Widespread exploitation of the honeybee by early Neolithic farmers.

This is the author's version of an article subsequently published in Nature. The definitive version is available from the publisher via: doi: 10.1038/nature15757.Copyright © 2015, Rights Managed by Nature Publishing GroupThe pressures on honeybee (Apis mellifera) populations, resulting from threats by modern pesticides, parasites, predators and diseases, have raised awareness of the economic importance and critical role this insect plays in agricultural societies across the globe. However, the association of humans with A. mellifera predates post-industrial-revolution agriculture, as evidenced by the widespread presence of ancient Egyptian bee iconography dating to the Old Kingdom (approximately 2400 BC). There are also indications of Stone Age people harvesting bee products; for example, honey hunting is interpreted from rock art in a prehistoric Holocene context and a beeswax find in a pre-agriculturalist site. However, when and where the regular association of A. mellifera with agriculturalists emerged is unknown. One of the major products of A. mellifera is beeswax, which is composed of a complex suite of lipids including n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids and fatty acyl wax esters. The composition is highly constant as it is determined genetically through the insect's biochemistry. Thus, the chemical 'fingerprint' of beeswax provides a reliable basis for detecting this commodity in organic residues preserved at archaeological sites, which we now use to trace the exploitation by humans of A. mellifera temporally and spatially. Here we present secure identifications of beeswax in lipid residues preserved in pottery vessels of Neolithic Old World farmers. The geographical range of bee product exploitation is traced in Neolithic Europe, the Near East and North Africa, providing the palaeoecological range of honeybees during prehistory. Temporally, we demonstrate that bee products were exploited continuously, and probably extensively in some regions, at least from the seventh millennium cal BC, likely fulfilling a variety of technological and cultural functions. The close association of A. mellifera with Neolithic farming communities dates to the early onset of agriculture and may provide evidence for the beginnings of a domestication process.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)English HeritageEuropean Research Council (ERC)Leverhulme TrustMinistère de la Culture et de la CommunicationMinistère de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la RechercheRoyal SocietyWellcome Trus

Timing and pace of dairying inception and animal husbandry practices across Holocene North Africa

The timing and extent of the adoption and exploitation of domesticates and their secondary products, across Holocene North Africa, has long been the subject of debate. The three distinct areas within the region, Mediterranean north Africa, the Nile Valley and the Sahara, each with extremely diverse environments and ecologies, demonstrate differing trajectories to pastoralism. Here, we address this question using a combination of faunal evidence and organic residue analyses of c. 300 archaeological vessels from sites in Algeria, Libya and Sudan. This synthesis of new and published data provides a broad regional and chronological perspective on the scale and intensity of domestic animal exploitation and the inception of dairying practices in Holocene North Africa. Following the introduction of domesticated animals into the region our results confirm a hiatus of around one thousand years before the adoption of a full pastoral economy, which appears first in the Libyan Sahara, at c. 5200 BCE, subsequently appearing at c. 4600 BCE in the Nile Valley and at 4400–3900 BCE in Mediterranean north Africa

New dimensions in CXCR4 and Rac1 regulation

To gain more insights in the molecular mechanisms regulating cellular migration, which is an important process involved in beneficial biological processes as well as in pathological conditions, we focused our research on two crucial proteins, i,e. the chemokine receptor CXCR4 and the small GTPase Rac1. We have investigated the interplay between these two proteins as well as their individual regulation and function. Our research was particularly focused on the role for Rac1 in regulating the responsive conformation of the CXCR4 receptor. This work established a previously unrecognized role for Rac1 in fine-tuning CXCR4 responses. We identified a region in CXCR4 that mediates Rac1 signaling and subsequently regulates the receptor’s conformation. In addition, we identified the CXCR4-binding protein nucleophosmin1 (NPM1) as a novel negative regulator of Rac1 activity and found that, reciprocally, Rac1 regulates NPM1 subcellular localization. Finally, we address the importance of the hypervariable C-terminus of Rac1 in regulating its function

Atlas préhistorique de la Tunisie. 11. Kairouan

Zoughlami Jamel, Chenorkian Robert, Harbi-Riahi Mounira. Atlas préhistorique de la Tunisie. 11. Kairouan. Rome : École Française de Rome, 1998. 166 p. (Publications de l'École française de Rome, 81-11

Atlas préhistorique de la Tunisie. 11. Kairouan

Zoughlami Jamel, Chenorkian Robert, Harbi-Riahi Mounira. Atlas préhistorique de la Tunisie. 11. Kairouan. Rome : École Française de Rome, 1998. 166 p. (Publications de l'École française de Rome, 81-11

Atlas préhistorique de la Tunisie. 1. Tabarka

Camps Gabriel, Gragueb Abderrazak, Harbi-Riahi Mounira et al. Atlas préhistorique de la Tunisie. 1. Tabarka. Rome : École Française de Rome, 1985. 34 p. (Publications de l'École française de Rome, 81-1

Atlas préhistorique de la Tunisie. 2. Bizerte

Gragueb Abderrazak, Camps Gabriel, Harbi-Riahi Mounira et al. Atlas préhistorique de la Tunisie. 2. Bizerte. Rome : École Française de Rome, 1985. 46 p. (Publications de l'École française de Rome, 81-2

Atlas préhistorique de la Tunisie. 1. Tabarka

Camps Gabriel, Gragueb Abderrazak, Harbi-Riahi Mounira et al. Atlas préhistorique de la Tunisie. 1. Tabarka. Rome : École Française de Rome, 1985. 34 p. (Publications de l'École française de Rome, 81-1

Atlas préhistorique de la Tunisie. 12. El Djem

Camps Gabriel, Gragueb Abderrazak, Harbi-Riahi Mounira et al. Atlas préhistorique de la Tunisie. 12. El Djem. Rome : École Française de Rome, 1995. 34 p. (Publications de l'École française de Rome, 81-12

Nucleophosmin1 Is a Negative Regulator of the Small GTPase Rac1

The Rac1 GTPase is a critical regulator of cytoskeletal dynamics and controls many biological processes, such as cell migration, cell-cell contacts, cellular growth and cell division. These complex processes are controlled by Rac1 signaling through effector proteins. We have previously identified several effector proteins of Rac1 that also act as Rac1 regulatory proteins, including caveolin-1 and PACSIN2. Here, we report that Rac1 interacts through its C-terminus with nucleophosmin1 (NPM1), a multifunctional nucleo-cytoplasmic shuttling protein with oncogenic properties. We show that Rac1 controls NPM1 subcellular localization. In cells expressing active Rac1, NPM1 translocates from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. In addition, Rac1 regulates the localization of the phosphorylated pool of NPM1 as this pool translocated from the nucleus to the cytosol in cells expressing activated Rac1. Conversely, we found that expression of NPM1 limits Rac1 GTP loading and cell spreading. In conclusion, this study identifies NPM1 as a novel, negative regulator of Rac1