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THE BIOCENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WÜRZBURG

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Ants are usually found in large numbers. But how many of them are there in total on earth?

Have you ever asked yourself this question? A team led by Würzburg biologists Dr. Patrick Schultheiss and Dr. Sabine Nooten now has the answer. In addition to the number, the distribution was also determined.

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A Matabele ant treats the wound of a conspecific with an antimicrobial substance.

Biologist Dr. Erik Frank is researching how an African ant species treats its wounded. To continue his work, the German Research Foundation (DFG) has now granted him an Emmy Noether group.

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Smallpox viruses - here seen under the microscope - are among the deadliest pathogens in human history. Not quite as dangerous, but still worrying, is the current outbreak of monkeypox.

Poxviruses pose a threat to humanity that should be taken seriously, as the current outbreak of monkeypox shows. A research team from the University of Würzburg is now working on the development of new drugs.

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Image of patient-derived endocervical columnar (red) ectocervical stratified squamous organoids (Green) of female reproductive tract, and diagram depicting their genetic manipulation and infections.

Life-like organ replicas - so-called 3D organoids - are a good way to research disease processes. A team from the University of Würzburg has now presented a kind of blueprint for such a model of the cervix.

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Photos of the grasshopper species Gravel Grasshopper, Green Mountain Grasshopper, and the Wart-biter.

Little is known about the food webs of herbivorous insects. A team from the Würzburg Biocenter is investigating, in Lower Franconia as well as in the Berchtesgaden Alps.

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Microscopy showing the fragmentation of mitochondria

Dormant herpesviruses induce their reactivation via a previously unknown cellular mechanism mediated by a viral microRNA. Würzburg researchers show this in the journal "Nature".

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Ein Forschungsteam hat untersucht, ob Fungizide beim Paarungsverhalten der Mauerbiene (Osmia cornuta) eine Rolle spielen könnten.

Do pesticides have anything to do with the decline in bee populations? A research team led by the University of Würzburg has investigated - and found a connection between fenbuconazole and the insects' mating behavior.

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3-Dimensional sketch of the TPC1 channel protein looking at the vacuolar pore entrance from above.

In humans, only nerves and muscle cells are electrically excitable, whereas in plants almost all cells are. This is due to a sophisticated mechanism in an ion channel of the vacuole.

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An anaesthetised Venus flytrap (above) can no longer close when stimulated (ant). Reason for this is that ether prevents the propagation of a calcium signal from the sensory hair into the trap (right).

The carnivorous Venus flytrap can be anaesthetised with ether. Some surprising parallels to anaesthesia in humans emerge.

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Bee colonies also use hollow electricity poles as nest sites (here a photo from Belgium).

In northern Spain, wild honeybees use hollow electricity poles as nesting cavities. Natural areas in the surroundings promote the colonies’ chances to survive the winter.

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Neuroblastoma cells under the microscope. The staining represents DNA damage, the more intense, the more severe and dangerous the damage. Cells on the right have no RNA exosome and are therefore much more susceptible to such damage.

The cells of a certain tumour type, called neuroblastoma, divide very rapidly. This rapid division can have potentially fatal consequences for them. A new study shows how neuroblastoma cells deal with this dilemma.

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