Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Landes Bioscience
Résumé : International audience
In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.
Autophagy

hal-00735751
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00735751
PUBMED : 22966490

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Atmospheric carbon dioxide records indicate that the land surface has acted as a strong global carbon sink over recent decades, with a substantial fraction of this sink probably located in the tropics, particularly in the Amazon. Nevertheless, it is unclear how the terrestrial carbon sink will evolve as climate and atmospheric composition continue to change. Here we analyse the historical evolution of the biomass dynamics of the Amazon rainforest over three decades using a distributed network of 321 plots. While this analysis confirms that Amazon forests have acted as a long-term net biomass sink, we find a long-term decreasing trend of carbon accumulation. Rates of net increase in above-ground biomass declined by one-third during the past decade compared to the 1990s. This is a consequence of growth rate increases levelling off recently, while biomass mortality persistently increased throughout, leading to a shortening of carbon residence times. Potential drivers for the mortality increase include greater climate variability, and feedbacks of faster growth on mortality, resulting in shortened tree longevity. The observed decline of the Amazon sink diverges markedly from the recent increase in terrestrial carbon uptake at the global scale, and is contrary to expectations based on models.
ISSN: 1476-4687

hal-01204223
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01204223
DOI : 10.1038/nature14283
PRODINRA : 294797
PUBMED : 25788097

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Ash flow tuffs, or ignimbrites have been recently proposed to be a good material for palaeointensity determination. In this paper, we present a multidisciplinary study, combining geochronology, petrology, rock magnetism and palaeomagnetism, carried out on Oligocene to Early Miocene ignimbrites and related flows from the southern part of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Two new 40Ar/39Ar ages were determined for ignimbrites; 20.4 ± 0.2 Ma (the youngest age obtained so far in this area) and 29.2 ± 0.5 Ma. Density measurements, as a proxy for welding, proved to be extremely useful to estimate the emplacement temperature and the origin of the magnetizations carried by the ignimbrites. After alternating field and thermal demagnetizations, the mean palaeomagnetic pole (Lat = 66.8°N; Long = 180.5°E; Kappa = 142; A95 = 6.3°), calculated for the period 28-31 Ma, is in close agreement with our only Miocene determination. Comparison with the North America Synthetic Apparent Polar Path indicates a net counter-clockwise vertical axis rotation of about 10 ± 4° compared to stable North America, which occurred likely during the last extensional episode in the Late Miocene (ca. 12-9 Ma). Palaeointensity estimates, obtained with the Thellier-Coe method, are mainly questionable and should not be used for global interpretation. Therefore, these ignimbrites are not a viable material for reliable palaeointensity determinations.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00854457
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00854457
DOI : 10.1093/gji/ggt079