Institut National De La Recherche Research Articles

Risk Factors for High Blood Pressure Among Human Immunodeficiency Virus Patients in French Guiana

French Guiana is the French overseas department where the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic is most preoccupying. There are 38 new acquired immunodeficiency syndrome cases per 100000 inhabitants per year and >1% of HIV-positive pregnant women. Approximately two thirds of the HIV patients are foreign citizens mostly from Haiti. The use of highly active antiretroviral therapy has led to remarkable gains in patient survival. However HIV and the metabolic complications of highly active antiretroviral therapy seem to increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases notably high blood pressure. To further improve survival it is important to better understand these pathologies. The objective of the present study is to determine the risk factors for high blood pressure among patients followed in the hospital cohort of patients followed in the 3 hospitals of French Guiana. (authors)

Somatostatin: The beginnings, 1972

Somatostatin: The beginnings, 1972

Grapevine flavescence dorée phytoplasma

Grapevine flavescence dorée phytoplasma

Light and Oxygen Are Not Required for Harpin-induced Cell Death

Nicotiana sylvestris leaves challenged by the bacterial elicitor harpin N(Ea) were used as a model system in which to determine the respective roles of light, oxygen, photosynthesis, and respiration in the programmed cell death response in plants. The appearance of cell death markers, such as membrane damage, nuclear fragmentation, and induction of the stress-responsive element Tnt1, was observed in all conditions. However, the cell death process was delayed in the dark compared with the light, despite a similar accumulation of superoxide and hydrogen peroxide in the chloroplasts. In contrast, harpin-induced cell death was accelerated under very low oxygen (<0.1% O(2)) compared with air. Oxygen deprivation impaired accumulation of chloroplastic reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the induction of cytosolic antioxidant genes in both the light and the dark. It also attenuates the collapse of photosynthetic capacity and the respiratory burst driven by mitochondrial alternative oxidase activity observed in air. Since alternative oxidase is known to limit overreduction of the respiratory chain, these results strongly suggest that mitochondrial ROS accumulate in leaves elicited under low oxygen. We conclude that the harpin-induced cell death does not require ROS accumulation in the apoplast or in the chloroplasts but that mitochondrial ROS could be important in the orchestration of the cell suicide program.

Review Article: Hydrogen blistering of silicon: Progress in fundamental understanding

AbstractThe understanding of blistering mechanisms at the fundamental, atomic‐scale level is still not complete, but large strides towards that goal have been made in the last decade. In this issue's Review Article [1] Bernard Terreault gives a comprehensive survey of this progress, discussing the current questions as well as outlining suggestions for future work.The related cover picture shows atomic force micrographs of a variety of surface morphologies obtained by hydrogen ion implantation into silicon followed by rapid thermal annealing. In this particular case, the ions were implanted through PMMA masks of decreasing width (from left to right, 6 μm, 1 μm, 600 nm and 150 nm) [2]. This is but one application of blistering, the most common being ion‐cutting and layer transfer as used in the commercial production of silicon‐on‐insulator wafers.The author is Honorary retired Professor at the EMT (Energy, Materials, Telecom) Center of the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (Université du Québec).Another feature included in the current issue is the Editor's Choice contribution ‘Optical and micro‐analytical study of a copper–conjugated polymer composite’ by Kaushik Mallik et al. [3], where the authors investigate a nanoscale fiber network for potential application in microelectronic systems.

Identification, Expression, and Functional Analyses of a Thylakoid ATP/ADP Carrier from Arabidopsis

In plants the chloroplast thylakoid membrane is the site of light-dependent photosynthetic reactions coupled to ATP synthesis. The ability of the plant cell to build and alter this membrane system is essential for efficient photosynthesis. A nucleotide translocator homologous to the bovine mitochondrial ADP/ATP carrier (AAC) was previously found in spinach thylakoids. Here we have identified and characterized a thylakoid ATP/ADP carrier (TAAC) from Arabidopsis.(i) Sequence homology with the bovine AAC and the prediction of chloroplast transit peptides indicated a putative carrier encoded by the At5g01500 gene, as a TAAC. (ii) Transiently expressed TAAC-green fluorescent protein fusion construct was targeted to the chloroplast. Western blotting using a peptide-specific antibody together with immunogold electron microscopy revealed a major location of TAAC in the thylakoid membrane. Previous proteomic analyses identified this protein in chloroplast envelope preparations. (iii) Recombinant TAAC protein specifically imports ATP in exchange for ADP across the cytoplasmic membrane of Escherichia coli. Studies on isolated thylakoids from Arabidopsis confirmed these observations. (iv) The lack of TAAC in an Arabidopsis T-DNA insertion mutant caused a 30-40% reduction in the thylakoid ATP transport and metabolism. (v) TAAC is readily expressed in dark-grown Arabidopsis seedlings, and its level remains stable throughout the greening process. Its expression is highest in developing green tissues and in leaves undergoing senescence or abiotic stress. We propose that the TAAC protein supplies ATP for energy-dependent reactions during thylakoid biogenesis and turnover in plants.

The Dryland Agriculture Applied Research Project in Morocco: A Perspective 12 Years after Completion

The Dryland Agriculture Applied Research Project (DAARP) in Morocco (1978-1994) was a joint partnership between USAID, the Mid-America International Agricultural Consortium (MIAC) involving five U.S. universities, and the host country's Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Morocco. This major international development assistance program focused on improvement of the productive potential and human welfare in Morocco's semiarid, rainfed cereal production zone. The project dealt with (i) infrastructure development involving establishment of a dryland research center in Settat and a network of agricultural research substations; (ii) human resources capacity building, involving training junior national scientists at the graduate (M.S., Ph.D.) level, and INRA support staff in non-degree courses and training programs mainly at MIAC universities; and (iii) establishment of a viable research program related to dryland agriculture. The scientific mentoring and program development was done by a relatively small team of expatriate technical advisors, mainly from the United States, with project oversight by periodic external reviewers at discipline and overall program level. The DAARP had its strengths and weaknesses, its successes and failures. In this article, written by four scientists intimately involved with the project, an overview of the project is presented, highlighting its achievements and the lessons learned from its implementation. The article highlights the extent to which the DAARP is sustainable 12 years after completion, indicating that its shortcomings can be mainly attributed to a failure of the Moroccan government to fully live up to its commitments following completion of the project.

PARTIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF TWO DIVERGENT VARIANTS OF GRAPEVINE LEAFROLL-ASSOCIATED VIRUS 4

Two non mechanically transmissible viruses with filamentous closterovirus-like particles were extracted and partially characterized from leafroll-affected grapevine accessions of cv Koussan from Turkey (Y253) and cv Koudsi from Israel (Y252), both from the reference collection of grapevine viruses and virus-like diseases at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) in Colmar, France. These viruses, denoted Y253-TK and Y252-IL, were independently investigated in France (INRA-Colmar) and Italy (DPPMA). Y253-TK did not react in DAS-ELISA or RT-PCR assays that would have detected any of the Grapevine leafroll-associated viruses (GLRaVs) described so far; Y252-IL did give weak and inconsistent positive reactions in IEM only with an antiserum to strain LR106 of Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 4 (GLRaV-4). A polyclonal antiserum to isolate Y252-IL decorated the homologous particles and, those of Y253-TK and, at lower dilution, particles of isolate GLRaV-4 LR106. A segment of the heat shock protein p70 homologue (HSP70h) gene, was amplified by RT-PCR of RNA from denatured purified particles of Y253-TK by using a set of degenerate primers. The 183 amino acid polypeptide deduced from the 549 bp HSP70h gene fragment showed a high degree of identity with the cognate genes of GLRaV-4 (95%), GLRaV-5 (91%), GLRaV-6 (84%), and GLRaV-9 (90%), but low identity with those of other GLRaVs (33-35%). The HSP70h of isolates Y252-IL and LR106 showed 95% amino acid identity. The coat protein sequence of isolates Y253-TK showed 99 and 94% amino acid identity with those of isolates Y252-IL and LR106, respectively, with changes concentrated in the N-terminus, a feature that might have a bearing on the reaction with their heterologous antisera. Based on serological and molecular data, it was concluded that

