# s-phyto: they may selectively kill part of the self

<< Plants adopt different strategies to survive the changing temperatures of their natural environments. This is most evident in temperate regions where forest trees shed their leaves to conserve energy during the cold season. In a new study, a team of plant biologists found that some plants may selectively kill part of their roots to survive under cold weather conditions >>

Plants sacrifice “daughters” to survive chilly weather. 23 June 2017

http://news.nus.edu.sg/press-releases/plants-sacrifice-survive-chilly-weather

Jing Han Hong, Maria Savina, et al. A Sacrifice-for-Survival Mechanism Protects Root Stem Cell Niche from Chilling Stress. Cell 2017; doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.06.002 Publ. June 22, 2017

http://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(17)30643-8

FonT: una sorta di "Novacula Occami" ...

https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasoio_di_Occam

# gst: elastic instabilities, a morphing model to quickly trap anything (in 100msec), the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)

<< The Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) takes only 100 milliseconds to trap its prey. Once their leaves, which have been transformed into snap traps, have closed, insects can no longer escape. >>

<< the trap of the carnivorous plant is under mechanical prestress. In addition, its three tissue layers of each lobe have to deform according to a special pattern. >>

<< In order to close correctly, the traps also had to consist of three layers of tissue: an inner which constricts, an outer which expands, and a neutral middle layer. >>

Albert Ludwigs. Biomechanical analyses and computer simulations reveal the Venus flytrap snapping mechanisms. University of Freiburg. Jun 23, 2020.

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-biomechanical-analyses-simulations-reveal-venus.html

Renate Sachse, Anna Westermeier, et al. Snapping mechanics of the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula). PNAS. doi: 10.1073/ pnas.2002707117. Jun 22, 2020. 

https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/06/19/2002707117

Also

Dionaea muscipula, with precision. FonT. Feb 2, 2016. 

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2016/02/rmx-s-phyto-dionaea-muscipula-with.html

# s-phyto-behav: Pea (Pisum sativum), a gambler plant

<< pea plants can demonstrate sensitivity to risk - namely, that they can make adaptive choices that take into account environmental variance, an ability previously unknown outside the animal kingdom >>

<< Alex Kacelnik (..) said: "To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of an adaptive response to risk in an organism without a nervous system. We do not conclude that plants are intelligent in the sense used for humans or other animals, but rather that complex and interesting behaviours can theoretically be predicted as biological adaptations - and executed by organisms - on the basis of processes evolved to exploit natural opportunities efficiently >>

Pea  plants  demonstrate  ability  to  'gamble'—a  first in  plants. June  30,  2016

http://m.phys.org/news/2016-06-pea-ability-gamblea.html

Efrat Dener, Alex Kacelnik, Hagai Shemesh. Pea Plants Show Risk Sensitivity. In Press. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.05.008

http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(16)30459-6

# phys: the strange world of quantum mechanics

<< In the normal world, an object such as a baseball can only be in one place at one time. But in the quantum world, a particle such as an electron can occupy an infinite number of places at the same time, existing in what physicists call a superposition of multiple states. >>

<< in the quantum world, two individual particles, such as photons can be entangled, such that the mere act of sensing one photon with a detector instantaneously forces the other photon, no matter how far away, to assume a particular state. >>

<< evidence is mounting from the world of plant physiology that some biological processes that rely on quantum superposition occur at normal temperatures, raising the possibility that unimaginably strange world of quantum mechanics may indeed intrude into the every day workings of other biological systems, such as our nervous systems. >>

<< Evolution, in its relentless quest to engineer the most energy-efficient life forms, appears to have ignored physicists’ belief that useful quantum effects can’t happen in the warm, wet environments of biology. >>

Eric Haseltine. Why You Should Care About Quantum Neuroscience.
Hints of an incredibly exciting future. Dec 31, 2018

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/long-fuse-big-bang/201812/why-you-should-care-about-quantum-neuroscience

FonT

davanti a una immagine di "enzima allosterico" qualsiasi bravo scientist sa immediatamente con cosa avra' a che fare: avra' a che fare con il caos, vale a dire con oggetti che possono generare dinamiche senz'altro confinate purtuttavia bizzarre, jazz, funky, fuzzy; invece davanti a concetti quali i due citati sopra (superposition, entanglement), e gli ipotetici effetti immaginabili all'interno di strutture biologiche, neurobiologiche, informatiche, ho idea che chiunque potrebbe sentirsi vagamente disorientato (qui si sottolinea "vagamente") ...

