Maternal Exposure to Nitrogen Dioxide during Pregnancy and Offspring Birth Weight: Comparison of Two Exposure Models

International audienceThe two exposure models tended to give consistent results in terms of association with birth weight, despite the moderate concordance between exposure estimates

Comparison of qPCR and Metabarcoding Methods as Tools for the Detection of Airborne Inoculum of Forest Fungal Pathogens.

Forest diseases caused by invasive fungal pathogens are becoming more common, sometimes with dramatic consequences to forest ecosystems. The development of early detection systems is necessary for efficient surveillance and to mitigate the impact of invasive pathogens. Windborne spores are an important pathway for introduction of fungal pathogens into new areas; the design of spore trapping devices adapted to forests, capable of collecting different types of spores, and aligned with development of efficient molecular methods for detection of the pathogen, should help forest managers anticipate new disease outbreaks. Two types of Rotorod samplers were evaluated for the collection of airborne inoculum of forest fungal pathogens with a range of spore sizes in five forest types. Detection was by specific quantitative PCR (qPCR) and by high-throughput sequencing (HTS) of amplified internal transcribed spacer sequences using a new bioinformatic pipeline, FungiSearch, developed for diagnostic purposes. Validation of the pipeline was conducted on mock communities of 10 fungal species belonging to different taxa. Although the sensitivity of the new HTS pipeline was lower than the specific qPCR, it was able to detect a wide variety of fungal pathogens. FungiSearch is easy to use, and the reference database is updatable, making the tool suitable for rapid identification of new pathogens. This new approach combining spore trapping and HTS detection is promising as a diagnostic tool for invasive fungal pathogens

ProBio3 project: how to achieve scientific and technological challenges to boost the sustainable microbial production of lipids as biojet fuel and chemical compounds

The deal of ProBio3 project is to develop the microbial conversion on specific fatty acids of carbon substrates from renewable resources and industrial by-products. The main application fields are BiojetFuels and green chemistry. The objectives focus on the identification of renewable feedstock suitable for microbial nutritional requirements, the development of an intensive bioprocess, the proof of feasibility at pilot scale (m3) with the evaluation of environmental, economic and societal impacts. During 8 years, 16 French partners (9 research units LISBP, MICALIS, IJPB, IGM, IMFT, SQPOV, TSE, TWB, IFPen, 4 industries Airbus, EADS, Sofiproteol, Tereos et 3 technical centres ITERG, CVG, CREOL) associate their interdisciplinary competences from Life Sciences to Process Engineering including Economic and Social Sciences. With Investissement d’Avenir financial support, the expected impacts are increases of fundamental knowledge of lipid metabolism in oleaginous microorganisms, development of high-throughput tools to fasten industrial engineering strains and fermentation strategies, new extraction processes involving green solvents and realistic scale up studies towards an industrial pilot; with undeniable innovative aspects, the deal is to get competitive assets for leading international positions on a new biological route

ProBio3 project: how to achieve scientific and technological challenges to boost the sustainable microbial production of lipids as biojet fuel and chemical compounds

International audienceThe deal of ProBio3 project is to develop the microbial conversion on specific fatty acids of carbon substrates from renewable resources and industrial by-products. The main application fields are BiojetFuels and green chemistry. The objectives focus on the identification of renewable feedstock suitable for microbial nutritional requirements, the development of an intensive bioprocess, the proof of feasibility at pilot scale (m3) with the evaluation of environmental, economic and societal impacts. During 8 years, 16 French partners (9 research units LISBP, MICALIS, IJPB, IGM, IMFT, SQPOV, TSE, TWB, IFPen, 4 industries Airbus, EADS, Sofiproteol, Tereos et 3 technical centres ITERG, CVG, CREOL) associate their interdisciplinary competences from Life Sciences to Process Engineering including Economic and Social Sciences. With Investissement d’Avenir financial support, the expected impacts are increases of fundamental knowledge of lipid metabolism in oleaginous microorganisms, development of high-throughput tools to fasten industrial engineering strains and fermentation strategies, new extraction processes involving green solvents and realistic scale up studies towards an industrial pilot; with undeniable innovative aspects, the deal is to get competitive assets for leading international positions on a new biological route.Probio3 a pour ambition de développer la production microbienne d’acides gras spécifiques par conversion de substrats carbonés issus de ressources renouvelables et de co-produits industriels. Les champs d’application sont le biokérozène et la chimie verte. Les objectifs de Probio3 concernent l’identification de ressources renouvelables adaptées aux exigences nutritionnelles des microorganismes, le développement de bioprocédés intensifs, la preuve de faisabilité du concept à l’échelle d’un pilote (m3) avec l’évaluation des impacts environnementaux, économiques et sociétaux. Durant 8 années, 16 partenaires français (9 publics LISBP, MICALIS, IJPB, IGM, IMFT, SQPOV, TSE, TWB, IFPen, 4 industriels Airbus, EADS, Sofiproteol, Tereos et 3 centres techniques ITERG, CVG, CREOL) associent leurs compétences interdisciplinaires associant les Sciences de la Vie au Génie des Procédés ainsi que les Sciences Economiques et Sociales. Avec le soutien financier des Investissements d’Avenir, les retombées attendues du projet sont des avancées dans la connaissance fondamentale du métabolisme lipidique chez les microorganismes oléagineux, l’accélération du développement de souches industrielles et de stratégies de fermentation par des technologies à haut-débit, des ruptures technologiques dans l’extraction des lipides et des études réalistes de changement d’échelle pour un pilote industriel; avec des aspects innovants indéniables, il s’agit d’acquérir des atouts compétitifs pour une position de leader international en production microbienne de lipides.’etitifs pour une position de leader en production microbienne de lipides

Identification of pesticides exposure biomarkers for residents living close to vineyards in France

International audienceBiomonitoring can be relevant for assessing pesticides exposure of residents living close to vineyards (LCTV). However, because xenobiotics are generally present at low levels in human biological matrices and the sources of pesticide exposure are multiple, several challenges need to be overcome to reliably assess exposure in residents LCTV. This includes particularly identifying the most appropriate exposure biomarkers, the biological matrices in which they should be measured, and analytical methods that are sufficiently sensitive and specific to quantify them. The aim of the present study was to develop a tiered approach to identify relevant biomarkers and matrices for assessing pesticide exposure in residents LCTV. We used samples from a biobank for 121 adults and children included in a national prevalence study conducted between 2014 and 2016 who lived near or far from vineyards. We analyzed five priority pesticides (folpet, mancozeb, tebuconazole, glyphosate, and copper) and their metabolites in urine and hair samples. We identified relevant biomarkers according to three criteria related to: i) the detection frequency of those pesticides and metabolites in urine and hair, ii) the difference in concentrations depending on residence proximity to vineyards and, iii) the influence of other environmental and occupational exposure sources on pesticide levels. This tiered approach helped us to identify three relevant metabolites (two metabolites of folpet and one of tebuconazole) that were quantified in urine, tended to be higher in residents LCTV than in controls, and were not significantly influenced by occupational, dietary, or household sources of pesticide exposure. Our approach also helped us to identify the most appropriate measurement strategies (biological matrices, analytical methods) to assess pesticide exposure in residents LCTV. The approach developed here was a prerequisite step for guiding a large-scale epidemiological study aimed at comprehensively measuring pesticides exposures in French residents LCTV with a view to developing appropriate prevention strategies

A Geophysical Survey in Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral: Revealing the Buried Past After the Disaster

International audienc

A geophysical survey in Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral: Revealing the buried past after the disaster

International audienc