Rapport préliminaire sur les activités de la mission archéologique franco-syrienne dans la micro-région d'Al-Rawda (Shamiyeh) : quatrième et cinquième campagnes (2005 et 2006)

This preliminary report presents the results of two campaigns of excavation and survey in 2005and 2006 on the site of AI-Rawda (West-Central Syria) and in the micro-region of 100 km2 around it. Thesite is a pre-planned circular new town. It was founded around 2400 BCE, in the steppe zone and was inhabitedonly during EB IV, until the end of the 3rd millennium. The work of 2005 and 2006 involved furtherextensive excavation of a sanctuary consisting of two temples and a temenos togeiher with aIl associatedinstallations (including a betyl in situ). The eastem gate of the town was excavated and four lines of defencehave been identified. A stratigraphie sounding in the southwest clarifies the origin of the town. In the necropolisassociated with the site, the excavation of a collective pit burial is presented. Intensive survey wascontinued outside the ancient town, with particular attention to sites that were occupied at the same time asAI-Rawda, to burials, which have been classified by type, and to installations that can be linked to agricultureor pastoralism. This work was supplemented by archaeobotanical, archaeozoological and geo-archaeologicalresearch, as weIl as a study of the environment.Ce rapport préliminaire présente les résultats de deux campagnes de fouilles et de prospection conduites en 2005 et 2006 sur le site d’Al-Rawda (Syrie du centre-ouest) et dans la microrégion de 100 km2 qui l’entoure. Le site, une ville neuve circulaire au plan d’urbanisme préconçu fondé vers 2500 av. J.-C., se trouve en zone steppique. Il n’est habité que durant le Bronze ancien IV, jusqu’à la fin du 3e millénaire.Les travaux en 2005 et 2006 ont porté sur la poursuite du dégagement extensif d’un sanctuaire qui regroupe deux temples et un temenos, avec l’ensemble des installations qu’ils contiennent (dont un bétyle in situ). À l’est, a été mise au jour la porte orientale de la ville tandis que quatre lignes de défense ont été identifiées. Un sondage stratigraphique au sud-ouest éclaire l’origine de la ville. Dans la nécropole associée au site, la fouille d’une tombe en puits collective est présentée.Parallèlement, la prospection intensive autour de la ville antique a été poursuivie en mettant l’accent sur les sites d’habitat contemporains d’Al-Rawda, les tombes caractérisées par type et les aménagements qui peuvent être liés à une mise en valeur agricole du territoire et au pastoralisme. Ces travaux ont été complétés par des études archéobotanique, archéozoologique, géoarchéologique et par une étude des milieux

An Induced Hypersensitive-Like Response Limits Expression of Foreign Peptides via a Recombinant TMV-Based Vector in a Susceptible Tobacco

BACKGROUND: By using tobacco mosaic virus (TMV)-based vectors, foreign epitopes of the VP1 protein from food-and-month disease virus (FMDV) could be fused near to the C-terminus of the TMV coat protein (CP) and expressed at high levels in susceptible tobacco plants. Previously, we have shown that the recombinant TMV vaccines displaying FMDV VP1 epitopes could generate protection in guinea pigs and swine against the FMDV challenge. Recently, some recombinant TMV, such as TMVFN20 that contains an epitope FN20 from the FMDV VP1, were found to induce local necrotic lesions (LNL) on the inoculated leaves of a susceptible tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum Samsun nn. This hypersensitive-like response (HLR) blocked amplification of recombinant TMVFN20 in tobacco and limited the utility of recombinant TMV vaccines against FMDV. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we investigate the molecular mechanism of the HLR in the susceptible Samsun nn. Histochemical staining analyses show that these LNL are similar to those induced in a resistant tobacco Samsun NN inoculated with wild type (wt) TMV. The recombinant CP subunits are specifically related to the HLR. Interestingly, this HLR in Samsun nn (lacking the N/N'-gene) was able to be induced by the recombinant TMV at both 25°C and 33°C, whereas the hypersensitive response (HR) in the resistant tobacco plants induced by wt TMV through the N/N'-gene pathways only at a permissive temperature (below 30°C). Furthermore, we reported for the first time that some of defense response (DR)-related genes in tobacco were transcriptionally upregulated during HLR. CONCLUSIONS: Unlike HR, HLR is induced in the susceptible tobacco through N/N'-gene independent pathways. Induction of the HLR is associated with the expression of the recombinant CP subunits and upregulation of the DR-related genes

