In this review article, I summarize the intervention I made during the "Hommage à François Gros" held at the Institut Pasteur in Paris on the 25th of April, 2023. I discuss how the discovery of the existence of an RNA intermediate between genetic information and protein translation has changed our perspective on the role of RNA in gene regulation in these past years. I also discuss new emerging paradigms, highlighting the role of RNA in heritable information similar to the well-known DNA function.
{"title":"Epigenetic and gene regulatory functions of small RNAs.","authors":"Germano Cecere","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.131","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.131","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this review article, I summarize the intervention I made during the \"Hommage à François Gros\" held at the Institut Pasteur in Paris on the 25th of April, 2023. I discuss how the discovery of the existence of an RNA intermediate between genetic information and protein translation has changed our perspective on the role of RNA in gene regulation in these past years. I also discuss new emerging paradigms, highlighting the role of RNA in heritable information similar to the well-known DNA function.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138799659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ticks and tick-borne diseases are on the rise throughout the world. The reasons are multifactorial but all associated with human practices, including climate change and socio-economic and eco systemic changes. In the northern hemisphere, Lyme borreliosis and its vector, the tick belonging to the Ixodes ricinus complex, are particularly studied. Changes in forestry and the expansion of certain wild ungulates since the Second World War could explain the increasing presence of this tick in our environment. As it is likely to transmit other microorganisms potentially pathogenic to humans, an integrated multidisciplinary approach to identify human practices promoting its expansion is critical to control the (re)emergence of infectious diseases. Other ticks also benefit from the same anthropised context to increase their numbers in the environment.
{"title":"[Anthropization and tick-borne diseases: the example of Lyme borreliosis].","authors":"Nathalie Boulanger","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.115","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.115","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ticks and tick-borne diseases are on the rise throughout the world. The reasons are multifactorial but all associated with human practices, including climate change and socio-economic and eco systemic changes. In the northern hemisphere, Lyme borreliosis and its vector, the tick belonging to the Ixodes ricinus complex, are particularly studied. Changes in forestry and the expansion of certain wild ungulates since the Second World War could explain the increasing presence of this tick in our environment. As it is likely to transmit other microorganisms potentially pathogenic to humans, an integrated multidisciplinary approach to identify human practices promoting its expansion is critical to control the (re)emergence of infectious diseases. Other ticks also benefit from the same anthropised context to increase their numbers in the environment.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10130458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jean-Pierre Chevènement, Philippe Lazar, Pierre Papon, Louis Gallois
As an eminent scientist, fully aware of his social responsibilities, François Gros has been consulted on several occasions on how to make better use of science in the service of society. One of the first reports asked of him was by President Giscard d'Estaing on the social and industrial consequences of the rise of biology (1979). A few years later, at the request of President François Mitterrand, he chaired the National Conference on Research and Technology (1981-1982), which led to substantial changes in the way French public research was organised.
{"title":"[A tribute to François Gros, a committed scientist].","authors":"Jean-Pierre Chevènement, Philippe Lazar, Pierre Papon, Louis Gallois","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.148","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.148","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As an eminent scientist, fully aware of his social responsibilities, François Gros has been consulted on several occasions on how to make better use of science in the service of society. One of the first reports asked of him was by President Giscard d'Estaing on the social and industrial consequences of the rise of biology (1979). A few years later, at the request of President François Mitterrand, he chaired the National Conference on Research and Technology (1981-1982), which led to substantial changes in the way French public research was organised.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140095098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Melioidosis is an infectious, tropical and emerging disease, due to a bacterium of the hydrotelluric environment, Burkholderia pseudomallei, which is considered as a potential biological weapon because of its exceptional resistance and virulence capacities. Its worldwide spread, outside the original endemic foci of Southeast Asia and Australia, is favoured by global warming and the diabetes mellitus pandemic, which is the main predisposing factor.In humans, melioidosis is an opportunistic infection, following professional (rice farmers, soldiers) or accidental contamination, by inhalation or inoculation. B. pseudomallei is a facultative intracellular bacterium that can overcome host immune defences, induce acute, subacute, or chronic invasive infection, or remain latent for years. The acute infection is polymorphic, bacteraemic in more than 50% of cases, frequently complicated by shock, and revealed by visceral abscesses, most often pulmonary. It is fatal in 20 to 50% of cases, the prognosis depending on the delay before the establishment of effective first-line antibiotic therapy, using ceftazidime or carbapenems, and therefore on the speed of bacteriological diagnosis.B. pseudomallei is a saprophytic bacterium, resident of the rhizosphere where it has developed and accumulated capacities to overcome environmental stresses and competition with organisms living in such ecosystem. These adaptation mechanisms are also the virulence factors that make melioidosis serious, in particular the efflux pumps that are the main support for its multi-resistance to antibiotics.
