Related topics: pathogens · bats · ants · fungi · immune system

Northern corn leaf blight genes identified in new study

Midwestern corn growers know the symptoms of northern corn leaf blight all too well: greenish-gray lesions on the leaves that can add up to major yield losses if not detected and treated early. Resistance genes have been ...

Battling white-nose syndrome in bats

Millions of bats in North America have been wiped out by the disease white-nose syndrome caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, and scientists worry that a catastrophic reduction in the bat population will have ...

Hydrocarbon-degrading fungus yields its secrets

Thanks to genes acquired from bacteria, a fungus can degrade an environmentally harmful hydrocarbon - and comes under considerable stress in the process. These remarkable research findings, which were published recently, ...

Flower attracts insects by pretending to be a mushroom

The mysterious flowers of Aspidistra elatior are found on the southern Japanese island of Kuroshima. Until recently, scientists thought that A. elatior has the most unusual pollination ecology among all flowering plants, ...

Study provides insights for combating devastating amphibian disease

Amphibian chytridiomycosis, caused by infection with the Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungus, is the most devastating vertebrate disease on record. The fungus infects more than 600 species of amphibian and has been implicated ...

'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite

A fungal parasite that infects ants and manipulates their behavior to benefit the fungus' reproduction accomplishes this feat without infecting the ants' brains, according to a study led by Penn State researchers.

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