Performing Authorship: The case of Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Michel Houellebecq

Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Michel Houellebecq both approach the paratextual practice of the literary interview as a performance. Moreover, they both share an openly cynical attitude towards the press and critics, and it is within these power relations that a fictional character is created – the author. Within this framework, the literary field is a stage in which an agent can only become an author if he hides behind the mask of his ‘posture’. The space of the paratext then becomes a field of forces, the site of a power struggle between several agents of the literary field; the author, the publisher, the literary critics and the media all trying to control the author’s image and the reception of the text. The final aim of this struggle lies in the attribution of value to a work, and who decides on the ‘correct’ interpretation, the ‘true’ meaning of a text. Based on Jérôme Meizoz’s theory of ‘authorial posture’, it is the contention of this thesis that Louis Destouches and Michel Thomas are performers; and ‘Céline’ and ‘Houellebecq’ their fictional creations, which are, furthermore, not to be confused with ‘Ferdinand’ and ‘Michel’, their first-person narrators. Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Michel Houellebecq both introduce an element of performance between author and text. They become fictional creations by retroactively ‘acting out’ the main characters created in their novels in the public sphere. The performance changes the status of the author and of the text, destabilizes the dynamic between author and text, and puts into question the production of meaning, whereby any attempt at interpretation becomes self-contradictory. This thesis is, therefore, an attempt to answer the following questions: how do Céline and Houellebecq change the way one reads a text? How do they subvert the idea of the ‘author-function’

Fibres du bois et chimie du bois : les nouvelles utilisations du matériau bois

La forêt française se caractérise par une ressource forestière grandissante, mais aussi, tout particulièrement en région méditerranéenne, par une sous-exploitation de cette ressource et une filière forêt-bois en fort déficit. C’est dans ce cadre que l’Etat a lancé une étude qui examine comment le développement de « nouveaux » produits (bois massif, bois fibre, bois chimie et bois énergie) peut stimuler le marché des produits issus du bois. La synthèse que nous propose ici l’auteur, concerne les nouveaux produits à base de bois fibre et bois chimie, produits innovants qui devraient être de nature à favoriser une dynamique de croissance, en apportant des réponses à des besoins identifiés et à l’émergence de nouveaux usages

Laboratory study of Fritillaria lifecycle reveals key morphogenetic events leading to genus-specific anatomy

A fascinating variety of adult body plans can be found in the Tunicates, the closest existing relatives of vertebrates. A distinctive feature of the larvacean class of pelagic tunicates is the presence of a highly specialized surface epithelium that produces a cellulose test, the “larvacean house”. While substantial differences exist between the anatomy of larvacean families, most of the ontogeny is derived from the observations of a single genus, Oikopleura. We present the first study of Fritillaria development based on the observation of individuals reproduced in the laboratory. Like the other small epipelagic species Oikopleura dioica, the larvae of Fritillaria borealis grow rapidly in the laboratory, and they acquire the adult form within a day. We could show that major morphological differences exhibited by Fritillaria and Oikopleura adults originate from a key developmental stage during larval organogenesis. Here, the surface epithelium progressively retracts from the posterior digestive organs of Fritillaria larvae, and it establishes house-producing territories around the pharynx. Our results show that the divergence between larvacean genera was associated with a profound rearrangement of the mechanisms controlling the differentiation of the larval ectoderm.publishedVersio

