Visacane, an innovative quarantine tool for the exchange of pest and disease-free sugarcane germplasm

Sugarcane varietal improvement can not exclusively rely upon exchange and introduction of genetic resources via true seeds (fuzz). It also requires the introduction of vegetative propagation material (cuttings, tissue-cultured plantlets). The continued increase in international and intercontinental trade in plants has led to the enforcement of quarantine measures before introduction into a country because many plant pathogens can be carried and transmitted by vegetatively propagated material. Visacane is the new name of Cirad's sugarcane quarantine (http://visacane.cirad.fr/en/). It covers three main quarantine procedures: detection of pests and pathogens, elimination of pests and pathogens, and transfer of plant material free of pests and pathogens. It has been devoted to sugarcane quarantining for several decades. Besides phytosanitary constraints, Visacane takes also into account legal constraints and ensures, through appropriate contracts, that plant breeders' intellectual property rights over the transferred material are respected. Unlike most sugarcane quarantines that are essentially used to import sugarcane germplasm into a country, Visacane can import and export varieties from and to most sugarcane growing countries in the world, ensuring that the material is free from any important pest and disease causing pathogen. Until recently, the sugarcane quarantine process was aimed at detecting known pathogens harbored by the plant material and eliminating these pathogens whenever possible. It is an a priori process, because it only takes into account the pathogens that have been previously described and for which efficient detection tools exist. During the last three decades, several new viruses infecting sugarcane have been discovered, including Sugarcane bacilliform virus, Sugarcane yellow leaf virus, Sugarcane streak mosaic virus and the virus associated with Ramu stunt. In addition, the etiology of chlorotic streak, a disease known since 1929, has not been elucidated so far, although there is evidence for its infectious nature. Therefore, it can be assumed that unknown pathogens are still to be discovered in sugarcane, especially if these pathogens do not cause symptoms that can be easily observed. For these reasons, the research team associated with Visacane is setting up a new strategy of diagnostics, the so-called sequence-independent approach which aims at deciphering the virome (= the genomes of all the viruses that inhabit a particular organism). We believe that our forthcoming combined process, that will include our traditional approaches in addition to the metagenomics approach, will drastically improve our routine quarantine diagnostics. (Texte intégral

La conférence électronique Ager sur l'agronomie au Cirad : principaux apports et propositions : Synthèse des débats (4 octobre-19 novembre 1999)

Cette synthèse s'articule autour de cinq grands thèmes : les grands enjeux, l'adaptation au contexte et les priorités ; la structuration du champ scientifique Ager et les contenus des différents domaines ; la pluriactivité de l'agronome au Cirad ; l'activité de formation ; l'animation scientifiqu

Valorisation des actions du Cirad sur la canne à sucre : acquis, forces et faiblesses dans un contexte économique difficile

La filière canne à sucre rassemble une quantité importante d'acteurs : grands groupes industriels, associations privées de recherche, ONG (sucre éthique), usines sucrières, groupements de planteurs, centres de formation, etc. La recherche " canne " Cirad a été jusqu'à maintenant très " tirée " par la demande des industriels et des planteurs. Cette filière ne dispose pas de centres internationaux de recherche (CGIARs) comme d'autres plantes (maïs, sorgho, riz...), ce qui donne un caractère particulier aux recherches sur la canne, essentiellement effectuées dans des centres de recherche adossés aux industries sucrières des pays producteurs. En France, il y a un dispositif unique intégrant la quarantaine " Visacane ", les variétés (Cirad et eRcane) et l'expertise agronomique acquise par le Cirad depuis les années 60. Cette expertise est sollicitée dans tous les domaines scientifiques par nos partenaires habituels francophones et depuis quelques années anglophones. Depuis 2007, les demandes d'appui aux pays ACP de l'Union Européenne se sont multipliées suite à la réforme du prix du sucre. Des restructurations du secteur sucrier dans ces pays ont généré des expertises relayées par les cabinets de consultants sur l'économie et les procédés industriels et la recherche agronomique. Cependant le paysage de la recherche en France a beaucoup évolué et le Cirad est passé d'un stade d'institut technique pour le développement à celui d'un véritable centre de recherche où la science a pris progressivement le pas sur l'expertise. Dans un contexte de crise mondiale et européenne, il est montré dans cet article comment un organisme comme le Cirad s'adapte aux défis de recherche sur les filières comme la canne à sucre, les atouts dont il dispose et la stratégie qu'il peut mettre en oeuvre face aux nécessaires changements et évolution de la recherche internationale. (Résumé d'auteur

Visacane, the Cirad quarantine tool for the exchange of pest and disease-free sugarcane germplasm

