Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Farming News .




FARM NEWS
Bacterial raincoat discovery paves way to better crop protection
by Staff Writers
Edinburgh UK (SPX) Apr 17, 2015


File image.

Fresh insights into how bacteria protect themselves - by forming a waterproof raincoat - could help develop improved products to protect plants from disease.

Researchers have discovered how communities of beneficial bacteria form a waterproof coating on the roots of plants, to protect them from microbes that could potentially cause plant disease.

Their insights could lead to ways to control this shield and improve its efficiency, which could help curb the risk of unwanted infections in agricultural or garden plants, the team says.

Scientists at the Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee studied the protective film formed by the common soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis. They found it incorporates proteins that change shape as they reach the film surface. This exposes an impervious surface on the protein molecules, enabling them to slot together like a jigsaw puzzle, to protect bacteria underneath.

The film is able to repel water - which means other potentially harmful molecules also bounce off. Researchers say that being able to control the production of the biofilm in agricultural products could enable improved protection for plants.

The study, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The team behind the finding plans to research further applications for their discovery.

Professor Cait MacPhee, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Physics and Astronomy, said: "Such a controlled shape change in a protein is unusual. This protein only responds in exactly the right way and in the right place. It protects microbes from the outside world, but the ability to control the creation of a water-repellent film has many possible applications."

Dr Nicola Stanley-Wall, of the University of Dundee's Division of Molecular Microbiology, said: "Our findings highlight one of the amazing mechanisms that bacteria have evolved to provide protection from changes in their environment. It also demonstrates the advances that can be made when biologists and physicists work together on a problem of mutual interest."


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
University of Edinburgh
Farming Today - Suppliers and Technology






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News





FARM NEWS
Diversity in a monoculture
Jena, Germany (SPX) Apr 16, 2015
Modern, machine-friendly agriculture is dominated by monocultures. One single cultivar - one genotype of a crop species - is cultivated on large areas. Favored cultivars are optimized for high yields and often contain only few natural plant defense compounds. Unfortunately, these extensive monocultures of identical plants can become an ecological wasteland and cause permanent damage to the ... read more


FARM NEWS
Protecting nature on the fly

Conservation from 5,000 feet

Scientists Take Aim at Four Corners Methane Mystery

NASA Joins Forces to Put Satellite Eyes on Threat to U.S. Freshwater

FARM NEWS
China to launch three or four more BeiDou satellites this year

Two new satellites join the Galileo constellation

China launches upgraded satellite for independent SatNav system

India Launches Fourth Satellite in Effort to Develop Own Navigation System

FARM NEWS
Citizen scientists map global forests

Researchers map seasonal greening in US forests, fields, and urban areas

Deforestation is messing with our weather and our food

Mild winters not fueling all pine beetle outbreaks in western US

FARM NEWS
Swimming algae offer Penn researchers insights into living fluid dynamics

Plant cell structure discovery could lead to improved renewable materials

Biofuel crops replace grasslands nationwide

Algae from wastewater solves 2 problems

FARM NEWS
Schneider Electric connects more than 300 MW to the UK grid in March

SEI spins-off Professional Services group to meet industry needs

CEC Evaluation Confirms Excellent Performance Of Vikram Solar Modules

RenXSol installs roof top power plant at KSCA's M Chinnaswamy Stadium

FARM NEWS
Cornell deploys dual ZephIR lidars for more accurate turbulence study

U.S. to fund bigger wind turbine blades

Gamesa and AREVA create the joint-venture Adwen

Time ripe for Atlantic wind, advocates say

FARM NEWS
India's Adani dismisses banks' Australia coal project snub

China coal mining deaths down in 2014: official

FARM NEWS
Beijing limits visits by mainland Chinese to Hong Kong

More Tibetan autonomy 'not up for discussion': China

Campaigners welcome China release for five feminist activists

China releases three detained feminist activists: lawyer




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.