Bespoke strategies of Paxillus involutus to extract potassium from diverse phyllosilicates.

Phyllosilicates provide a primary source of minerals used by microorganisms and plants, particularly clay minerals, i.e., phyllosilicates of very small particle size.

Remote sensing and spatial analysis reveal unprecedented cyanobacteria bloom dynamics associated with elephant mass mortality.

The 2020 mass mortality of 350 African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in Botswana sparked global concern, with cyanotoxins in watering holes (pans) being a suspected cause, though evidence remains inconclusive. Combining remote sensing and spatial analysis, we examined the relationship between the ecohydrology of ∼3000 pans and the locations of deceased elephants. Our analysis revealed a significant difference in the spatial distribution of fresh versus decayed carcasses (p < 0.

Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal and ritual plants utilized by the indigenous communities of Benguet province, Philippines.

Background: The Sto. Niño site in Benguet province, Philippines was once a mining area that has now been transformed into an agricultural land. In this area, there has been significant integration of the three indigenous people (IPs) Ibaloi, Kankanaeys and Kalanguyas with the Ilocano community.

The Preservation and Spectral Detection of Historic Museum Specimen Microbial Mat Biosignatures Within Martian Dust: Lessons Learned for Mars Exploration and Sample Return.

The key building blocks for life on Mars could be preserved within potentially habitable paleo-depositional settings with their detection possible by utilizing mid-infrared spectroscopy; however, a definite identification and confirmation of organic or even biological origin will require the samples to be returned to Earth. In the present study, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic techniques were used to characterize both mineralogical and organic materials within Mars dust simulant JSC Mars-1 and ancient Antarctic cyanobacterial microbial mats from 1901 to 1904 Discovery Expedition. When FTIR spectroscopy is applied to cyanobacterial microbial mat communities, the resulting spectra will reflect the average biochemical composition of the mats rather than taxa-specific spectral patterns of the individual organisms and can thus be considered as a total chemical analysis of the mat colony.