Landscape Juice

Plant-produced polio vaccines could help eradicate age old disease

Plants have been used to produce a new vaccine against poliovirus in what is hoped to be a major step towards global eradication of the disease. A team of scientists, including Dr Johanna Marsian working in Professor George Lomonossoff’s Lab at the John Innes Centre, has produced the novel vaccine with a method that uses virus-like particles (VLPs) - non-pathogenic mimics of poliovirus which are grown in plants. Genes that carry information to produce VLPs are infiltrated into the plant tissues. The host plant then reproduces large quantities of them using its own protein expression mechanisms. Professor Lomonossoff, from the... Read more →

Neonicotinoid insecticides linked to wild bee decline across England

Exposure to neonicotinoid seed treated oilseed rape crops has been linked to long-term population decline of wild bee species across the English countryside, according to research published today in Nature Communications. The research, led by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology using data provided by Fera Science Ltd and the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Scheme, examined changes in the occurrence of 62 wild bee species with oilseed rape cropping patterns across England between 1994 and 2011 - the time period spanning the introduction of wide-scale commercial use of neonicotinoids. The scientists found evidence suggesting that neonicotinoid use is linked... Read more →

Treating Box Blight with red wine

This post was prompted by the news that the topiary at Avebury Manor is being pulled out because a savage attack of box blight which has destroyed much of the historic hedging. Two years ago - almost to the day - I purchased 8 box balls and 35 box hedging plants and duly planted them as a border around a newly created border. (Image right: an infected box ball shortly after planting - click to enlarge) It was a very dry spring so I watered copiously to make sure the plants established themselves. Even though I had very good air... Read more →

Food waste to energy HORSE crowdfunding project

I love this concept, having worked on protoype ideas of my own way back in 1990. The thought of making use of every bit of scrap and waste that mankind generates is an exciting prospect. Never, in my view, should any form of organic waste find its way into a landfill site. US company Impact Bioenergy is looking for funding to get its HORSE project off the ground. The HORSE converts food waste into fertiliser & fuel. What they say: 61% of what we throw away is biodegradable (food, landscape waste, paper, wood) and the solution is within our reach... Read more →

Plants also suffer from stress

High salt in soil dramatically stresses plant biology and reduces the growth and yield of crops. Now researchers have found specific proteins that allow plants to grow better under salt stress, and may help breed future generations of more salt-tolerant crop plants. Professor Staffan Persson led the study and said that unlike humans who can move away from the salty snacks or drink more water, a plant is stuck in high salt (or saline) soils and must use other tactics to cope. "More and more of the world' crops are facing salt stress with high salt in soils (also known... Read more →

Ants could become super pest controllers

Image: Weaver ant, Kim Aaen, NatureEyes As the world becomes more concious and intolerant of the use of chemicals to control pests, farmers are looking at new more sustainable ways of eradication. Now, ecologists have found a safe, sustainable and cost-effective new pest control. But rather than a high-tech compound or genetic technology, it’s the humble ant that has come to the rescue. A recent review in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology, more than 70 scientific studies provided evidence that on many crops from cocoa and citrus to palm oil and cedar, ants can control pests as... Read more →

LED lights set to extend strawberry season

British strawberries could soon be available all year round, thanks to pioneering new technology which will force them to grow out of their traditional season. When LED lighting is used in greenhouses, strawberries can be fooled into thinking that it is spring rather than winter. Forcing of fruit and vegetables isn't a new thing but traditionally the practice is carried out using energy hungry white lighting. The new red and blue LED lights are low-energy, meaning they use much less power and therefore mean that strawberries can be grown out of season at lower cost. The LED 4 CROPS poroject... Read more →

Chemical flowers created in a glass beaker

What do you think of these rather peculiar flowers? These colourful flower-like sculptures aren't made by mother nature but by chemists in a lab. They are just microns across. By manipulating chemical gradients in a beaker of fluid, Wim Noorduin, from the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, found that he can control the growth behaviour of these crystals to create precisely tailored structures. "For at least 200 years, people have been intrigued by how complex shapes could have evolved in nature. This work helps to demonstrate what’s possible just through environmental, chemical changes," says Noorduin. The precipitation of... Read more →

British bird population continues to decline says RSPB

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) have reported that many species of birds in the United Kingdom continue to decline at an alarming rate. The once ubiquitous house sparrow saw a drop in numbers of over 17% on last year; it's now an endangered species. Similarly the Green Finch took a pounding with recorded numbers down by 21% last year. Results were collated after almost 590,000 people across the UK, including 75,000 pupils and teachers at schools, took part in the Big Garden Birdwatch in January. Martin Harper, RSPB Conservation Director, said; ”We know from the many... Read more →

Stargazers come out and count

This week, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and the Campaign for Dark Skies (CfDS) are jointly running a national experiment called Star Count Week. They want you and me to look up at Orion and count the stars we can see, writes Carol Miers. Recently I stood below a bedroom skylight in a small town in the UK and could not see any stars.Here, living in the French countryside our friends come to visit and invariably find the nights a surprise. “It is so dark, When I woke up I could not see my hand,” they say. Here... Read more →