Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
Meiotic recombination predominantly occurs at discrete genomic loci called recombination hotspots, but the features defining these areas are still largely unknown (reviewed in refs 1-5). To allow a comprehensive analysis of hotspot-associated DNA and chromatin characteristics, we developed a direct molecular approach for mapping meiotic DNA double-strand breaks that initiate recombination. Here we present the genome-wide distribution of recombination initiation sites in the mouse genome. Hotspot centres are mapped with approximately 200-nucleotide precision, which allows analysis of the fine structural details of the preferred recombination sites. We determine that hotspots share a centrally distributed consensus motif, possess a nucleotide skew that changes polarity at the centres of hotspots and have an intrinsic preference to be occupied by a nucleosome. Furthermore, we find that the vast majority of recombination initiation sites in mouse males are associated with testis-specific trimethylation of lysine 4 on histone H3 that is distinct from histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation marks associated with transcription. The recombination map presented here has been derived from a homogeneous mouse population with a defined genetic background and therefore lends itself to extensive future experimental exploration. We note that the mapping technique developed here does not depend on the availability of genetic markers and hence can be easily adapted to other species with complex genomes. Our findings uncover several fundamental features of mammalian recombination hotspots and underline the power of the new recombination map for future studies of genetic recombination, genome stability and evolution.
ISSN: 0028-0836

hal-00877681
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00877681
DOI : 10.1038/nature09869
PUBMED : 21460839

