Recent News
-
Students of Jonathan Shurin sample plankton from a Canadian lake.Wilder Weather Exerts a Stronger Influence on Biodiversity Than Steadily Changing Conditions
An increase in the variability of local conditions could do more to harm biodiversity than slower shifts in climate, a new study has found.
Climate scientists predict more frequent storms, droughts, floods and heat waves as the Earth warms. Although extreme weather would seem to challenge ecosystems, the effect of fluctuating conditions on biodiversity actually could go either way. Species able to tolerate only a narrow range of temperatures, for example, may be eliminated, but instability in the environment can also prevent dominant species from squeezing out competitors.
-
Biologist Amy Pasquinelli and colleagues have determined a way to match microRNAs to their targets in C. elegans, a model organism for genetic study.Researchers Identify microRNA Targets in C. elegans
Biologist Amy Pasquinelli and colleagues have developed a way to match microRNAs to their targets in C. elegans, one of the most useful model organisms for studying genetics. These short bits of RNA regulate a wide range of biological processes by targeting messenger RNAs, but because the matching sequences are very short, geneticists had trouble pairing them up with these transcripts of genes. The new technique identifies the targets of microRNAs in live worms by capturing them biochemically while they are bound with their helper proteins to targeted messenger RNAs.
-
J. Jefferson P. PerryOne of Top 10 Breakthroughs of the Year
The discovery of a long-sought receptor for a key plant hormone by two teams of biologists, one of which includes Biology Professor Julian Schroeder, has been named by the editors of Science one of the top 10 Breakthroughs of the Year for 2009. In the December 18, 2009 issue of Science, the editors wrote that the discovery of the receptor for abscisic acid, or ABA, which keeps seeds dormant and helps to curtail water loss in plants, was one of their nine runners up for Breakthrough of the Year.
-
Hoseok Song (left), Yang Xu and Sun-Ku Chung (foreground) developed the new technique.Biologists Develop Efficient Genetic Modification of Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Biologists have developed an efficient way to genetically modify human embryonic stem cells. Their approach, which uses bacterial artificial chromosomes to swap in defective copies of genes, will make possible the rapid development of stem cell lines that can both serve as models for human genetic diseases and as testbeds on which to screen potential treatments.
“This will help to open up the whole human embryonic stem cell field. Otherwise, there’s really few efficient ways you can study genetics with them,” said Yang Xu, professor of biology at the University of California, San Diego who directed the research, which was funded by California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state’s stem cell research agency, established after the passage of Proposition 71.
-
David HolwayAssociate Professor David Holway named Faculty Director of UCSD's Natural Reserve System
Associate Professor David Holway has been named Faculty Director of UCSD's Natural Reserve System, which supports university-level teaching, research and public service by protecting key areas of the natural environment. The UCSD reserve system sites include the Dawson Los Monos Canyon Reserve, the Elliott Chaparral Reserve, the Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve and the Scripps Coastal Reserve.
-
Credit: Julian Schroeder LabNewly Identified Enzymes Help Plants Sense and Respond to Elevated Carbon Dioxide and Could Lead to Water-wise Crops
Biologists have identified plant enzymes that may help to engineer plants that take advantage of elevated carbon dioxide to use water more efficiently.
Plants take in the carbon dioxide they need for photosynthesis through microscopic breathing pores in the surface of leaves. But for each molecule of the gas gained, they lose hundreds of water molecules through these same openings. The pores can tighten to save water when CO2 is abundant, but scientists didn’t know how that worked until now.
A team led by Julian Schroeder, professor of biology at the University of California, San Diego, has identified the protein sensors that control the response. Enzymes that react with CO2 cause cells surrounding the opening of the pores to close down they report in the journal Nature Cell Biology online December 13.
-
Credit: James NiehStudy Finds Bees Can Learn Differences in Food’s Temperature
Biologists at UC San Diego have discovered that honeybees can discriminate between food at different temperatures, an ability that may assist bees in locating the warm, sugar-rich nectar or high-protein pollen produced by many flowers.
While other researchers had previously found hints that bees might have the ability to do this, the UCSD biologists provide the first detailed experimental evidence in a paper that will be published in the December 1 issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology.
-
Credit: Hillel AdesnikNeurobiologists determine how the brain represents both faint and intense signals
The cerebral cortex, the outermost layer of the brain that plays a key role in attention, thought and consciousness, detects weak signals with remarkable sensitivity. Yet robust inputs don’t swamp the system. It’s like a speaker that can project both the faintest murmur and a torrent of sound, but how the brain manages to respond to such a wide dynamic range had puzzled neurobiologists.
-
2009 Graduate Retreat- A great success
Every Fall, the division’s faculty and staff organize a retreat giving faculty, students and postdocs a chance to share their research, socialize, welcome the incoming graduate class, and kick off the new academic year. This year’s retreat took place Sept 20-22 at the Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa.
Activities included three faculty sessions organized by overlapping scientific interests, a brand new session of postdoctoral fellows from each section and the Salk Institute, a graduate student session and a poster session.