{"title":"[A multi-resistant bacterium before the era of antibiotics: the agent of melioidosis].","authors":"Yves Buisson","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.109","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.109","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Melioidosis is an infectious, tropical and emerging disease, due to a bacterium of the hydrotelluric environment, Burkholderia pseudomallei, which is considered as a potential biological weapon because of its exceptional resistance and virulence capacities. Its worldwide spread, outside the original endemic foci of Southeast Asia and Australia, is favoured by global warming and the diabetes mellitus pandemic, which is the main predisposing factor.In humans, melioidosis is an opportunistic infection, following professional (rice farmers, soldiers) or accidental contamination, by inhalation or inoculation. B. pseudomallei is a facultative intracellular bacterium that can overcome host immune defences, induce acute, subacute, or chronic invasive infection, or remain latent for years. The acute infection is polymorphic, bacteraemic in more than 50% of cases, frequently complicated by shock, and revealed by visceral abscesses, most often pulmonary. It is fatal in 20 to 50% of cases, the prognosis depending on the delay before the establishment of effective first-line antibiotic therapy, using ceftazidime or carbapenems, and therefore on the speed of bacteriological diagnosis.B. pseudomallei is a saprophytic bacterium, resident of the rhizosphere where it has developed and accumulated capacities to overcome environmental stresses and competition with organisms living in such ecosystem. These adaptation mechanisms are also the virulence factors that make melioidosis serious, in particular the efflux pumps that are the main support for its multi-resistance to antibiotics.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10503023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A tribute to François Gros, a founding father of molecular biology: Foreword.","authors":"Margaret Buckingham, Moshe Yaniv","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.149","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.149","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140061315","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This is meant to be a personal account of my relationship with François Gros who, as the director of the laboratory where I had my first team became a close and fatherly friend. Over 60 years we had permanent interactions, whether close or far away. And I wish to revive here some of our relation at the grassroots, as well as the folklore in and around his laboratory. He was not only an excellent scientist but also a Statesman of Science and beyond. Myself a minor figure in his big endeavors, this aspect of his life I just observed from below but with much empathy. All along he considered our experimental data and ideas realistic while they were rejected as iconoclastic by the many others. Being taken seriously as a researcher, I did not participate in his professional networks because I never fit the necessary profile in terms of scientific consensus. But his friendship was a major and basic element in my scientific and personal life; I hope my report hereafter does justice to his personality and immense merits.
{"title":"Sixty years of life with François Gros.","authors":"Klaus Scherrer","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.137","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.137","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This is meant to be a personal account of my relationship with François Gros who, as the director of the laboratory where I had my first team became a close and fatherly friend. Over 60 years we had permanent interactions, whether close or far away. And I wish to revive here some of our relation at the grassroots, as well as the folklore in and around his laboratory. He was not only an excellent scientist but also a Statesman of Science and beyond. Myself a minor figure in his big endeavors, this aspect of his life I just observed from below but with much empathy. All along he considered our experimental data and ideas realistic while they were rejected as iconoclastic by the many others. Being taken seriously as a researcher, I did not participate in his professional networks because I never fit the necessary profile in terms of scientific consensus. But his friendship was a major and basic element in my scientific and personal life; I hope my report hereafter does justice to his personality and immense merits.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138833124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article is a tribute to the action of François Gros within the COPED (Committee of Developing Countries) which he created in 1997 and led until 2017. The COPED aims to reflect on the major scientific problems posed to developing countries and to try to provide them with solutions in partnership with them. Its actions have resulted in the organization of mini-forums, workshops, international symposia and reports for governments and authorities. Without being exhaustive, a number of actions carried out by François Gros or on his initiative are described in fields as diverse as health, chemistry, agronomy, energy, applied mathematics, renewable resources management and biodiversity, or education, training and the role of women in the sustainable development of African societies. The diversity of these concerns is a good illustration of the range of areas in which François Gros saw a possible impact of science in the service of development.
