Author Archive for: Mary Williams
Entries by Mary Williams
Edge effects enhance vulnerability to climate change in temperate forests
Much of the data used to predict forest responses to climate change comes from unfragmented forests, but much of the world’s forests are highly fragmented. Reinmann and Hutyra examined edge effects in a temperate forest in New England, and observed both an increase in biomass with proximity to the edge (attributable to increased light interception), […]
Ancient human disturbances may be skewing our understanding of Amazonian forests ($)
The Amazonian forest is an enormous and crucial ecosystem that encompasses a huge proportion of Earth’s biodiversity and stored carbon. By overlaying maps showing forest inventory plots and sites of ancient human impact, McMichael et al. observe that the inventoried plots from which we draw conclusions about forest composition and dynamics may be skewed towards […]
Effect of selective logging on recovery of stored carbon in Amazonian forests
The Amazon rainforest stores 30% of land-based ecosystem carbon. How are carbon stores affected by selective tree removal and subsequent regrowth? Stored carbon continues to be lost for several years after logging due to damage-associated mortality of surviving trees. Piponoit et al. use data from more than one hundred Amazonian forest plots to examine how […]
Unexpected effect of “public good” mutants in a pathogen population
Disease-causing organisms attack as a population of diverse individuals. Is it possible to reduce the virulence of this population by introducing less-virulent individuals? Some studies have shown such an effect; as an example, application of low-virulence strains of Aspergillus flavus can protect crops by competing with virulent, toxin-producing strains. Lindsay et al. explore this question […]
Gain and loss of floral scent with shifts in pollination strategies
Two papers in Current Biology examine the genetics behind plant-pollinator interactions , focusing on genes controlling floral scent. Amrad et al. 10.1016/j.cub.2016.10.023 explore differences between bee, hawkmoth and hummingbird pollinated species of Petunia. They identify changes in expression in several genes including those encoding BSMT (benzoic acid/salicylic acid carboxyl methyltransferase) and BPBT (benzoyl-CoA:benzylalcohol/2-phenylethanol benzoyltransferase) and […]
ATG9 regulates autophagosome progression from the endoplasmic reticulum
The autophagosome, a cellular compartment involved in the turnover of macromolecules, contributes to nutrient homeostasis, stress resilience and defense. Although several proteins have been identified as contributing to autophagosome formation and function, the precise origins of the autophagosome have remained unclear. Using imaging, labeling and Arabidopsis mutants, Zhuang et al. show that the autophagosomal membrane […]
Transcriptional response to microbial pattern conferred by three WRKY transcription factors ($)
Plants perceive microbial pathogens though cell-surface receptors that recognize conserved microbial patterns such as flagellin. Previous studies have identified the WRKY family of transcription factors as contributors to Microbial-Associated Molecular Pattern (MAMP)-Triggered Immunity (MTI). Birkenbihl et al. use chromatin-immunoprecipitation to identify direct targets of three WRKY transcription factors following stimulation by the MAMP peptide flg-22. […]
Review: Impacts of fungal hitchhikers on biosecurity
When a plant species is introduced to a new region, it brings with it “hitchhikers” – other associated organisms. Sometimes, these hitchhikers negatively impact the environment into which they are introduced, for example by facilitating the host’s invasiveness, or through direct detrimental effects (such as pathogenicity) on native plants. Factors that determine whether a hitchhiker […]