Genome analysis of the necrotrophic fungal pathogens Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea are closely related necrotrophic plant pathogenic fungi notable for their wide host ranges and environmental persistence. These attributes have made these species models for understanding the complexity of necrotrophic, broad host-range pathogenicity. Despite their similarities, the two species differ in mating behaviour and the ability to produce asexual spores. We have sequenced the genomes of one strain of S. sclerotiorum and two strains of B. cinerea. The comparative analysis of these genomes relative to one another and to other sequenced fungal genomes is provided here. Their 38–39 Mb genomes include 11,860–14,270 predicted genes, which share 83% amino acid identity on average between the two species. We have mapped the S. sclerotiorum assembly to 16 chromosomes and found large-scale co-linearity with the B. cinerea genomes. Seven percent of the S. sclerotiorum genome comprises transposable elements compared t

Genomic Analysis of the Necrotrophic Fungal Pathogens Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea are closely related necrotrophic plant pathogenic fungi notable for their wide host ranges and environmental persistence. These attributes have made these species models for understanding the complexity of necrotrophic, broad host-range pathogenicity. Despite their similarities, the two species differ in mating behaviour and the ability to produce asexual spores. We have sequenced the genomes of one strain of S. sclerotiorum and two strains of B. cinerea. The comparative analysis of these genomes relative to one another and to other sequenced fungal genomes is provided here. Their 38–39 Mb genomes include 11,860–14,270 predicted genes, which share 83% amino acid identity on average between the two species. We have mapped the S. sclerotiorum assembly to 16 chromosomes and found large-scale co-linearity with the B. cinerea genomes. Seven percent of the S. sclerotiorum genome comprises transposable elements compared to <1% of B. cinerea. The arsenal of genes associated with necrotrophic processes is similar between the species, including genes involved in plant cell wall degradation and oxalic acid production. Analysis of secondary metabolism gene clusters revealed an expansion in number and diversity of B. cinerea–specific secondary metabolites relative to S. sclerotiorum. The potential diversity in secondary metabolism might be involved in adaptation to specific ecological niches. Comparative genome analysis revealed the basis of differing sexual mating compatibility systems between S. sclerotiorum and B. cinerea. The organization of the mating-type loci differs, and their structures provide evidence for the evolution of heterothallism from homothallism. These data shed light on the evolutionary and mechanistic bases of the genetically complex traits of necrotrophic pathogenicity and sexual mating. This resource should facilitate the functional studies designed to better understand what makes these fungi such successful and persistent pathogens of agronomic crops

The social economy of ageing : Job quality and pathways beyond the labour market in Europe

URL des Documents de travail : http://centredeconomiesorbonne.univ-paris1.fr/bandeau-haut/documents-de-travail/Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 2011.66 - ISSN : 1955-611XThis article analyses the effect of job quality on pathways to productive activities of older workers in Europe. Using comparative panel data from SHARE, we analyse the medium term effects of working conditions of workers aged 50-64 on three participation outcomes (staying in employment, participating in social activities and providing informal care) with a trivariate probit model. Several aspects of job quality appear to play a role for participation in society as a whole, including participation in social activities. Care-giving on the other hand appears independent from the considered job quality indicators, but very gender specific. However, trade-offs between full time work and care activities appear in some cases. Therefore, better working conditions and the opportunity for work time arrangements should be developed if one aims to foster participation of older workers in the society.L'objet de cet article est d'analyser les conséquences de la qualité du travail des seniors en Europe sur leur participation à des activités productives. En utilisant les données comparatives et longitudinales de l'enquête SHARE, nous étudions les effets à moyen terme des conditions de travail des travailleurs âgés de 50 à 64 ans sur trois types d'activités productives (maintien en emploi, participation à des activités sociales, aide informelle) à l'aide d'un probit trivarié. Les résultats révèlent que plusieurs aspects de la qualité du travail ont des effets non seulement sur le maintien en emploi, mais également sur la participation sociale. En revanche, aucun des indicateurs de qualité du travail considérés n'a d'impact sur l'implication dans les activités d'aide informelle, pour lesquelles le déterminant principal est le genre. Cependant, dans certains cas, on observe des arbitrages entre travail à temps plein et la fourniture d'aide. Ainsi, l'amélioration des conditions de travail et les aménagements de fin de carrière apparaissent comme un levier important pour favoriser le veillissement actif

The social economy of ageing: Job quality and pathways beyond the labour market in Europe.

This article analyses the effect of job quality on pathways to productive activities of older workers in Europe. Using comparative panel data from SHARE, we analyse the medium term effects of working conditions of workers aged 50-64 on three participation outcomes (staying in employment, participating in social activities and providing informal care) with a trivariate probit model. Several aspects of job quality appear to play a role for participation in society as a whole, including participation in social activities. Care-giving on the other hand appears independent from the considered job quality indicators, but very gender specific. However, trade-offs between full time work and care activities appear in some cases. Therefore, better working conditions and the opportunity for work time arrangements should be developed if one aims to foster participation of older workers in the society.Job quality, ageing, early retirement, social participation, informal care.

Frailty, polypharmacy, and potentially inappropriate medications in old people: findings in a representative sample of the French population: Medication prescribing, and frailty

International audiencePURPOSE:This study analyses the relationship between medication use and frailty by considering the quantity of medications prescribed (polypharmacy) and the quality of medication prescribing (according to French criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medications-PIMs) in people aged 65 and over.METHODS:This is a cross-sectional study based on the data from a nationally representative study about health and use of healthcare resources in France (ESPS 2012). The number of frailty criteria was assessed among exhaustion, unintentional weight loss, muscle weakness, impaired mobility, and low level of physical activity. Polypharmacy and PIMs were assessed from the data of reimbursement by the National Health Insurance over the whole year 2012. PIMs were defined according to the Laroche list plus additional criteria dealing with inappropriate prolonged use of medications. The analyses used Poisson regression models, with the number of frailty criteria as dependent variable.RESULTS:The study population was composed of 1003 women and 887 men, of mean age 74.7 +/- 7.4 years. Polypharmacy (5 to 9 drugs) and excessive polypharmacy (≥10 drugs) were reported in 42.9 and 27.4% of the study population, respectively, while 46.7% of the study population received at least one PIM during the year 2012. Polypharmacy and PIMs were both associated with the number of frailty criteria in models adjusted for socio-demographic and health characteristics of the participants. The prescription of anticholinergic medications was the only PIM that remained significantly associated with the number of frailty criteria after adjustment for polypharmacy.CONCLUSIONS:Polypharmacy and use of anticholinergic medications are independently associated with frailty in old people

Genome-wide analyses of chitin synthases identify horizontal gene transfers towards bacteria and allow a robust and unifying classification into fungi

International audienceBackgroundChitin, the second most abundant biopolymer on earth after cellulose, is found in probably all fungi, many animals (mainly invertebrates), several protists and a few algae, playing an essential role in the development of many of them. This polysaccharide is produced by type 2 glycosyltransferases, called chitin synthases (CHS). There are several contradictory classifications of CHS isoenzymes and, as regards their evolutionary history, their origin and diversity is still a matter of debate.ResultsA genome-wide analysis resulted in the detection of more than eight hundred putative chitin synthases in proteomes associated with about 130 genomes. Phylogenetic analyses were performed with special care to avoid any pitfalls associated with the peculiarities of these sequences (e.g. highly variable regions, truncated or recombined sequences, long-branch attraction). This allowed us to revise and unify the fungal CHS classification and to study the evolutionary history of the CHS multigenic family. This update has the advantage of being user-friendly due to the development of a dedicated website (http://wwwabi.snv.jussieu.fr/public/CHSdb), and it includes any correspondences with previously published classifications and mutants. Concerning the evolutionary history of CHS, this family has mainly evolved via duplications and losses. However, it is likely that several horizontal gene transfers (HGT) also occurred in eukaryotic microorganisms and, even more surprisingly, in bacteria.ConclusionsThis comprehensive multi-species analysis contributes to the classification of fungal CHS, in particular by optimizing its robustness, consensuality and accessibility. It also highlights the importance of HGT in the evolutionary history of CHS and describes bacterial chs genes for the first time. Many of the bacteria that have acquired a chitin synthase are plant pathogens (e.g. Dickeya spp; Pectobacterium spp; Brenneria spp; Agrobacterium vitis and Pseudomonas cichorii). Whether they are able to produce a chitin exopolysaccharide or secrete chitooligosaccharides requires further investigation

Reintroduction of immune-checkpoint inhibitors after immune-related meningitis: a case series of melanoma patients

Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) targeting cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 and programmed cell death ligand-1) are associated with several immune-related neurological disorders. Cases of meningitis related to ICIs are poorly described in literature and probably underestimated. Several guidelines are available for the acute management of these adverse events, but the safety of resuming ICIs in these patients remains unclear. We conducted a retrospective case series of immune-related meningitis associated with ICIs that occurred between October 1 2015 and October 31 2019 in two centers: Saint-Louis and Cochin hospitals, Paris, France. Diagnosis was defined by a (1) high count of lymphocytes (&gt;8 cells/mm3) and/or high level of proteins (&gt;0.45 g/L) without bacteria/virus or tumor cells detection, in cerebrospinal fluid and (2) normal brain and spine imaging. Patients were followed-up for at least 6 months from the meningitis onset. Seven cases of immune-related meningitis are here reported. Median delay of meningitis occurrence after ICIs onset was 9 days. Steroid treatment was introduced in four patients at a dose of 1 mg/kg (prednisone), allowing a complete recovery within 2 weeks. The other three patients spontaneously improved within 3 weeks. Given the favorable outcome, ICIs were reintroduced in all patients. The rechallenge was well tolerated and no patients experienced meningitis recurrence. In conclusion, in our series, the clinical course was favorable and steroids were not always required. Resuming ICIs in these patients appeared safe and can thus be considered in case of isolated meningitis. However, a careful analysis of the risk/benefit ratio should be done on a case-by-case basis

Analysis of liquid sodium purity by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. Modeling and correction of signal fluctuation prior to quantitation of trace elements

International audienceLiquid sodium is used as coolant in sodium-cooled fast nuclear reactors. Among many parameters to monitor to ensure the safe operation of the reactor, the coolant chemical purity is a relevant indicator of several undesirable situations, like corrosion of structural materials or sodium contamination, which may release different elements in the coolant. Several techniques have already been implemented to measure the sodium purity, but their response time is long and not suited for continuous monitoring. Therefore, as a complement to them, Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is considered as a promising technique for real-time analysis of the coolant purity. In this paper we report on the first LIBS quantitative measurements performed in liquid sodium at 150℃. Calibration curves were traced for lead and indium using the standard addition method. Important intensity drifts and fluctuations were observed, mostly due to pressure variations in the sodium oven. Background subtraction and/or normalization was used to compensate for those intensity fluctuations. To describe the effect of these corrections on the analytical signal noise, a simple model was proposed and its results were found to satisfactorily fit the experimental data. Using this approach, the best detection limits were obtained for the background-subtracted and normalized data, and were found to be 6 ppm for lead and 5 ppm for indium