Éditeur(s) : Ecole nationale supérieure agronomique de Rennes
Résumé : Describe and gain understanding on fluctuations in animal population over time and space is a central goal of population ecology. This is also crucial to ensure the sustainable management of exploited resources, particularly those with complex population dynamics such as the bluefin tuna. The goal of this work is to collect bluefin tuna catches from the ancestral Mediterranean and Atlantic trap fisheries to (i) characterise long-term fluctuations in bluefin tuna population migrating in the Mediterranean, (ii) analyse their causes et (iii) assess their implications for fisheries management. The bluefin tuna main biological and ecological characteristics are first detailed. Then, the first part presents the trap fishery, and the process of collect and validation of the historical catches. This leads to develop a data base of 54 time-series more than 20 years long, the longest ones spanning about four centuries. Mean historical catches were around 15 000 tons/year ([7 000;25 000]). Time-series are analysed in a second part. Temporal variability of trap catches may be decomposed in three components: 100-year-long periodic fluctuations, 20-year cycles and inter-annual variations. These medium- to long-term fluctuations, representing more than 50% of the variability in the time-series, were synchronous all around the western Mediterranean and adjacent North Atlantic. In contrast, short-term variability was synchronous at a local scale only. It is argued that long-term fluctuations in trap catches could be considered as a proxy for those in abundance, and a synthetic time-series is computed to depict them. Biological and ecological processes that could cause such long-term fluctuations are discussed in a third part. We tested whether long-term fluctuations in Atlantic bluefin tuna might be related to large-scale environmental changes, using long time-series of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the Length of the Day index (LOD, a proxy of the atmospheric circulation index ACI) and the temperature. Spectral analyses of trap catches, LOD and temperature displayed similar spectra with peak at low frequency, whereas those of the NAO exhibited a broad band spectrum. Regression analyses and tests of correlation did not reveal any clear relationship between trap catches on the one hand and NAO and LOD on the other hand. In contrast, long-term fluctuations in trap catches appear to be negatively and significantly related to long-term trends in temperature. Underlying processes that could explain such a relationship are discussed, with special focus on changes in migration patterns. Finally, implications of such fluctuations in term of fisheries management are discussed in a fourth part. A simulation framework, in which a simulated population dynamics model is coupled with a VPA, is built to test the pertinence of the diagnostic of stock assessment according to different scenarios on fluctuations origins and population status. In the hypothesis of fluctuations linked to variations in the recruitment, VPA appears able to reconstruct the fluctuations but the predictions may be biased if natural fluctuations are not taking into account. In the hypothesis of fluctuations linked to changes in migration pattern, VPA is not able to reconstruct the population dynamics. In a precautionary approach, quotas which follow may be unsuitable in the best case, at worst dangerous if they are defined in comparison with a reference point. The concept of cible reference points, fixe and unique over time, appears not relevant for bluefin tuna; estimate trajectory reference pertinent may prove to be more pertinent.
Décrire et comprendre les fluctuations spatio-temporelles des espèces animales constituent les enjeux majeurs de l'écologie. La question est également cruciale pour réussir la gestion durable des ressources exploitées, en particulier celle du thon rouge, grand pélagique migrateur à la dynamique complexe. L'objectif de ce travail est de collecter les captures historiques de thon rouge par les madragues méditerranéennes et proche atlantiques pour (i) caractériser les fluctuations à long terme de la population migrante en Méditerranée, (ii) étudier leur déterminisme et (iii) évaluer leurs implications en terme de gestion des pêcheries. Après avoir décrit les principales caractéristiques biologiques et écologiques du thon rouge, la première partie présente la pêcherie à la madrague, puis le processus de collecte et de validation des données historiques de captures. Ce dernier conduit à la mise en place d'une base de données de 54 séries de plus de 20 ans, dont les plus longues s'étendent sur près de 4 siècles. Les productions historiques sont estimées à environ 15 000 tonnes/an ([7 000;25 000]). Les séries historiques de captures sont analysées dans la seconde partie. Leur variabilité temporelle peut être décomposée en trois composantes : de larges cycles pseudo-séculaires, des variations périodiques d'une vingtaine d'années et des fluctuations inter-annuelles. Les fluctuations à moyen et long terme, expliquant plus de la moitié de la variance des séries, sont synchrones à l'échelle du bassin méditerranéen occidental et du proche Atlantique. La variabilité inter-annuelle, en revanche, n'est synchrone qu'à une échelle locale. On montre finalement que les fluctuations à long terme des captures peuvent être considérées comme de bons indices des tendances des abondances de la population de thons rouges migrants en Méditerranée. Une série synthétique est construite pour les décrire. Les processus biologiques et écologiques susceptibles d'être à l'origine de ces fluctuations sont discutés dans la troisième partie. L'hypothèse d'un forçage environnemental à grande échelle est testée en utilisant des indices à long terme de l'Oscillation Nord Atlantique (NAO), de la longueur du jour (LOD, un indicateur de l'indice de circulation atmosphérique ACI) et de la température. Les analyses spectrales sur les séries de captures, du LOD et des températures révèlent des spectres similaires, avec un pic sur les basses fréquences, alors que celles sur le NAO conduisent à une large bande spectrale. Les régressions et les tests de corrélations ne montrent aucune relation significative entre les captures par les madragues et le NAO et le LOD. En revanche, les fluctuations à long terme des captures apparaissent significativement et négativement corrélées avec les fluctuations à long terme des températures. Les processus sous-jacents susceptibles d'expliquer une telle relation, en particulier des changements migratoires, sont discutés. Finalement, les implications des fluctuations pour la gestion de la pêcherie sont discutées dans une quatrième partie. Un cadre de simulation, couplant un modèle de dynamique de population à une VPA, est élaboré pour tester la pertinence des diagnostics d'évaluation de stock selon différents scénarios d'origine des fluctuations et d'état de la population. Dans l'hypothèse de fluctuations liées à des variations du recrutement, la VPA apparaît capable de reconstruire les fluctuations mais les prédictions sont biaisées lorsqu'il n'est pas tenu compte des fluctuations naturelles du stock. Dans l'hypothèse de fluctuations liées à des changements migratoires, la VPA est alors incapable de reproduire la dynamique de la population. Dans une approche de précaution, les quotas qui en découlent peuvent se révéler au mieux inappropriés, au pire dangereux s'ils sont définis par rapport à un point de référence. Ce concept de point cible, fixe et unique dans le temps, apparaît inapproprié pour le thon rouge ; estimer des "trajectoires de référence" serait sans doute plus pertinent.

