LSU scientist finds evidence of 'rain-making... ( BATON ROUGE Brent Christner LSU p...)

LSU scientist finds evidence of 'rain-making' bacteria

Date:2/28/2008

BATON ROUGE Brent Christner, LSU professor of biological sciences, in partnership with colleagues in Montana and France, recently found evidence that rain-making bacteria are widely distributed in the atmosphere. These biological particles could factor heavily into the precipitation cycle, affecting climate, agricultural productivity and even global warming. Christner and his colleagues will publish their results in the prestigious journal Science on Feb. 29.

Christners team examined precipitation from global locations and demonstrated that the most active ice nuclei a substrate that enhances the formation of ice are biological in origin. This is important because the formation of ice in clouds is required for snow and most rainfall. Dust and soot particles can serve as ice nuclei, but biological ice nuclei are capable of catalyzing freezing at much warmer temperatures. If present in clouds, biological ice nuclei may affect the processes that trigger precipitation.

The concept of rain-making bacteria isnt far-fetched. Cloud seeding with silver iodide or dry ice has been done for more than 60 years. Many ski resorts use a commercially available freeze-dried preparation of ice-nucleating bacteria to make snow when the temperature is just a few degrees below freezing.

My colleague David Sands from Montana State University proposed the concept of bioprecipitation over 25 years ago and few scientists took it seriously, but evidence is beginning to accumulate that supports this idea, said Christner.

But, what makes this research more complicated is that most known ice-nucleating bacteria are plant pathogens. These pathogens, which are basically germs, can cause freezing injury in plants, resulting in devastating economic effects on agricultural crop yields.

As is often the case with bacterial pathogens, other phases of their life cycle are frequently ignored because of the focused interest in their role in plant or animal he
'/>"/>

Contact: Brent Christner
xner@lsu.edu
225-578-1734
Louisiana State University
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2
Related biology news :

1. Bright lights: Mystery of glowing antibody solved by Scripps research scientists
2. Scientists discover how cigarette smoke causes cancer: Study points to new treatments, safer tobacco
3. Exeter scientists pour cold water on EU bird policy
4. Yale scientists create artificial cells that boost the immune response to cancer
5. Scientists unravel the genetic coding of the pea
6. Scientists discover giant fossil frog from hell
7. Advertisers, neuroscientists trace source of emotions in brain
8. Amazon corridors far too narrow, warn scientists
9. UBC scientist invokes future generations to save tuna populations from collapse
10. Scientist postulates 4 aspects of humaniqueness differentiating human and animal cognition
11. Dung happens and helps scientists

Post Your Comments:

Related Image:

LSU scientist finds evidence of 'rain-making' bacteria

(Date:5/18/2012)... in milk powder and in meat-based baby food, residues ... the University of Almera (Spain) have developed a system ... such as tilmicosine, or antiparasitic drugs, such as levamisole, ... but they can remain later in food. Scientists from ... checking new methodology to identify the minute quantities of ...

(Date:5/17/2012)... in genetic testing that can indicate their range ... results does not appreciably drive up or diminish ... services, according to a study performed by researchers ... at other institutions. , The study in the ... Genetics in Medicine was done by investigators ...

(Date:5/17/2012)... pioneering gene therapies and new medical devices are set ... the Department of Health and the Wellcome Trust. , ... Innovation Challenge Fund, which was set up in 2009 ... potential clinical application in the NHS within a five-year ... has been supported by the Fund to develop a ...

Breaking Biology News(10 mins):A new method detects traces of veterinary drugs in baby food 2 NIH-led study finds genetic test results do not trigger increased use of health services 2 NIH-led study finds genetic test results do not trigger increased use of health services 3 NIH-led study finds genetic test results do not trigger increased use of health services 4 NHS set to benefit from UK-led technologies 2 NHS set to benefit from UK-led technologies 3 Improved Screening for Jaundice Can Protect Newborns 58406 1 Improved Screening for Jaundice Can Protect Newborns 58406 2 NovoCure Ltd announces closing of financing round 58401 1 NovoCure Ltd announces closing of financing round 58401 2 Penn studies point to strategies for reducing painful breast cancer drug side effects 58396 1 Penn studies point to strategies for reducing painful breast cancer drug side effects 58396 2 Penn studies point to strategies for reducing painful breast cancer drug side effects 58396 3

[0] A new method detects traces of veterinary drugs in baby food [0] NIH-led study finds genetic test results do not trigger increased use of health services [0] NHS set to benefit from UK-led technologies

... found in some baby rice products, scientists have found a ... content of crops grown in environments with high levels of ... Biology, a team of Scandinavian researchers has revealed a set ... cells. , Arsenic is acutely toxic and a highly ...