Martian atmosphere as observed by VIRTIS‐M on Rosetta spacecraft

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95134/1/jgre2651.pd

Soil Diversity and Hydration as Observed by ChemCam at Gale Crater, Mars

Abstract: The ChemCam instrument, which provides insight into martian soil chemistry at the submillimeter scale, identified two principal soil types along the Curiosity rover traverse: a fine-grained mafic type and a locally derived, coarse-grained felsic type. The mafic soil component is representative of widespread martian soils and is similar in composition to the martian dust. It possesses a ubiquitous hydrogen signature in ChemCam spectra, corresponding to the hydration of the amorphous phases found in the soil by the CheMin instrument. This hydration likely accounts for an important fraction of the global hydration of the surface seen by previous orbital measurements. ChemCam analyses did not reveal any significant exchange of water vapor between the regolith and the atmosphere. These observations provide constraints on the nature of the amorphous phases and their hydration.Keywords: Water, Allophane, Chemistry, X-ray spectrometer, Surface, Instrument suite, Chemical composition, Emission spectrometer data, Hydrous minerals, Martian Regolit

Volatile and Organic Compositions of Sedimentary Rocks in Yellowknife Bay, Gale crater, Mars

H₂O, CO₂, SO₂, O₂, H₂, H₂S, HCl, chlorinated hydrocarbons, NO and other trace gases were evolved during pyrolysis of two mudstone samples acquired by the Curiosity rover at Yellowknife Bay within Gale crater, Mars. H₂O/OH-bearing phases included 2:1 phyllosilicate(s), bassanite, akaganeite, and amorphous materials. Thermal decomposition of carbonates and combustion of organic materials are candidate sources for the CO₂. Concurrent evolution of O₂ and chlorinated hydrocarbons suggest the presence of oxychlorine phase(s). Sulfides are likely sources for S-bearing species. Higher abundances of chlorinated hydrocarbons in the mudstone compared with Rocknest windblown materials previously analyzed by Curiosity suggest that indigenous martian or meteoritic organic C sources may be preserved in the mudstone; however, the C source for the chlorinated hydrocarbons is not definitively of martian origin

A Habitable Fluvio-Lacustrine Environment at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars

The Curiosity rover discovered fine-grained sedimentary rocks, inferred to represent an ancient lake, preserve evidence of an environment that would have been suited to support a Martian biosphere founded on chemolithoautotrophy. This aqueous environment was characterized by neutral pH, low salinity, and variable redox states of both iron and sulfur species. C, H, O, S, N, and P were measured directly as key biogenic elements, and by inference N and P are assumed to have been available. The environment likely had a minimum duration of hundreds to tens of thousands of years. These results highlight the biological viability of fluvial-lacustrine environments in the post-Noachian history of Mars

Elemental Geochemistry of Sedimentary Rocks at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars

Sedimentary rocks examined by the Curiosity rover at Yellowknife Bay, Mars, were derived from sources that evolved from approximately average Martian crustal composition to one influenced by alkaline basalts. No evidence of chemical weathering is preserved indicating arid, possibly cold, paleoclimates and rapid erosion/deposition. Absence of predicted geochemical variations indicates that magnetite and phyllosilicates formed by diagenesis under low temperature, circum-neutral pH, rock-dominated aqueous conditions. High spatial resolution analyses of diagenetic features, including concretions, raised ridges and fractures, indicate they are composed of iron- and halogen-rich components, magnesium-iron-chlorine-rich components and hydrated calcium-sulfates, respectively. Composition of a cross-cutting dike-like feature is consistent with sedimentary intrusion. Geochemistry of these sedimentary rocks provides further evidence for diverse depositional and diagenetic sedimentary environments during the early history of Mars