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2003/these-65.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/65/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Symbiosis is a widespread phenomenon in the biosphere. In marine benthic environments breakdown of symbiosis is responsible for coral bleaching and dramatically affects coral reef ecosystems functioning [1]. In the water column, planktonic organisms are key component of pelagic ecosystems and a number of species form mutualistic association with microalgae forming a photosymbiosis [2]. Here we intended to investigate the genetic basis of photosymbiosis, through a transcriptomic approach on marine plankton organisms. We focused more specifically on associations occurring between radiolarian host (protist, zooplankton) and dinoflagellates symbiont (protist, phytoplankton) living inside the host cell. It has recently been highlighted that these holobionts are widespread in oligotrophic open oceans and there are also evidences of their fundamental implication in biogeochemical carbon, silica and strontium cycles [3, 4, 5, 6]. RNA-seq technologies allow obtaining an unprecedented amount of data for unicellular organisms isolated from the environment [7]. The study of such non-model holobionts datasets requires de novo assembly, which implies considerable computational resources and the potential production of chimeric sequences [8, 9].We therefore developed an original strategy aiming at accelerating and improving de novo assembly for holobiont datasets. We chose SIMKA [10] a fast kmer-based method initially developed to estimate the similarity between numerous metagenomic datasets, and which has been recently adapted to extract their common sequences. As our symbionts are identified, we used SIMKA to compare our holobionts transcriptomes to publicly available dinoflagellates transcriptomes [11] generating two datasets, one composed of reads from the symbionts and another with reads from the host (for which no reference data are currently available). Independent assemblies were then performed in parallel, accelerating the study process, and minimizing the proportion of resulting chimeric sequences. Our strategy produced a unique and comprehensive genomic dataset for Radiolaria [12, 13], and offers a pragmatic, large scale, comparison strategy to assemble and study holobionts [9]. Our new sequences obtained from holobionts study will be used for phylogenomics investigation, as reference for environmental metagenomic studies and ultimately to understand and characterize the molecular basis of symbiotic relationships in the plankton.Bibliografic references :[1] Simon K. Davy, Denis Allemand, and Virginia M. Weis. “Cell Biology of Cnidarian-Dinoflagellate Symbiosis”. In: Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews 76.2 (June 1, 2012), pp. 229–261. issn: 1092-2172, 1098- 5557. doi: 10.1128/MMBR.05014-11.[2] Janouškovec, J. et al. “Major transitions in dinoflagellate evolution unveiled by phylotranscriptomics”. in: PNAS 201614842 (2016). doi:10.1073/pnas.1614842114[3] Tristan Biard et al. “In situ imaging reveals the biomass of giant protists in the global ocean”. In: Nature advance online publication (Apr. 20, 2016). issn: 0028-0836. doi: 10.1038/nature17652.[4] Lionel Guidi et al. “Plankton networks driving carbon export in the olig- otrophic ocean”. In: Nature 532.7600 (Apr. 28, 2016), pp. 465–470. issn: 0028-0836. doi: 10.1038/nature16942.[5] Diane K. Stoecker et al. “Acquired phototrophy in aquatic protists”. In: Aquatic Microbial Ecology 57.3 (Nov. 24, 2009), pp. 279–310. doi: 10.3354/ame01340.[6] Johan Decelle et al. “An original mode of symbiosis in open ocean plankton”. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109.44 (Oct. 30, 2012), pp. 18000–18005. issn: 0027-8424, 1091-6490. doi: 10. 1073/pnas.1212303109.[7] Sergio Balzano et al. “Transcriptome analyses to investigate symbiotic relationships between marine protists”. In: Frontiers in Microbiology 6 (Mar. 17, 2015). issn: 1664-302X. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00098.[8] Li, B. et al. “Evaluation of de novo transcriptome assemblies from RNA-Seq data”. In: Genome Biology 15, 553 (2014).[9] Sangwan, N., Xia, F. & Gilbert, J. A. “Recovering complete and draft population genomes from metagenome datasets”. In: Microbiome 4, 8 (2016).[10] Gaëtan Benoit et al. “Multiple comparative metagenomics using mul- tiset k -mer counting”. In: PeerJ Computer Science 2 (Nov. 14, 2016). doi: 10.7717/peerj-cs.94.[11] Patrick J. Keeling et al. “The Marine Microbial Eukaryote Transcriptome Sequencing Project (MMETSP): Illuminating the Functional Diversity of Eukaryotic Life in the Oceans through Transcriptome Sequencing”. In: PLOS Biol 12.6 (June 2014), e1001889. issn: 1545-7885. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001889.[12] Burki, F. et al. “Evolution of Rhizaria: new insights from phylogenomic analysis of uncultured protists”. In BMC Evolutionary Biology 10, 377 (2010).
International Conference on Holobionts
Paris, France

hal-01575069
https://hal.inria.fr/hal-01575069

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Given a graph, its hyperbolicity is a measure of how close its distance distribution is to the one of a tree. This parameter has gained recent attention in the analysis of some graph algorithms and the classification of complex networks. We study on practical improvements for the computation of hyperbolicity in large graphs. Precisely, we investigate on relations between the hyperbolicity of a graph G and the hyperbolicity of its atoms, that are the subgraphs output by the clique-decomposition invented by Tarjan [51, 65]. We prove that the maximum hyperbolicity taken over the atoms is at most one unit off from the hyperbol-icity of G and the bound is sharp. We also give an algorithm to slightly modify the atoms, called the " substitution method " , which is at no extra cost than computing the clique-decomposition, and so that the maximum hyperbolicity taken over the resulting graphs is exactly the hyperbolicity of the input graph G. An experimental evaluation of our method for computing the hyperbolicity of a given graph from its atoms is provided for collaboration networks and biological networks. Finally, on a more theoretical side, we deduce from our results the first linear-time algorithm for computing the hyperbolicity of an outerplanar graph.
ISSN: 0304-3975

hal-01540756
https://hal.inria.fr/hal-01540756
https://hal.inria.fr/hal-01540756/document
https://hal.inria.fr/hal-01540756/file/CCDL-2017.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.tcs.2017.06.001

