Conservation of prehistoric caves and stability of their inner climate: lessons from Chauvet and other French caves.

In the last 150 years, some prehistoric painted caves suffered irreversible degradations due to misperception of conservation issues and subsequent mismanagement. These sites presented naturally an exceptional stability of their internal climate allowing conservation in situ of outstanding fragile remains, some for nearly 40,000 years. This is for a large part due to exchanges of air, CO2, heat and water with the karstic system in which these caves are included.

Adaptive radiation driven by the interplay of eco-evolutionary and landscape dynamics.

We investigate an individual-based model of adaptive radiation based on the biogeographical changes of the Great African Lakes where cichlid fishes radiated. In our model, the landscape consists of a mosaic of three habitat types which may or may not be separated by geographic barriers. We study the effect of the alternation between allopatry and sympatry called landscape dynamics.

Quantitative proteomic analysis reveals protein expression changes in the murine neuronal secretome during apoptosis.

Neurodegenerative diseases often lack early and specific diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Many studies are focusing on the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteome to identify relevant biomarkers and therapeutic targets for these disorders. An alternative approach consists in comparing proteins secreted by healthy neurons and neurons degenerating by apoptosis, one of the mechanisms underlying neuronal death in neurodegenerative diseases.

Single-cell electroporation of adult sensory neurons for gene screening with RNA interference mechanism.

RNA interference appears as a technique of choice to identify gene candidate or to evaluate gene function. To date, a main problem is to achieve high transfection efficiencies on native cells such as adult neurons. In addition, transfection on organ or mass culture does not allow to approach the cellular diversity.

The caspase family in urochordates: distinct evolutionary fates in ascidians and larvaceans.

Background Information: Caspases are cysteine proteases that mediate apoptosis (programmed cell death) initiation and execution. Apoptosis is a conserved mechanism shared by all metazoans, although its physiological function and complexity show considerable taxon-dependent variations. To gain insight into the caspase repertoire of putative ancestors to vertebrates, we performed exhaustive genomic searches in urochordates, a sister taxon to vertebrates in which ascidians and appendicularians display chordate characters at early stages of their development.

Is there geographical variation in human handedness?

Right- and left-handed individuals are present in all cultures. However, while it is known that handedness is a heritable trait, little is known about how handedness varies between populations-and without this knowledge, the significance of the left/right polymorphism is hard to interpret. We reviewed the literature to assess the extent of geographical variation of throwing or hammering handedness.

A genomic BAC library and a new BAC-GFP vector to study the holocentric pest Spodoptera frugiperda.

Two genomic tools for the study of Lepidoptera and the holocentric structure of their chromosomes are presented in this paper. A bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library was constructed using nuclear DNA partially digested with HindIII from eggs of Spodoptera frugiperda. The library contains a total of 36,864 clones with an average insert size of 125 kb, which corresponds to approximately 11.

Lipid raft-associated protein sorting in exosomes.

Exosomes are small membrane vesicles secreted by cells upon fusion of multivesicular endosomes with the cell surface. The mechanisms underlying the specific sorting of proteins in exosomal membranes are far from being unraveled. We demonstrate here, using different cells, that some molecules are released in the extracellular medium via their association with lipid raft domains of the exosomal membrane.

Periods of organogenesis in mono- and bicyclic annual shoots of Juglans regia L. (Juglandaceae).

The organogenetic cycle of shoots on main branches of 4-year-old Juglans regia trees was studied. Mono- and bicyclic floriferous and vegetative annual shoots were analysed. Five parent annual shoot types were sampled between October 1992 and August 1993.

Dendritic arbors: a tale of living tiles.

What governs the shape and size of a neuron's dendritic arbor? Part of the answer lies in the rules that govern interactions between dendrites. Interesting new insights into these rules have come from two recent studies on the embryonic sensory system of Drosophila.

Neuronal connectivity: bis repetita placent.

The mechanism that allows a sensory neuron to extend its terminal branches along the appropriate fascicle within the CNS turns out to be the same as that which positioned the fascicle earlier on, and the gene that controls this position is the same as that which determined the neuron's identity.