Arnaud Le Rouzic (CNRS, génomes Comportement, Ecologie de Gif sur Yvette) will give a seminar entitled :« Amplification dynamics of transposable elements » Tuesday 28 april at 1.30 pm in LEGF room.
Author Archives: eric
Seminar: S. Duplessis
Sébastien Duplessis (UMR 1136) will present us the last research on Melampsora genomics in a seminar entitled “Update on Melampsora genomics projects: towards identification of candidate effectors in an obligate biotrophic plant pathogène » at 1.30 pm in LEGF room.
Ce vendredi 17 avril Sébastien Duplessis (UMR 1136) nous présentera ces dernières recherches sur la génomique de Melampsora lors d’un séminaire intitulé “Update on Melampsora genomics projects: towards identification of candidate effectors in an obligate biotrophic plant pathogène » qui se déroulera dans la salle LEGF à 13h30.
FACCE-JPI
Increased demands for food, renewable energy and raw materials from biomass are among the “Great Challenges” for the 21st century. Based on the vision of a European bio economy, 21 countries are now calling for research that can provide a sustainable intensification of agricultural production.
To address this challenge, 21 countries have formed a partnership and a new initiative in the frame of the Joint Programming Initiative on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change (FACCE-JPI).
In collaboration with the European Commission the partner countries announce today a call for joint European research projects with an indicative budget of 15 M€.
The new initiative is entitled FACCE SURPLUS (Sustainable and Resilient agriculture for food and non-food systems) and is committed to improve collaboration across the European Research Area in the range of diverse, but integrated, food and non-food biomass production and transformation systems, including biorefining.
The call for proposals aims as well at supporting innovation and value creation from biomass and biorefineries in synergy with the environmentally sustainable intensification of agricultural and other biomass production systems, taking into account the required economic, environmental and social conditions and resilience to climate change.
The scientific scope of the call for proposals addresses collaborative projects in three research areas, which are incorporated into the following three subthemes of this call, namely:
- Spatial targeting of land use to increase biomass production and transformation, stimulating the growth of systems for the efficient utilisation of green (plant) biomass cascading through novel transformation.
- Developing markets for a wide range of products and services generated through integrated food and non-food systems.
- Sustainable intensification of integrated food and non-food systems of agriculture, by developing integrated, systems-based approaches to land management.
About the call
FACCE SURPLUS is an ERA-NET under the Cofund scheme of Horizon 2020 of the European Union. The indicative total available budget amounts to 15M €. The call opens on 7 January and the closing date for pre-proposals is 4 March 2015.
The call invites proposals for collaborative research and development of transnational consortia of research organisations and companies from at least 3 countries participating in the call. The duration of proposed projects may be up to 3 years. National eligibility rules, including the potential eligibility of the private sector, e.g. SMEs, must be followed and will be published together with the call text on www.faccejpi.com
The submission of the proposal occurs online at www.submission-faccejpi.com
For more information on application procedures and evaluation criteria, please visit www.faccejpi.com and see the Call Announcement published here.
The funding allocated by The French National Research Agency (ANR) to this call is set at a maximum of 1 M€. The participation of the French scientific community is strongly expected and encouraged.
Interreg North-West Europe Programme 2014-2020
Interreg North-West Europe Programme 2014-2020
Mission
The Interreg North-West Europe (NWE) Programme’s mission for 2014-2020 is to produce measurable positive change in the North-West Europe territory.
Essential reading:
Full Cooperation Programme (submitted to the European Commission on 23 March 2015)
Three themes – Five objectives
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Innovation
To enhance innovation performance of enterprises throughout North-West Europe regions
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Low Carbon
- To facilitate the implementation of low-carbon, energy and climate protection strategies in order to reduce GHG-emissions in North-West Europe
- To facilitate the uptake of low carbon technologies, products, processes and services in sectors with high energy saving potential in order to reduce GHG-emissions in North-West Europe
- To facilitate the implementation of transnational low-carbon solutions in transport systems in order to reduce GHG-emissions in North-West Europe
- Resource and materials efficiency
To optimise (re)use of material and natural resources in NWE
Funding
To achieve its objectives, the Interreg North-West Europe Programme will co-finance cooperation projects with €370 million of ERDF. To reduce the red tape and intensify the guidance to project promoters from a very early stage, the Programme has introduced a 2-step approach:
- Step 1: Concept note: o pass to the next round, projects must be able to explain what measurable change (= results) they intend to achieve and why it matters to the North-West of Europe and to the NWE Programme.
- Step 2: Full work plan Projects can get up to 60% co-funding if they demonstrate they can achieve a measurable change (=results) on the NWE territory in an economic, efficient and effective way.
REACTIFF
REACTIFF (Recherche sur l’Atténuation du Changement ClimaTique par l’agrIculture et la Forêt)
Les priorités de recherche retenues pour cette édition de l’appel sont :
– La mobilisation de la biomasse forestière et agricole, que ce soit sur les aspects biophysiques, organisationnels, économiques et sociétaux,
– Les projets en sciences économiques et sociales (SES) visant à favoriser et à accompagner la transition de l’agriculture et de la forêt (projets spécifiquement SES ou à l’interface avec d’autres disciplines),
– L’évaluation des cohérences et/ou divergences entre les stratégies d’atténuation et celles d’adaptation afin de favoriser l’adoption de solutions sans regret,
– Les travaux réalisés à l’échelle des territoires ou des filières, intégrant notamment la notion d’économie circulaire.
– Les projets en sciences économiques et sociales (SES) visant à favoriser et à accompagner la transition de l’agriculture et de la forêt (projets spécifiquement SES ou à l’interface avec d’autres disciplines),
– L’évaluation des cohérences et/ou divergences entre les stratégies d’atténuation et celles d’adaptation afin de favoriser l’adoption de solutions sans regret,
– Les travaux réalisés à l’échelle des territoires ou des filières, intégrant notamment la notion d’économie circulaire.
L’évaluation est prévue en deux temps : pré-projet avant l’été 2015 et dossier complémentaire en septembre 2015.
Date limite de dépôt sur la plateforme « appelsaprojets.ademe.fr » : 8 juin 2015 à 12h00
Les aides peuvent aller de 40.000 à 200 000 € HT.
Article: New Phytologist
Plants, fungi and oomycetes: a 400‐million year affair that shapes the biosphere MA Selosse, C Strullu‐Derrien, FM Martin, S Kamoun, P Kenrick. New Phytologist 206 (2), 501-506
In a rare gathering, genomics met palaeontology at the 10th New Phytologist Workshop on the ‘Origin and evolution of plants and their interactions with fungi’. An eclectic group of 17 experts met at The Natural History Museum (London, UK) on 9–10 September 2014 to discuss the latest findings on plant interactions with fungi (Eumycota) and oomycetes (Oomycota = Peronosporomycota), with topics ranging from the fossil record and comparative genomics to symbiosis and phytopathology. The discussions were largely disseminated via social media (Box 1). Highly diverse plant–fungal interactions have formed the backbone of land ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles since the Palaeozoic (see Fig. 1 for geological timeframe). As summarized by Christine Strullu-Derrien and Paul Kenrick (The Natural History Museum, London, UK) the first land plants arose c. 470 million years (Myr) ago (Kenrick et al., 2012; Edwards et al., 2014), at which time fungi and oomycetes had already colonized terrestrial ecosystems. Following their terrestrialization, these microbes began to abound within plant fossils (Taylor et al., 2014, and references therein). Ultimately, biological interactions sculpted the genomes of plants, fungi and oomycetes (e.g. Schmidt & Panstruga, 2011; Kohler et al., 2015). Here we illustrate the picture that has emerged from the discussions at the 10th New Phytologist Workshop, and point to some pending questions.
Mountains as Sentinels of change
International call for proposals in the context of the Belmont Forum: Mountains as Sentinels of Change
Mountains exist in many regions of the world and are home to a significant fraction of the world population and to half of global biodiversity hotspots. Mountains make essential ecosystem services available: acting as water towers of the world, they provide freshwater to many lowland regions for domestic use, irrigation, hydropower, or industry. They provide other ecosystem services such as unique flora and fauna, critical habitat for rare and endangered species, as well as wood, snow-based recreation, and others. But mountains are very fragile environments and are among the regions that are most sensitive to climate change and to the impacts of human activities.
Many studies have found that high elevation regions are particularly sensitive to global climate change and they are considered to be “sentinels of change”, since they respond rapidly and intensely to climatic and environmental modifications, with the danger of losing essential services, and menace the well-being of the people depending on high-altitude resources.
There is growing evidence, for instance, that the rate of warming is amplified with elevation, such that high mountain environments are experiencing more rapid changes in temperature than the global average or at lower elevation. This elevation-dependent warming has important implications for the mass balance of the high altitude glaciers and associated runoff, for ecosystems and farming communities, as well as for species that reside in restricted altitudinal ranges. However, because of sparse high elevation observations, there is a danger that we may not be monitoring some of the regions of the globe that are warming the most.
Based on the above considerations, the Belmont Forum partners are launching a new call for international proposals which aims at fostering research on climate, environmental and related societal change in mountain regions, considering both new measurements, recovery of existing data, and the development and use of integrated modeling strategies by adopting a strong trans- and inter-disciplinary approach.
Attention to the hydrological, ecological, societal and economic implications of the ongoing and expected environmental changes is an essential component in the proposed projects, as well as the design of adaptation measures in the face of climate and global change, regional development and sustainable development strategies for mountain regions.
Five main interconnected themes have been identified that characterize the “Mountains as sentinels of change” Collaborative Research Action. The themes of the call are:
- “Drivers of change”: a description of the variety of drivers that generate the observed and expected changes in mountain environments.
