'Tiny tornadoes' around leaves can spread deadly plant pathogens
A new study led by Cornell University is the first to analyze plant spore dispersion at its source, where rain droplets shake flexible leaves to initially disperse pathogens.
A new study led by Cornell University is the first to analyze plant spore dispersion at its source, where rain droplets shake flexible leaves to initially disperse pathogens.
Plants & Animals
Jan 31, 2024
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18
Around a decade ago, an invasive fungal disease called myrtle rust reached Australia and began to spread like a plague through certain plants. The disease affects plants of the Myrtaceae family, which includes eucalypts, ...
Ecology
Dec 15, 2023
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44
Some wasps and bees are able to recognize sick nestmates by smell and can prevent their entry into the nest to avert infection of the entire colony, assuring its survival and that of the species in the long run.
Plants & Animals
Dec 8, 2023
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84
A new case of cattle anthrax has been confirmed in southwest North Dakota's Grant County, bringing the number of cases in the state to 25 this year, according to state agriculture officials.
Agriculture
Dec 2, 2023
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0
A recent study spearheaded by Prof. Sigal Ben Yehuda and her team at Hebrew University has unveiled a captivating facet of bacterial dormancy. Their research illuminates the mechanism through which dormant bacterial spores ...
Evolution
Nov 27, 2023
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15
One of the primary chlorine disinfectants currently being used to clean hospital scrubs and surfaces does not kill off the most common cause of antibiotic-associated sickness in health care settings globally, according to ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 21, 2023
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207
Biologists have long known mushrooms of the genus Mycena, commonly known as bonnet mushrooms, as fungi that live off of dead trees and plants. New research from the University of Copenhagen demonstrates that bonnets can also ...
Evolution
Oct 23, 2023
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3309
Plant pathogens can hitch rides on dust and remain viable, with the potential for traveling across the planet to infect areas far afield, a finding with important implications for global food security and for predicting future ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 10, 2023
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45
New research has found that a disease-causing fungus—collected from one of the most remote regions in the world—is resistant to a common antifungal medicine used to treat infections.
Ecology
Jun 21, 2023
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59
A locally found pathogenic fungus, Beauveria australis, has for the first time been observed infecting imported dung beetles in Australia.
Ecology
Jun 2, 2023
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12
In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoans. A chief difference between spores and seeds as dispersal units is that spores have very little stored food resources compared with seeds.
Spores are usually haploid and unicellular and are produced by meiosis in the sporangium by the sporophyte. Once conditions are favorable, the spore can develop into a new organism using mitotic division, producing a multicellular gametophyte, which eventually goes on to produce gametes.
Two gametes fuse to create a new sporophyte. This cycle is known as alternation of generations, but a better term is "biological life cycle", as there may be more than one phase and so it cannot be a direct alternation. Haploid spores produced by mitosis (known as mitospores) are used by many fungi for asexual reproduction.
Many ferns, especially those adapted to dry conditions, produce diploid spores. This form of asexual reproduction is called apogamy. It is a form of apomixis.
Spores are the units of asexual reproduction, because a single spore develops into a new organism. By contrast, gametes are the units of sexual reproduction, as two gametes need to fuse to create a new organism.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA