ZAMP Bionews

Scientists are reporting identification of the cluster of genes responsible for the toxins produced by “gray mold,” a devastating plant disease that kills almost 200 different food and ornamental plants including tomatoes, strawberries and roses.

Tags: acs, acs chemical, backyard gardeners, chemical biology, commercial farmers, david cane, enzymes, fungicides, fungus, gene cluster, [...]

Like our current financial crisis, the aging process might also be a product of excessive deregulation.
Researchers have discovered that DNA damage decreases a cell’s ability to regulate which genes are turned on and off in particular settings. This mechanism, which applies both to fungus and to us, might represent a universal culprit for aging.

[...]

Exposure to prolonged temperature elevation reduces antifungal activity of a contact lens solution that was implicated in the epidemic of the eye infection Fusarium keratitis that occurred between 2004 and 2006, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Ophthalmology , one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Tags: antimicrobial agent, [...]

Soybeans may drop off the list of musical fruit. Scientists in Singapore are reporting victory over some consumers’ No. 1 complaint about soy products - the "flatulence factor" caused by indigestible sugars found in soy. In a study scheduled for the November 12 issue of ACS’ bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, they describe [...]

As the southern pine beetle moves through the forest boring tunnels inside the bark of trees, it brings with it both a helper and a competitor. The helper is a fungus that the insect plants inside the tunnels as food for its young. But also riding along is a tiny, hitchhiking mite, which likewise carries [...]