# evol-ethno: the fuzzy dispersal and interaction dynamics of ancient (early) nomads

AA << evaluate single versus multiple dispersal models and southern versus the northern dispersal routes across the Asian continent. They also review behavioral and environmental variability and how these may have affected modern human dispersals and interactions with indigenous populations >>

Christopher J. Bae, Katerina Douka, Michael D. Petraglia. On the origin of modern humans: Asian perspectives. Science. 2017; 358 (6368): eaai9067
doi: 10.1126/science.aai9067. Dec 8, 2017

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/358/6368/eaai9067

<< Homo sapiens reached distant parts of the Asian continent, as well as Near Oceania, much earlier than previously thought. Additionally, evidence that modern humans interbred with other hominins already present in Asia, such as Neanderthals and Denisovans, complicates the evolutionary history of our species >>

Revising the story of the dispersal of modern humans across Eurasia. Technological advances and multidisciplinary research teams are reshaping our understanding of when and how humans left Africa - and who they met along the way. Dec 7, 2017

http://www.shh.mpg.de/742617/human-dispersals-africa

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171207141724.htm

<< Climate is a key factor determining the types of vegetation that can grow in an ecosystem. By recreating the plant foods and habitat available at a given time, it is possible to learn about changes that occurred during important transitions in the evolution of humans >>

Marie DeNoia Aronsohn. The Way We Were: Climate and Human Evolution. Dec 1, 2017.

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-wereclimate-human-evolution.html 

http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2017/12/01/the-way-we-were-climate-and-human-evolution/

# gene-evol: behind interactions among organisms: causality more than just correlation

<< Organisms engage in extensive cross-species molecular dialog, yet the underlying molecular actors are known for only a few interactions >>

AA << developed an expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) mapping-based approach to identify cause-and-effect relationships between genes from two partners engaged in an interspecific interaction >>

Yuelong Guo, Sylwia Fudali, et al. Networks Underpinning Symbiosis Revealed Through Cross-Species eQTL Mapping. Genetics August 1, 2017 vol. 206 no. 4 2175-2184; https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.117.202531

http://www.genetics.org/content/206/4/2175

<< In a first-of-its-kind study, NC State researchers applied a new approach to examine how members of two different species – a plant and a pathogen, for example, or a bacterium and a human – interact at the molecular level, and whether slight genetic changes in one species could affect gene expression in the other >>

<< "We're really trying to get to the genetics behind the interactions between two different organisms," said David McK. Bird [..] "Genetics gives us causality more than just correlation." >>

Mick Kulikowski. Study examines cross-species interactions. Sept  12, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-09-cross-species-interactions.html

# s-ethnomed: ancient flexible eat; self-medication among Neanderthals with aspirin and penicillin like

<< Dental plaque preserved in fossilized teeth confirms that Neandertals were flexible eaters and may have self-medicated with an ancient equivalent of aspirin >>

<< Genetic material from poplar trees, which contain the pain-killing aspirin ingredient salicylic acid, and a plant mold that makes the antibiotic penicillin hint that he may have used natural medication to ease his aliments >>

Helen Thompson. Ancient dental plaque tells tales of Neandertal diet and disease. March 8, 2017

https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/ancient-dental-plaque-tells-tales-neandertal-diet-and-disease

Laura S. Weyrich, Sebastian Duchene, et al. Neanderthal behaviour, diet, and disease inferred from ancient DNA in dental calculus. Nature (2017) doi:10.1038/nature21674.  March 08, 2017

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature21674.html

# gst: apropos of avoidance, packing of stiff rods on ellipsoids; the effects of self-avoidance

AA << study the effects of geometry and self-avoidance on the ordering of slender filaments inside nonisotropic containers, considering cortical microtubules in plant cells, and packing of genetic material inside viral capsids as concrete examples. >>