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Motivation: Gene fusion is an important evolutionary process. It can yield valuable information to infer the interactions and functions of proteins. Fused genes have been identified as non-transitive patterns of similarity in triplets of genes. To be computationally tractable, this approach usually imposes an a priori distinction between a dataset in which fused genes are searched for, and a dataset that may have provided genetic material for fusion. This reduces the `genetic space' in which fusion can be discovered, as only a subset of triplets of genes is investigated. Moreover, this approach may have a high-false-positive rate, and it does not identify gene families descending from a common fusion event. Results: We represent similarities between sequences as a network. This leads to an efficient formulation of previous methods of fused gene identification, which we implemented in the Python program FusedTriplets. Furthermore, we propose a new characterization of families of fused genes, as clique minimal separators of the sequence similarity network. This well-studied graph topology provides a robust and fast method of detection, well suited for automatic analyses of big datasets. We implemented this method in the C++ program MosaicFinder, which additionally uses local alignments to discard false-positive candidates and indicates potential fusion points. The grouping into families will help distinguish sequencing or prediction errors from real biological fusions, and it will yield additional insight into the function and history of fused genes.
ISSN: 1367-4803

hal-01544795
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01544795
DOI : 10.1093/bioinformatics/btt049

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
BackgroundTree above ground biomass (AGB) is currently estimated by tree-level allometrical models that take into account, tree volume estimated from proxy variables of tree size (DBH) and species average wood specific gravity (WSG). These methods are common and realistic from a practical point of view. However, they do not take into account deviance from fixed allometrical trajectories and species or tree level WSG variations. Here, we present Xtrawood software that allows computation of tree AGB according to structure and WSG variations.MethodXtrawood reconstructs tree structure and integrates WSG variations by merging tree structure and WSG data measured at different position in trees, leading to the computation of global AGB and visualization of WSG variation along tree structure. Tree structure is measured according to stem dimensions (length, diameter) and positions within tree, and encoded in Multiscale Tree Graph format (MTG). WSG data is made of radial WSG profiles (1 measure each 0,5 cm from pith to bark) sampled at different heights within whole tree. Xtrawood output are illustrated using a dataset collected on an Amazonian forest ‘biomass dominant species’, Dicorynia guianensis Amsh., also known to exhibit substantial WSG gradients along both radial and vertical axis. 9 trees ranging from 15 to 60 cm DBH were measured by climbers. Each tree was felled and samples were collected at different positions (3 in trunk, 1 to 5 in crown) to record WSG radial profiles.ResultsXtrawood allows computation of tree volume, but also visualization of WSG variations in tree as well as inference of WSG radial profiles at different heights. Output variables are decomposed according to different tree scale and locations (axis, trunk/crown) and easy to extract. Xtrawood results will be compared to those of standard estimation method and can be used to identify positions in trees where WSG value leads to the better estimate of tree AGB.Conclusion/perspectiveXtrawood produces AGB estimate with data from intensive measurements practices. The sampling protocol, used here, remains destructive and time-consuming because Xtrawood is not directly dedicated to forest managers, but to help calibration of realistic sampling strategies. Moreover, Xtrawood offers a way to understand relationships between tree development, WSG variations within tree structure and biomass accumulation in the context of natural forests or plantations. A software demo is available at coffee break.
53rd Annual Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC 2016)
Montpellier, France

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
hal-01349613
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01349613