Production of viable hybrids in salmonids by triploidization

Rainbow trout eggs were fertilized with milt collected from various salmanids (brown trout Salmo trutta ; brook trout Salvelinus lontinaliv ; coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch) and heat-shocked few minutes later in order to prevent the second polar body extrusion. This operation resulted in high survival rates after 161 days : respectively 49.2 p. 100, 66.2 p. 100 and 12.5 p. 100 of the diploid rainbow trout control (basis 100 p. 100) ; the triploid hybrid constitution of these fish was ascertained by karyological and biochemical investigations. These data contrast with the bad yields of the corresponding diploid hybridizations (no heat shock) respectively 0 p. 100, 12.3 p. 100 and 0 p. 100. Such triploid hybrid salmonids, that are easy to produce, could be sterile and consequently of a great interest in aquaculture, where fish reproduction often makes the profitability decrease.Des ovules de truite arc-en-ciel Salmo gairdneri ont été inséminés par du sperme de divers salmonidés (truite fario Salmo trutta; omble de fontaine Salvelinus fontinalis; saumon coho Oncorhynchus kisurch) puis soumis à un choc thermique chaud induisant la rétention du 2e globule polaire. Des individus viables ont été obtenus à un taux élevé : les taux de survie à 161 jours rapportés au témoin diploïde arc-en-ciel s’élèvent respectivement à 49,2 p. 100, 66,2 p. 100 et 12,5 p. 100. Les données caryologiques et biochimiques indiquent que tous ces animaux sont des hybrides triploïdes. Par contre, les mêmes croisements non soumis à un choc chaud ne produisent qu’un très faible nombre de survivants (respectivement 0 p. 100, 12,3 p. 100, 0 p. 100) identifiés comme des hybrides diploïdes. Compte tenu de leur facilité d’obtention, les hybrides triploïdes peuvent se révéler des animaux intéressants pour l’aquaculture, du fait notamment de leur éventuelle stérilité

Calcisponges have a ParaHox gene and dynamic expression of dispersed NK homeobox genes

This study was funded by the Sars Centre core budget to M. Adamska. Sequencing was performed at the Norwegian High Throughput Sequencing Centre funded by the Norwegian Research Council. O.M.R. and D.E.K.F. acknowledge support from the BBSRC and the School of Biology, University of St Andrews.Sponges are simple animals with few cell types, but their genomes paradoxically contain a wide variety of developmental transcription factors1,2,3,4, including homeobox genes belonging to the Antennapedia (ANTP) class5,6, which in bilaterians encompass Hox, ParaHox and NK genes. In the genome of the demosponge Amphimedon queenslandica, no Hox or ParaHox genes are present, but NK genes are linked in a tight cluster similar to the NK clusters of bilaterians5. It has been proposed that Hox and ParaHox genes originated from NK cluster genes after divergence of sponges from the lineage leading to cnidarians and bilaterians5,7. On the other hand, synteny analysis lends support to the notion that the absence of Hox and ParaHox genes in Amphimedon is a result of secondary loss (the ghost locus hypothesis)8. Here we analysed complete suites of ANTP-class homeoboxes in two calcareous sponges, Sycon ciliatum and Leucosolenia complicata. Our phylogenetic analyses demonstrate that these calcisponges possess orthologues of bilaterian NK genes (Hex, Hmx and Msx), a varying number of additional NK genes and one ParaHox gene, Cdx. Despite the generation of scaffolds spanning multiple genes, we find no evidence of clustering of Sycon NK genes. All Sycon ANTP-class genes are developmentally expressed, with patterns suggesting their involvement in cell type specification in embryos and adults, metamorphosis and body plan patterning. These results demonstrate that ParaHox genes predate the origin of sponges, thus confirming the ghost locus hypothesis8, and highlight the need to analyse the genomes of multiple sponge lineages to obtain a complete picture of the ancestral composition of the first animal genome.PostprintPeer reviewe

OikoBase: a genomics and developmental transcriptomics resource for the urochordate Oikopleura dioica

We report the development of OikoBase (http://oikoarrays.biology.uiowa.edu/Oiko/), a tiling array-based genome browser resource for Oikopleura dioica, a metazoan belonging to the urochordates, the closest extant group to vertebrates. OikoBase facilitates retrieval and mining of a variety of useful genomics information. First, it includes a genome browser which interrogates 1260 genomic sequence scaffolds and features gene, transcript and CDS annotation tracks. Second, we annotated gene models with gene ontology (GO) terms and InterPro domains which are directly accessible in the browser with links to their entries in the GO (http://www.geneontology.org) and InterPro (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/interpro/) databases, and we provide transcript and peptide links for sequence downloads. Third, we introduce the transcriptomics of a comprehensive set of developmental stages of O. dioica at high resolution and provide download- able gene expression data for all developmental stages. Fourth, we incorporate a BLAST tool to identify homologs of genes and proteins. Finally, we include a tutorial that describes how to use OikoBase as well as a link to detailed methods, explaining the data generation and analysis pipeline. OikoBase will provide a valuable resource for research in chordate development, genome evolution and plasticity and the molecular ecology of this important marine planktonic organism.publishedVersio

