Biology

Perhaps inosine was one of the components of the first life forms on Earth

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An article published in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” describes a study on the possible precursors of RNA. A team of Harvard University biologists led by Nobel Prize laureate Jack Szostak is trying to reconstruct the various steps that led to the birth of life with lab experiments and an interesting result came from the use of inosine as a surrogate for guanine, one of the RNA and also DNA bases.

One of the heated plots at the Harvard Forest (Photo courtesy Jeff Blanchard. All rights reserved)

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An article published in the journal “Nature Communications” reports the discovery of giant viruses in a forest soil ecosystem. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst (UMass Amherst) discovered 16 new giant viruses and described their genome. A genomic analysis on their capsid, the protein structure that contains DNA or RNA of a virus, indicates a genetic diversity of giant viruses still unknown.

Nigel Goldenfeld and Thomas Kuhlman

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An article published in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” describes the possible role of transposons, commonly called jumping genes, in the emergence of eukaryotic organisms, the ones formed by complex cells that also include multicellular ones. A team of researchers conducted experiments in particular on retrotransposons, which to integrate into DNA require an RNA intermediate, to assess their effects on bacteria. The result is that a DNA repair mechanism typical of eukaryotes but rare in bacteria increases the efficiency of insertion and the effect of retrotransposons suggesting a possible role in the evolution of eukaryotes.

spined soldier bug (Podisus maculiventris) attacking Mexican bean beetle larvae (Epilachna varivestis) (Photo Agricultural Research Service)

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An article published in the journal “Science Advances” describes a research on a substance produced by spined soldier bugs – species Podisus maculiventris – that could replace some antibiotics in the treatment of certain types of infections. A team of researchers from the University of Zurich and the ETH Zurich discovered that through a mechanism so far unknown this insect produces what was called thanatin. This substance is capable of attacking bac cell walls of bacteria such as the ones of the Escherichia coli family, which includes species that are developing increasing resistance to current antibiotics.

Eastern gray whale (Photo courtesy Anna Brüniche-Olsen. All rights reserved)

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An article published in the journal “Biology Letters” describes a genetic research on the gray whale populations that live in the western and eastern Pacific Ocean to look for clues that help understand the disparity of their populations. Pofessor Andrew DeWoody of Purdue University and his collaborator, postdoctoral researcher Anna Brüniche-Olsen, compared the DNA of 77 western gray whales and 135 eastern gray whales and discovered a genetic divergence between the two populations, however there are some interbreedings and genetic diversity that offers hopes for their future.