Sugarcane varietal improvement requires the introduction of vegetative propagation material. The continued increase of international and intercontinental trade of plants has led to the enforcement of quarantine measures in many countries before the introduction of vegetatively propagated material because many plant pathogens can be carried and transmitted by them. Visacane is the CIRAD's sugarcane quarantine (http://visacane.cirad.fr/en/). Visacane has been devoted to sugarcane quarantining for several decades. It covers detection of pests and pathogens, elimination of pests and pathogens, and transfer of plant material free of pests and pathogens. Besides phytosanitary constraints, this quarantine structure also takes into account legal constraints and ensures that plant breeders' intellectual property rights over the transferred material are respected. Visacane can import and export varieties from and to most sugarcane growing countries in the world, ensuring that the material is free from any well-known important pest and disease causing agent. Because it is integrated into a pathology research unit studying various aspects of plant-pathogen interactions, and thanks to its collaborations within a network of sugarcane technologists, Visacane can regularly update its expertise and propose plant material exhibiting the best possible phytosanitary quality. (Résumé d'auteur

Dopexamine and norepinephrine versus epinephrine on gastric perfusion in patients with septic shock: a randomized study [NCT00134212]

INTRODUCTION: Microcirculatory blood flow, and notably gut perfusion, is important in the development of multiple organ failure in septic shock. We compared the effects of dopexamine and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) with those of epinephrine (adrenaline) on gastric mucosal blood flow (GMBF) in patients with septic shock. The effects of these drugs on oxidative stress were also assessed. METHODS: This was a prospective randomized study performed in a surgical intensive care unit among adults fulfilling usual criteria for septic shock. Systemic and pulmonary hemodynamics, GMBF (laser-Doppler) and malondialdehyde were assessed just before catecholamine infusion (T(0)), as soon as mean arterial pressure (MAP) reached 70 to 80 mmHg (T(1)), and 2 hours (T(2)) and 6 hours (T(3)) after T(1). Drugs were titrated from 0.2 μg kg(-1 )min(-1 )with 0.2 μg kg(-1 )min(-1 )increments every 3 minutes for epinephrine and norepinephrine, and from 0.5 μg kg(-1 )min(-1 )with 0.5 μg kg(-1 )min(-1 )increments every 3 minutes for dopexamine. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients were included (10 receiving epinephrine, 12 receiving dopexamine–norepinephrine). There was no significant difference between groups on MAP at T(0), T(1), T(2), and T(3). Heart rate and cardiac output increased significantly more with epinephrine than with dopexamine–norepinephrine, whereas. GMBF increased significantly more with dopexamine–norepinephrine than with epinephrine between T(1 )and T(3 )(median values 106, 137, 133, and 165 versus 76, 91, 90, and 125 units of relative flux at T(0), T(1), T(2 )and T(3), respectively). Malondialdehyde similarly increased in both groups between T(1 )and T(3). CONCLUSION: In septic shock, at doses that induced the same effect on MAP, dopexamine–norepinephrine enhanced GMBF more than epinephrine did. No difference was observed on oxidative stress

Visacane, an up to date Cirad quarantine tool for exchanging disease-free sugarcane varieties in compliance with property rights. [BO24]

Sugarcane varietal improvement requires the introduction of vegetatively propagated material. The continued increase of international and intercontinental trade of plants has led to the enforcement of quarantine measures in many countries before the import of vegetatively propagated material because many plant pathogens can be carried and transmitted by them. Visacane, the CIRAD's sugarcane quarantine service, has been devoted to sugarcane quarantining for several decades. It covers detection and elimination of pests and pathogens and the transfer of pest and pathogen-free plant material. At the present time, Visacane detects 12 major sugarcane diseases caused by viruses and bacteria. Visacane imports and exports varieties from and to about 30 sugarcane growing countries in the world, and ensures that the material is free from any well-known important pest and disease causing agent. Besides phytosanitary constraints, Visacane also takes into account legal constraints and ensures that plant breeders' intellectual property rights over the transferred material are respected. All the shipments of varieties are covered by a Material Transfer Agreement which specifies the conditions for use of the varieties. Breeding centers can exchange sugarcane varieties with other breeding centers or disseminate varieties through the Visacane network in compliance with their property rights. Because it is integrated into a pathology research unit studying various aspects of plant-pathogen interactions, and thanks to its collaborations within a network of sugarcane technologists, Visacane regularly updates its expertise and provides plant material exhibiting the best possible phytosanitary quality. The last update follows the discovery of a novel sugarcane mastrevirus using a metagenomics approach (new strategy for virus identification). (Texte intégral

Marine mammals exploring the oceans pole to pole

Polar oceans are poorly monitored despite the important role they play in regulating Earth’s climate system. Marine mammals equipped with biologging devices are now being used to fill the data gaps in these logistically difficult to sample regions. Since 2002, instrumented animals have been generating exceptionally large data sets of oceanographic CTD casts (>500,000 profiles), which are now freely available to the scientific community through the MEOP data portal (http://meop.net). MEOP (Marine Mammals Exploring the Oceans Pole to Pole) is a consortium of international researchers dedicated to sharing animal-derived data and knowledge about the polar oceans. Collectively, MEOP demonstrates the power and cost-effectiveness of using marine mammals as data-collection platforms that can dramatically improve the ocean observing system for biological and physical oceanographers. Here, we review the MEOP program and database to bring it to the attention of the international community.http://www.tos.org/oceanographyam2017Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog