Using species richness and functional traits predictions to constrain assemblage predictions from stacked species distribution models

Aim: Modelling species at the assemblage level is required to make effective forecast of global change impacts on diversity and ecosystem functioning. Community predictions may be achieved using macroecological properties of communities (MEM), or by stacking of individual species distribution models (S-SDMs). To obtain more realistic predictions of species assemblages, the SESAM framework suggests applying successive filters to the initial species source pool, by combining different modelling approaches and rules. Here we provide a first test of this framework in mountain grassland communities. Location: The western Swiss Alps. Methods: Two implementations of the SESAM framework were tested: a "Probability ranking" rule based on species richness predictions and rough probabilities from SDMs, and a "Trait range" rule that uses the predicted upper and lower bound of community-level distribution of three different functional traits (vegetative height, specific leaf area and seed mass) to constraint a pool of environmentally filtered species from binary SDMs predictions. Results: We showed that all independent constraints expectedly contributed to reduce species richness overprediction. Only the "Probability ranking" rule allowed slightly but significantly improving predictions of community composition. Main conclusion: We tested various ways to implement the SESAM framework by integrating macroecological constraints into S-SDM predictions, and report one that is able to improve compositional predictions. We discuss possible improvements, such as further improving the causality and precision of environmental predictors, using other assembly rules and testing other types of ecological or functional constraints

Importance Of Toll-Like Receptors For B Lymphocyte Survival In Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome

The Sjögren's syndrome is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by lymphocytic infiltration of the glands responsible for mouth and eyes dryness. A minority of infiltrating B cells is organized as germinal centers while the majority is aggregated into clusters of transitional and marginal zone B cells. The Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) recognizes microbial DNA but also, sometimes, the self DNA. It appears to be a key determinant of the survival and differentiation of B lymphocytes. After laser micro-dissection of B cells from salivary glands, analyses by quantitative RT-PCR showed that transitional B cells express high level of TLR9 mRNA unlike B cells from germinal centers. B lymphocytes from healthy donors were sorted by flow cytometry and stimulated in vitro with their TLR9. It induces survival, activation and proliferation associated with phenotypic changes. Transitional B cells exhibited characteristics of the marginal zone, whereas mature B cells expressed follicular germinal center specificities. Finally, IgM and IgG were secreted by both population, but with elevated production of autoantibodies by the transitional B cells. Increased expression of TLR9 by transitional B cells suggests that they may be highly sensitive to differentiate into autoantibody secreting cells through maturation into the marginal zone into the salivary glands. TLR9 might be a target for forthcoming biotherapies. Le syndrome de Gougerot-Sjögren est une maladie autoimmune systémique caractérisée par une infiltration lymphocytaire des glandes responsable d'une sécheresse buccale et oculaire. Une minorité des lymphocytes B infiltrants est organisée en centres germinatifs tandis que la majorité est regroupée en agrégats de lymphocytes B transitionnels et de la zone marginale. Le Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) reconnaît l'ADN microbien mais aussi, parfois, l'ADN du soi. Il apparaît donc comme un élément déterminant de la survie et la différenciation des lymphocytes B. Après micro-dissection laser des lymphocytes B des glandes salivaires, une analyse par RT-PCR quantitative a montré que les lymphocytes B transitionnels expriment fortement l'ARNm de TLR9 contrairement à ceux des centres germinatifs. Des lymphocytes B de donneurs sains ont été triés par cytométrie en flux puis stimulés in vitro par leur TLR9. Il s’ensuit une survie, une activation et une prolifération associées à des modifications phénotypiques. Les lymphocytes B transitionnels présentent des caractéristiques de la zone marginale, tandis que les lymphocytes B matures expriment des spécificités folliculaires des centres germinatifs. Enfin, des IgM et des IgG sont sécrétées par les deux types de population, mais avec une production d'auto-anticorps plus élevée issue de la différenciation des lymphocytes B transitionnels. L’expression accrue de TLR9 par les lymphocytes B transitionnels suggère qu'ils pourraient être particulièrement sensibles à une différenciation en cellules sécrétrices d'auto-anticorps par une maturation vers la zone marginale au sein des glandes salivaires. Le TLR9 pourrait bien devenir la cible des futures biothérapies.The Sjögren's syndrome is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by lymphocytic infiltration of the glands responsible for mouth and eyes dryness. A minority of infiltrating B cells is organized as germinal centers while the majority is aggregated into clusters of transitional and marginal zone B cells. The Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) recognizes microbial DNA but also, sometimes, the self DNA. It appears to be a key determinant of the survival and differentiation of B lymphocytes. After laser micro-dissection of B cells from salivary glands, analyses by quantitative RT-PCR showed that transitional B cells express high level of TLR9 mRNA unlike B cells from germinal centers. B lymphocytes from healthy donors were sorted by flow cytometry and stimulated in vitro with their TLR9. It induces survival, activation and proliferation associated with phenotypic changes. Transitional B cells exhibited characteristics of the marginal zone, whereas mature B cells expressed follicular germinal center specificities. Finally, IgM and IgG were secreted by both population, but with elevated production of autoantibodies by the transitional B cells. Increased expression of TLR9 by transitional B cells suggests that they may be highly sensitive to differentiate into autoantibody secreting cells through maturation into the marginal zone into the salivary glands. TLR9 might be a target for forthcoming biotherapies. Le syndrome de Gougerot-Sjögren est une maladie autoimmune systémique caractérisée par une infiltration lymphocytaire des glandes responsable d'une sécheresse buccale et oculaire. Une minorité des lymphocytes B infiltrants est organisée en centres germinatifs tandis que la majorité est regroupée en agrégats de lymphocytes B transitionnels et de la zone marginale. Le Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) reconnaît l'ADN microbien mais aussi, parfois, l'ADN du soi. Il apparaît donc comme un élément déterminant de la survie et la différenciation des lymphocytes B. Après micro-dissection laser des lymphocytes B des glandes salivaires, une analyse par RT-PCR quantitative a montré que les lymphocytes B transitionnels expriment fortement l'ARNm de TLR9 contrairement à ceux des centres germinatifs. Des lymphocytes B de donneurs sains ont été triés par cytométrie en flux puis stimulés in vitro par leur TLR9. Il s’ensuit une survie, une activation et une prolifération associées à des modifications phénotypiques. Les lymphocytes B transitionnels présentent des caractéristiques de la zone marginale, tandis que les lymphocytes B matures expriment des spécificités folliculaires des centres germinatifs. Enfin, des IgM et des IgG sont sécrétées par les deux types de population, mais avec une production d'auto-anticorps plus élevée issue de la différenciation des lymphocytes B transitionnels. L’expression accrue de TLR9 par les lymphocytes B transitionnels suggère qu'ils pourraient être particulièrement sensibles à une différenciation en cellules sécrétrices d'auto-anticorps par une maturation vers la zone marginale au sein des glandes salivaires. Le TLR9 pourrait bien devenir la cible des futures biothérapies

Affine convex body semigroups

In this paper we present a new kind of semigroups called convex body semigroups which are generated by convex bodies of R^k. They generalize to arbitrary dimension the concept of proportionally modular numerical semigroup of [7]. Several properties of these semigroups are proven. Affine convex body semigroups obtained from circles and polygons of R^2 are characterized. The algorithms for computing minimal system of generators of these semigroups are given. We provide the implementation of some of them

Improving spatial predictions of taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity

In this study, we compare two community modelling approaches to determine their ability to predict the taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic properties of plant assemblages along a broad elevation gradient and at a fine resolution. The first method is the standard stacking individual species distribution modelling (SSDM) approach, which applies a simple environmental filter to predict species assemblages. The second method couples the SSDM and macroecological modelling (MEMSSDM-MEM) approaches to impose a limit on the number of species co-occurring at each site. Because the detection of diversity patterns can be influenced by different levels of phylogenetic or functional trees, we also examine whether performing our analyses from broad to more exact structures in the trees influences the performance of the two modelling approaches when calculating diversity indices. We found that coupling the SSDM with the MEM improves the overall predictions for the three diversity facets compared with those of the SSDM alone. The accuracy of the SSDM predictions for the diversity indices varied greatly along the elevation gradient, and when considering broad to more exact structure in the functional and phylogenetic trees, the SSDM-MEM predictions were more stable. SSDM-MEM moderately but significantly improved the prediction of taxonomic diversity, which was mainly driven by the corrected number of predicted species. The performance of both modelling frameworks increased when predicting the functional and phylogenetic diversity indices. In particular, fair predictions of the taxonomic composition by SSDM-MEM led to increasingly accurate predictions of the functional and phylogenetic indices, suggesting that the compositional errors were associated with species that were functionally or phylogenetically close to the correct ones; however, this did not always hold for the SSDM predictions.Synthesis. In this study, we tested the use of a recently published approach that couples species distribution and macroecological models to provide the first predictions of the distribution of multiple facets of plant diversity: taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic. Moderate but significant improvements were obtained; thus, our results open promising avenues for improving our ability to predict the different facets of biodiversity in space and time across broad environmental gradients when functional and phylogenetic information is available

Disentangling the processes driving plant assemblages in mountain grasslands across spatial scales and environmental gradients

1. Habitat filtering and limiting similarity are well-documented ecological assembly processes that hierarchically filter species across spatial scales, from a regional pool to local assemblages. However, information on the effects of fine-scale spatial partitioning of species, working as an additional mechanism of coexistence, on community patterns, is much scarcer. 2. In this study, we quantified the importance of fine-scale spatial partitioning, relative to habitat filtering and limiting similarity, in structuring grassland communities in the western Swiss Alps. To do so, 298 vegetation plots (2 m × 2 m ) each with five nested subplots (20 cm × 20 cm) were used for trait based assembly tests (i.e. comparisons with several alternative null expectations), examining the observed plot and subplot level α-diversity (indicating habitat filtering and limiting similarity) and the between-subplot β-diversity of traits (indicating fine-scale spatial partitioning). We further assessed variations in the detected signatures of these assembly processes along a set of environmental gradients. 3. We found habitat filtering to be the dominating assembly process at the plot level with diminished effect at the subplot level, while limiting similarity prevailed at the subplot level with weaker average effect at the plot level. Plot-level limiting similarity was positively correlated with fine-scale partitioning suggesting that the trait divergence may result from a combination of competitive exclusion between functionally similar species and environmental micro-heterogeneities. Overall, signatures of assembly processes only marginally changed along environmental gradients but the observed trends were more prominent at the plot than at the subplot scale. Synthesis: Our study emphasises the importance of considering multiple assembly processes and traits simultaneously across spatial scales and environmental gradients to understand the complex drivers of plant community composition

Is the blood B-cell subset profile diagnostic for Sjögren syndrome?

International audienc

TOLL-LIKE RECEPTOR 9 DRIVES THE MATURATION OF B LYMPHOCYTES IN THE SALIVARY GLANDS OF PATIENTS WITH SJÖGREN’S SYNDROME

Oral Communication presented at the ";Forum des Jeunes Chercheurs";, Brest (France) 2011

INVOLVEMENT OF RESPIRATORY CHAIN IN BIOFILM FORMATION IN PORPHYROMONAS GINGIVALIS

Oral Communication presented at the ";Forum des Jeunes Chercheurs";, Brest (France) 2011