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Tag: "caterpillar" at biology news

Scientists discover rare 'gene-for-gene' interaction that helps bacteria kill their host

... Bristol and Exeter, all in the UK, used the large caterpillar Manduca sexta (tobacco hornworm) to study the bacteria's so-called virulence genes. "The beauty of this research is that we have been able to study the whole genome of the bacteria to work out how it kills its host," said Professor Stuart Reynolds...

Secret of worm's poison pill box protein could produce new natural insecticide

...ars Pieris Brassicae ?(The cabbage white butterfly caterpillar which are pests for many growers). The hollow box structure appears to be a key element of the protein’s design. The hollow shape allows the protein to act as a receptacle for two other proteins (in the case of XptA1 these are XptB1 and XptC1). Thi...

Some caterpillers just don't want to grow up

...om all what we know, which developmental pathway a caterpillar takes is determined early during the caterpillar's life, presumably by its mother." An international project on the ecology of Maculinea butterflies has now brought together the CEH team with theoreticians from the universities of Würzburg and Mont...

Giant insects might reign if only there was more oxygen in the air

... already have in their tracheae. Kaiser recalled a caterpillar that fell into a bucket of water in his lab. When the creature was discovered the next day, lab workers thought it had drowned. But when they removed its apparently lifeless little body from the water, they were surprised to see it crawl away. Tr...

New moth variety disarms plants guarded by selenium

...prince's plume (Stanleya pinnata) protects it from caterpillar herbivory both by deterring feeding and by causing toxicity in the caterpillar. However, the researchers also showed that in the plant's natural habitat, a newly discovered variety of the invasive diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) has disarmed t...

Plants tell caterpillars when it's safe to forage

...a cow, but proves effective when the offender is a caterpillar and the summoned predator is a wasp. Just how much...tiles to tease out their relative contributions to caterpillar behavior. First, they tested the effects of light. If larvae are diurnal, they should hide in "shelt...

New possibilities to fight pests with biological means

...when they are attacked by certain pests, such as a caterpillar known as the Egyptian cotton leaf worm. Parasitic wasps use these plant scents to localize the caterpillar and deposit their eggs on it, so that their offspring can feed on the caterpillar. Soon after, the ...

Butterflies lose body fat during metamorphosis

...lecular Biology journal. "The transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly is one on nature's great mysteries,...ent. "We were particularly impressed with how the caterpillar concentrated these polyunsaturated fatty acids and then transferred them to the butterfly," says Con...

Gene needed for butterfly transformation also key for insects like grasshoppers

It is a marvel of nature that a creature such as a caterpillar changes into something quite different, a butterfly. Contrast that with a grasshopper, which looks largely the same from the time it hatches through its adult stage. New University of Washington research shows that a regulatory gene named broad, kn...

Plants give pests sock in the gut

...xpresses Mir1-CP causes a 50 percent inhibition in caterpillar growth. Transgenic black Mexican sweet corn cells that express Mir1-CP inhibit caterpillar growth by 70 percent, Luthe says. Mir1-CP is harmful to caterpillars mainly because of its damaging...

UF study first to quantify validity of DNA I.D. tool using marine snails

...and grow up," he said. "They can just sequence the caterpillar and link it to the adult butterfly." Probably the most common application, for scientists and consumers alike, would be the ability to instantly analyze the DNA of a plant or animal with a hand-held device, Meyer said. "It's very Star Treky if you c...

Influenza vaccine uses insect cells to speed development

...y involving a genetically modified baculovirus and caterpillar cells scientists from Protein Sciences Corporation have been able to speed up a key step in the development of an experimental cell-based influenza vaccine. They report their findings today at the 2005 American Society for Microbiology Biodefense Res...

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