Reappraisal of the chronology of Orgnac 3 Lower-to-Middle Paleolithic site (Ardèche, France), a regional key sequence for the Middle Pleistocene of southern France.

Previous studies have suggested that the Lower-to-Middle Paleolithic transition was associated with the earliest Neanderthals, but recent research has established that the oldest Neanderthal fossils and the first signs of their technologies and behavior appear from MIS 11 or possibly earlier. To understand these changes, re-evaluation of the evidence is necessary to determine if this transition corresponds to a progressive evolution rather than abrupt change. Orgnac 3 is a key and appropriate site to study this research context.

Vergisson 4: a left-handed Neandertal.

Objectives: Handedness is an important marker for lateralization of humans in the modern and fossil record. For the most part, Neandertals and their ancestors are strongly right-handed. We describe a single tooth from a Neandertal level at Vergisson 4 (Vg 4-83).

The small RNA diversity from Medicago truncatula roots under biotic interactions evidences the environmental plasticity of the miRNAome.

Background: Legume roots show a remarkable plasticity to adapt their architecture to biotic and abiotic constraints, including symbiotic interactions. However, global analysis of miRNA regulation in roots is limited, and a global view of the evolution of miRNA-mediated diversification in different ecotypes is lacking.

Results: In the model legume Medicago truncatula, we analyze the small RNA transcriptome of roots submitted to symbiotic and pathogenic interactions.

Application of U/Th and 40Ar/39Ar dating to Orgnac 3, a Late Acheulean and Early Middle Palaeolithic site in Ardèche, France.

Refined radio-isotopic dating techniques have been applied to Orgnac 3, a Late Acheulean and Early Middle Palaeolithic site in France. Evidence of Levallois core technology appeared in level 4b in the middle of the sequence, became predominant in the upper horizons, and was best represented in uppermost level 1, making the site one of the oldest examples of Levallois technology. In our dating study, fourteen speleothem samples from levels 7, 6 and 5b, were U/Th-dated.

Towards the Middle Palaeolithic in Western Europe: the case of Orgnac 3 (southeastern France).

The sequence of Orgnac 3 in southern Europe is dated to MIS 9 and the beginning of MIS 8. The site contains records of Upper Acheulian occupations with evidence of Middle Palaeolithic technological strategies at the top of the sequence. In order to address the question of gradual versus punctuated changes in the onset of the Middle Palaeolithic, nine criteria on subsistence strategies and technological behaviour were selected throughout the whole stratigraphic sequence to describe behavioural patterns.

Trans-regulation of the expression of the transcription factor MtHAP2-1 by a uORF controls root nodule development.

MtHAP2-1 is a CCAAT-binding transcription factor from the model legume Medicago truncatula. We previously showed that MtHAP2-1 expression is regulated both spatially and temporally by microRNA169. Here we present a novel regulatory mechanism controlling MtHAP2-1 expression.