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Trade-off between SECondary and PRImary MEtabolism in MEditerranean forest under climate change – SEC-PRIME²
Intensified drought is of a special concern in the Mediterranean region because scarce precipitation is already a threat to ecosystems. The response of Mediterranean vegetation to extreme water deficit conditions remains poorly understood. A significant aspect of plant response to changing drought c
Chemosensory enzymes in sex pheromone communication: an integrative study in the fruit fly – CHEMSENZ
Olfaction and gustation play a crucial role in insect sexual and social behaviours, via the exchange of pheromone molecules, which are detected by specialized structures containing sensory neurons. Some enzymes are supposed to be involved in signal inactivation, a step that resets the activity of th
What will happen if the rainforests dry up? Climate change and food webs along a latitudinal gradient – RAINWEBS
It is challenging to study the impacts of climate change on ecosystem processes, because (i) effects on single species cannot be extrapolated to the complex network of species interactions, (ii) it is difficult to manipulate entire ecosystems, and (iii) it is not clear how results from one location
Role of cell cycle inhibitors in plant responses to abiotic stresses. – CKI-stress
When plants are grown in water limited conditions, their whole shoot growth is reduced. This is caused by a reduction in individual leaf areas and the number of cells produced in each leaf. Identifying molecular actors that drive these responses would allow to set the base for future agronomical pr
Towards the origins of vertebrate mineralization: the contribution of large scale transcriptome sequencing – JAWS
Going back in geological periods towards the origins of mineralization of bone and tooth tissues of early vertebrates and understanding how mineralization tools evolved in the various lineages (sharks, rays, bony ray fish, tetrapods) are the main objective of this study. In order to reach this objec
Rare and Overlooked Microbial Eukaryotes in aquatic ecosystems – ROME
ROME is a basic research project that will focus on Rare and Overlooked Microbial Eukaryotes, an unexplored reservoir of novel 'species', genes, and metabolic pathways. We will focus on the ecological functions and roles of “rare” (i.e., below 0.01 to 1% of the total number of pyrosequence reads) an
Sex chromosome evolution and Y degeneration within the Primates lineage – SEXPRIM
Comparison of chromosomes X and Y from a variety of divergent species of mammals does not allow to disentangle between the process inducing the Y degeneration. We studied these process at a fine scale in the primate lineage. Thanks to the knowledge of the 3 available Y chromosomes (human, chimp and
Symbiotic signalling: mechanisms of activation and specificity in Myc and Nod signal transduction – SYMNALING
Lipochitooligosaccharide signals (LCOs) produced by rhizobia and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are required for establishment of agriculturally-important rhizobia-legume and arbuscular mycorrhizal root symbioses. Plant receptor proteins and their interacting proteins are required in order to respond
Symbiosis in actinorhizal plants: Microbial-plant signaling and cellular mechanisms of root colonization – SYMActino
SymActino project aims to study the calcium (calcium spiking) and cellular (remodeling) responses during the early stages of the symbiotic interactions between Casuarina glauca and Discaria trinervis and Frankia on the one hand and the endomycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis (= Glomus intrara
Resistance to prasinoviruses analysed by transcriptomics and recombination – REVIREC
Phytoplankton are responsible for about half of the photosynthetic activity of the planet, the other half being provided by terrestrial plants. In the oceans, viruses are the most abundant and diverse biological entities, potentially infecting all organisms, from bacteria to whales. Viruses control
Viral Interactions with the Plant host mediate subsequent vector transmission – VIP
Aphids transmit many plant viruses. We study the mechanisms resulting in virus acquisition by aphids. Our results show that a model virus (CaMV) reacts on the presence of aphids on an infected plant and forms instantly transmission morphs that are acquired by the aphids. Our main objective is now to
Molecular determinism of ecological adaptation and speciation in two strains of the Lepidoptera Spodoptera frugiperda – ADA-SPODO
Speciation is a gradual process through which two populations of the same species will accumulate genetic differences and lose the ability to cross. Adaptation to the environment, including the host-plant for herbivores, can lead to the formation of new species. Our insect model, the moth Spodopte
