Blast disease, caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, is a veritable plague in agriculture. In addition to devastating rice crops—the staple food of 60% of the world's population—it began attacking wheat in the 1980s, across a growing area of distribut

In a study published in Cell, a research team led by Zhang Yong'e and Wang Haoyi from the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has characterized the diversity of DNA transposons and expanded the genome engineering toolbox.

At first glance, the simple sea sponge is no creature of mystery. No brain. No gut. No problem dating it back 700 million years. Yet convincing sponge fossils only go back about 540 million years, leaving a 160 million-year gap in the fossil record.

Magpies that are aggressive towards other members of their group tend to be not so smart, according to researchers at The University of Western Australia.

UCLA scientists have identified a protein that plays a critical role in regulating human blood stem cell self-renewal by helping them sense and interpret signals from their environment.

They bedeviled ancient Greek navies, helped shipwreck Christopher Columbus, aided in the sinking of the Spanish Armada and caused the wharves in San Francisco Bay to collapse into the sea, but until now, scientists have been unable to pinpoint exactly how

Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses are becoming increasingly flexible and are adapting to mammals in new ways that could have global consequences for humans, wildlife and livestock, according to a new study of a massive outbreak among elephant

In Hungary, ethological research is most often identified with tests on dogs, but novel methodological advances could bring another species, the paradise fish, into the spotlight. Fish are easy to handle and produce numerous offspring, which could open up

A single universal equation can closely approximate the frequency of wingbeats and fin strokes made by birds, insects, bats and whales, despite their different body sizes and wing shapes, Jens Højgaard Jensen and colleagues from Roskilde University in Den

Bananas are a vital crop globally, but their yields are threatened by various diseases, particularly banana fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum. Traditional control methods, including chemical pesticides, pose environmental risks and are not always

Chrysanthemums, admired globally for their intricate capitulum structures, have posed a genetic puzzle for scientists and horticulturists. The genetic mechanisms that dictate their development have been largely unknown, limiting the ability to selectively

As water scarcity looms as a major threat to global ecosystems and food production, the quest to understand how plants like Cissus quadrangularis conquer arid landscapes is more critical than ever. The genetic blueprint of such species could hold the key