Enseigner la collaboration : retour d’expérience sur l’atelier de projet « architecture et empreinte sociétale »

L’architecture est une discipline du projet qui fait appel, dans des situations de conception complexe, à des compétences sociocognitives telles que l’écoute, le leadership, l’empathie, la médiation ... souvent peu explicitées dans les parcours de formation. Cet article propose de partager une expérience pédagogique visant à enseigner ces compétences par un dispositif pédagogique basé sur l’apprentissage expérientiel et le live project. En prenant appui sur cinq années de productions de rapports réflexifs par les étudiants, il tente de mettre en évidence les apprentissages effectifs et prises de conscience des étudiants sur les enjeux et compétences liés au travail collaboratif

The roles of bacterial DNA double-strand break repair proteins in chromosomal DNA replication

It is well established that DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair is required to underpin chromosomal DNA replication. Because DNA replication forks are prone to breakage, faithful DSB repair and correct replication fork restart are critically important. Cells, where the proteins required for DSB repair are absent or altered, display characteristic disturbances to genome replication. In this review, we analyze how bacterial DNA replication is perturbed in DSB repair mutant strains and explore the consequences of these perturbations for bacterial chromosome segregation and cell viability. Importantly, we look at how DNA replication and DSB repair processes are implicated in the striking recent observations of DNA amplification and DNA loss in the chromosome terminus of various mutant Escherichia coli strains. We also address the mutant conditions required for the remarkable ability to copy the entire E. coli genome, and to maintain cell viability, even in the absence of replication initiation from oriC, the unique origin of DNA replication in wild type cells. Furthermore, we discuss the models that have been proposed to explain these phenomena and assess how these models fit with the observed data, provide new insights, and enhance our understanding of chromosomal replication and termination in bacteria

MukB colocalizes with the oriC region and is required for organization of the two Escherichia coli chromosome arms into separate cell halves

The circular Escherichia coli chromosome is organized by bidirectional replication into two equal left and right arms (replichores). Each arm occupies a separate cell half, with the origin of replication (oriC) at mid-cell. E. coli MukBEF belongs to the ubiquitous family of SMC protein complexes that play key roles in chromosome organization and processing. In mukBEF mutants, viability is restricted to low temperature with production of anucleate cells, reflecting chromosome segregation defects. We show that in mukB mutant cells, the two chromosome arms do not separate into distinct cell halves, but extend from pole to pole with the oriC region located at the old pole. Mutations in topA, encoding topoisomerase I, do not suppress the aberrant positioning of chromosomal loci in mukB cells, despite suppressing the temperature-sensitivity and production of anucleate cells. Furthermore, we show that MukB and the oriC region generally colocalize throughout the cell cycle, even when oriC localization is aberrant. We propose that MukBEF initiates the normal bidirectional organization of the chromosome from the oriC region

Replication-directed sister chromosome alignment in Escherichia coli

Non-replicating Escherichia coli chromosomes are organized as sausage-shaped structures with the left (L) and the right (R) chromosome arms (replichores) on opposite cell halves and the replication origin (oriC) close to midcell. The replication termination region (ter) therefore passes between the two outer edges of the nucleoid. Four alignment patterns of the two <LR> sister chromosomes within a cell have been detected in an asynchronous population, with the <LRLR> pattern predominating. We test the hypothesis that the minority <LRRL> and <RLLR> patterns arise because of pausing of DNA replication on the right and left replichores respectively. The data resulting from transient pausing or longer-term site-specific blocking of replication show that paused/blocked loci remain close to midcell and the normally replicated-segregated loci locate to the outer regions of the nucleoid, therefore providing experimental support for a direct mechanistic link between DNA replication and chromosome organization

Replication termination without a replication fork trap

International audienceBacterial chromosomes harbour a unique origin of bidirectional replication, oriC. They are almost always circular, with replication terminating in a region diametrically opposite to oriC, the terminus. The oriC-terminus organisation is reflected by the orientation of the genes and by the disposition of DNA-binding protein motifs implicated in the coordination of chromosome replication and segregation with cell division. Correspondingly, the E. coli and B. subtilis model bacteria possess a replication fork trap system, Tus/ter and RTP/ter, respectively, which enforces replication termination in the terminus region. Here, we show that tus and rtp are restricted to four clades of bacteria, suggesting that tus was recently domesticated from a plasmid gene. We further demonstrate that there is no replication fork system in Vibrio cholerae, a bacterium closely related to E. coli. Marker frequency analysis showed that replication forks originating from ectopic origins were not blocked in the terminus region of either of the two V. cholerae chromosomes, but progressed normally until they encountered an opposite fork. As expected, termination synchrony of the two chromosomes is disrupted by these ectopic origins. Finally, we show that premature completion of the primary chromosome replication did not modify the choreography of segregation of its terminus region

Apprendre la collaboration et apprendre par la collaboration dans un projet réel - à partir d'expériences en paysage et en architecture

International audienceLa communication s’attachera à présenter le projet pédagogique « Jardin d’Expériences » (« JExp’ ») qui s’appuie sur un principe d’apprentissage « design and build» Cette activité a été initiée en 2016 au sein de la FA+U (Faculté d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme de Mons). A travers un chantier d’aménagement, le « JExp’ » donne la liberté aux étudiants architectes de tester ensemble la matière et de confronter leurs concepts à la réalité du terrain. Echanges et partages in situ sont ainsi au cœur du système d’apprentissage dans l’objectif de développer une adaptabilité personnelle, gage d’un savoir-faire et savoir-être futur

A checkpoint control orchestrates the replication of the two chromosomes of Vibrio cholerae

International audienceBacteria with multiple chromosomes represent up to 10% of all bacterial species. Unlike eukaryotes, these bacteria use chromosome-specific initiators for their replication. In all cases investigated, the machineries for secondary chromosome replication initiation are of plasmid origin. One of the important differences between plasmids and chromosomes is that the latter replicate during a defined period of the cell cycle, ensuring a single round of replication per cell. Vibrio cholerae carries two circular chromosomes, Chr1 and Chr2, which are replicated in a well-orchestrated manner with the cell cycle and coordinated in such a way that replication termination occurs at the same time. However, the mechanism coordinating this synchrony remains speculative. We investigated this mechanism and revealed that initiation of Chr2 replication is triggered by the replication of a 150-bp locus positioned on Chr1, called crtS. This crtS replication-mediated Chr2 replication initiation mechanism explains how the two chromosomes communicate to coordinate their replication. Our study reveals a new checkpoint control mechanism in bacteria, and highlights possible functional interactions mediated by contacts between two chromosomes, an unprecedented observation in bacteria