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Résumé : International audience
: A new set-up for exposure of human cells in vitro at 37°C to pulse-modulated 300 MHz and 500 MHz signals of future magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems is designed, built up, and characterized. Two dipole antennas, specifically designed for ultra high field MRI, are used as radiating structures. The electromagnetic (EM) field distribution inside the incubator containing the cells is computed, and it is shown to be in a good agreement with measurements. The electric field at the cell level is quantified numerically. Local, 1g average, and averaged over the culture medium volume SAR are provided along with the standard deviation values for each well. Temperature increments are measured inside the culture medium during the exposure using an optical fiber thermometer. Then we identify the pulse parameters corresponding to the thermal threshold of 1°C, usually considered as a threshold for thermally-induced biological effects. For these parameters, the induction of heat shock proteins is assessed to biologically verify a potential thermal response of cells. The data demonstrate that, under the considered experimental conditions, exposure to pulsemodulated radiations emulating typical ultra high field MRI signals, corresponding to temperature increments below 1°C, does not trigger any heat shock response in human brain cells.
ISSN: 0018-9294

hal-00874329
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00874329
DOI : 10.1109/TBME.2013.2270371
PUBMED : 23799680

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
We propose a new geometric approach to describe the qualitative dynamics of chemical reactions networks. By this method we identify metastable regimes, defined as low dimensional regions of the phase space close to which the dynamics is much slower compared to the rest of the phase space. These metastable regimes depend on the network topology and on the orders of magnitude of the kinetic parameters. Benchmarking of the method on a computational biology model repository suggests that the number of metastable regimes is sub-exponential in the number of variables and equations. The dynamics of the network can be described as a sequence of jumps from one metastable regime to another. We show that a geometrically computed con-nectivity graph restricts the set of possible jumps. We also provide finite state machine (Markov chain) models for such dynamic changes. Applied to signal transduction models, our approach unravels dynamical and functional * corresponding author capacities of signalling pathways, as well as parameters responsible for speci-ficity of the pathway response. In particular, for a model of TGFβ signalling, we find that the ratio of TGFBR2 to TGFBR1 receptors concentrations can be used to discriminate between metastable regimes. Using expression data from the NCI60 panel of human tumor cell lines, we show that aggressive and non-aggressive tumour cell lines function in different metastable regimes and can be distinguished by measuring the relative concentrations of receptors of the two types.
ISSN: 0303-2647

hal-01379033
https://hal.inria.fr/hal-01379033
https://hal.inria.fr/hal-01379033/document
https://hal.inria.fr/hal-01379033/file/Samal_et_al_Biosystems_final.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.biosystems.2016.07.004

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD EDP Sciences
Résumé : International audience
The dynamic model of plant growth GreenLab describes plant architecture and functional growth at the level of individual organs. Structural development is controlled by formal grammars and empirical equations compute the amount of biomass produced by the plant, and its partitioning among the growing organs, such as leaves, stems and fruits. The number of organs initiated at each time step depends on the trophic state of the plant, which is evaluated by the ratio of biomass available in plant to the demand of all the organs. The control of the plant organogenesis by this variable induces oscillations in the simulated plant behaviour. The mathematical framework of the GreenLab model allows to compute the conditions for the generation of oscillations and the value of the period according to the set of parameters. Two case-studies are presented, corresponding to emergence of oscillations associated to fructification and branching. Similar alternating patterns are commonly reported by botanists. In this article, two examples were selected: alternate patterns of fruits in cucumber plants and alternate appearances of branches in Cecropia trees. The model was calibrated from experimental data collected on these plants. It shows that a simple feedback hypothesis of trophic control on plant structure allows the emergence of cyclic patterns corresponding to the observed ones.
ISSN: 0973-5348

hal-00780592
https://hal-ecp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00780592
https://hal-ecp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00780592/document
https://hal-ecp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00780592/file/Mathieu_2012_Published_mmnp201276p47.pdf
DOI : 10.1051/mmnp/20127603

Éditeur(s) : IEEE
Résumé : Two approaches of ocean color data merging were tested and compared in the North and Equatorial Atlantic Basin: the weighted averaging and the objective analysis. The datasets used were the daily level-3 binned data of chlorophyll-a from the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on the Aqua satellite over the year 2003, which is the first common full year of operation. Since they represent input for both approaches, matchups between the satellite and the in situ data from the SeaWiFS Bio-optical Archive and Storage System and the Atlantic Meridional Transect were first studied to compute a spatial map of the root mean-square error and of the bias. Because of the log distribution of the chlorophyll fields, each approach was applied to untransformed and log-transformed values. The application of the weighted averaging to log-transformed values does not show significant differences in comparison to its application to untransformed values. This is not the case, however, for the objective analysis that gives better results when applied to logtransformed values. Both approaches give combined chlorophyll data of equivalent quality, although the objective analysis could be improved with a better statistical characterization of noise and signal covariance. The main advantage of the objective analysis is its ability to interpolate in space (and time) by taking into account the characteristic scales of chlorophyll-a. As a result, the spatial coverage of the combined data is at least twice as large in the case of objective analysis than weighted averaging. OCR NOT CONTROLLED
IEEE (0196-2892) (IEEE), 2006-11 , Vol. 44 , N. 11 , P. 3436-3451