Annual Meeting, Québec, Quebec, 2006, The Canadian Phytopathological Society / Réunion annuelle, Québec, Québec, 2006, La Société canadienne de phytopathologie

Annual Meeting, Québec, Quebec, 2006, The Canadian Phytopathological Society / Réunion annuelle, Québec, Québec, 2006, La Société canadienne de phytopathologie

The Effects of Climate Change on Tree Diseases / Symposium : Les effets du changement de climat sur les maladies des arbres

Simulating potential effects of climate change on geographic range and activity of forest pathogenic fungi in France. M.L. Desprez-Loustau, C. Husson, V. Badeau, M. Déqué, C. Robin, and B. Marcais. Institut national de la recherche, agronomique (INRA) Bordeaux, Unité mixte de recherche (UMR) Biodiversité, génes et communautés (BIOGECO), Villenave d’Ornon, France; (C.H., V.B., B.M.,) INRA Nancy, UMR Interaction arbres – microorganismes (IAM), Champenoux, France. Forest pathogens with higher damage potential due to climate change in Europe. N. La Porta, I.M. Thomsen, R. Kasanen, and P. Capretti. Department of Natural Resources, Forest Ecology and Physiology Unit, Istituto Agrario San Michele all’Adige, 38015 San Michele all’Adige, TN, Italy; (I.M.T.) Danish Forest and Landscape Research Institute, Høsholm, Denmark; (R.K.) Department of Applied Biology, P.O. Box 27, University of Helsinki, FIN-00014, Finland; and (P.C.) Department of Plant Biotechnology, Plant Pathology Section, University of Florence, 50144 Firenze, Italy. Predicting the effects of climate change on Swiss needle cast [Phaeocryptopus gaeumannii] of Douglas-fir in the PAcific Northwest. J.K. Stone. Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State UNiversity, Corvallis, OR 97331-2902, USA. Is an unprecedented epidemic of dothistroma needle blight [Dothistroma septospora] on lodgepole pine related to climate change? A. Woods, K.D. Coates, and A. Hamann. British Columbia Ministry of Forests, P.O. Box 6000, Smithers, BC V0J 2N0, Canada; and (A.H.) Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, 775 General Services Building, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H1, Canada.

HMA1, a New Cu-ATPase of the Chloro plast Envelope, Is Essential for Growth under Adverse Light Conditions

Although ions play important roles in the cell and chloroplast metabolism, little is known about ion transport across the chloroplast envelope. Using a proteomic approach specifically targeted to the Arabidopsis chloroplast envelope, we have identified HMA1, which belongs to the metal-transporting P1B-type ATPases family. HMA1 is mainly expressed in green tissues, and we validated its chloroplast envelope localization. Yeast expression experiments demonstrated that HMA1 is involved in copper homeostasis and that deletion of its N-terminal His-domain partially affects the metal transport. Characterization of hma1 Arabidopsis mutants revealed a lower chloroplast copper content and a diminution of the total chloroplast superoxide dismutase activity. No effect was observed on the plastocyanin content in these lines. The hma1 insertional mutants grew like WT plants in standard condition but presented a photosensitivity phenotype under high light. Finally, direct biochemical ATPase assays performed on purified chloroplast envelope membranes showed that the ATPase activity of HMA1 is specifically stimulated by copper. Our results demonstrate that HMA1 offers an additional way to the previously characterized chloroplast envelope Cu-ATPase PAA1 to import copper in the chloroplast.