... A new book, Grounds for ... historic and modern buildings and the striking landscape that surrounds ... enthusiast Elizabeth L. Watson, who, together with her husband James ... on the picturesque grounds of CSHL for almost four decades. ...

... Elsevier, a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical ... to announce the publication of Bioscience Hypotheses ( ... on topics throughout the life sciences. , The ... by choosing work that is interesting and challenging, ...

Other Biology News:Arsenic and new rice 2 Elsevier launches Bioscience Hypotheses 2

Arsenic and new rice A 'field guide' to the landscape of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Elsevier launches Bioscience Hypotheses

(Date:5/15/2012)... -- Vermillion, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRML ), a ... for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012. ... Q1, the volume of OVA1®, the company,s flagship diagnostic ... masses, was generally in line with the forecast set ... of 28% to 3,952 from the same year-ago quarter. ...

(Date:5/15/2012)... 2012 Cardium Therapeutics (NYSE Amex: ... for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012, ... http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20051018/CARDIUMLOGO ) In addition to ... Cardium reported its goals for 2012, which were ... plans to advance commercialization of its new Excellagen® ...

(Date:5/15/2012)... and SHENZHEN, China, May 15, 2012 ... announced today that a new Roche GS FLX+ System ... China. The goal is to complement the existing array ... read sequencing capability. The GS FLX+ System, ... the unique combination of long reads, exceptional accuracy and ...

(Date:5/14/2012)... (Santa Barbara, Calif.) Imagine an LED light with ... a computer that can generate, transmit, and store data ... much healthier would our planet be if we could ... of low-cost solar cells, making them more efficient, and ... of California, Santa Barbara a world-ranked collaborative research ...

[0] Vermillion Reports First Quarter 2012 Results [0] Cardium Presents First Quarter 2012 Financial Results and Recent Developments [0] BGI Installs Roche GS FLX+ System to Enhance Long Read Sequencing Capabilities for Genome and Transcriptome Research [0] Oracle chairman Jeff Henley makes $50 million gift to UC Santa Barbara

... , , , , , Karen ... University Hospital and Medical School of the Dutch-speaking Brussels Free , ... , , , , , ... Preimplantation diagnosis (PGD) is a very early form of prenatal ...

... Using Eppendorf Mastercycler gradient , , , , ... NPC Laboratory, Institute of Postgraduate Studies and Research, University , of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia , , ... , , ... , , ...

... , , , Ravindran Thayran , ... , , , , ... for Dengue RT-PCR by using Eppendorf's Mastercycler gradient , ... is , often carried out at the Institute of Health and Community ...

The use of the Mastercycler gradient for single-cell PCR and preimplantation , diagnosis Amplification of Epstein-Barr Virus Exon C with Difficult Primers , Using Eppendorf Mastercycler gradient Optimized Dengue RT-PCR

Src cDNA Expression Kit (wild type)...

Homogenizing Solution, 18ml Proteinase K - [50ug/l] 75 l...

Lipofectin Reagent is the reagent of choice for some cell lines; cells of endothelial derivation transfect well with Lipofectin Reagent....

Request Info...

Biology Products:

Src cDNA Expression Kit (wild type) from Upstate QuantiGene Plex Reagent Set for Animal/Plant Tissue from Panomics Lipofectin Reagent from Invitrogen GIBCO Dulbeccos Phosphate-Buffered Saline (D-PBS) (1X); liquid Contains calcium and magnesium from Invitrogen

LSU scientist finds evidence of 'rain-making...( BATON ROUGE Brent Christner LSU p...)