A 10-year research led by the UAB and CREAF analysed European red pine (Pinus sylvestris) forests in Catalonia affected by tree mortality events and now reveals that the deadwood in these forests is more varied and, therefore, also hosts greater biodiversity.
Scientists from the UAB and Iowa State University have generated the genome assemblies of two hidden-neck turtles, unpublished until now. The results, which revealed a new three-dimensional structure of the genome within the phylogenetic group of reptiles, birds and mammals, will contribute to the development of more effective turtle conservation strategies, and to the study of the evolution of the genome and chromosomal organisation of vertebrates.
A UAB study in collaboration with the UVic-UCC and the ALBA synchrotron concludes that the Iberian culture (8th to 1st centuries BCE) newborns buried within domestic spaces died of natural causes, such as complications during labour or premature births, and not due to ritual practices. Researchers applied an innovative methodology, based on the study of the neonatal line of baby teeth using optic microscopy and microflourescence with synchrotron light, to analyse the teeth from 45 infant skeletal remains and precisely identified the moments of both birth and death.
Researchers from the Faculty of Biosciences have identified two divergent adaptive responses to soil salinity in populations of the same wild species found in the Catalonia’s coastal area, the Brassica fruticulosa, and have pinpointed the genes involved. The study will help to investigate the ways to improve resilience in agricultural species of the same plant family, such as rapeseed and mustard, in the face of a globally relevant stressor as is soil salinization.
Joan C. Tronto, emeritus professor of the City University of New York and the University of Minnesota and one of the greatest exponents of the ethics of care and democracy, will visit the UAB and offer a conference at the Rectorat building on 10 October. The conference will be open to all members of the community and will focus on the revolutionary potential of a care democracy.
The 17th Ibero-American Biology Olympics which took place at the University of Havana, Cuba, ended on 13 September. Four students from different Spanish universities obtained exceptional results in the competitions and were awarded three silver medals and one bronze medal. Among the winners was Ona Navarro Roca, student of the UAB Faculty of Biosciences, who won a silver medal.
An article by UAB professor Joan-Ramon Daban analyzes in depth the physical problems associated with DNA packaging that have often been neglected in structural models of chromosomes. The study published in the journal Small Structures demonstrates that the multilaminar organization of DNA, proposed from previous experimental research carried out at the UAB, is fully compatible with the structural and functional properties of chromosomes. This organization can be explained by weak interactions between nucleosomes, which are the repetitive blocks that fold the DNA double helix.
