group of researchers has now surveyed Kolumbo's underwater crater with modern imaging technology and reconstructed the historical events. They found that the eyewitness accounts of the natural disaster can only be described by a combination of a landslide followed by an explosive eruption.

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Special proteins -- known as membrane transporters -- are key to the mobility of sperm cells. A research team has, with the aid of cryo-electron microscopy, succeeded in decoding the structure of such a transporter and its mechanism. These findings will enable a better understanding of the molecular foundations of reproductive capacity and could, in the long term, contribute to developing new approaches to treating fertility disorders and new methods of specific contraception.

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Cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabigerol (CBG) might someday help bone fracture patients manage their pain, according to a new study. In a study in mice, the researchers unexpectedly found that the cannabinoids also promoted fracture healing.

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Scientists have discovered that even among the sulfur-cycling microbes that are responsible for the 'rotten egg gas' smell in salt marsh air, diversity extends all the way to genomes and even to individual nucleotides.

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Venus, may have once had tectonic plate movements similar to those believed to have occurred on early Earth, a new study found. The finding sets up tantalizing scenarios regarding the possibility of early life on Venus, its evolutionary past and the history of the solar system.

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Zika virus infection in pregnant rhesus macaques slows fetal growth and affects how infants and mothers interact in the first month of life, according to a new study. The work has implications for both humans exposed to Zika virus and for other viruses that can cross the placenta, including SARS-CoV2, responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.

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A team of researchers has gained new insights into the respiratory system of fruit flies -- the so-called tracheal system -- which could be important for future research into aneurysms. Scientists carried out genetic, cell biological and biochemical studies on Drosophila embryos. They found that the cells in the fruit fly's tracheal system are connected to the extracellular matrix by the proteins Dumpy and Piopio.

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Opening a clamshell of berries and seeing them coated in fuzzy mold is a downer. And it's no small problem. Gray mold and other fungi, which cause fruit to rot, lead to significant economic losses and food waste. Now, researchers report that compounds from sunflower crop waste prevented rotting in blueberries. They suggest the food industry could use these natural compounds to protect against post-harvest diseases.

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Scientists have discovered a new route to produce the low-calorie sugar allulose (D-psicose) at lower cost with high yield. 

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Eggs of the mosquito that carries Zika virus can tolerate extended desiccation by altering their metabolism, according to a new study. The finding offers potential new ways to control the spread of this mosquito.

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New research reveals how the bacteria strain Wolbachia pipientis enhances the fertility of the insects it infects, an insight that could help scientists increase the populations of mosquitoes that do not carry human disease.

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Named after Japanese folklore, two cephalopod species have been discovered in the coastal waters of the Okinawa Islands.  

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Scientists studied the genomes of 30 kingfisher species to try to identify the genes that allow kingfishers to dive headfirst into water without huring their brains. The researchers found that the diving birds have unusual mutations to the genes that produce tau: a protein that helps stabilize tiny structures in the brain, but which can build up in humans with traumatic brain injuries or Alzheimer's disease. The researchers suspect that these variations in the kingfishers' tau proteins might protect their brains when they dive.

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A bacterium, closely associated with deadly septicaemia, could have caused the deaths of six African elephants in Zimbabwe and possibly more in neighboring countries. The findings place infectious diseases on the list of pressures on African elephants, whose populations continue to be under threat.