Institut national de la recherche agronomique

About: Institut national de la recherche agronomique is a facility organization based out in Rabat, Morocco. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Gene. The organization has 41515 authors who have published 68362 publications receiving 3292057 citations. The organization is also known as: INRA & Inra.

The Hidden Side of Invasions: Massive Introgression by Local Genes

Abstract: Despite hundreds of reports involving both plants and animals, the mechanisms underlying introgression remain obscure, even if some form of selection is frequently invoked. Introgression has repeatedly been reported in species that have recently colonized a new habitat, suggesting that demographic processes should be given more attention for understanding the mechanisms of introgression. Here we show by spatially explicit simulations that massive introgression of neutral genes takes place during the invasion of an occupied territory if interbreeding is not severely prevented between the invading and the local species. We also demonstrate that introgression occurs almost exclusively from the local to the invading species, especially for populations located far away from the source of the invasion, and this irrespective of the relative densities of the two species. This pattern is strongest at markers experiencing reduced gene flow, in keeping with the observation that organelle genes are often preferentially introgressed across species boundaries. A survey of the literature shows that a majority of published empirical studies of introgression during range expansions, in animals and in plants, follow the predictions of our model. Our results imply that speciation genes can be identified by comparing genomes of interfertile native and invading species pairs.

Lifestyle transitions in plant pathogenic Colletotrichum fungi deciphered by genome and transcriptome analyses

Abstract: Colletotrichum species are fungal pathogens that devastate crop plants worldwide. Host infection involves the differentiation of specialized cell types that are associated with penetration, growth inside living host cells (biotrophy) and tissue destruction (necrotrophy). We report here genome and transcriptome analyses of Colletotrichum higginsianum infecting Arabidopsis thaliana and Colletotrichum graminicola infecting maize. Comparative genomics showed that both fungi have large sets of pathogenicity-related genes, but families of genes encoding secreted effectors, pectin-degrading enzymes, secondary metabolism enzymes, transporters and peptidases are expanded in C. higginsianum. Genome-wide expression profiling revealed that these genes are transcribed in successive waves that are linked to pathogenic transitions: effectors and secondary metabolism enzymes are induced before penetration and during biotrophy, whereas most hydrolases and transporters are upregulated later, at the switch to necrotrophy. Our findings show that preinvasion perception of plant-derived signals substantially reprograms fungal gene expression and indicate previously unknown functions for particular fungal cell types.

Effects of environmental factors and agricultural techniques on antioxidantcontent of tomatoes

Abstract: Antioxidants are believed to be important in the prevention of diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. Lycopene is one of the main antioxidants to be found in fresh tomatoes and processed tomato products. The lycopene content also accounts for the redness of the fruit, which is one of the main qualities for which industry and consumers now look. Other carotenes (such as β-carotene), vitamin C, vitamin E and various phenolic compounds are also thought to be health-promoting factors with antioxidant properties. Since the antioxidant content of tomatoes may depend on genetic factors, the choice of variety cultivated may affect the results at harvest. To be able to control the antioxidant content of tomatoes at the field level when growing a given variety, it is necessary to know the effects of both environmental factors and the agricultural techniques used. Temperatures below 12 °C strongly inhibit lycopene biosynthesis and temperatures above 32 °C stop this process altogether. The effects of the temperature on the synthesis of other antioxidants have not yet been properly assessed. The effects of light have been studied more thoroughly, apart from those on vitamin E. The effects of water availability, mineral nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium) and plant growth regulators have been studied, but results are sometimes contradictory and the data often incomplete. During the ripening period, lycopene content of tomatoes increases sharply from the pink stage onwards, but no sufficient attempts have been made so far to assess the changes in the other antioxidants present in the fruit. This paper reviews the present state of the art. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry