Scientists sniff out the evolution of chemical nociception

Whenever you choke on acrid cigarette smoke, feel like you're burning up from a mouthful of wasabi-laced sushi, or cry while cutting raw onions and garlic, your response is being triggered by a primordial chemical sensor ...

New chemistry technique reproduces nature's elusive complexity

(Phys.org)—Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have shown how to synthesize in the laboratory an important set of natural compounds known as terpenes. The largest class of chemicals made by living organisms, terpenes ...

Evolutionary arms 'chase'

In nature, plants engage in a never-ending battle to avoid being eaten. Unable to run away, plant species have evolved defenses to deter herbivores; they have spines, produce nasty chemicals, or grow tough leaves that are ...

Tropical forest seeds use three strategies to survive

The oldest living seeds found on Earth germinated after resting more than 30,000 years in Arctic soils. But in the humid tropics, seeds do not last. "A long-lived seed in the tropics is probably only a few decades old. This ...

Plant sniffs out danger to prepare defenses against pesky insect

A plant may start to prime its defenses as soon as it gets a whiff of a male fly searching for a mate, according to Penn State entomologists. Once tall goldenrod plants smell a sex attractant emitted by true fruit fly males, ...

Antagonistic interactions of plant defense compounds

A combined defense of different chemical defense substances could result in a negative interaction and mutual detoxification, according to researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in a new study, appearing ...

Sex involved in plant defense

Why do some plants defend themselves from insect attacks better than others? New evidence shows that the difference might be due to whether they're getting any plant love.

Plant defenses: Maize knows how to identify its target

Insect or microbe: plants recognize their attackers and respond by producing specific internal signals that induce the appropriate chemical defenses. That is the main conclusion of a study at the Center for Medical, Agricultural ...

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