All posts; Tags Include "Botany"
- August 31, 2016
- 10:58 AM
- 148 views
Why do we hate coriander?
by Alice Breda in la-Plumeria
In the morning you get up, trudge all the way to the sink, grab a bar of soap and rub it on your face. Sometimes, after you rinsed, you realize that some soap got into your mouth. The taste is nasty, pungent, more in your nose than on your tongue and it persists until you eat or drink something.
This sickening feeling doesn’t hit me only in my brightest mornings, but also every time in an ethnic restaurant or during a trip the cook decides to decorate my tacos or my curry with some chop........ Read more »
Eriksson, N., Wu, S., Do, C., Kiefer, A., Tung, J., Mountain, J., Hinds, D., & Francke, U. (2012) A genetic variant near olfactory receptor genes influences cilantro preference. Flavour, 1(1), 22. DOI: 10.1186/2044-7248-1-22
Callaway, E. (2012) Soapy taste of coriander linked to genetic variants. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature.2012.11398
- August 19, 2016
- 07:00 AM
- 177 views
Friday Fellow: Asian Pigeonwing
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll Today’s Friday Fellow is a creeping (but not creepy) plant with nice deep blue flowers shaped like a human female genitalia. Yeah, you read that right. Its scientific name is Clitoria ternatea, the genus name being a … Continue reading →... Read more »
Devi, B., Boominathan, R., & Mandal, S. (2003) Anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic properties of Clitoria ternatea root. Fitoterapia, 74(4), 345-349. DOI: 10.1016/S0367-326X(03)00057-1
Taranalli, A., & Cheeramkuzhy, T. (2011) Influence of Clitoria Ternatea Extracts on Memory and Central Cholinergic Activity in Rats. Pharmaceutical Biology, 38(1), 51-56. DOI: 10.1076/1388-0209(200001)3811-BFT051
- August 5, 2016
- 07:00 AM
- 276 views
Friday Fellow: Beggar’s tick
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll What if the cure for cancer has been living in your garden all this time and you have been trying to get rid of it because it is an annoying weed? I cannot assure you that … Continue reading →... Read more »
Brandão, M., Krettli, A., Soares, L., Nery, C., & Marinuzzi, H. (1997) Antimalarial activity of extracts and fractions from Bidens pilosa and other Bidens species (Asteraceae) correlated with the presence of acetylene and flavonoid compounds. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 57(2), 131-138. DOI: 10.1016/S0378-8741(97)00060-3
Chang, J., Chiang, L., Chen, C., Liu, L., Wang, K., & Lin, C. (2001) Antileukemic Activity of Bidens pilosa L. var. minor (Blume) Sherff and Houttuynia cordata Thunb. The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 29(02), 303-312. DOI: 10.1142/S0192415X01000320
Chiang, L., Chang, J., Chen, C., Ng, L., & Lin, C. (2003) Anti-Herpes Simplex Virus Activity of Bidens pilosa and Houttuynia cordata. The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 31(03), 355-362. DOI: 10.1142/S0192415X03001090
Deba, F., Xuan, T., Yasuda, M., & Tawata, S. (2008) Chemical composition and antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal activities of the essential oils from Bidens pilosa Linn. var. Radiata. Food Control, 19(4), 346-352. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2007.04.011
Kviecinski, M., Felipe, K., Schoenfelder, T., de Lemos Wiese, L., Rossi, M., Gonçalez, E., Felicio, J., Filho, D., & Pedrosa, R. (2008) Study of the antitumor potential of Bidens pilosa (Asteraceae) used in Brazilian folk medicine. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 117(1), 69-75. DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2008.01.017
Oliveira, F., Andrade-Neto, V., Krettli, A., & Brandão, M. (2004) New evidences of antimalarial activity of Bidens pilosa roots extract correlated with polyacetylene and flavonoids. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 93(1), 39-42. DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2004.03.026
Pereira, R., Ibrahim, T., Lucchetti, L., da Silva, A., & de Moraes, V. (1999) Immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory effects of methanolic extract and the polyacetylene isolated from Bidens pilosa L. Immunopharmacology, 43(1), 31-37. DOI: 10.1016/S0162-3109(99)00039-9
Sun, Y., Zhou, Q., Wang, L., & Liu, W. (2009) Cadmium tolerance and accumulation characteristics of Bidens pilosa L. as a potential Cd-hyperaccumulator. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 161(2-3), 808-814. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.04.030
- July 13, 2016
- 08:45 AM
- 349 views
The Perils of Plant Monogamy
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
