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The Genome and Plant Development Laboratory (LGDP, UMR 5096 CNRS/UPVD), just published in Nature Communications an article describing the transpositional dynamics of rice based on the analysis of 3,000 genomes. The authors show that transposable elements (mobile DNA in the genome) contribute significantly to the diversification of the species genome.

During the development of the seed in Arabidopsis, local loosening of a cell wall domain is required for proper function later during the imbibition of the dry seed. In this article in Developmental Cell, researchers at the LRSV (UMR CNRS / UPS) expose the molecular actors that govern the local remodeling of this wall domain.

Some bacterial pathogens are known to rely on cooperation between individuals and species for efficient colonization of their host and the onset of disease. LIPM researchers (UMR INRA / CNRS) examined in this PNAS article the regulation of genes in cells from different parts of a fungal plant pathogen and found evidence for cooperation between these fungal cells. They further show that cooperation between fungal cells is particularly important for the efficient colonization of resistant plants. These findings establish cooperation as a mechanism supporting disease caused by fungal pathogens that should be taken into account in the design of disease management strategies.

Guillaume Besnard from the Evolution and Biological Diversity Laboratory (EDB UMR UPS / CNRS / IRD) in collaboration with a team from the University of Sheffield published in PNAS an article documenting the existence of many lateral gene transfers of long DNA fragments among grasses.

Despite the importance of plant-plant interactions in plant community dynamics and crop yield, our understanding of the adaptive genetics underlying these interactions remains limited. To fill this gap, researchers from the LIPM (UMR CNRS / INRA) mapped genomic regions involved in the in situ interaction between a model plant and its neighbors.

A new international study published on May 24 in Nature Communications shows the consequences for biodiversity of the loss of natural habitats. The study led by researchers from the SETE (UMR CNRS/UPS) suggests that biological communities respond to the destruction of their habitats prior to species extinctions. It shows that the way human activities destroy habitat for biodiversity is a key factor to understanding the effects of that loss on the stability and functioning of biological communities.

Defining the organization of networks of interaction between species and revealing the processes at the origin of their assembly is fundamental to understand biodiversity, the stability of communities and the functioning of ecosystems. This is the challenge tackled by researchers at the Station of Theoretical and Experimental Ecology of Moulis (UMR CNRS / UPS). They presented the assembly network of the marine sponge microbiome in an article published in Nature Communications.

The work of LIPM researchers in the model legume M. truncatula in collaboration in collaboration with researchers from the John Innes Center (UK) and from the CAS-JIC Center of Excellence for Plant and Microbial Science (China) led to the publication in Nature Communications of an article characterizing a novel protein complex that is needed for polar growth of the infection threads and thus for the colonization of the nodules by the bacteria.

The success of an infection depends both on the pathogen virulence factors and on the immune system of their hosts. In an article published in June 2019 in PNAS, researchers from the IHPE laboratory (UMR UPVD / CNRS / Ifremer / UM) show that the Vibrio species pathogenic for oysters have developed various mechanisms allowing them to overcome the powerful cellular defenses of their host to cause systemic infections.

It is now widely accepted that anatomically modern humans interbred with their close relatives, the Neanderthals and the Denisovans, as they dispersed out of Africa. An international research team including the Laboratory Evolution and Biological Diversity (EDB - CNRS / University of Toulouse III Paul Sabatier / IRD) brings surprising results on this little known chapter of the history of our species.