Relations statistiques entre les mesures de vent in situ et les estimations de vents en région côtière obtenues par imagerie RSO de RADARSAT-1

A study done by INRS (Institut national de la recherche scientifique) showed the interest of the wind mapping using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from RADARSAT-1, in coastal areas. This project highlights the complementarity of this method with other models already used in the wind industry. To specify the wind distribution on the coast based on this process, it is interesting to evaluate the impact of the environment change (ground–water). Our objective is to explore a simple equation for the wind extrapolation on the shore. So, the wind data estimated from 57 SAR images are compared with the data measured in situ by the anemometers installed on a terrestrial field. This work allowed the identification of the factors having a role on the distribution of the winds in coastal regions. Five factors were retained for the evaluation of their impacts on the wind distribution (wind speed, wind direction, orography, roughness, and ground–water temperature gradient). These analyses emphasize that SAR wind assessment methods give a good estimation of wind speeds at 10 m above the ground. They have permitted the elaboration of 11 simple equations explaining wind speeds on the shore using wind speeds estimated on the water surface.

Multi-criteria decision-aid: local method for sustainable management of groundwater quality in the agricultural sector

Sustainable development, on a local level, requires incentives whose comprehension and identification depend on various stakes and the involvement of socio-economic actors. The complexity of the task could not be compounded without the aid of modern decision-methods such as Multi-Criteria Decision-Analysis (MCDA). This paper proposes an MCDA framework to promote sustainable development. The relevance of this analysis will be tested while being used in a regional agricultural sector. The implementation of MCDA is described in order to answer a question posed by researchers of the National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA: Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique). They were particularly interested in knowing how IPM, or Integrated Pest Management, can be adopted by horticulturists on a voluntary basis. The final purpose of this paper is to contribute to help local authorities to determine the requirements of their own agricultural sector and to propose an adapted environmental policy.

Paramètres génétiques et phénotypiques des performances de reproduction des brebis des races Boujaâd et Sardi au Maroc

L’étude a porté sur l’analyse de 1 264 et 811 performances de reproduction de brebis respectivement de races Boujaâd et Sardi. Ces données ont été collectées de 1993-94 à 1999-2000 dans le domaine expérimental Déroua de l’Institut national de la recherche agronomique de Béni Mellal. Les paramètres génétiques des caractères de reproduction ont été estimés par la méthode Reml (restricted maximum likelihood method) d’estimation des composantes de la variance et de la covariance. Les répétabilités estimées chez la race Boujaâd ont été de 0,18 et 0,17 respectivement pour la taille de portée à la naissance et au sevrage, de 0,23 et 0,18 respectivement pour le poids de portée à la naissance et au sevrage, et de 0,18 pour la durée de gravidité. Chez la race Sardi, les estimations correspondantes ont été respectivement de 0,21 et 0,18, 0,24 et 0,15, et 0,16. Les héritabilités estimées chez la race Boujaâd ont été de 0,18 et 0,11 respectivement pour la taille de portée à la naissance et au sevrage, de 0,18 et 0,11 respectivement pour le poids de portée à la naissance et au sevrage, et de 0,04 pour la durée de gravidité. Les estimations correspondantes chez la race Sardi ont été respectivement de 0,21 et 0,18, 0,24 et 0,15, et 0,16. Les corrélations génétiques et phénotypiques entre ces caractères ont varié respectivement de 0,83 à 1,00 et de 0,27 à 0,93 chez la race Boujaâd, et de 0,06 à 0,96 et de 0,07 à 0,82 chez la race Sardi. Il a été conclu que ces paramètres pourraient être utilisés dans des programmes de sélection pour améliorer la productivité des brebis des races Boujaâd et Sardi.