The philodendron that raises its temperature to attract a certain beetle is an exception. Most plants invite many different pollinators, but a few have only a single pollinator species. This leads to some interesting adaptations and some even funkier smells.... Read more »
Chupp AD, Battaglia LL, Schauber EM, & Sipes SD. (2015) Orchid-pollinator interactions and potential vulnerability to biological invasion. AoB PLANTS. PMID: 26286221
Whitehead MR, & Peakall R. (2014) Pollinator specificity drives strong prepollination reproductive isolation in sympatric sexually deceptive orchids. Evolution; international journal of organic evolution, 68(6), 1561-75. PMID: 24527666
- July 6, 2016
- 08:50 AM
- 415 views
Why do we eat spices?
by Alice Breda in la-Plumeria
I love curries. My favorite is Indian tikka masala which is prepared with tomato, yogurt and many different spices including turmeric, ginger, garlic, cardamom, cumin, paprika, cloves and cinnamon. But I’m not the only one, because the passion for spicy dishes is shared among humans of all regions and ages. We eat them fresh, dried, whole, ground, raw or cooked, and our love for these tasty substances led explorers such as Polo, Magellan and Columbus to undertake risky expeditions in searc........ Read more »
Sherman, P., & Billing, J. (1999) Darwinian Gastronomy: Why We Use Spices. BioScience, 49(6), 453. DOI: 10.2307/1313553
Billing J, & Sherman PW. (1998) Antimicrobial functions of spices: why some like it hot. The Quarterly review of biology, 73(1), 3-49. PMID: 9586227
- July 6, 2016
- 08:45 AM
- 381 views
Is It Hot In Here Or Is It Just My Philodendron?
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
It is usually animals that are referred to as endotherms or ectotherms – plants can’t regulate their temperature, right? Don’t tell that to a certain philodendron that can spike the temperature of its flowers to more than 113˚F on two nights of the year, just to attract the beetles that will pollinate it.... Read more »
Ito K, & Seymour RS. (2005) Expression of uncoupling protein and alternative oxidase depends on lipid or carbohydrate substrates in thermogenic plants. Biology letters, 1(4), 427-30. PMID: 17148224
Dötterl, S., David, A., Boland, W., Silberbauer-Gottsberger, I., & Gottsberger, G. (2012) Evidence for Behavioral Attractiveness of Methoxylated Aromatics in a Dynastid Scarab Beetle-Pollinated Araceae. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 38(12), 1539-1543. DOI: 10.1007/s10886-012-0210-y
- June 9, 2016
- 11:21 AM
- 252 views
Back to life – Resurrection plants and the future of food
by Alice Breda in la-Plumeria
Life on Earth was born in water. Then, about half a billion years ago, the first organisms stare colonizing lands that offered new spaces, less predators and, in time, abundant oxygen and nutrients. Still, the indissoluble bond that living organisms had with water remained, and in order to survive in this new environment plants and animals had to develop anatomical, physiological and behavioral adaptations to better obtain, manage and save water. Plant bodies, as well as ours, are mostly made of........ Read more »
Moore, J., Le, N., Brandt, W., Driouich, A., & Farrant, J. (2009) Towards a systems-based understanding of plant desiccation tolerance. Trends in Plant Science, 14(2), 110-117. DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2008.11.007
- June 8, 2016
- 09:25 AM
- 402 views
Immune To Evolution
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
Recent studies show that plant immune reactions include responses that are adaptive. Even more amazing, these responses include the recruitment of parasitic wasps to combat some herbivorous invaders. In addition, several plant chemicals that prime the immune responses have been identified, leading to a sort of immune memory. Plants do all this without a classical immune system. Once again, plants show us that in many ways, they are more complex than mammals.... Read more »
Fatouros, N., Lucas-Barbosa, D., Weldegergis, B., Pashalidou, F., van Loon, J., Dicke, M., Harvey, J., Gols, R., & Huigens, M. (2012) Plant Volatiles Induced by Herbivore Egg Deposition Affect Insects of Different Trophic Levels. PLoS ONE, 7(8). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0043607
Yun, B., Feechan, A., Yin, M., Saidi, N., Le Bihan, T., Yu, M., Moore, J., Kang, J., Kwon, E., Spoel, S.... (2011) S-nitrosylation of NADPH oxidase regulates cell death in plant immunity. Nature, 264-268. DOI: 10.1038/nature10427
- May 10, 2016
- 03:47 AM
- 375 views
Getting Published (the story behind the paper)
by Christophe Dessimoz in Open Reading Frame
Our paper “A Pragmatic Approach to Getting Published: 35 Tips for Early Career Researchers” just came out in Frontiers in Plant Science. This is the story behind the paper.
For my second postdoc, I was the fortunate receipient of a PLANT FELLOWS scholarship. PLANT FELLOWS is an international program that provides research grants to postdocs in the field of plant science. The fellows are based at many different host institutions throughout Europe. I myself am working at Bayer Crop Science ........ Read more »
Glover, N., Antoniadi, I., George, G., Götzenberger, L., Gutzat, R., Koorem, K., Liancourt, P., Rutowicz, K., Saharan, K., You, W.... (2016) A Pragmatic Approach to Getting Published: 35 Tips for Early Career Researchers. Frontiers in Plant Science. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2016.00610
- April 28, 2016
- 11:21 AM
- 149 views
A flower, a craze and the tulips bubble
by Alice Breda in la-Plumeria
In the middle of what historians call the “Age of Reason”, in a solid, thrifty and Calvinist nation, not far from a busy Cartesius involved in the writing of his Principia philosophiae to lay the foundation of modern math and phylosophy, a whole country was hit by a craze that would almost lead to its financial crisis: the tulipomania.
This story begins few centuries earlier in Turkey, when tulips didn’t appear yet in any european Encyclopedia. The Ottomans admired the abili........ Read more »
Lesnaw, J., & Ghabrial, S. (2000) Tulip Breaking: Past, Present, and Future. Plant Disease, 84(10), 1052-1060. DOI: 10.1094/PDIS.2000.84.10.1052
- April 12, 2016
- 09:47 AM
- 510 views
Return of the wild: How nature breaks down what we build up
by Rosin Cerate in Rosin Cerate
When I was a teenager, I read Stephen King's book The Stand. It begins with the near-obliteration of humankind by a lethal virus. This was weirdly alluring stuff for a angsty teenage daydreamer. What would you do if the world ended? What would be your fate? I figured I'd make it a couple of months on canned food before succumbing to some sort of brutal antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection.... Read more »
Calladine A, & Pate JS. (2000) Haustorial structure and functioning of the root hemiparastic tree Nuytsia floribunda (Labill.) R.Br. and water relationships with its hosts. Annals of Botany, 85(6), 723-731. DOI: 10.1006/anbo.2000.1130
Niksic M, Hadzic I, & Glisic M. (2004) Is Phallus impudicus a mycological giant?. Mycologist, 18(1), 21-22. DOI: 10.1017/S0269915X04001041
- March 23, 2016
- 07:25 AM
- 672 views
Leaves Suck!
