Actualités 2019

Axons, the threadlike part of a nerve cell that conducts impulses, are both flexible and strong, which makes them a mystery in the eyes of biologists. Recent studies have shown that under the axonal membrane, rings composed of actin filaments give the structure its flexibility. But those studies had not been able to define the precise architecture of these rings.

Scientists have for the first time shown that it is possible to detect the propagation of seismic waves on the seafloor using submarine telecommunications cables. According to their observations, this existing infrastructure could be used to detect earthquakes, as well as swell and underwater noise. The results are published on December 18, 2019, by researchers from the CNRS, OCA, IRD and Université Côte d'Azur working together in the Géoazur laboratory, in collaboration with the company Fébus Optics and the Centre de Physique des Particules de Marseille (CNRS/Aix-Marseille Université) 1.

The 'AI Chairs' aim to offer researchers substantial resources to build a team and carry out an ambitious project whose visible impact is expected. A multi-year program of 40 Chairs in Artificial Intelligence is one of the measures under this research component, which was presented on November 2018 by the Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation and the Secretary of State for Digital Technology.

Gold nanoparticles, which are supposed to be stable in biological environments, can be degraded inside cells. This research conducted by teams from the CNRS, l'Université de Paris, Sorbonne Université, and l'Université de Strasbourg will be published in PNAS on December 16 2019, and reveals the ability of cells to metabolize gold, which is nevertheless not essential for their functioning.

Plant Advanced Technologies - PAT announces the allocation of exceptional funding of € 660,000 by the office of Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, as part of the national innovation contest "Programme d'Investissements d'Avenir III"*. The project associating INRA and ITEPMAI, entitled HerbiScan, enters the category "Innovative Agriculture" and aims to discover and develop new herbicides of plant origin, which will be in adequacy with the stakes of the current agriculture (new active molecules more respectful of the environment).

For 50 years, the theory of the "descended larynx" has stated that before speech can emerge, the larynx must be in a low position to produce differentiated vowels. Monkeys, which have a vocal tract anatomy that resembles that of humans in the essential articulators (tongue, jaw, lips) but with a higher larynx, could not produce differentiated vocalizations.

'Results Hold promise for Fast, Accurate Single-Shot Readout 'Of Foundry-Compatible Si MOS Spin Qubits' 'SAN FRANCISCO ' Dec. 11, 2019 ' Leti, a technology research institute of CEA Tech, and its research partners have demonstrated a potentially scalable readout technique that could be fast enough for high-fidelity measurements in large arrays of quantum dots.

Since 2013, a European Union (EU) moratorium has restricted the application of three neonicotinoids to crops that attract bees because of the harmful effects they are deemed to have on these insects. Yet researchers from the CNRS, INRA, and the Institut de l'Abeille (ITSAP) have just demonstrated that residues of these insecticides-and especially of imidacloprid-can still be detected in rape nectar from 48% of the plots of studied fields, their concentrations varying greatly over the years.

Two French researchers from the CNRS and Ecole nationale des chartes disprove the theory according to which Corneille was Molière's ghostwriter - a popular and century-old theory, defended by some academics and writers. According to their forthcoming study in Science Advances, Molière would most likely be the only author of his numerous masterpieces.

Since 2013, a European Union (EU) moratorium has restricted the application of three neonicotinoids to crops that attract bees because of the harmful effects they are deemed to have on these insects. Yet researchers from the CNRS, INRA, and the Institut de l'Abeille (ITSAP) have just demonstrated that residues of these insecticides-and especially of imidacloprid-can still be detected in rape nectar from 48% of the plots of studied fields, their concentrations varying greatly over the years.

In a multicellular organism, gene expression regulation allows cells to live, divide and ensure their proper physiological role. The molecular nature of this process (e.g. low molecule number, Brownian movements..) involves random variations. Indeed, with the same genetic background, two neighbor cells do not express their genes in the same way.

Scientists from Inra and the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (Italy) have shown that not all weed communities (spontaneous vegetation) generate crop yield losses, even in unweeded conditions, and that high weed diversity is associated to a reduced risk of important crop yield losses. Published in Nature Sustainability , these results provide new grounds for sustainable weed management.

Publication by IGFL on October 22, 2019. Drosophila larvae spend most of their short lives gorging on rotting fruit. In their 'spare time' these intriguing animals also display phases of intense physical exercise. They are capable of an astonishing array of complex locomotor behaviours such as crawling at different speeds, crawling backwards, performing sharp turns, head sweeps and pauses.

Natural transformation (i.e., the uptake of DNA and its stable integration in the chromosome) is a major mechanism of horizontal gene transfer in bacteria. Although the vast majority of bacterial genomes carry the genes involved in natural transformation, close relatives of naturally transformable species often appear not competent for natural transformation.

Publication by Laboratoire de géologie de Lyon in Scientific Reports on October 17, 2019. Communication from CNRS info. Though our understanding of the anatomy of the earliest animals is growing ever more precise, we know next to nothing about their behaviour. Did group behaviour arise recently or is it primeval?

Publication by Laboratoire de physique in Physical Review Letters on August 30, 2019. We report the first quantitative measurements of the resonance frequencies of a torus of fluid confined in a horizontal Hele-Shaw cell. By using the unwetting property of a metal liquid, we are able to generate a stable torus of fluid with an arbitrary aspect ratio.

Researchers from INRA and CNRS have shown for the first time that bee pollination surpasses the use of pesticides in yield and especially in profitability of oilseed rape. The team of researchers analysed data collected over four years in farmers' fields in an agricultural plain in Deux-Sèvres (Nouvelle Aquitaine, western France).

For more than a century, the Nissle 1917 strain of the bacterium Escherichia coli has been used as a probiotic to treat gastrointestinal disorders. However, this bacterium also produces a toxin, colibactin, which has deleterious effects on host DNA and might cause colon cancer. It is therefore crucial to understand the mechanisms at play in the strain if we wish to limit undesirable side effects.

Evanescent Acoustic Beam Moves Suspended Particles at Lower Cost & Energy Consumption Than Existing Propagative Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) Systems. CEA-Leti has developed a new acousto-microfluidic technology for manipulating microand nanoscale samples using evanescent sound waves. Described in a paper published in the September issue of Nature (Comm.

An international team * led by researchers from INRA and CEA managed to assemble the first sequence of the pea genome. This study, published on September 2, 2019 , will, in addition to increasing knowledge of this genome compared to that of other legumes, help to improve traits of interest for peas, such as disease resistance, regularity of yield and nutritional value.