The complex history of the olive tree

• The location and timing of domestication of the olive tree, a key crop in Early Mediterranean societies, remain hotly debated. Here, reseachers unravel the history of wild olives (oleasters), and then infer the primary origins of the domesticated...

Genomic Markers for the Genetically Depleted Bornean Elephant

• High throughput sequencing technologies are being applied to an increasing number of model species with a high-quality reference genome. The application and analyses of whole-genome sequence data in non-model species with no prior genomic informa...

Portrait of a bacterium champion of the boxing ring

• Ralstonia solanacearum is a major phytopathogen that attacks many crops and other plants over a broad geographical range...Discover its identity and faculties through this "state of the art" publication.

Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity

• The most unique feature of Earth is the existence of life, and the most extraordinary feature of life is its diversity. Approximately 9 million types of plant, animal, protist and fungus inhabit the Earth. So, too, do 7 billion people. Two...

The Metatron: an experimental system to study dispersal and metaecosystems for terrestrial organisms

• Dispersal of organisms generates gene flow between populations. identifying factors that influence dispersal will help predict how species will cope with rapid environmental change. We developed an innovative infrastructure, the metatron, composed...

The tomato genome sequence provides insights into fleshy fruit evolution

• Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a major crop plant and a model system for fruit development. Solanum is one of the largest angiosperm genera1 and includes annual and perennial plants from diverse habitats. Here we present a high-quality genome se...

14-3-3-Regulated Ca2+dependent protein kinase CPK3 is required for sphingolipid-induced cell death in Arabidopsis

• In eukaryotic cells, sphingoid long chain bases (LCBs) such as sphingosine or phytosphingosine (PHS) behave as second messengers involved in various processes including programmed cell death (PCD). In plants, induction of PCD by LCBs has now been...

Plant-activated Bacterial Receptor Adenylate Cyclases Modulate Epidermal Infection in the Sinorhizobium meliloti-Medicago Symbiosis

• Legumes and soil bacteria called rhizobia have co-evolved a facultative nitrogen-fixing symbiosis. Establishment of the symbiosis requires bacterial entry via root hair infection threads (ITs) and, in parallel, organogenesis of nodules that are su...

Hybridization and barriers to gene flow in an island bird radiation

• While reinforcement may play a role in all major modes of speciation, relatively little is known about the timescale over which species hybridize without evolving complete reproductive isolation. Birds have high potential for hybridization, and is...

Nucleo-cytoplasmic basal resistance regulator EDS1 connects pathogen effector recognition to cell compartment-specific immune responses

• Bacterial typeIII effectors are recognized by plant intracellular nucleotide binding–leucine-rich repeat (NB-LRR) receptors. So far, processes linking activation of these receptors to downstream defense responses remain elusive.

CML9, an Arabidopsis calmodulin-like protein, contributes to plant innate immunity through a flagellin-dependent signalling pathway

• Many stimuli such as hormones and elicitors induce changes in intracellular calcium levels to integrate information and activate appropriate responses. The Ca2+ signals are perceived by different Ca2+ sensors and calmodulin (CaM) is one of the bes...

The genome of Theobroma cacao

• The bioinformatics team of LIPM led by J. Gouzy has contributed the annotation of the genome of Theobroma cacao, an economically important tropical-fruit tree crop that is the source of chocolate.

Structure - function analysis of the extracellular domain of NFP, a putative Nod factor receptor

• Legume plants are able to form a root endosymbiosis with some soil bacteria collectively called rhizobia. This interaction between legumes and rhizobia is highly specific and depends on the recognition by the plant of molecules produced by the rhi...

A switch in Ca2+ spiking signature is concomitant with endosymbiotic microbe entry into cortical root cells of Medicago truncatula

• During the initial stages of root colonization by either nitrogen-fixing rhizobia or arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, the microsymbionts traverse outer root tissues within specialized intracellular compartments of plant origin, thus avoiding dir...

Beyond DNA: integrating inclusive inheritance into an extended theory of evolution

• Current evolutionary approaches reduce heredity to the sole genes. However, evidence is accruing that various forms of non-genetic information are transmitted across generations and thus participate to evolution. In a paper published in Nature Rev...

How is dispersal integrated in life histories: a quantitative analysis using butterflies

• As dispersal plays a key role in gene flow among populations, its evolutionary dynamics under environmental changes is particularly important. The inter-dependency of dispersal with other life history traits may constrain dispersal evolution, and...

Genome of model legume Medicago truncatula sequenced

• Scientists from LIPM (INRA-CNRS) in collaboration with Génoscope (CEA-Institut de Génomique), as part of an international consortium *, have reported the genome sequence of a legume, Medicago truncatula (Mt) also known as Barrel Medic. This sequen...

Homogenization patterns of the world’s freshwater fish faunas

• The world is currently undergoing an unprecedented decline in biodiversity, which is mainly attributable to human activities. For instance, nonnative species introduction, combined with the extirpation of native species, affects biodiversity patte...

2011 Research highlights
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