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
People need the power of an elevator or our legs to rise high in a building, so how does water get from the roots of a tree to the very top leaves? Hint, it isn’t capillary action – even capillary tubes can move water only a few centimeters. The key is evaporation. But if water evaporates off plants, how do they survive during droughts? They have tricks to retain water, including developing big leaves and little leaves. Look carefully at some trees, you’ll find that they have t........ Read more »
von Caemmerer, S., & Baker, N. (2006) The Biology of Transpiration. From Guard Cells to Globe. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY, 143(1), 3-3. DOI: 10.1104/pp.104.900213
Terashima, I. (2005) Irradiance and phenotype: comparative eco-development of sun and shade leaves in relation to photosynthetic CO2 diffusion. Journal of Experimental Botany, 57(2), 343-354. DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erj014
- March 17, 2016
- 03:40 PM
- 675 views
Green fungi for a certain March-based holiday
by Rosin Cerate in Rosin Cerate
In honour of St. Patrick's Day, here are a couple of neat green fungi. I was going to do plants, but there are just so many to choose from. Ha ha.... Read more »
Cao Y, Zhang Y, Yu Z, Mi F, Liu C, Tang X, Long Y, He X, Wang P, & Xu J. (2013) Structure, gene flow, and recombination among geographic populations of a Russula virescens ally from Southwestern China. PloS One, 8(9). PMID: 24069176
Santi L, Maggioli C, Mastroroberto M, Tufoni M, Napoli L, & Caraceni P. (2012) Acute liver failure caused by Amanita phalloides poisoning. International Journal of Hepatology. DOI: 10.1155/2012/487480
Schuster A, & Schmoll M. (2010) Biology and biotechnology of Trichoderma. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 87(3), 787-799. DOI: 10.1007/s00253-010-2632-1
- March 4, 2016
- 10:10 AM
- 515 views
Plants Build Sand Armor to Fight Hungry Animals
by Elizabeth Preston in Inkfish
No one likes a mouthful of sand. Even that single speck of grit that crunches in your molars after a day at the beach is maddening. It turns out non-human animals aren't fans of eating sand either. That's why certain plants use sticky hairs to coat themselves in layers of grit. For keeping hungry animals away, it works like a charm.
Eric LoPresti, a graduate student in ecology at the University of California, Davis, and his advisor Richard Karban have listed over 200 species of plants tha... Read more »
Eric F. LoPresti, & Richard Karban. (2016) Chewing sandpaper: grit, plant apparency and plant defense in sand-entrapping plants. Ecology. info:/10.1890/15-1696
- February 29, 2016
- 07:30 AM
- 499 views
I love thial-S-oxides so much I cry
by Shane Caldwell in Helical Translations
What exactly is behind the tear-inducing chemical in onions?... Read more »
Eady CC, Kamoi T, Kato M, Porter NG, Davis S, Shaw M, Kamoi A, & Imai S. (2008) Silencing onion lachrymatory factor synthase causes a significant change in the sulfur secondary metabolite profile. Plant physiology, 147(4), 2096-106. PMID: 18583530
- February 28, 2016
- 08:35 AM
- 697 views
Week 8 In Review: Open-Access Science | 22 to 28 Feb
by TakFurTheKaffe in Tak Fur The Kaffe
Sea level rose faster in the 20th century than in any other century of the last 3,000 years, new methods for estimating future sea level rise and heat waves, consumers to blame for their carbon footprint, and new virtual forests predict future impacts of climate change. Here are five of the latest scientific studies published open-access this week.... Read more »
Kopp, R., Kemp, A., Bittermann, K., Horton, B., Donnelly, J., Gehrels, W., Hay, C., Mitrovica, J., Morrow, E., & Rahmstorf, S. (2016) Temperature-driven global sea-level variability in the Common Era. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201517056. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1517056113
Mengel, M., Levermann, A., Frieler, K., Robinson, A., Marzeion, B., & Winkelmann, R. (2016) Future sea level rise constrained by observations and long-term commitment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201500515. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1500515113
Leary, E., Young, L., DuClos, C., & Jordan, M. (2015) Identifying Heat Waves in Florida: Considerations of Missing Weather Data. PLOS ONE, 10(11). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143471
Ivanova, D., Stadler, K., Steen-Olsen, K., Wood, R., Vita, G., Tukker, A., & Hertwich, E. (2015) Environmental Impact Assessment of Household Consumption. Journal of Industrial Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12371
Liénard, J., & Strigul, N. (2016) An individual-based forest model links canopy dynamics and shade tolerances along a soil moisture gradient. Royal Society Open Science, 3(2), 150589. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.150589
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- February 26, 2016
- 12:30 PM
- 502 views
5 Things Matt Damon Has in Common with the New Mark Watney Plant
by Elizabeth Preston in Inkfish
The hero of The Martian, one of the films up for Best Picture at this weekend's Academy Awards, isn't unusual because he's a scientist—he's unusual because he's a plant scientist. Books and movies rarely even try to make botany seem cool. Yet Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, is definitely meant to be cool. "I am the greatest botanist on this planet!" he declares after being abandoned on Mars.
