Justin: Of the – what it takes to reproduce. Which is usually in the females.
Kirsten: Hmm.
Justin: And in the third eukaryote –
Kirsten: Eukaryote.
Justin: Eukaryote kingdom, the fungi kingdom, there are no sexes but rather simpler and more primitive system of different so-called mating types that are distinguish by different variants of a few specific genes.
There are many ways to determine sex. In humans, done by sex chromosomes, or a – actually there are simpler ways. But it’s thought that the sex difference arose in plant and animal kingdom from this simpler system mating types that, this happens several times independently of each other throughout evolution.
The change is believed to have happened with the inhibition of a step in the copying process in DNA, which led to two separate chromosomes. These then developed further over long period of time.
“In humans, sex chromosomes are believed to dropped over the last 300 million years from a common ‘proto-sex chromosome’”, says Hanna Johannesson, who directed the study.
New study shows for the first time that even though fungi do not have sexes, there are many similarities between the parts of the genome that determine the sex in those plants and animals in those parts the genome that control the mating types of the fungi.
That’s very interesting. So, it’s hard to study the evolution sex chromosomes, partly because of so many different and important sex specific characteristics are tied to them. But much of that can actually be avoided if you’re looking at a model like a fungi, which outside of the mating types – they aren’t different like we are.
Kirsten: That’s really fascinating.
Justin: Yes.
Kirsten: There was a study that was sent to me a while ago related to fungi, by Philip Fujioshi, I think he’s here in Davis, he – is not fungi actually but it a – mycorrhizae.
Mycorrhizae are symbionts that – symbiont fungus that lives with plants in the plant roots. And the mycorrhizae help plants to get nutrients from the soil. And so, they get the nutrients, they share the nutrients and water and things with the plants and they kind of live together and so far as anyone can tell, there aren’t any negative effects for either one of the organisms.
So, they live in this little root balls and everything. Everyone’s happy. There was a study out of Oregon that found, that these mycorrhizae can actually help in the Ponderosa Pine, they can actually help during the dry season to carry water from the older pines to the seedlings.
Justin: What?
Kirsten: Yes. The researchers according to this e-mail that Philip sent, they planted Ponderosa seedlings next to mature Ponderosas, and then confined them. So that, the roots from the mature to the seedlings there was no root interaction.
Justin: No, interaction.
Kirsten: Yes. And there couldn’t be any liquid water flow either so, no water going to – that just blocked. There’s a wall in the way.
So, they use a labeled water, heavy- it’s called “deuterium oxide”, it’s heavy water. And red dye, where they added to these reservoirs and then they – after – they allowed fungus to enter – so the mycorrhizae took up residence in the roots.
After two years in allowing the fungus to do what it needed to do and really get in there, they cut down a lot of the mature trees and then read water reservoirs on their services. The heavy water and the red dye was taken up by the stumps of those trees.
And then over the next few weeks they’ve absorbed enrichment of heavy water inside the seedlings in the chambers. And even the red dye in the fungus attached the roots of one of the seedlings.
Justin: Wow.
Kirsten: In a couple of chambers where they have cut all around the outside to break the fungal connections before they can cut down the mature trees there was less enrichment and it took longer to show up.
There were only two results for that. So, there’ll – you know small samples size makes the results a little you know –
Justin: Yes.
Kirsten: Not as rigid – not as sturdy but the researchers, says Philip here, the researchers suggest the fact that there was any enrichment at all in these chambers was due to the reconnection of the fungi.
Which means that the mycorrhizae are making connections from roots to roots and actually help to carry the nutrients and water –
Justin: Wow.
Kirsten: From the water – the – because the mature trees – their roots go much deeper and can get into really deep water reservoirs that would only be accessible during the dry season to those mature trees.
And the younger trees, their roots not being as long , they won’t be able to get there. But, because the mature trees are bringing the water up through the roots, the mycorrhizae can then carry it across to the younger trees and allow them to survive.
Justin: That’s awesome.
Kirsten: Isn’t that amazing?
Justin: Yes.
Kirsten: Ha. Just there, makes you wonder a little bit about the plant and animal world.
Justin: Yes.
Kirsten: Interesting stuff.
Justin: OK. So, last week – maybe the week before – maybe we’ve done this many times, we were talking about nuclear power.
Kirsten: Nuclear.
Justin: And I was suggesting that we not clean up any of these –
Kirsten: Yes, I know.
Justin: Super fun sites.
Kirsten: You’re funny.
Justin: Instead – no. its still makes sense. Instead –
Kirsten: I know, just wait until here the technology
Justin: Bound to detect the heck out of – put all the clean up money into the technology then you get to clean up technology that instead of 60 years of cleaning up the mess, you can do it in five.
Kirsten: Right. Got it.
Justin: Well, from the Department of Energy, Argonne National Laboratory, a compound removes radioactive material from power plant waste. Strontium 90 is a common radioactive by-product of fission and nuclear power plants. When extracted from reactor along with other isotopes, a mixture is created made up of the radioactive material and inert ions like sodium and calcium.
Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University developed a compound that captures the radioactive ions so they can be siphoned off and separated from the inert material.
“The layered sulfide used worked quite well,” says scientist Mercouri Kanatzidis.
Kirsten: [laughs]
Justin: Look at these words. That’s the last name. Can you pronounce – She’s looking.
Kirsten: Kanatzidis.
Justin: Kanatzidis. Say with confidence you know, sounds like –
Kirsten: Kanatzidis.
Justin: They could even – they even surprised themselves. So, this mixture is often incredibly acidic or alkaline, making it difficult to find a compound that can survive long enough to extract the strontium and be able not to react with the sodium, which is harmless.
But, basically what this means is, this is the next step into being able to – well, I guess you’re creating less nuclear waste and some very, very potent. Because if you’re safe in office being neglected somewhere, right?
Kirsten: Right.
Justin: But making much lesser. So, this is a kind of technology needs to be funded. Heavily, seriously, intensely. So, that if the problem with nuclear power is that the waste is such an issue, let’s focus on that big time, because the benefits of nuclear power, in the long run versus all other forms that we have in terms of production versus waste, it’s huge.
Kirsten: Yes.
Justin: It’s awesome. We got to get over the sanitation that’s all you know –
Kirsten: Nuclear is becoming cleaner and cleaner and I think it’s you know – as the research keeps going, it’s – it is – there are lot of people out there who were hedging their bets on nuclear at this point.
Justin: I mean, I’m a big fan of the wind and sun energy. I think those need to be – because I – this is also a (NMD) right? Like, I, all for nuclear power – but not in my backyard. No, way. No. I don’t want it anywhere near me but a wind turbine, a solar panel or a –
Kirsten: Some even don’t like to it that either.
Justin: Yes. That I wouldn’t mind at all.
Kirsten: Hmm.
Justin: Yes.
Kirsten: Research from the Genesis Mission has a – researchers have released information at the lunar and planetary science conference in Houston Texas that the sun is richer than the earth in oxygen16 – the most common oxygen isotope.
Now the conventional wisdom has been – that the earth and the sun have the same oxygen isotope composition. But the genesis mission which in 2004 was – I guess – I think – is that the one with the grab with a helicopter? No. It’s different.
Justin: No, that was the stardust.
Kirsten: Anyway, – yes that was stardust. So, the genesis probe came back from space and its slammed into the desert, they were kind of afraid of like whether or not they were going to get any information from the probe and whether or not their research samples were going to be destroyed.
Because it just – the collection process didn’t occur correctly. I don’t remember exactly what that process was going to be but, it’s slammed into the ground and then they went and they got it and it turns out that, hey. Yes the parachute didn’t open. That’s what happened.
Justin: The parachute is going to open and then like four helicopters are suppose to fly up and took it or something. It was like a really bizarre –
Kirsten: Very bizarre retrievals scenario. And – but anyway, it worked and all of the – the researchers says “despite crashing, all the majors science objectives of Genesis will be met.”
Justin: Alright.
Kirsten: Which is great.
Justin: Yes.
Kirsten: That’s really great news, that – what was down, was not for naught. And it didn’t really know how things were going to turn out but in looking at the oxygen isotopes they find that the earth is not like the sun. So, it opens up a whole bunch of questions.
Justin: I could’ve told them that.
Kirsten: [laughs]Yes.
Justin: They’re different. They’re very different.
Kirsten: But now the question is, why is the earth –
Justin: How.
Kirsten: Yes, why and how did it end up the way – how did the chemical processes occur that made us a little bit different –
Justin: Well, I – my guestimation – my untrained eye would say that there is still processes taking place in the nuclear fire ball, that is the sun. that were changing its composition or that have change its compositions over time over – you know since the creations of our little solar system here.
Kirsten: Yes.
Justin: But it’s still in the furnace, you know. Still cooking.
Kirsten: Still in the furnace. I would like to thank Weaver Cooper, David Morgan, Gary Scott, Ed Dire, Joe Gustasen, oh, I forgot, last 3/15/ we missed it. It was Pi day –
Justin: 3/14/ excuse me.
Kirsten: 3/14/ what did I say?
Justin: Yes, it’s all in sweetened road and point out that we missed the pointing out the March 14th was a Pi day.
Kirsten: Pi day.
Justin: Which is a – pi of course Stonehengey looking Greek letter and the name for the ration the circumference of a circle to its diameter –
Kirsten: Yes.
Justin: And the number is 3.14159265
Kirsten: 8979 –
Justin: Round on 358979 –
Kirsten: And then it goes on for million more digits but we’re not going to read them all up.
Justin: Trillion. That’s exactly –
Kirsten: Trillion. OK, sorry. And Christopher Able, Justin Gil and Clinton Edwards, Kyle Hempker, Thank you so much for writing in. Calidasa –
Justin: 288 –
Kirsten: [laughs] We’re going to have to end this show before Justin gets to end of Pi. Thanks everyone for listening. That’s what for this week.
Justin: If you learned anything from today’s show, remember –
Kirsten: It is all in your head.
[music playing]