Seven of the most common forest trees in Europe have been shown to be able to shelter their genetic diversity from major shifts in environmental conditions. This is despite their ranges having shrunk and the number of trees having fallen sharply during ice age cycles. These are the findings of a study jointly led by Uppsala and Helsinki Universities, published in Nature Communications.
Krill in our northern waters show how key marine species can adapt genetically to cope with climate change. This is the discovery made by researchers at Uppsala University in collaboration with an international research group. According to the researchers, their study, published in Nature Communications, provides important knowledge that can help protect marine ecosystems when the climate changes.
Rabbits have colonised countries worldwide, often with dire economic and ecological consequences, but their secret has before been a mystery. In a new study published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, an international consortium of scientists sequenced the genomes of nearly 300 rabbits from three continents to unveil the key genetic changes that make these animals master colonisers.
Uppsala University is the new world record holder for electrical energy generation from CIGS solar cells. The new world record is 23.64 per cent efficiency. The measurement was made by an independent institute and the results are published in the journal Nature Energy.
Increasing access to water in extremely arid parts of sub-Saharan Africa can help nomadic livestock farmers in the short term. However, in the long run it may lead to serious consequences for their livelihoods. This is shown by new research from Uppsala University, published in Nature Climate Change.
Stacy VanDeveer, professor in Global Governance and Human Security at the University of Massachusetts Boston becomes visiting professor in Climate Change Leadership at Uppsala University. The ten-years series of visiting professorships is financed by a previous donation to Uppsala University by alumnus Niklas Zennström and Catherine Zennström through their foundation Zennström Philanthropies.
The European robin’s closest relatives are found in tropical Africa. The European robin is therefore not closely related to the Japanese robin, despite their close similarity in appearance. This is confirmed by a new study of the Old World flycatcher family, to which these birds belong. The study comprises 92 per cent of the more than 300 species in this family.
Sverker C Jagers, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Centre for Collective Action Research at the University of Gothenburg, will hold Uppsala University's fifth Zennström Visiting Professorship in Climate Change Leadership. The ten-year visiting professorship, through which a new professor is invited every year or every other year, is funded by an earlier donation to Uppsala Univ
In a study an international team of researchers have identified 28 gene regions that have been particularly important in the evolution of Darwin’s finches. These genetic variants do not represent recent mutations but constitute ancestral genetic variation that has accumulated over time as different species of Darwin’s finches have evolved with striking differences in beak morphology.
Coral species exhibit different temperature tolerances. This is in part due to the composition of their microalgae symbionts. With a new method, researchers from Uppsala University were able to predict how individual microalgae might behave under future temperature stress and identify more tolerant coral symbionts. In combination with forthcoming single cell selection and growth experiments, the
The chemical bisphenol F can induce changes in a gene that is vital for neurological development. This discovery was made by researchers at the universities of Uppsala and Karlstad, Sweden. The mechanism could explain why exposure to this chemical during the fetal stage may be connected with a lower IQ at seven years of age – an association previously seen by the same research group.
The effects of the endocrine disruptor linuron on frogs are not limited to those exposed, but are passed on to their offspring (reduced body weight and decreased fertility) and grand-offspring (increased body weight and a disrupted metabolism). This is demonstrated by a new study (Uppsala University and Stockholm University), published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
Hydrogen for energy use can be extracted in an environmentally friendly way from water and sunlight, using photocatalytic composite polymer nanoparticles developed by researchers at Uppsala University. In laboratory tests, these “polymer dots” showed promising performance and stability alike. The study has been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
A warmer global climate can cause mutations to have more severe consequences for the health of organisms through their detrimental effect on protein function. This may have major repercussions on organisms’ ability to adapt to, and survive in, the altered habitats of the future. This is shown in a new Uppsala University research study.
European eels spend most of their adult life in a range of fresh- and brackish waters, across Europe and Northern Africa. Using whole-genome analysis, a new study finds that all European eels belong to a single panmictic population, an extraordinary finding for a species living under such variable environmental conditions. The study is published in PNAS.
An international team of Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Irish scientists has used whole genome sequencing to characterise 53 herring populations from the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea. They have developed genetic markers that make it possible to better monitor herring populations and avoid overfishing. The study is published in the journal eLife.
Hydrogen gas and methanol for fuel cells or as raw materials for the chemicals industry, for example, could be produced more sustainably using sunlight, a new Uppsala University study shows. In this study, researchers have developed a new coating material for semiconductors that may create new opportunities to produce fuels in processes that combine direct sunlight with electricity.
How can new life forms that we cannot see be discovered? Using a novel method based on looking for DNA in soil samples, researchers at Uppsala University have revealed the existence of two hitherto unknown, but very common fungus species. They are thought to perform a key function in the ecosystem, but their exact role remains to be clarified. The study is published in the journal IMA Fungus.
The European research initiative BATTERY 2030+ is now getting going. The ambition is to make Europe a world-leader in the development and production of the batteries of the future. These batteries need to store more energy, have a longer life, and be safer and more environmentally friendly than today’s batteries in order to facilitate the transition to a more climate-neutral society.
A research team at Uppsala University has resurrected several billion-year-old enzymes and reprogrammed them to catalyse completely different chemical reactions than their modern versions can manage. The method can be used to develop sustainable solutions within biotechnology, such as for enzyme bioreactors or to chemically degrade environmental toxins.
Founded in 1477, Uppsala University is the oldest university in Sweden. With more than 50,000 students and 7,500 employees in Uppsala and Visby, we are a broad university with research in social sciences, humanities, technology, natural sciences, medicine and pharmacology. Our mission is to conduct education and research of the highest quality and relevance to society on a long-term basis. Uppsala University is regularly ranked among the world’s top universities.
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