{"title":"[Science and development: the action of François Gros at COPED].","authors":"Pierre Auger, Michel Delseny","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.127","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.127","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article is a tribute to the action of François Gros within the COPED (Committee of Developing Countries) which he created in 1997 and led until 2017. The COPED aims to reflect on the major scientific problems posed to developing countries and to try to provide them with solutions in partnership with them. Its actions have resulted in the organization of mini-forums, workshops, international symposia and reports for governments and authorities. Without being exhaustive, a number of actions carried out by François Gros or on his initiative are described in fields as diverse as health, chemistry, agronomy, energy, applied mathematics, renewable resources management and biodiversity, or education, training and the role of women in the sustainable development of African societies. The diversity of these concerns is a good illustration of the range of areas in which François Gros saw a possible impact of science in the service of development.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138798306","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Although reflection is obviously crucial in molecular biology, experimentation is nonetheless the basis of most major advances. I was lucky to begin my research career at a particularly interesting time, and privileged to have spent a number of years in Francois Gros' laboratory at the Institut Pasteur. His influence, and that of his lab, were crucial in shaping my early career.
{"title":"On learning molecular biology in François Gros' lab in the late 1970s and early 1980s.","authors":"Adrian Minty","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.134","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.134","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although reflection is obviously crucial in molecular biology, experimentation is nonetheless the basis of most major advances. I was lucky to begin my research career at a particularly interesting time, and privileged to have spent a number of years in Francois Gros' laboratory at the Institut Pasteur. His influence, and that of his lab, were crucial in shaping my early career.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138833123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Charlotte Arnal, Faten Belhadj-Kaabi, Valérie Ingrand
Due to the massive use of antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to spread, endangering global disease control and environmental quality. The sources of bacteria or antimicrobial resistance genes are linked to human activities: urban, hospital and industrial discharges, livestock farms). The role of sanitation systems-sewerage, wastewater treatment and sludge treatment (WWTP)-in the problem of AMR has not yet been clearly established by the scientific community. The data available to date show that they eliminate part of the bacteria, genes and antibiotics, although this is not their primary vocation. WWTPs thus play an important filtering role to limit dissemination in the environment. On the other hand, some authors warn against their potential involvement in the selection of new resistant germs, given the conditions conducive to the exchange of genetic material between microbial strains of various types and exposed to selective agents. Today, knowledge of the mechanisms involved in the selection of antibiotic resistance and the fate of bacteria and resistance genes within sanitation systems remains limited. Research is needed to better characterize the contribution of wastewater systems and the performance of wastewater, recycled water, stormwater and sludge treatment processes.
由于抗生素的大量使用,抗菌素耐药性(AMR)不断蔓延,危及全球疾病控制和环境质量。细菌或抗菌药耐药性基因的来源与人类活动有关:城市、医院和工业排放物、畜牧场)。卫生系统--下水道、废水处理和污泥处理(WWTP)--在 AMR 问题上的作用尚未得到科学界的明确证实。迄今为止的数据显示,它们可以消除部分细菌、基因和抗生素,尽管这并不是它们的主要职责。因此,污水处理厂在限制环境中的传播方面发挥着重要的过滤作用。另一方面,一些学者警告说,鉴于各种类型的微生物菌株之间有利于交换遗传物质并接触选择性制剂,污水处理厂有可能参与选择新的抗药性病菌。如今,人们对抗生素抗药性的选择机制以及卫生系统中细菌和抗药性基因的命运的了解仍然有限。需要开展研究,以更好地确定废水系统的贡献以及废水、循环水、雨水和污泥处理工艺的性能。
{"title":"[Which contribution of wastewater treatment plants in the fight against antimicrobial resistance?]","authors":"Charlotte Arnal, Faten Belhadj-Kaabi, Valérie Ingrand","doi":"10.5802/crbiol.113","DOIUrl":"10.5802/crbiol.113","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Due to the massive use of antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to spread, endangering global disease control and environmental quality. The sources of bacteria or antimicrobial resistance genes are linked to human activities: urban, hospital and industrial discharges, livestock farms). The role of sanitation systems-sewerage, wastewater treatment and sludge treatment (WWTP)-in the problem of AMR has not yet been clearly established by the scientific community. The data available to date show that they eliminate part of the bacteria, genes and antibiotics, although this is not their primary vocation. WWTPs thus play an important filtering role to limit dissemination in the environment. On the other hand, some authors warn against their potential involvement in the selection of new resistant germs, given the conditions conducive to the exchange of genetic material between microbial strains of various types and exposed to selective agents. Today, knowledge of the mechanisms involved in the selection of antibiotic resistance and the fate of bacteria and resistance genes within sanitation systems remains limited. Research is needed to better characterize the contribution of wastewater systems and the performance of wastewater, recycled water, stormwater and sludge treatment processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":55231,"journal":{"name":"Comptes Rendus Biologies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10129163","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}