Daniel Marino got his PhD in Biological Sciences in the Public University of Navarra (UPNA). After a 5-year postdoctoral period in France he is now an Ikerbasque Reseach Fellow in the Plant Biology and Ecology Department of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). His research is focused on the plant response to environmental changes (biotic and abiotic)
Nitric oxide (NO) is a gas generated during industrial combustion and by vehicle engines that causes damage to the ozone layer and contributes to acid rain. In this regard, early studies on NO were focused on its nature as a pollutant agent. In most living organisms, NO is endogenously produced and possess a double face […]
The history of Earth climate is characterized by a succession of glacial and interglacial periods. However, although climate change is inherent to Earth, the observed trend of temperature increase over the past century cannot be explained by climate models which include solar irradiance and are only explicable by the rise in greenhouse gases. Mauna Loa […]
Naturalists and scientists have been collecting plants or plant parts during centuries to make collections and catalogues known as herbaria (sing. herbarium) that have been traditionally used for comparative taxonomy and systematics research. The first herbarium collections were compiled along with the foundation of botanical gardens during the first half of the 16th century. The […]
Plants emit a great amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). They are mainly produced in flowers and fruits and confer them their classical pleasant smell. However, leaves and roots also emit an important quantity of volatiles. VOCs have different functions mostly related with the communication of the plant with the environment. They are responsible of […]
I am sure that all of you have had table conversations about the flavour of tomato fruits: “These tomatoes have no taste” complained the little boy; “When I was a child tomatoes were much better, now they are tasteless” said the grandmother; “The ones I grow in my backyard are hundred times better” stated the […]
Every organism, from virus to animals need nitrogen (N) to live; indeed, nucleic acids and proteins are made out with N. Nearly all of these organisms, fulfill their nitrogen needs taken up N from the environment in reduced forms, usually as nitrate (NO 3 – ), ammonium (NH 4 + ) or amino acids. Interestingly […]
Plants reproduce sexually to ensure genetic variability and thus, to continuously evolve in a constantly changing environment. In angiosperms, flowers are the sexual organs and most angiosperms are hermaphroditic, this means they have bisexual flowers with both male and female organs (Figure 1). Stamens are the male part of the flower, they are filaments ended […]
In recent years, when I enter into a bakery my decision of which bread to buy is getting more and more complicated because of the high variety of bread available. Bread is “in appearance” a simple product just made out of flour, yeast and water mixed together and baked. Of course, the complexity of bread […]
Plants are sessile organisms, which means they can´t move around. Of course, they have some types of movements like turning towards the sun but the place where the seed germinates the plant will stay during their entire life cycle. Obviously, this fact has important consequences on how plants respond upon variations of their surrounding environment […]
Most famous RNAs are coding or messenger RNAs (mRNAs) which are the ones that ribosomes read to synthesize proteins. However, many other RNAs are transcribed from DNA and are known as non-coding RNAs. Among those, ribosomic RNAs (rRNAs) which are part of the ribosomes and transfer RNAs (tRNAs) which deliver the amino acids to the […]