BActerial production of Glycerol (di)Ether Lipids : Biogeochemical, (palaeo)environmental and evolutionary implications – BAGEL
The distinction between Bacteria and Archaea, 2 of the 3 domains of life on Earth (with Eucarya), is based in particular on different cellular lipid compositions. These differences have implications in terms of adaptation to the environment, ecology and evolution, and are considered to be very old i
Genetic dissection of sex chromosome meiotic drive in Drosophila simulans – SexChroDrive
Segregation distorters are genes which are over-represented among the gametes because they perturb the process of meiosis and/or gametogenesis. They usually cause fertility defects. Our objective is to identify distorter genes, carried by the X chromosome of Drosophila simulans, which prevent the
DrosoNet: on the use of social network to understand the factors affecting spread and stability of social transmission in Drosophila. – DrosoNet
Understanding the link between individual behavior and population-level phenomena has long been central in ecology and evolutionary biology. Behavior is a response to intrinsic and extrinsic factors including individual state, ecological factors or social interactions. Within a group each individua
Inference of demographic history from large DNA polymorphism data. – demochips
Population genetics methods allow researchers to infer historical events in human and non-human populations, at time scales for which historical records provide no information. Coalescent-based methods have been developed to infer these events. These methods have been successfully applied to many po
Hybridization, a pivotal but neglected contributor to marine biodiversity dynamics – HYSEA
Marine biodiversity is changing continuously as a response to anthropogenic drivers. This is exemplified with the reshuffling of species distribution at a global scale through introductions of new species, One consequence of such changes is an increase in the number of acidental contacts between spe
Integrated multi-approach study of the central mechanisms underlying the hormonal control of female reproductive behaviors – NEUROFEM
Behaviors essential for reproduction by females constitute a chain of behavioral responses beginning with courtship, leading to copulation (lordosis), which in turn ultimately leads to maternal behaviors. Estradiol (E2) plays a key role in the central induction of the ovulatory surge of hormones nee
Contribution of olfactory neurogenesis to the establishment of maternal behaviour in mammals – PLASTMATBEHAV
Motherhood induces profound behavioral changes in mammals. Besides suckling, which characterizes mammalian species, maternal behavior is defined by consumption of placental membranes and the immediate interest to and cleaning of the neonate. However, differences exist according to neonate maturity.
Evolution of Self-fertilization in Hermaphrodites : an Animal Perspective – ESHAP
While plants are the best known hermaphroditic organisms, hermaphroditism is also present in many animals. This condition allows individuals to reproduce in two ways : alone (selfing) or in pairs (outcrossing). The chosen strategy has many consequences : self-fertilizing individuals transmit their g
Adaptation to darkness and food scarcity of independent populations of Astyanax mexicanus blind cavefish: a comparative transcriptomic approach of the underlying molecular mechanisms. – BLINDTEST
Adaptation genetics - This work, which will also include the identification of thousands of selectively neutral SNPs, will constitute a solid basis for future population genetics studies and for testing hypotheses of selection at a few loci (for instance selective sweep) and searching QTLs. 1. Yanni
Diversity and Environmental Control of Prasinoviruses – DECOVIR
Viruses are widespread in oceans and control primary production via their influence on planktonic microalgal populations. Virus diversity and abundances are very poorly known, as well as their link with environmental variables, which is crucial to understand the ecological role of viruses. This is t
INDIVIDUAL HETEROGENEITY IN DISPERSAL AND METAPOPULATION DYNAMICS – INDHET
The ecological and evolutionary functioning of natural populations facing habitat fragmentation, shift of their climatic envelopes, or a combination of these, relies on (1) the availability of functionally connected networks of habitats, and (2) the sufficient dispersal ability of species to track t
HumanWay : a wider perspective on human puzzles – HumanWay
Humans display traits challenging evolutionary thinking, i.e. traits associated with lower reproductive success through reduced fertility and/or longevity, such as male homosexual preference. While the fruitful evolutionary approach of human behaviour has recently led to significant advances, why an