<< Within a mean-field approximation, (AA) show analytically how the shape of the container, together with self-avoidance, affects the ordering of the stiff rods. (They)  find that the strength of the self-avoiding interaction plays a significant role in the preferred packing orientation, leading to a first-order transition for oblate cells, where the preferred orientation changes from azimuthal, along the equator, to a polar one, when self-avoidance is strong enough. >>

<< While for prolate spheroids the ground state is always a polar-like order, strong self-avoidance results with a deep metastable state along the equator. >>

<< the critical behavior of this system is in fact related to the butterfly catastrophe model. >>

Doron Grossman, Eytan Katzav. Effects of self-avoidance on the packing of stiff rods on ellipsoids. Phys. Rev. E 109, 054111. May 9, 2024. 

https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.109.054111

Also: spheroids, self-assembly, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html 

Keywords: gst, ellipsoids, spheroids,  oblate- prolate spheroids, avoidance, self-avoidance

# n-socsci: by just two degrees Celsius ...

<< Global  warming  by  just  2  degrees  Celsius  is  likely  to  force  some  tropical  plant,  animal  and  human  populations  to  relocate  hundreds  of  miles  from their  current  homes  this  century >>

AA << foresee  dramatic  population  declines  in  Mexico,  Central  America,  Africa,  India  and  other  tropical locales  if  ecosystems  or  humans  move  due  to climate  change. In  their  analysis,  the  pair  used  a  model  to  demonstrate  how climate  dynamics  in  the  tropics  can  dramatically  magnify  the  consequences  of  climate change  as  it  is  experienced  on  the  ground.  This  means  even  small  climate  changes  can  have  dramatic  impacts. >>

AA << describe  climate-related  displacements  in  the  tropics  as  "an  almost  complete  evacuation  of  the  equatorial  band"  that  could impact  ecosystems  as  well  as  human  well-being. >>

Kathleen  Maclay. Climate  change  could  trigger  tropical  evacuations,  researchers  advise. June  10,  2016.

http://m.phys.org/news/2016-06-climate-trigger-tropical-evacuations.html

Solomon  M. Hsiang, Adam H. Sobel. Potentially  Extreme  Population Displacement  and  Concentration  in  the Tropics  Under  Non-Extreme  Warming. Scientific  Reports 6, Article  number: 25697 (2016) doi:10.1038/srep25697. Published  online: 09  June 2016.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep25697

# behav: the self-medication poultice by orang-utans (Pongo pygmaeus)

<< Animals self-medicate using a variety of plant and arthropod secondary metabolites by either ingesting them or anointing them to their fur or skin apparently to repel ectoparasites and treat skin diseases >>

AA << document self-medication in the only Asian great ape, orang-utans (Pongo pygmaeus), and for the first time, to our knowledge, the external application of an anti-inflammatory agent in animals. The use of leaf extracts from Dracaena cantleyi by orang-utan has been observed on several occasions; rubbing a foamy mixture of saliva and leaf onto specific parts of the body. Interestingly, the local indigenous human population also use a poultice of these leaves for the relief of body pains >>

Morrogh-Bernard HC, Foitova I, et al. Self-medication by orang-utans (Pongo pygmaeus) using bioactive properties of Dracaena cantleyi. Scientific Reports. 2017; 7: 16653.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-16621-w.
Nov 30, 2017.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-16621-w

Borneo Nature Foundation. Orangutans, like people, use medicinal plants to treat joint and muscle inflammation. Jan 10, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-01-orangutans-people-medicinal-joint-muscle.html

# evol: an ultra-rare survivor, the Malagasy striped whirligig beetle H. milloti

<< a whirligig beetle species, Heterogyrus milloti, inhabiting forest streams in southeastern Madagascar is the last survivor of a once dominant and widespread Mesozoic group. With a Late Triassic to Early Jurassic origin (226–187 Ma) it is the hitherto oldest dated endemic lineage of animal or plant on Madagascar >>