Conservation and divergence of chemical defense system in the tunicate Oikopleura dioica revealed by genome wide response to two xenobiotics

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Animals have developed extensive mechanisms of response to xenobiotic chemical attacks. Although recent genome surveys have suggested a broad conservation of the chemical defensome across metazoans, global gene expression responses to xenobiotics have not been well investigated in most invertebrates. Here, we performed genome survey for key defensome genes in <it>Oikopleura dioica </it>genome, and explored genome-wide gene expression using high density tiling arrays with over 2 million probes, in response to two model xenobiotic chemicals - the carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) the pharmaceutical compound Clofibrate (Clo).</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>Oikopleura </it>genome surveys for key genes of the chemical defensome suggested a reduced repertoire. Not more than 23 cytochrome P450 (CYP) genes could be identified, and neither CYP1 family genes nor their transcriptional activator AhR was detected. These two genes were present in deuterostome ancestors. As in vertebrates, the genotoxic compound BaP induced xenobiotic biotransformation and oxidative stress responsive genes. Notable exceptions were genes of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) signaling pathway. Clo also affected the expression of many biotransformation genes and markedly repressed genes involved in energy metabolism and muscle contraction pathways.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p><it>Oikopleura </it>has the smallest number of CYP genes among sequenced animal genomes and lacks the AhR signaling pathway. However it appears to have basic xenobiotic inducible biotransformation genes such as a conserved genotoxic stress response gene set. Our genome survey and expression study does not support a role of AhR signaling pathway in the chemical defense of metazoans prior to the emergence of vertebrates.</p

Culture optimization for the emergent zooplanktonic model organism Oikopleura dioica

The pan-global marine appendicularian, Oikopleura dioica, shows considerable promise as a candidate model organism for cross-disciplinary research ranging from chordate genetics and evolution to molecular ecology research. This urochordate, has a simplified anatomical organization, remains transparent throughout an exceptionally short life cycle of less than 1 week and exhibits high fecundity. At 70 Mb, the compact, sequenced genome ranks among the smallest known metazoan genomes, with both gene regulatory and intronic regions highly reduced in size. The organism occupies an important trophic role in marine ecosystems and is a significant contributor to global vertical carbon flux. Among the short list of bona fide biological model organisms, all share the property that they are amenable to long-term maintenance in laboratory cultures. Here, we tested diet regimes, spawn densities and dilutions and seawater treatment, leading to optimization of a detailed culture protocol that permits sustainable long-term maintenance of O. dioica, allowing continuous, uninterrupted production of source material for experimentation. The culture protocol can be quickly adapted in both coastal and inland laboratories and should promote rapid development of the many original research perspectives the animal offers

Conservative route to genome compaction in a miniature annelid

The causes and consequences of genome reduction in animals are unclear because our understanding of this process mostly relies on lineages with often exceptionally high rates of evolution. Here, we decode the compact 73.8-megabase genome of Dimorphilus gyrociliatus, a meiobenthic segmented worm. The D. gyrociliatus genome retains traits classically associated with larger and slower-evolving genomes, such as an ordered, intact Hox cluster, a generally conserved developmental toolkit and traces of ancestral bilaterian linkage. Unlike some other animals with small genomes, the analysis of the D. gyrociliatus epigenome revealed canonical features of genome regulation, excluding the presence of operons and trans-splicing. Instead, the gene-dense D. gyrociliatus genome presents a divergent Myc pathway, a key physiological regulator of growth, proliferation and genome stability in animals. Altogether, our results uncover a conservative route to genome compaction in annelids, reminiscent of that observed in the vertebrate Takifugu rubripes