News in English 2019

Unlike land plants, photosynthesis in many aquatic plants relies on bicarbonate in addition to CO₂ to compensate for the low availability of CO₂ in water. A study in the scientific journal SCIENCE by Iversen and co-authors shows that the abundance of plant species with the ability to use bicarbonate increases in hard water lakes with greater bicarbonate concentrations. In streams, where the CO₂ concentration is higher than in air, bicarbonate users are few. 

The Lundbeck Foundation has decided to support 20 research projects - each receiving 5 million DKK from the Ascending Investigators support program. The program aims to support established, experienced and talented health science researchers and potentially make a significant contribution to the health sciences. Associate Professor Kim F. Rewitz from Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen is one of them.

New microbial research at the University of Copenhagen suggests that 'survival of the friendliest' outweighs 'survival of the fittest’ for groups of bacteria. Bacteria make space for one another and sacrifice properties if it benefits the bacterial community as a whole. The discovery is a major step towards understanding complex bacteria interactions and the development of new treatment models for a wide range of human diseases and new green technologies.

Prokaryotes and their viruses constitute a vastly diverse and highly abundant group of biological entities on earth. During the course of evolution, prokaryotes have developed numerous defensive strategies against invading genetic elements. Viruses, in turn, have evolved counteracting mechanisms. CRISPR-Cas constitutes the only known prokaryotic adaptive immune system against invading viruses and plasmids. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have characterised an archaeal virus-encoded anti-CRISPR protein and their results are now being published in Cell.

The Department of Biology (BIO) has been incredibly successful obtaining grants from the Villum Experiment programme. Seven researchers have received a grant, corresponding to 13% of all granted Villum Experiment projects.

A timely update of a highly popular handbook on statistical genomics

Rasmus Heller, a tenure track Assistant Professor at the Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, has been awarded a Starting Grant worth €1.5 million from the European Research Council (ERC).

A new large-scaled research project has mapped the genome of 44 ruminant species - a group of animals that have intrigued researchers for years because of their biological diversity and their huge importance as domestic animals. The project gives valuable new insights on how genetic adjustments through evolution have rendered the ruminants one of the most successful groups of animals on the planet. The results have recently been published in three articles in the acknowledged scientific journal Science.

Almost all plant species naturally produce a scent. This scent is typically a diverse blend of small molecules that evaporate easily. These plant scents (also called volatiles) perform a remarkable range of functions from repelling or attracting insects to being key constraints of the physical and chemical properties of the atmosphere and climate. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have studied the effect of climate warming and increased insect activity on the release of plant volatiles to the atmosphere in the Arctic. The seminal results are now published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Plants.

Joint Danish, Italian and German efforts reveal that low oxygen is required for proper development of plants. Their discovery is now published in the international scientific journal NATURE

The Novo Nordisk Foundation has again invested several million in biological research at the Department of Biology. This time, five prominent research leaders each receives the attractive Investigator grant, allowing them to continue and deepen their research areas. It is research that covers a wide range of biology - from DNA and RNA to sustainable crops, diabetes and obesity research.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal cancer types. Only eight percent of patients survive 5 years after diagnosis. This is partly due to a shortage of symptoms during the cancer’s earliest stages. Once identified, pancreatic cancer is often so advanced that it becomes incurable.

Two professors at Department of Biology (and the National History Museum of Denmark) each just received the prestigious Investigator grant from the Villum Foundation.

In nature, males eager attempts to mate with females can be so extreme that they will harm females. Such negative impact of mating interactions has been suggested to promote the emergence of new species under some circumstances. Surprisingly, one type of diving beetle species now show that this conflict between the sexes can instead lead to an evolutionary standstill in which mating enhancing traits in males and counter-adaptations in females prevent the formation of new species.  

Two professors from the University of Copenhagen have each been awarded one of the foundation’s six large Challenge programme grants, and at the same time received funding to ensure that their research can proceed using the most advanced research equipment. Combined, the grants amount to DKK 150 million (20 million Euros).