Evidence of 600-million-year old fungi-algae symbiosis discovered in marine fossils
Researchers from China and the United States have found evidence of lichen-like symbiosis in 600-million-year-old fossils from South China. The previous earliest evidence of lichen was 400 million years old, discovered in Scotland. The discovery also adds to the scarce fossil record of fungi and raises new questions about lichen evolution. Xunlai Yuan, a paleontologist with the Nanjing Ins...Surprising symbiosis: Glassy-winged sharpshooter eats with friends
Like a celebrity living on mineral water, the glassy-winged sharpshooter consumes only the dilute sap of woody plants--including grapevines in California, which is feverishly working to prevent the insect's flight into prized vineyards. Now, in a surprising study published in the June 6 issue of Public Library of Science Biology (PLoS Biology), researchers at The Institute for Genomic Res...