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Disrupting cell-cell communication to suppress virulence in the bacterium Bacillus cereus

A major public health goal is to identify new strategies for fighting microbes. In Bacillus cereus, a human pathogen, the expression of virulence genes is synchronised and results from communication among bacteria. In a recent study, INRA researchers and Israeli scientists collaborated to develop synthetic peptides capable of interfering with this process. Published on August 14, 2018, in Chemical Communications, the results of this work should lead to novel methods for countering the virulence of bacterial pathogens.

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The influence of genetics on nutritional requirements

Approximately 0.1%: that is the average genetic difference between two individuals. This small percentage is responsible for the variations of certain physical traits, such as eyes, hair, and height, but also for differences in our susceptibility to certain diseases and our capacity to absorb vitamins and phytomicronutrients (carotenoids, polyphenols, etc.), involved in the prevention of chronic disease. Based on the study of genetic interindividual variability, researchers from INRA and Aix-Marseille University have published a review on current knowledge of nutrigenetics in the Annual Review of Nutrition on 21 August 2018. The objective of this emerging science is to personalize nutritional recommendations in order to optimize nutrient, micronutrient, and phytomicronutrient allowances by taking into account genetic differences between individuals and groups of individuals.

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New perspectives to improve wheat: the reference sequence of wheat genome is finally a reality

The International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC), of which INRA is a leading member, published the first wheat genome reference sequence in Science, on 17 August 2018. French research teams from INRA, CEA, and the universities of Clermont-Auvergne, Evry, Paris-Sud and Paris-Saclay contributed to the project, a scientific milestone due to the enormous complexity and size of the genome — five times larger than the human genome and forty times larger than the rice genome. This achievement will make it possible to identify genes of agronomic interest, opening new perspectives to improve bread wheat varieties and crops in order to face the challenges of the future. This reference sequence also represents a significant step towards understanding how this complex genome functions and evolves.

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