News: Research

Research

Switchgrass Genes Offer Advantages as Climate Change Tool

This native grass can capture atmospheric carbon in its substantial root system.

Large bundles of swtichgrass in a field.

Research

Like Their Domestic Cousins, Native Bees are Hurt by Pesticides

Numerous studies have found negative impacts of agrochemicals, such as neonicotinoids, on both honey bees and native bees, and researchers like Felicity Muth and her lab at UT Austin are contributing to this field.

A purple bee

UT News

New Study on Climate Change Impacts on Plants Could Lead to Better Conservation Strategies

The loss of plant species that are especially vulnerable to climate change might lead to bigger problems than previous studies have suggested

A meadow with yellow wildflowers

UT News

Long-Living Tropical Trees Play Outsized Role in Carbon Storage

A group of trees that grow fast, live long lives and reproduce slowly account for the bulk of the biomass.

Irene del Carmen Torres Dominguez measures the diameter of a tree on Barro Colorado Island in Panama.

Department of Molecular Biosciences

Bacteria Engineered to Protect Bees from Pests and Pathogens

Genetically engineered strains of bacteria protect bees from mites and viruses that can lead to colony collapse.

A Varroa mite, a common pest that can weaken bees and make them more susceptible to pathogens, feeds on a honey bee.

Research

Scientists Identify Genes that Help Protect Plant Genomes

The discovery holds important implications for our understanding of age-related disorders and cancers in humans.

Illustration of a green, x-shaped chromosome with pink tips

Research

Central Texas Salamanders, Including Newly Identified Species, At Risk of Extinction

More severe droughts caused by climate change and increasing water use in Central Texas have left groundwater salamanders “highly vulnerable to extinction.”

This newly identified, unnamed salamander lives near the Pedernales river west of Austin, Texas.

Research

Evolution Used Same Genetic Formula to Turn Animals Monogamous

In five cases where vertebrates evolved monogamy, the same changes in gene expression occurred each time.

The non-monogamous strawberry poison frog is pictured on the left and the monogamous mimic poison frog is pictured on the right.

UT News

Females Prefer City Frogs’ Tunes

Urban sophistication has real sex appeal — at least if you’re a Central American amphibian. Male frogs in cities are more attractive to females than their forest-frog counterparts, according to a new study from Mike Ryan and others published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.

Two chirping frogs on soil face opposite directions

Research

Common Weed Killer Linked to Bee Deaths

The world’s most widely used weed killer, Roundup, causes honey bees to lose some of their beneficial bacteria and are more susceptible to infection and death from harmful bacteria.

Honey bee.