Editorial

The Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) was honoured to welcome scientists from all over the world who attended the International Workshop on major Genes and QTL in Sheep and Goats. Approximately 100 participants from 16 countries were registered, contributing 52 oral or poster presentations.A first session was dedicated to the tools available for identifying and localising major genes or QTL in these two species. Molecular techniques, marker panels, radiation hybrids, genome physical maps, and BAC libraries were presented along with genetic, comparative and cytogenetic maps. A second and largest session concerned different traits for which major genes or QTL have been found, i.e., ovulation and other reproduction traits, milk and meat characters, and resistance to disease and wool production. For each group, a guest's paper focused on one sub-trait gave the state of the art: the history, identification and localisation of sources of monogenic and oligogenic variability, genetic determinism (dominance, imprinting, ...), effects on the phenotype, physiological mechanisms implied, use in populations, etc. The third session was devoted to the strategies for the use of major genes and QTL in populations, while the last session covered future prospects.A CD (available on request to bodin@toulouse.inra.fr) of the full proceedings was available, and participants invited to give a main paper also had the opportunity to submit it for publication in this special issue of GSE. Nine articles were jointly selected by the Editorial Board of the journal and by the Guest Editor.

OVEREXPRESSION OF ??B CRYSTALLIN IN THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT OF THE NEWBORN PIGLET AFTER HYPOXIA

Newborn animals are particularly sensitive to hypoxic stress. Oxygen is spared for sensitive tissues, including brain and heart. Scarce information is available concerning the molecular effects of hypoxia in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Moreover, stress protein expressions, including heat shock proteins (HSP), are still poorly documented in the GIT. Our objective was to determine the possible effect of hypoxia on HSP expression at birth. After western blotting, alphaB crystallin, HSP 27, and HSP 70 expressions were determined in newborn controls and piglets exposed to 1 or 4 h hypoxia (5% O2, 95% N2) allowed to recover from 1 to 68 h. Cytosol and nuclei were also separated and the extracts were tested for HSF1 and alphaB crystallin expressions. Surprisingly, alphaB crystallin was overexpressed in the stomach and colon in animals submitted to hypoxia, whereas HSP 27 and HSP 70 expression remained stable. Increases and return to basal levels in HSF1 and alphaB crystallin were simultaneously observed in the unique nuclear compartment. To our knowledge, the present study is the first to demonstrate the oxygen dependency of an HSP in the GIT, particularly in the colon in newborn piglets. The kinetics of alphaB crystallin overexpression after hypoxia parallels the activation of HSF1. This observation possibly indicates a correlation between this factor and alphaB crystallin after hypoxia. Taken together, the present results open the field of wide investigation about the specific response of this low-molecular-weight HSP and its possible involvement in pathological states in the GIT such as stomach and colon.

The early days of IVF outside the UK

In this article the history of IVF in geographical regions outside the UK are traced by pioneers of that time. Following the birth of Louise Brown in 1978, live births after IVF occurred in Australia in 1980, in the USA in 1981 and in Sweden and France in 1982. Following the first IVF birth in Australia, the Government of Victoria established a review of IVF research and practice which led to the proclamation of the Infertility (Medical Procedures) Act 1984, the first legislation to regulate IVF and its associated human embryo research. Despite such restriction, IVF doctors and scientists from Victoria, especially those under the leadership of Carl Wood, Alan Trounson and Ian Johnston continued to initiate new treatments for infertility and new methods for delivering this treatment. In the USA IVF research began on animals as early as the 1930s, when Pincus and Enzmann at Harvard were involved in attempts at IVF in the rabbit. In the 1940s, John Rock attempted human IVF with 138 human oocytes without success. In 1965, Bob Edwards was with Georgeanna and Howard Jones at Johns Hopkins where attempts were made to fertilize oocytes in vitro. Clinical IVF began in earnest in the USA in 1980 with the first birth in 1981 achieved by the use of HMG--a first successful use with IVF. In France, two groups Frydman and Testart (Clamart) and Cohen, Mandelbaum and Plachot (Sevres) focused their research in particular directions. In 1981, the Clamart group developed a plasma assay for the initial rise in LH. The Sevres group developed a transport technique. Plachot produced a long series of cytogenetic analyses of oocytes and human embryos. Mandelbaum described the microstructures of the human oocyte. The start of IVF in France benefited from the help of animal researchers from the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique. The first babies were born in Clamart in February 1982 and in Sèvres in June 1982. Important contributions to the development of IVF from the Nordic countries include techniques for ovarian stimulation, sonographic techniques for monitoring and vaginal oocyte retrieval and also unique possibilities for monitoring IVF safety. These developments, in combination with relatively permissive laws for the practice of reproductive medicine and relatively generous reimbursement policies, as well as a general public confidence in IVF, have led to an exceptionally high availability of IVF, within international comparison.