Real plant scientists are thrilled to see a cool botanist on the big screen. Chris Martine........ Read more »
Martine, C., Frawley, E., Cantley, J., & Jordon-Thaden, I. (2016) Solanum watneyi, a new bush tomato species from the Northern Territory, Australia named for Mark Watney of the book and film “The Martian”. PhytoKeys, 1-13. DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.61.6995
- February 25, 2016
- 01:53 PM
- 658 views
How coconuts bring harm and healing
by Rosin Cerate in Rosin Cerate
Curries, macaroons, piña coladas...where would we be without the captivating culinary contributions of the coconut?... Read more »
Campbell-Falck D, Thomas T, Falck TM, Tutuo N, & Clem K. (2000) The intravenous use of coconut water. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 18(1), 108-111. PMID: 10674546
Mulford JS, Oberli H, & Tovosia S. (2001) Coconut palm-related injuries in the Pacific Islands. ANZ Journal of Surgery, 71(1), 32-34. PMID: 11167595
Sekar N, Veetil SK, & Neerathilingam M. (2013) Tender coconut water an economical growth medium for the production of recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli. BMC Biotechnology, 70. PMID: 24004578
- February 25, 2016
- 11:21 AM
- 177 views
Why we may lose bananas, again
by Alice Breda in la-Plumeria
Bananas are yellow, smiling and fluorescent, they are used as a unit to measure low doses of radioactivity and over a hundred million tons of them are eaten in the world every year. However, a rapidly spreading disease is threatening the existence of this beloved fruit that might completely from the market. And it’s not the first time.
The history of bananas began in South East Asia, where highest diversity of wild species and cultivated varieties is still present. Some of them are red,........ Read more »
Ordonez, N., Seidl, M., Waalwijk, C., Drenth, A., Kilian, A., Thomma, B., Ploetz, R., & Kema, G. (2015) Worse Comes to Worst: Bananas and Panama Disease—When Plant and Pathogen Clones Meet. PLOS Pathogens, 11(11). DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005197
- February 18, 2016
- 10:52 AM
- 666 views
The secret pharmacological life of the humble avocado
by Rosin Cerate in Rosin Cerate
Guacamole, while delicious, is actually fairly destructive. This is thanks in part to a compound called persin, which is present in the fruit and leaves of the avocado tree (Persea americana). Persin is an acetogenin (a type of polyketide) made via the same biochemical pathways the avocado plant uses to make its delicious fatty acids. In fact, it closely resembles linoleic acid, an essential omega-6 fatty acid.Avocado fruits in their natural setting (Source)For some reason, persin is usuall........ Read more »
McCloy RA, Shelley EJ, Roberts CG, Boslem E, Biden TJ, Nicholson RI, Gee JM, Sutherland RL, Musgrove EA, Burgess A.... (2013) Role of endoplasmic reticulum stress induction by the plant toxin, persin, in overcoming resistance to the apoptotic effects of tamoxifen in human breast cancer cells. British Journal of Cancer, 109(12), 3034-3041. PMID: 24178758
Rodriguez-Sanchez DG, Flores-García M, Silva-Platas C, Rizzo S, Torre-Amione G, De la Peña-Diaz A, Hernández-Brenes C, & García-Rivas G. (2015) Isolation and chemical identification of lipid derivatives from avocado (Persea americana) pulp with antiplatelet and antithrombotic activities. Food , 6(1), 193-203. PMID: 25319210
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