UMR5174 - Laboratoire Evolution et Diversite Biologique

At night, the mountain forests of New Guinea come alive with weird buzzing and beeping calls made by tiny frogs, some no bigger than your little fingernail.

Little-known insects such as the bearded false darkling beetle and the royal splinter cranefly, as well as plants including the prostrate perennial knawel and interrupted brome are among the 20 species being targeted for action.

About 80 million years ago, a group of bees began exhibiting social behavior, which includes raising young together, sharing food resources and defending their colony. Today, their descendants—honey bees, stingless bees and bumble bees—carry stowaways from their ancient ancestors : five species of gut bacteria that have evolved along with the host bees.

After a startling encounter with a cuttlefish, Australian philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith set out to explore the mysterious lives of cephalopods. He was left asking : why do such smart creatures live such a short time ?

A bacterial species that hunts other bacteria has attracted great interest as a potential living antibiotic, but exactly how this predator tracks down its prey has not been clear. A study published March 28 in Biophysical Journal sheds light on this question, revealing that the bacterial predator Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus (BV) homes in on its target by taking advantage of fluid forces generated by its own swimming movements and those of its prey. These hydrodynamic flow fields bring the bacteria in close proximity, giving BV a greater chance of successful attack.