The Golden Apple Snail: raiders of the rice fields

Author(s): Sanderson, T | Abstract: J Thomas Sanderson, Associate Professor, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique-Institute Armand-Frappier, Universite du Quebec, Montreal, QC, H9R IG6, Canada tells of the importance of the aromatase enzyme, pesticide interactions with the enzyme and the possibility of endocrine disruption effects. © 2006. Research Information Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of a standard set of microsatellite reference alleles for identification of grape cultivars

In order to investigate the comparability of microsatellite profiles obtained in different laboratories, ten partners in seven countries analyzed 46 grape cultivars at six loci (VVMD5, VVMD7, VVMD27, VVS2, VrZAG62, and VrZAG79). No effort was made to standardize equipment or protocols. Although some partners obtained very similar results, in other cases different absolute allele sizes and, sometimes, different relative allele sizes were obtained. A strategy for data comparison by means of reference to the alleles detected in well-known cultivars was proposed. For each marker, each allele was designated by a code based on the name of the reference cultivar carrying that allele. Thirty-three cultivars, representing from 13 to 23 alleles per marker, were chosen as references. After the raw data obtained by the different partners were coded, more than 97% of the data were in agreement. Minor discrepancies were attributed to errors, suboptimal amplification and visualization, and misscoring of heterozygous versus homozygous allele pairs. We have shown that coded microsatellite data produced in different laboratories with different protocols and conditions can be compared, and that it is suitable for the identification and SSR allele characterization of cultivars. It is proposed that the six markers employed here, already widely used, be adopted as a minimal standard marker set for future grapevine cultivar analyses, and that additional cultivars be characterized by means of the coded reference alleles presented here. The complete database is available at http://www.genres.de/eccdb/vitis/ Cuttings of the 33 reference cultivars are available on request from the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique Vassal collection (didier.vares@ensam.inra.fr).

Glucose Metabolism in Lactating Cows in Response to Isoenergetic Infusions of Propionic Acid or Duodenal Glucose

A bibliographical study showed that increasing supplies of glucogenic nutrients lead to a curvilinear increase in milk and protein yield. Increased post-hepatic glucose availability may be involved in the increase in milk yield. In the present experiment, 5 dairy cows were arranged in a 5×5 Latin square design to compare the respective effects of 2 amounts of either duodenal glucose or ruminal propionic acid (C3) on glucose metabolism. Treatment consisted of a grass silage-based diet supplemented with glucogenic nutrients infused into the rumen as a mixture of volatile fatty acids (control) or C3 (6.5 and 13 mol/d) or as glucose (3.4 and 6.9 mol/d) infused into the duodenum. Treatments were isoenergetic and isonitrogenous and contained 100 and 115% of energy and protein requirements, respectively, according to the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique. Glucose appearance rate (Ra) tended to increase with the level of infusions of both glucogenic materials and with the high dose of duodenal glucose. Plasma insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) concentration increased with the infusion of glucogenic materials compared with the control and was significantly higher with glucose than with C3 treatments. This experiment did not indicate whether the increased Ra was the key mechanism to increased milk yield because milk yield only tended to increase and the standard error for Ra was high. With the high dose of glucose infused into the duodenum, the Ra increase was greater than the increased lactose production in milk. Because of that connection, IGF-I may also be involved by favoring the glucose utilization by the mammary gland.