Grey T. Gustafson, Alexander A. Prokin, et al. Tip-dated phylogeny of whirligig beetles reveals ancient lineage surviving on Madagascar. Scientific Reports 2017; 7 (8619) doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-08403-1

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-08403-1

<< Even today, the ageless striped whirligig beetle keeps its own company, preferring to skitter atop the surface of out-of-the-way forest streams in southeastern Madagascar—not mixing with latecomers of the subfamily Gyrininae who have become the dominant whirligig beetles on Madagascar and abroad >>

Meet Madagascar's oldest animal lineage, a whirligig beetle with 206-million-year-old origins. Oct 4, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-10-madagascar-oldest-animal-lineage-whirligig.html

# s-phyto: the plastic mimicry of the 'palatable' small toropapa (Alseuosmia pusilla)

<< It has long been assumed that A. pusilla might avoid being eaten by insect or avian herbivores by mimicking the unpalatable P. colorata [Pseudowintera colorata]; until now, however, this assumption has lacked empirical evidence >>

New  research  uses  novel  approach  to  study  plant mimicry. June  13,  2016.

http://www.cdnsciencepub.com/news-and-events/press-releases/PR-CJB-2016-0049.aspx

<< 90% of leaf shape variation in the two species varied similarly across an altitudinal gradient >>

Karl G. Yager, H. Martin Schaefer, Kevin S. Gould. The significance of shared leaf shape in Alseuosmia pusilla and Pseudowintera colorata. Botany, 10.1139/cjb-2016-0049

http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2016-0049

# zoo: Tatupa, a random genus name for fixing a rare species of tropical Heteroptera with long antennas

AA << has discovered a new genus and species of bug from the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It was named Tatupa grafei and classified as belonging to plant bugs (Miridae). >>

Miridae << are extremely rare in different collections. The fact is that in nature they live in the forest floor and have a cryptic lifestyle. >>

<< Most aspects of the behavior of the Tatupa grafei bugs are unknown due to the extremely small number of its representatives. These insects are often found on fungi growing on rotten wood. Because of this, it has been suggested that these bugs feed on fungi, but whether this is true remains to be explored. It is also possible that Tatupa grafei eats smaller insects, which feed on fungi. The third version is that the bug menu can be mixed and consist of both fungi and insects. >>

<< The genus name Tatupa is a random combination of letters. The scientists could not come up with a suitable name for it for a long time. It was important that no animal has the same name. Additionally, the scientists needed to find out if the word Tatupa exists in any languages and what it means. It turned out that there was only one hit on the Internet—in an episode of a Polish television game where its participants are busy coining new words. The species is named after the Brunei professor Ulmar Grafe, who had provided significant support to the scientists. >>

Entomologists discover a rare species of tropical Heteroptera with long antennae. St. Petersburg State University. Sep 22, 2020. 

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-entomologists-rare-species-tropical-heteroptera.html  

Veronica D. Tyts, Anna A. Namyatova, et al. Tatupa grafei, a new genus and species of Cylapinae (Heteroptera, Miridae) from Brunei Darussalam.  ZooKeys 946: 37-52. doi: 10.3897/ zookeys.946.51780. Jul 6, 2020. 

https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/51780/   

# gst: a bizarre extension of the Jelly Roll approach, the morphogenesis of the leaves (plant Utricularia gibba)

AA << discovered that simple shifts in gene activity in the leaf bud provide a flexible mechanism for how leaves of all shapes and sizes are made. >>

<< We've discovered a general principle by which leaves from flat sheets to needle-like and curved shapes are formed,  (..) We found that the complex leaf shapes of carnivorous plants evolved from species with flat leaves through simple shifts in gene activity in the leaf bud. What surprised us is that how such a simple mechanism could underlie such a wide diversity of leaf shapes.  (..) If you want to understand why water boils at 100°C, look for situations in which it doesn't, like the top of Mount Everest where it boils at 70°C. From that we learn the general principle that boiling point depends on air pressure. Similarly, if you want to understand why most leaves are flat, you might study exceptions, like the leaves of some carnivorous plants which form pitchers to trap prey, >> Enrico Coen.

