A new study of giant viruses supports the idea that viruses are ancient living organisms and not inanimate molecular remnants run amok, as some scientists have argued. The study reshapes the universal family tree, adding ...
Evolution
Sep 13, 2012
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(Phys.org)—Some six years ago scientific textbooks had to be updated because of the surprising discovery made by the research group led by Frank Keppler that plants produce methane in an oxygen-rich environment. At that ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 6, 2012
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(Phys.org) -- A gene thought previously to be present in all life on earth has been found to be missing in life near volcanoes.
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 12, 2012
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Researchers who were looking for organisms that eke out a living in some of the most inhospitable soils on Earth have found a hardy few. A new DNA analysis of rocky soils in the martian-like landscape on some volcanoes in ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 8, 2012
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Scientists have revealed a key cog in the biochemical machinery that allows marine algae at the base of the oceanic food chain to thrive. They have discovered a previously unknown protein in algae that grabs an essential ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 31, 2012
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(Phys.org) -- The results of two separate but complementary analyses on 400 samples of Hanford Site groundwater appeared together in the journal of the International Society for Microbial Ecology. The studies take different ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 11, 2012
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Phospholipids are the main constituents of the cellular membranes in all organisms, ranging from single-celled archaea to highly complex plants and mammals. According to conventional wisdom, the chemical backbone of phospholipids ...
Biochemistry
Mar 23, 2012
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The effort to classify life into various groups has been a bumpy ride. Prior to the 1900s, living things were usually pegged as either plants or animals – period. By the middle of the 20th century, ...
(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of scientists has documented for the first time that animals can and do consume Archaea – a type of single-celled microorganism thought to be among the most abundant life forms on Earth.
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 12, 2012
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With few exceptions, all known proteins are built up from only twenty amino acids. 25 years ago scientists discovered a 21st amino acid, selenocysteine and ten years ago a 22nd, the pyrrolysine. However, how the cell produces ...
Biochemistry
Nov 18, 2011
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