A Feminist creation myth

None provided

Un terrain et ses enjeux : l'exemple du contrat de connaissance

Il peut paraître paradoxal de traiter de problèmes liés à une recherche qui remonte à une quinzaine d’années. Pourtant, à saisir a posteriori les tenants et les aboutissants du contrat de connaissance Régie Renault-CNRS, les modalités de sa mise en œuvre et les résultats auxquels il a donné lieu, force est de constater qu’il présente un certain intérêt, autant par son apport que par les interrogations et les questions qu’il sous-tend. Par sa spécificité, par son originalité, son contenu et sa..

Introduction

La conclusion de l'Uruguay Round et la création de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) sont un jalon important dans l'histoire contemporaine de l'économie mondiale. Jamais un nombre aussi important d'Etats n'avait adopté un programme aussi vaste et ambitieux d'intégration de l'économie mondiale. Trois ans après son entrée en vigueur, ce puissant dispositif de libéralisation de l'ensemble des relations économiques internationales continue cependant de susciter dans le monde entier des in..

High resolution mapping of the recombination landscape of the phytopathogen Fusarium graminearum suggests two-speed genome evolution

International audienceRecombination is a major evolutionary force, increasing genetic diversity and permitting efficient coevolution of fungal pathogen(s) with their host(s). The ascomycete Fusarium graminearum is a devastating pathogen of cereal crops, and can contaminate food and feed with harmful mycotoxins. Previous studies have suggested a high adaptive potential of this pathogen, illustrated by an increase in pathogenicity and resistance to fungicides. In this study, we provide the first detailed picture of the crossover events occurring during meiosis and discuss the role of recombination in pathogen evolution. An experimental recombinant population (n = 88) was created and genotyped using 1306 polymorphic markers obtained from restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) and aligned to the reference genome. The construction of a high-density linkage map, anchoring 99% of the total length of the reference genome, allowed the identification of 1451 putative crossovers, positioned at a median resolution of 24 kb. The majority of crossovers (87.2%) occurred in a relatively small portion of the genome (30%). All chromosomes demonstrated recombination-active sections, which had a near 15-fold higher crossover rate than non-active recombinant sections. The recombination rate showed a strong positive correlation with nucleotide diversity, and recombination-active regions were enriched for genes with a putative role in host-pathogen interaction, as well as putative diversifying genes. Our results confirm the preliminary analysis observed in other F. graminearum strains and suggest a conserved 'two-speed' recombination landscape. The consequences with regard to the evolutionary potential of this major fungal pathogen are also discussed

SAPHIR - a multi-scale, multi-resolution modeling environment targeting blood pressure regulation and fluid homeostasis.

International audienceWe present progress on a comprehensive, modular, interactive modeling environment centered on overall regulation of blood pressure and body fluid homeostasis. We call the project SAPHIR, for "a Systems Approach for PHysiological Integration of Renal, cardiac, and respiratory functions". The project uses state-of-the-art multi-scale simulation methods. The basic core model will give succinct input-output (reduced-dimension) descriptions of all relevant organ systems and regulatory processes, and it will be modular, multi-resolution, and extensible, in the sense that detailed submodules of any process(es) can be "plugged-in" to the basic model in order to explore, eg. system-level implications of local perturbations. The goal is to keep the basic core model compact enough to insure fast execution time (in view of eventual use in the clinic) and yet to allow elaborate detailed modules of target tissues or organs in order to focus on the problem area while maintaining the system-level regulatory compensations

Nucleosome patterns in four plant pathogenic fungi with contrasted genome structures

Fungal pathogens represent a serious threat towards agriculture, health, and environment. Control of fungal diseases on crops necessitates a global understanding of fungal pathogenicity determinants and their expression during infection. Genomes of phytopathogenic fungi are often compartmentalized: the core genome contains housekeeping genes whereas the fast-evolving genome mainly contains transposable elements and species-specific genes. In this study, we analysed nucleosome landscapes of four phytopathogenic fungi with contrasted genome organizations to describe and compare nucleosome repartition patterns in relation with genome structure and gene expression level. We combined MNase-seq and RNA-seq analyses to concomitantly map nucleosome-rich and transcriptionally active regions during fungal growth in axenic culture; we developed the MNase-seq Tool Suite (MSTS) to analyse and visualise data obtained from MNase-seq experiments in combination with other genomic data and notably RNA-seq expression data. We observed different characteristics of nucleosome profiles between species, as well as between genomic regions within the same species. We further linked nucleosome repartition and gene expression. Our findings support that nucleosome positioning and occupancies are subjected to evolution, in relation with underlying genome sequence modifications. Understanding genomic organization and its role in expression regulation is the next gear to understand complex cellular mechanisms and their evolution

Zebularine, a DNA Methylation Inhibitor, Activates Anthocyanin Accumulation in Grapevine Cells

Through its role in the regulation of gene expression, DNA methylation can participate in the control of specialized metabolite production. We have investigated the link between DNA methylation and anthocyanin accumulation in grapevine using the hypomethylating drug, zebularine and Gamay Teinturier cell suspensions. In this model, zebularine increased anthocyanin accumulation in the light, and induced its production in the dark. To unravel the underlying mechanisms, cell transcriptome, metabolic content, and DNA methylation were analyzed. The up-regulation of stress-related genes, as well as a decrease in cell viability, revealed that zebularine affected cell integrity. Concomitantly, the global DNA methylation level was only slightly decreased in the light and not modified in the dark. However, locus-specific analyses demonstrated a decrease in DNA methylation at a few selected loci, including a CACTA DNA transposon and a small region upstream from the UFGT gene, coding for the UDP glucose:flavonoid-3-O-glucosyltransferase, known to be critical for anthocyanin biosynthesis. Moreover, this decrease was correlated with an increase in UFGT expression and in anthocyanin content. In conclusion, our data suggest that UFGT expression could be regulated through DNA methylation in Gamay Teinturier, although the functional link between changes in DNA methylation and UFGT transcription still needs to be demonstrated