Project description:Cotyledons and leaf transcriptomes of species of Salsoleae with different photosynthetic types were de novo assembled and analyzed to provide a better understanding of differential gene expression between C3, C2 and C4 species. Total RNA of cotyledons and leaves of different species of Salsoleae with different photosynthetic types (C3 Salsola webbii, C2 Salsola divaricata, C4 Salsola oppositifolia, C4 Hammada scoparia) were isolated with RNeasy Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen) following Standard protocol (January 2011) and including DNase Digestion with RNase-Free DNase Set (Qiagen). 500 ng were used for cDNA library generation conducted with TruSeq RNA Sample Preperation Kit (Illumina Inc.) following Low Sample Protocol (TruSeq RNA Sample Preparation v2 Guide, Illumina Proprietary, Part # 15026495 Rev. C, May 2012). Sequencing of single reads was performed on an Illumina HiSeq2000 platform.
Project description:The project aims at unraveling the venom repertoire of the lesser banded hornet (Vespa affinis) and investigate the regimes of natural selection underpinning their venom evolution. The study also sheds light on the clinical repercussions of the V. affinis venom.
Project description:Compared to freshwater ecosystems, the health status of estuarine waters remains little studied despite their importance for many species. They also represent a zone of interest for Human settlements that make them the final sink of pollution in both the water column and sediment. Once in sediments, pollutants could represent a threat to benthic as well as pelagic estuarine species through resuspension events. In the Seine estuary, the copepod Eurytemora affinis has been previously presented as a relevant species to assess resuspended sediment contamination through the use of fitness-related effects at the individual level. The aim of the present study was to use E. affinis copepods to assess estuarine sediment-derived elutriates toxicity using both a molecular (i.e. transcriptomics) and a behavioral approach. Two sites along the Seine estuary were sampled. They were both under anthropic pressures from the industrial-port activities or wastewater treatment plants (i.e. Tancarville) or agricultural pressure from freshwater affluent (i.e. Fatouville). The analysis of sediments used to prepare elutriates reveals that both sites have close contamination profiles. The transcriptomic analysis reveals that exposure to both sites triggers the dysregulation of genes involved in biological function as defense response, immunity, ecdysone pathway or neurotoxicity. This analysis also reveals a higher count of dysregulated genes in the Fatouville site compared to the Tancarville despite their close contamination profile. These results emphasize the sensitivity of this molecular approach to assess environmental matrix toxicity with E. affinis. The analysis of the swimming behavior of E. affinis did not highlight significant effects after both sites elutriate exposure. However, our strategy to assess E. affinis swimming behavior (i.e the combination of the DanioVision observation chamber and the EthoVision analysis software) allows the discrimination of basal swimming behavior in this species. Thus, it represents a promising standardized tool to assess copepods swimming behavior in ecotoxicological studies.