Droits : 2006 IEEE
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2006/publication-3631.pdf
DOI:10.1109/TGRS.2006.878441
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/3631/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Botanical Society of America
Résumé :  
International audience
The different hypotheses about buttress function and formation mainly involve mechanical theory. Forces were applied to two trees of Sloanea spp., a tropical genus that develops typical thin buttresses, and the three-dimensional strains were measured at different parts of the trunk base. Risks of failure were greater on the buttress sides, where shear and tangential stresses are greater, not on the ridges, in spite of high longitudinal (parallel to the grain) stresses. A simple beam model, computed from the second moment of area of digitized cross sections, is consistent with longitudinal strain variations but cannot predict accurately variations with height. Patterns of longitudinal strain variation along ridges are very different in the two individuals, owing to a pronounced lateral curvature in one specimen. The constant stress hypothesis is discussed based on these results. Without chronological data during the development of the tree, it cannot be proved that buttress formation is activated by stress or strain.
ISSN: 0002-9122

hal-01032155
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032155
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032155/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032155/file/Biomechanics_buttressed_trees_Clair_al_2003.pdf
DOI : 10.3732/ajb.90.9.1349

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé :  
The maintenance in the long run of a positive carbon balance under very low irradiance is a prerequisite for survival of tree seedlings below the canopy or in small gaps in a tropical rainforest. To provide a quantitative basis for this assumption, experiments were carried out to determine whether construction cost (CC) and payback time for leaves and support structures, as well as leaf life span (i) differ among species and (ii) display an irradiance-elicited plasticity. Experiments were also conducted to determine whether leaf life span correlates to CC and payback time and is close to the optimal longevity derived from an optimization model. Saplings from 13 tropical tree species were grown under three levels of irradiance. Specific-CC was computed, as well as CC scaled to leaf area at the metamer level. Photosynthesis was recorded over the leaf life span. Payback time was derived from CC and a simple photosynthesis model. Specific-CC displayed only little interspecific variability and irradiance-elicited plasticity, in contrast to CC scaled to leaf area. Leaf life span ranged from 4 months to >26 months among species, and was longest in seedlings grown under lowest irradiance. It was always much longer than payback time, even under the lowest irradiance. Leaves were shed when their photosynthesis had reached very low values, in contrast to what was predicted by an optimality model. The species ranking for the different traits was stable across irradiance treatments. The two pioneer species always displayed the smallest CC, leaf life span, and payback time. All species displayed a similar large irradiance-elicited plasticity.
ISSN: 0022-0957

hal-01032198
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01032198
DOI : 10.1093/jxb/err092

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
STUDY QUESTION: Is there evidence at the population level of associations between different male genital disorders, outside Scandinavian countries? SUMMARY ANSWER: At an international scale, there is evidence for a number of correlations between rates of four male reproductive disorders (hypospadias, cryptorchidism, testicular cancer and low sperm concentration). WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Some associations between these outcomes have been shown in studies focusing on individuals and mainly in Nordic European countries. These associations, together with histological evidence of a dysgenesis pattern in testicular tissue specimens, have generated the concept of the existence of a 'testicular dysgenesis syndrome' originating in utero. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: This is a geographical correlation study using cancer, malformations rates and sperm quality data collected between the years 1998 and 2005. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Incidence rates of testicular cancer were extracted from International Agency for Research on Cancer registries and Globocan, while cryptorchidism and hypospadias prevalence rates were obtained from EUROCAT and International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research registries. Sperm concentration data were extracted from recent studies using standardized methodology. A total of 39 registries and 9 sperm studies were selected. Non-parametric Spearman correlation tests were used to test the association between these four disorders. Correlations were computed for all registries together, for registries with high-quality matching coverage only and by continents. Sensitivity analyses were also conducted using data from prospective clinical studies to take into account potential bias related mainly to ascertainment of malformation rates. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: We found positive correlations between testicular cancer and hypospadias (r = 0.32, P = 0.05) and between hypospadias and cryptorchidism (r = 0.70, P = 0.008). Stronger correlations were observed when using registries with high-quality matching coverage. Among these registries, differences between Europe and the rest of the world appeared (the positive correlation between testicular cancer and cryptorchidism was stronger outside Europe, r = 0.83, P = 0.01 compared with 0.40, P = 0.60 for European registries). A negative correlation between testicular cancer and sperm concentration was observed (r = -0.88, P = 0.002). These correlations support our initial hypothesis but remain only suggestive due to the intrinsic limitations in the study design (i.e. geographical correlation study) and do not allow causal inference. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: Differences in the ascertainment of malformations rates (definition, length of follow-up) make the international comparison difficult. The small number of registries for some conditions (cryptorchidism) or of studies (for sperm quality) and the absence of information about major risk factors such as ethnicity and socioeconomic status in the registries are also limitations. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Our findings are in agreement with results of studies focusing on individuals and suggest that shared risk factors are present in the populations studied.
ISSN: 0268-1161

inserm-00863412
http://www.hal.inserm.fr/inserm-00863412
DOI : 10.1093/humrep/det111
PUBMED : 23670171

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer
Résumé : International audience
This paper presents a spiking neural network simulator suitablefor biologically plausible large neural networks, named DAMNEDfor “Distributed And Multi-threaded Neural Event-Driven”. The simulatoris designed to run efficiently on a variety of hardware. DAMNEDmakes use of multi-threaded programming and non-blocking communicationsin order to optimize communications and computations overlap.This paper details the even-driven architecture of the simulator. Someoriginal contributions are presented, such as the handling of a distributedvirtual clock and an efficient circular event queue taking into accountspike propagation delays. DAMNED is evaluated on a cluster of computersfor networks from 103 to 105 neurons. Simulation and networkcreation speedups are presented. Finally, scalability is discussed regardingnumber of processors, network size and activity of the simulated NN.
Engineering Applications of Neural Networks: 11th International Conference, EANN 2009
London, United Kingdom

hal-01437753
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01437753
DOI : 10.1007/978-3-642-03969-0_33

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Nature Publishing Group
Résumé : International audience
Genetic recombination occurs during meiosis, the key developmental programme of gametogenesis. Recombination in mammals has been recently linked to the activity of a histone H3 methyltransferase, PR domain containing 9 (PRDM9), the product of the only known speciation-associated gene in mammals. PRDM9 is thought to determine the preferred recombination sites--recombination hotspots--through sequence-specific binding of its highly polymorphic multi-Zn-finger domain. Nevertheless, Prdm9 knockout mice are proficient at initiating recombination. Here we map and analyse the genome-wide distribution of recombination initiation sites in Prdm9 knockout mice and in two mouse strains with different Prdm9 alleles and their F(1) hybrid. We show that PRDM9 determines the positions of practically all hotspots in the mouse genome, with the exception of the pseudo-autosomal region (PAR)--the only area of the genome that undergoes recombination in 100% of cells. Surprisingly, hotspots are still observed in Prdm9 knockout mice, and as in wild type, these hotspots are found at H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) trimethylation marks. However, in the absence of PRDM9, most recombination is initiated at promoters and at other sites of PRDM9-independent H3K4 trimethylation. Such sites are rarely targeted in wild-type mice, indicating an unexpected role of the PRDM9 protein in sequestering the recombination machinery away from gene-promoter regions and other functional genomic elements.
ISSN: 0028-0836

hal-00877666
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00877666
DOI : 10.1038/nature11089
PUBMED : 22660327

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
Résumé : International audience
Meiotic DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs) initiate genetic recombination in discrete areas of the genome called recombination hotspots. DSBs can be directly mapped using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq). Nevertheless, the genome-wide mapping of recombination hotspots in mammals is still a challenge due to the low frequency of recombination, high heterogeneity of the germ cell population, and the relatively low efficiency of ChIP. To overcome these limitations we have developed a novel method--single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) sequencing (SSDS)--that specifically detects protein-bound single-stranded DNA at DSB ends. SSDS comprises a computational framework for the specific detection of ssDNA-derived reads in a sequencing library and a new library preparation procedure for the enrichment of fragments originating from ssDNA. The use of our technique reduces the nonspecific double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) background >10-fold. Our method can be extended to other systems where the identification of ssDNA or DSBs is desired.
ISSN: 1088-9051

hal-00877675
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00877675
DOI : 10.1101/gr.130583.111
PUBMED : 22367190