- Scientific theme 1: “Ecosystem and Biodiversity”
- Scientific theme 2: “Water”
- Societal theme 1: “Hazards, Vulnerability and Risks”
- Societal theme 2: “Adaptation and Resilience”
Article: Annals of Forest Science
Can mosses serve as model organisms for forest research? S Müller, D Gütle, JP Jacquot, R Reski. Annals of Forest Science.
Abstract
Key message
Based on their impact on many ecosystems, we review the relevance of mosses in research regarding stress tolerance, metabolism, and cell biology. We introduce the potential use of mosses as complementary model systems in molecular forest research, with an emphasis on the most developed model moss Physcomitrella patens.
Context and aims
Mosses are important components of several ecosystems. The moss P. patensis a well-established non-vascular model plant with a high amenability to molecular biology techniques and was designated as a JGI plant flagship genome. In this review, we will provide an introduction to moss research and highlight the characteristics of P. patens and other mosses as a potential complementary model system for forest research.
Methods
Starting with an introduction into general moss biology, we summarize the knowledge about moss physiology and differences to seed plants. We provide an overview of the current research areas utilizing mosses, pinpointing potential links to tree biology. To complement literature review, we discuss moss advantages and available resources regarding molecular biology techniques.
Results and conclusion
During the last decade, many fundamental processes and cell mechanisms have been studied in mosses and seed plants, increasing our knowledge of plant evolution. Additionally, moss-specific mechanisms of stress tolerance are under investigation to understand their resilience in ecosystems. Thus, using the advantages of model mosses such as P. patens is of high interest for various research approaches, including stress tolerance, organelle biology, cell polarity, and secondary metabolism.
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions
La Commission européenne a publié le 12 mars l’appel à propositions Bourses individuelles du programme MSCA (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions).
Ces bourses s’adressent aux chercheurs titulaires d’un doctorat ou comptabilisant 4 années d’expérience en recherche à la date de clôture de l’appel le 10 septembre 2015.
L’idée est de proposer des opportunités de financement permettant aux chercheurs d’acquérir de nouvelles connaissances, reprendre une carrière ou revenir en Europe.
La règle de base est de ne pas avoir séjourné plus de 12 mois au cours des trois dernières années dans le pays d’accueil.
Les différentes catégories de bourses :
– European Fellowship Standard (bourse de mobilité vers un état membre ou associé) durée 12 à 24 à mois
European Fellowship panel Reintegration, règles de mobilité plus larges pour inciter les chercheurs à revenir en Europe, durée 12 à 24 à mois
European Fellowship panel Career Restart, règles de mobilité plus larges après une interruption de carrière, durée 12 à 24 à mois
– Global Fellowship (bourse sortante hors de l’UE Etats membres ou associés, suivie d’une phase de retour obligatoire), durée 24 à 36 mois
Le projet est financé sous forme de coûts unitaires pour le chercheur (salaire + allocations de mobilités) et pour l’établissement (frais de recherche/formation, management/coût indirects).
L’appel est publié sur le Portail du Participant , les principaux documents utiles y sont téléchargeables :
le Programme de Travail (Work Programme décrivant toutes les Actions Marie Skłodowska Curie, les critères de sélection…), le Guide du Candidat (Guide for Applicants contenant les formulaires de candidature et détaillant l’instrument auquel vous souhaitez postuler).
Ces documents sont disponibles aussi sur le site du Point de Contact National MSCA, où se trouvent en outre des plaquettes de présentation, des FAQ par type d’action, des conseils, des bilans, des diaporamas de présentation de la Commission : Boîte à outil du PCN
Le taux de succès sur ces actions a été d’environ 19% lors de l’appel 2014.
Article: Metallomics
Common and metal-specific proteomic responses to cadmium and zinc in the metal tolerant ericoid mycorrhizal fungus Oidiodendron maius Zn M Chiapello, E Martino, S Perotto Metallomics
Abstract
Although adaptive metal tolerance may arise in fungal populations in polluted soils, the mechanisms underlying metal-specific tolerance are poorly understood. Comparative proteomics is a powerful tool to identify variation in protein profiles caused by changing environmental conditions, and was used to investigate protein accumulation in a metal tolerant isolate of the ericoid mycorrhizal fungus Oidiodendron maius exposed to zinc and cadmium. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and shotgun proteomics followed by mass spectrometry lead to the identification of common and metal-specific proteins and pathways. Proteins selectively induced by cadmium exposure were molecular chaperons of the Hsp90 family, cytoskeletal proteins and components of the translation machinery. Zinc significantly up-regulated metabolic pathways related to energy production and carbohydrates metabolism, likely mirroring zinc adaptation of this fungal isolate. Common proteins induced by the two metal ions were the antioxidant enzyme Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase and ubiquitin. In mycelia exposed to zinc and cadmium, both proteomic techniques also identified agmatinase, an enzyme involved in polyamine biosynthesis. This novel finding suggests that, like plants, polyamines may have important functions in response to abiotic environmental stress in fungi. Genetic evidence also suggests that the biosynthesis of polyamines via an alternative metabolic pathway may be widespread in fungi.
