Archive

The leaves of date palms can heat up to temperatures around 50 degrees Celsius. They survive thanks to a unique wax mixture that is essential for the existence in the desert.

Controlling cells with light: Professor Georg Nagel has won another award for his contributions to the invention and refinement of optogenetics. He received the prize along with other laureates in the USA.

Diversity beats monotony: a colourful patchwork of small, differently used plots can bring advantages to agriculture and nature. This is the result of a new study by the University of Würzburg.

Land use in tropical mountain regions leads to considerable changes of biodiversity and ecological functions. The intensity of such changes is greatly affected by the climate.

Two proteins work hand in hand to ensure that the tumour cells of neuroblastoma can grow at full speed. In "Nature", a Würzburg research team shows how the proteins can do this.

Icefish live in an environment that should be deadly for them. Scientists have now investigated how they still manage to exist there and what evolutionary adaptations they have had to undergo in order to do so.

Plants that can manage with less water could make agriculture more sustainable. This is why a research team at the University of Würzburg is investigating how plants control their water balance.

Dr. Alexandro B. Leverkus, Universidad de Alcala (Madrid), is an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow at the Ecological Station Fabrikschleichach of the Biocenter (Zoology III) from 01.01.2019 to 31.12.2020. Leverkus is currently researching the topic "Forest disturbances in the Anthropocene: Unravelling ecological interactions between wildfire and (salvage) logging".

Scientists at the Universities of Würzburg and Bielefeld in Germany have discovered an unusual new light sensor in green algae. The sensor triggers a reaction that is similar to one in the human eye.

Insects and mammals have special sensors for different light intensities. These sensors selectively influence the circadian clocks and thereby control daily activity patterns.

Does expansion microscopy deliver true-to-life images of cellular structures? That was not sure yet. A new publication in "Nature Methods" shows for the first time that the method actually works reliably.

The plant hormone jasmonic acid also performs a function that was previously unknown. It ensures that the leaf pores close when leaves are injured. For the plant, this could be an emergency signal.

Spider silk belongs to the toughest fibres in nature and has astounding properties. Scientists from the University of Würzburg discovered new molecular details of self-assembly of a spider silk fibre protein.

Since October 2018, Sabine Fischer heads the research group for Supramolecular and Cellular Simulations at the Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology (CCTB). Now she will introduce herself with a lecture titled “Auf gute Nachbarschaft!/To being good neighbours! Mathematical biology of intercellular interactions in developing tissues”.

Barely heard of a couple of years ago, quinoa today is common on European supermarket shelves. The hardy plant thrives even in saline soils. Researchers from the University of Würzburg have now determined how the plant gets rid of the excess salt.