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Public Library of Science
Résumé : International audience
The outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of Gram-negative bacteria play a crucial role in virulence and pathogenesis. Identification of these proteins represents an important goal for bacterial proteomics, because it aids in vaccine development. Here, we have developed such an approach for Ehrlichia ruminantium, the obligate intracellular bacterium that causes heartwater. A preliminary whole proteome analysis of elementary bodies, the extracellular infectious form of the bacterium, had been performed previously, but information is limited about OMPs in this organism and about their role in the protective immune response. Identification of OMPs is also essential for understanding Ehrlichia’s OM architecture, and how the bacterium interacts with the host cell environment. First, we developed an OMP extraction method using the ionic detergent sarkosyl, which enriched the OM fraction. Second, proteins were separated via one-dimensional electrophoresis, and digested peptides were analyzed via nano-liquid chromatographic separation coupled with mass spectrometry (LCMALDI-TOF/TOF). Of 46 unique proteins identified in the OM fraction, 18 (39%) were OMPs, including 8 proteins involved in cell structure and biogenesis, 4 in transport/virulence, 1 porin, and 5 proteins of unknown function. These experimental data were compared to the predicted subcellular localization of the entire E. ruminantium proteome, using three different algorithms. This work represents the most complete proteome characterization of the OM fraction in Ehrlichia spp. The study indicates that suitable subcellular fractionation experiments combined with straightforward computational analysis approaches are powerful for determining the predominant subcellular localization of the experimentally observed proteins.We identified proteins potentially involved in E. ruminantium athogenesis, which are good novel targets for candidate vaccines. Thus, combining bioinformatics and proteomics, we discovered new OMPs for E. ruminantium that are valuable data for those investigating new vaccines against this organism. In summary, we provide both pioneering data and novel insights into the pathogenesis of this obligate intracellular bacterium.
ISSN: 1932-6203

hal-01203402
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-01203402
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-01203402/document
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-01203402/file/2015_Moumene_PLOSONE-1.pdf
DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0116758

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Portland Press
Résumé : International audience
CP12 is a small chloroplastic protein involved in the Calvin cycle that was shown to bind copper, a metal ion involved in modulation of its transition from reduced to oxidized state. In order to describe CP12 copper binding properties, copper-IMAC experiments and site-directed mutagenesis based on computational modeling, were coupled to top-down mass spectrometry (ESI-MS and MSMS). Copper-IMAC experiments allowed the primary characterization of mutation effects upon copper binding. Top-down MSMS experiments carried out under non-denaturing conditions on wild-type and mutant CP12/Cu2+ complexes then allowed fragment ions specifically liganding the copper ion to be determined. Comparison of MSMS datasets defined three regions involved in metal ion binding: residues D16 to D23, D38 to K50 and D70 to E76, with the two first regions containing selected residues for mutation. These data confirmed that copper ligands involved glutamic and aspartic residues in contrast to typical protein copper chelators. We propose that copper might play a role in regulation of CP12 biological activity.
ISSN: 0264-6021

hal-00479106
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00479106
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00479106/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00479106/file/PEER_stage2_10.1042%252FBJ20082004.pdf
DOI : 10.1042/BJ20082004

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Predicting, modelling and analysing the metabolism of xenobiotics, foreign substances to an organism, using computer methods, has been a major challenge for the scientific community for many years. This thesis aims to implement multiscale computing methods for predicting and analyzing the metabolism of xenobiotics. A first focus of this study was on the construction and de novo automatic annotation of metabolic graphs combining high sensitivity and precision. These graphs thus provide the prediction of the metabolism of xenobiotics in humans, as well as the genotoxicity of the molecules and atoms that make up xenobiotics. Then, the work focused on the implementation of a dynamic mathematical model modelling enzymatic competition effects through the development of a methodology allowing the exploitation of limited biological data while limiting inherent biases.
Prédire, modéliser et analyser le métabolisme de xénobiotiques, substances étrangères à un organisme, à l’aide de méthodes informatiques est un challenge majeur mobilisant la communauté scientifique depuis de nombreuses années. Cette thèse vise à implémenter des méthodes informatiques multi-échelles pour prédire et analyser le métabolisme des xénobiotiques. Un premier axe de cette étude portait sur la construction et l’annotation automatique de novo de graphes métaboliques combinant fortes sensibilités et précisions. Ces graphes fournissent ainsi la prédiction du métabolisme de xénobiotiques chez l’homme, ainsi que la génotoxicité des molécules et atomes qui le composent. Puis, le travail s’est orienté sur l’implémentation d’un modèle mathématique dynamique modélisant des effets de compétition enzymatique à travers le développement d’une méthodologie permettant l’exploitation de données biologiques restreintes tout en limitant les biais inhérents.
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01659375

tel-01659375
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01659375
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01659375/document
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01659375/file/these.pdf