Ecological world

The damage of wood by fungi is essentially caused by the degradation of the cell wall by fungi, which decreases the mechanical wood properties and substantially reduces wood use.  However, wood quality is also influenced by bacterial, algal and fungal discolorations (e.g., Grosser 1985; Zabel and Morrell 1992; Eaton and Hale 1993). Discolorations in the wood of living trees, in round wood, timber and wood in service are long-known problems and are based on different biotic and abiotic causes (Bauch 1984, 1986; Kreber and Byrne 1994; Koch et al. 2002; Koch 2004; ).  Discolorations in standing trees occur after wounding by wound reactions of the tree  and by the colonization of the stemwood with bacteria and fungi as a result of microorganism-own pigments (e.g., melanin of blue-stain fungi, Zink and Fengel 1989) or of their metabolism (brown, white, and soft rot in trees, chemical reactions of accessory compounds after pH-change by wetwood bacteria and in the spla...

                      PCR-amplification and subsequent sequencing of parts of the ribosomal DNA avoid the main limitations of RFLPs because the whole information of hundreds of nucleotides of the target DNA is used. rDNA sequences may be used for di-agnosis and for phylogenetic analyses (dendrograms) on relationships among fungi. Sequencing is nowadays the most important tool for molecular system-atics and led to taxonomic rearrangements and changes in nomenclature.  The ITS sequences of a great number of wood fungi are known, e.g., from mycorrhizal fungi like Hebeloma velutipes (Aanen et al. 2001), from para-sites like Armillaria species (Chillali et al. 1998) and Laetiporus sulphureus (Rogers et al. 1999), and from the red streaks producing Trichaptum abietinum (Kauserud and Schumacher 2003). Regarding wood decay fungi, a data set of rDNA-ITS sequences of 18 house-rot fungi is shown in Table 2.8 (Schmidt and Moreth 2002/...

What is a gene? Support Stated Clearly on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/statedclearly You've probably heard about GMOs or Genetically Modified Organisms but what exactly is a gene and what does it mean to modify the genes of a plant or animal? We hear about DNA and genes all the time in the news and in our biology classes but very few of us can actually explain what a gene is? This short film is designed to help. Here we discuss a basic definition of a gene, show what a gene looks like, what it is that genes actually code for, and the basic idea behind Genetically Modified Organisms.  The video also briefly mentions one of the ways DNA strongly suggests that all living things are related and share an evolutionary history. Even though the content given here is just a simplified overview of genetics, after watching this video (along with our first video on DNA  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwibgN... ) you should be able to easily follow any ne...

                       DNA , or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA . Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA). The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). Human DNA consists of about 3 billion bases, and more than 99 percent of those bases are the same in all people. The order, or sequence, of these bases determines the information available for building and maintaining an organism, similar to the way in which letters of the alphabet appear in a certain order to form words and sentences.                           ...

                                      Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things. The human body is composed of trillions of cells. They provide structure for the body, take in nutrients from food, convert those nutrients into energy, and carry out specialized functions. Cells also contain the body’s hereditary material and can make copies of themselves. Cells have many parts, each with a different function. Some of these parts, called organelles, are specialized structures that perform certain tasks within the cell. Human cells contain the following major parts, listed in alphabetical order: Cytoplasm  (illustration) Within cells, the cytoplasm is made up of a jelly-like fluid (called the cytosol) and other structures that surround the nucleus. Cytoskeleton The cytoskeleton is a network of long fibers that make up the cell’s structural framework. The cytoskele...

What is DNA and How Does it Work? Support Stated Clearly on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/statedclearly Issues of genetics and DNA are constantly cropping up in the news from food production and health, to legal cases and ethics. We hear about DNA in movies like Jurassic Park and X-men, we learn bits and pieces about it from TV shows like Dexter and and CSI, but what exactly is DNA, and how does it work? This animated short film has been made for those wanting a simple introduction (or even a refresher) on how DNA creates a living creature. In this video you will learn a bit about genetic code, DNA transcription and translation, and the importance of proteins in the chemistry of life. Video was written, presented, and animated by Jon Perry Music by Anthony Danzl (check out his website at  http://www.proofavenue.com  ) Research and instructional design by Varinia Acosta  You can learn more about DNA and Stated Clearly on our website at...