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Rice variety resists arsenic + A robot able to 'hear' through the ear of a locust

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(design) Rice variety resists arsenic: Chinese-German research team discovers plant variant that largely neutralises the toxin
https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/en/newsroo...ts-arsenic

RELEASE: The agricultural cultivation of the staple food of rice harbours the risk of possible contamination with arsenic that can reach the grains following uptake by the roots. In their investigation of over 4,000 variants of rice, a Chinese-German research team under the direction of Prof. Dr Rüdiger Hell from the Centre for Organismal Studies (COS) of Heidelberg University and Prof. Dr Fang-Jie Zhao of Nanjing Agricultural University (China) discovered a plant variant that resists the toxin. Although the plants thrive in arsenic-contaminated fields, the grains contain far less arsenic than other rice plants. At the same time, this variant has an elevated content of the trace element selenium.

The researchers explain that especially in agricultural regions in Asia, increasing amounts of the metalloid arsenic get into the groundwater through large-scale fertilisation or wastewater sludge, for example. Because rice is cultivated in submerged fields, the plants absorb a good deal of arsenic through the roots, thus giving the potential carcinogen a pathway into the food chain. According to Prof. Hell, arsenic pollution in some soils in Asia is now so high that it is also causing significant crop losses because the arsenic is poisonous to the plants themselves.

In the course of their research project, the scientists exposed over 4,000 rice variants to water containing arsenic and then observed their growth. Only one of the plants studied proved to be tolerant against the toxic metalloid. What biologically characterises the rice variant called astol1 is a so-called amino acid exchange in a single protein. “This protein is part of a sensor complex and controls the formation of the amino acid cysteine, which is an important component in the synthesis of phytochelatins. Plants form these detoxifying substances in response to toxic metals and thus neutralise them,” explains Prof. Hell, who together with his research group at the COS is studying the function of this sensory complex. The neutralised arsenic is stored in the roots of the plant before it reaches the edible rice grains and can endanger humans.

In the field study, astol1 rice grains absorbed one third less arsenic than conventional rice grains that were also exposed to arsenic-contaminated water. The researchers further discovered a 75 percent higher content of the essential trace element selenium, which is involved in the production of thyroid hormones in humans. As for yield, astol1 is just as good as the standard high-yield rice variants, making it especially suitable for agricultural use.

“In future, rice plants like astol1 could be used in arsenic-contaminated regions to feed the population as well as help fight diet-related selenium deficiency,” states Dr Sheng-Kai Sun with optimism. The junior researcher was instrumental in discovering the rice variant during the course of his PhD work at Nanjing Agricultural University. Thanks to a scholarship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, he has been working since last year at the Centre for Organismal Studies in the groups of Prof. Hell and Dr Markus Wirtz to investigate the sensor complex causing the astol1 phenotype.

The basic research into this sensor complex is being funded by the German Research Foundation. The research results were published in the journal “Nature Communications”.


(engineering) A robot able to 'hear' through the ear of a locust
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20...104810.htm

RELEASE: Researchers at Tel Aviv University report that they have successfully connected the ear of a dead locust to a robot that receives the ear's electrical signals and responds accordingly. The result is extraordinary: When the researchers clap once, the locust's ear hears the sound and the robot moves forward; when the researchers clap twice, the robot moves backwards.

The interdisciplinary study was led by Idan Fishel, a joint master student under the joint supervision of Dr. Ben M. Maoz of the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering and the Sagol School of Neuroscience, Prof. Yossi Yovel and Prof. Amir Ayali, experts from the School of Zoology and the Sagol School of Neuroscience together with Dr. Anton Sheinin, Idan, Yoni Amit, and Neta Shavil. The results of the study were published in the journal Sensors.

The researchers explain that at the beginning of the study, they sought to examine how the advantages of biological systems could be integrated into technological systems, and how the senses of dead locust could be used as sensors for a robot. "We chose the sense of hearing, because it can be easily compared to existing technologies, in contrast to the sense of smell, for example, where the challenge is much greater," says Dr. Maoz. "Our task was to replace the robot's electronic microphone with a dead insect's ear, use the ear's ability to detect the electrical signals from the environment, in this case vibrations in the air, and, using a special chip, convert the insect input to that of the robot."

To carry out this unique and unconventional task, the interdisciplinary team (Maoz, Yovel and Ayali) faced number of challenged. In the first stage the researchers built a robot capable of responding to signals it receives from the environment. Then, in a multidisciplinary collaboration, the researchers were able to isolate and characterize the dead locust ear and keep it alive, that is, functional, long enough to successfully connect it to the robot. In the final stage, the researchers succeeded in finding a way to pick up the signals received by the locust's ear in a way that could be used by the robot. At the end of the process, the robot was able to "hear" the sounds and respond accordingly.

"Prof. Ayali's laboratory has extensive experience working with locusts, and they have developed the skills to isolate and characterize the ear," explains Dr. Maoz. "Prof. Yovel's laboratory built the robot and developed code that enables the robot to respond to electrical auditory signals. And my laboratory has developed a special device -- Ear-on-a-Chip -- that allows the ear to be kept alive throughout the experiment by supplying oxygen and food to the organ, while allowing the electrical signals to be taken out of the locust's ear and amplified and transmitted to the robot.

"In general, biological systems have a huge advantage over technological systems -- both in terms of sensitivity and in terms of energy consumption. This initiative of Tel Aviv University researchers opens the door to sensory integrations between robots and insects -- and may make much more cumbersome and expensive developments in the field of robotics redundant.

"It should be understood that biological systems expend negligible energy compared to electronic systems. They are miniature, and therefore also extremely economical and efficient. For the sake of comparison, a laptop consumes about 100 watts per hour, while the human brain consumes about 20 watts a day. Nature is much more advanced than we are, so we should use it. The principle we have demonstrated can be used and applied to other senses, such as smell, sight and touch. For example, some animals have amazing abilities to detect explosives or drugs; the creation of a robot with a biological nose could help us preserve human life and identify criminals in a way that is not possible today. Some animals know how to detect diseases. Others can sense earthquakes. The sky is the limit."
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