Nature's secret recipe for making leaves. John Innes Centre. Nov 21, 2019. 

https://m.phys.org/news/2019-11-nature-secret-recipe.html

Christopher D. Whitewoods, Beatriz Goncalves, et al. Evolution of carnivorous traps from planar leaves through simple shifts in gene expression. Science. eaay5433 doi: 10.1126/science.aay5433. Nov 21, 2019

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2019/11/20/science.aay5433

Also

keyword "Jelly Roll" in Notes:

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=jelly+roll

keyword "Jazz" in Notes:

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=jazz

keyword "Jelly Roll" in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=jelly+roll

# s-evol: strange seaweed

<< “People  have  always  assumed  that within  the  green-plant  lineage,  all  the  early  branches  were  unicellular,”  says Frederik  Leliaert,  an  evolutionary  biologist  at  Ghent  University  in  Belgium.  “It  is  quite  surprising  that  among those,  a  macroscopic  seaweed  pops  up.” >>

Emma  Marris. Strange  seaweed  rewrites  history  of  green  plants. Ancient  alga  developed  large  size  and  complex  structure  independently  of  other  plants. 09  May  2016.

http://www.nature.com/news/strange-seaweed-rewrites-history-of-green-plants-1.19863?WT.mc_id=TWT_NatureNews

Frederik Leliaert,  Ana Tronholm, et al. Chloroplast phylogenomic analyses revealthe deepest-branching lineage of the Chlorophyta, Palmophyllophyceae class.nov. Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 25367 (2016) doi:10.1038/srep25367. 09  May 2016

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep25367

# phyto: the fussy pollination scheme of the Joshua tree

<<  the plants commonly known as Joshua trees include two distinct, sister-species of plant: Yucca brevifolia Engelm. and Yucca jaegeriana McKelvey, each pollinated by two sister-species of yucca moth Tegeticula synthetica Riley and Tegeticula antithetica Pellmyr, respectively. A number of studies have argued that the moths have coevolved with their hosts, producing a pattern of phenotype matching between moth ovipositor length and floral style length. >>

W.S. Cole, Jr. A.S. James, C.I. Smith. First recorded observations of pollination and oviposition behavior in Tegeticula antithetica (Lepidoptera: Prodoxidae) suggest a functional basis for coevolution with Joshua tree (Yucca) hosts. Annals of the Entomological Society of America.  Vol.  110, July 2017, p. 390. doi: 10.1093/aesa/sax037.

https://academic.oup.com/aesa/article/110/4/390/3072239

<< To me [the flowers] smell kind of like mushrooms or ripe cantaloupe, >> Christopher Irwin Smith

Susan Milius. Shutdown aside, Joshua trees live an odd life. In the U.S. southwest, Joshua trees evolved a rare, fussy pollination scheme. Feb 6, 2019.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/shutdown-aside-joshua-trees-live-odd-life

Also

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=%23+phyto

# s-evol: to tolerate 'extreme dehydration'

<< LEEDS Research  at  the  University  of  Leeds  has  identified  a  key  gene  that  assisted  the  transition  of  plants  from water  to  the  land  around  500  million  years  ago. The  ANR gene  is  required  to  tolerate  'extreme  dehydration'  in  the  moss  Physcomitrella  patens >>

<< This  gene  hadn't  been  identified  so  far  because  most research  until  now  has  focused  on  modern  flowering  plants. Ancient  plants  such  as  mosses  and  green  algae  are  'time  machines'  that  help  us  to  reveal  evolutionary secrets  that  changed  the  world >> Dr  Andrew  Cuming.

How plants  conquered  the  land. Public  Release: 19-May-2016

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-05/uol-hpc051916.php

Sean  Ross  Stevenson, Yasuko  Kamisugi, et al. Genetic analysis of Physcomitrella patens identifies ABSCISIC ACID NON-RESPONSIVE (ANR), a regulator of ABA responses unique to basal land plants and required for desiccation tolerance. The  Plant  Cell May  18,  2016 May  18,  2016,  doi: tpc.00091.2016

http://m.plantcell.org/content/early/2016/05/18/tpc.16.00091