Molecular integration of casanova in the Nodal signalling pathway controlling endoderm formation

International audienceEndoderm originates from a large endomesodermal field requiring Nodal signalling. The mechanisms that ensure segregation of endoderm from mesoderm are not fully understood. We first show that the timing and dose of Nodal activation are crucial for endoderm formation and the endoderm versus mesoderm fate choice, because sustained Nodal signalling is required to ensure endoderm formation but transient signalling is sufficient for mesoderm formation. In zebrafish, downstream of Nodal signals, three genes encoding transcription factors (faust, bonnie and clyde and the recently identified gene casanova) are required for endoderm formation and differentiation. However their positions within the pathway are not completely established. In the present work, we show that casanova is the earliest specification marker for endodermal cells and that its expression requires bonnie and clyde. Furthermore, we have analysed the molecular activities of casanova on endoderm formation and found that it can induce endodermal markers and repress mesodermal markers during gastrulation, as well as change the fate of marginal blastomeres to endoderm. Overexpression of casanova also restores endoderm markers in the absence of Nodal signalling. In addition, casanova efficiently restores later endodermal differentiation in these mutants, but this process requires, in addition, a partial activation of Nodal signalling

Zebrafish capable of generating future state prediction error show improved active avoidance behavior in virtual reality

Animals make decisions under the principle of reward value maximization and surprise minimization. It is still unclear how these principles are represented in the brain and are reflected in behavior. We addressed this question using a closed-loop virtual reality system to train adult zebrafish for active avoidance. Analysis of the neural activity of the dorsal pallium during training revealed neural ensembles assigning rules to the colors of the surrounding walls. Additionally, one third of fish generated another ensemble that becomes activated only when the real perceived scenery shows discrepancy from the predicted favorable scenery. The fish with the latter ensemble escape more efficiently than the fish with the former ensembles alone, even though both fish have successfully learned to escape, consistent with the hypothesis that the latter ensemble guides zebrafish to take action to minimize this prediction error. Our results suggest that zebrafish can use both principles of goal-directed behavior, but with different behavioral consequences depending on the repertoire of the adopted principles

Regional Methane Emission Estimation Based on Observed Atmospheric Concentrations (2002-2012)

Methane (CH4) plays important roles in atmospheric chemistry and short-term forcing of climate. A clear understanding of atmospheric CH4’s budget of emissions and losses is required to aid sustainable management of Earth’s future environment. We used an atmospheric chemistry-transport model (JAMSTEC’s ACTM) for simulating atmospheric CH4. A global inverse modeling system has been developed for estimating CH4 emissions from 53 land regions for 2002-2012 using measurements at 39 sites. An ensemble of 7 inversions is performed by varying a priori emissions. Global net CH4 emissions varied between 505-509 and 524-545 Tg yr-1 during 2002-2006 and 2008-2012, respectively (ranges based on 7 inversion cases), with a step like increase in 2007 in agreement with atmospheric measurements. The inversion system did not account for interannual variations in OH radicals reacting with CH4 in the atmosphere. Our results suggest that the recent update of the EDGAR inventory (version 4.2FT2010) overestimated the global total emissions by at least 25 Tg yr-1 in 2010. The increase in CH4 emission since 2004 originated in the tropical and southern hemisphere regions, coinciding with an increase in non-dairy cattle stocks by ~10 % from 2002 (with 1056 million heads) to 2012, leading to ~10 Tg yr-1 increase in emissions from enteric fermentation. All 7 ensemble cases robustly estimated the interannual variations in emissions, but poorly constrained the seasonal cycle amplitude or phase consistently for all regions due to the sparse observational network. Forward simulation results using both a priori and a posteriori emissions are compared with independent aircraft measurements for validation. Based on the results of the comparison, we reject the upper limit (545 Tg yr-1) of global total emissions as 14 Tg yr-1 too high during 2008-2012, which allows us to further conclude that the increase in CH4 emissions over the East Asia (mainly China) region was 7-8 Tg yr-1 between the 2002-2006 and 2008-2012 periods, contrary to 1-17 Tg yr-1 in the a priori emissions

Modelling of greenhouse gases and related species in the Arctic environment

Numerical modelling of greenhouse gases (GHGs) has become an integral part for understanding amplitude and variability in their concentrations and sources/sinks, atmospheric transport and climate implication. Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are the three major species studied in the Arctic Green Network of Excellence (GRENE), a programme funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology-Japan (MEXT). In addition some of the ozone depleting substances, e.g., methyl chloroform (CH3CCl3), have provided strong constrain on the global mean abundance of hydroxyl (OH) radical and its relative abundance in the northern and southern hemispheres (NH/SH OH ratio; Patra et al., 2014). Being the main destroyer of many of the GHGs (e.g., CH4, hydrofluorocarbons), accurate quantification of OH was needed for estimation of CH4 sink in the troposphere, and thus the sources on the Earth’s surface by inverse modelling (Patra et al., 2016). OH is also contributes to chemical production of CO2, up to ~50% of land/ocean sink. The modellers are also required to verify the accuracy of model transport using tracers of short (e.g., 222Rn with 3.8 days) and long (SF6 with 3200 yrs) lifetimes. For understanding of the carbon cycle science, analyses of oxygen (O2/N2) variability are also conducted. List of chemistry-transport models (CTMs) participating in the Arctic GRENE programme are given Table 1.O08-05, Final Symposium on GRENE-Arctic Climate Change Research Project = GRENE北極気候変動研究事業研究成果報告会 (3-4 March, 2016, National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics, Tachikawa, Japan

Etude sur les mécanismes moléculaires de la détermination du destin endodermique chez le poisson zèbre

PARIS-BIUSJ-Thèses (751052125) / SudocPARIS-BIUSJ-Physique recherche (751052113) / SudocSudocFranceF

Regulation of Nodal Signalling and Mesendoderm Formation by TARAM-A, a TGFβ-Related Type I Receptor

International audienceNodal signalling is essential for many developmental events during vertebrate development, including the establishment of left-right asymmetry, of dorsoventral axis of the central nervous system, and endoderm and mesoderm formation. The zebrafish TGFbeta-related type I receptor, TARAM-A (Tar), is expressed in the prospective mesendodermal territory and, when activated, can transfate early blastomeres into endoderm, suggesting that Nodal and Tar may represent similar signalling pathways. We have analysed the functional relationships between those two pathways in zebrafish. We first demonstrate that tar and the zebrafish nodal genes cyc and sqt functionally interact. We also show that a dominant-negative isoform of Tar, TarMR, interferes specifically with the function of Cyc and Sqt in vitro, but does not interfere with the function of BMP2, another TGFbeta-related molecule. TarMR interferes also with Nodal signalling in vivo since it enhances the phenotype of embryos with weakened Nodal signalling. Overexpression of tarMR in wild-type embryos interfered with the formation of endoderm-derived structures. Conversely, overexpression of tar enlarged the presumptive mesendodermal region at the onset of gastrulation. Together, our results point to Tar as an essential factor for endoderm formation and an important modulator of Nodal signalling, potentially representing one of the Nodal receptors. (c)2001 Elsevier Science