CR Biologies

Aqleem Abbas

Shahid Ullah Khan

Wasim Ullah Khan

Tawfik A. Saleh

Muhammad Hafeez Ullah Khan

Sana Ullah

Ahmad Ali

Muhammad Ikram

Antagonist effects of strains of Bacillus spp. against Rhizoctonia solani for their protection against several plant diseases: Alternatives to chemical pesticides

Issam Nessaibia

Raffaello Sagese

Dafne Sicilliano

Luigi Cocci

Abdelkrim Tahraoui

Les récepteurs hépatiques X définissent la réaction immunitaire pendant le syndrome général d’adaptation (SGA)

Audrey Legendre

Ghada Elmhiri

Céline Gloaguen

Victor Magneron

Dimitri Kereselidze

Nawel Saci

Christelle Elie

Élodie Vaysset

Mohamedamine M. Benadjaoud

Karine Tack

Stéphane Grison

Maamar Souidi

Multigenerational exposure to uranium changes morphometric parameters and global DNA methylation in rat sperm

Lahcen Tamegart

Abdellatif Abbaoui

Abdelaati El Khiat

Moulay Mustapha Bouyatas

Halima Gamrani

Altered nigrostriatal dopaminergic and noradrenergic system prompted by systemic lead toxicity versus a treatment by curcumin-III in the desert rodent Meriones shawi

Adriano B. Kury

Andrés F. García

Miguel Angel Medrano

A new genus of Kimulidae; first record of the family from Colombia (Opliones, Grassatores)

Yvan Rahbé

Edwige Keller-Rahbé

Sibylle Orlandi

248 Insects: Friends, foes, and models/Insectes : amis, ennemis et modèles / C. R. Biologies 342 (2020) 247–278
death. Finally, nerve biopsies of the patient, who suffered
severe axonal loss, showed that surviving Schwann cells are
morphologically (TEM) and functionally aberrant (electrophys-
iology). This prompted the physicians to provide the patient
with high doses of N-acetylcysteine and this new treatment is
associated with a clear improvement in motility.
A second project was driven by a forward mutagenesis screen in
Drosophila in which we previously identified variants in the fly
Ankle2 gene. We discovered that loss-of-function mutations of
the human ortholog of ANKLE2 cause microcephaly in a child
[3]. We then discovered, in collaboration with Nevan Krogan
and Priya Shah, that a Zika virus protein, NS4A, interacts with
and inhibits Ankle2 [4,5]. Our studies in Drosophila combined
with human genetic studies allowed us to uncover a pathway
that implicates several genes associated with primary micro-
cephaly in human.
We identified five additional microcephaly patients with
variants in ANKLE2 and showed that these variants act as
loss-of-function alleles in flies. Our data show that Ankle2 is
an ER-localized protein essential for proper ER and nuclear
envelope structure. Mutations in Ankle2 affect cell division,
spindle alignment, and localization of asymmetric determi-
nants including the proteins of the Par complex. Ankle2
strongly interacts with the nuclear kinase Ballchen, the
homolog of human VRK1, an established microcephaly locus.
Ankle2 mutants fail to maintain Ballchen/VRK1 in the nucleus,
and we propose that this leads to a “gain-of-function” phe-
notype where Ballchen/VRK1 can ectopically interact with
targets that it normally does not interact with. This results in
severely reduced aPKC phosphorylation, which has previously
been shown to have reduced kinase activity. The Ankle2 path-
way also physically and genetically interacts with L(2)gl, an
inhibitor of aPKC activity, which is consistent with the observed
aPKC defects noted in Ankle2 mutants. Finally, we show that
expression of NS4A, which binds to and inhibits the function
of Ankle2, phenocopies Ankle2 mutant defects in neuroblasts,
and these defects can be rescued by modulation of the Ankle2
pathway [3] (Link et al., 2019).
Our work highlights an important pathway required for proper
human brain development: ANKLE2 and VRK1 are both asso-
ciated with microcephaly; a member of the Par complex has
been linked to brain defects in mice; and LLGL1, the homolog of
L(2)gl, maps to the critical region of Smith Magenis Syndrome, a
disease associated with microcephaly. Furthermore, we identi-
fied many novel variants associated with microcephaly in many
of the human homologues of the fly genes described in this
study.
Disclosure of interest The author declares that he has no com-
peting interest.
References
[1] H.J. Bellen, M.F. Wangler, S. Yamamoto, The fruit fly at the
interface of diagnosis and pathogenic mechanisms of rare
and common human disease, Hum. Mol. Genet. [submitted].
[2] H. Chung, M.F. Wangler, P.C. Marcogliese, J. Jo, T.A. Raven-
scroft, S. Sadeghzadeh, et al., Loss of peroxisomalACOX1
induces autoimmunity whereas a de novo gain-of-function
variant induces elevated ROS and Schwann cell loss [in
preparation].
[3] S. Yamamoto, M. Jaiswal, W.L. Charng, T. Gambin, E. Karaca,
G. Mirzaa, et al., A Drosophila genetic resource of mutants to
study mechanisms underlying human genetic diseases, Cell
159 (2014) 200–214 [PMCID: PMC4298142].
[4] P.S. Shah, N. Link, G.M. Jang, P.P. Sharp, T. Zhu, D.L.
Swaney, et al., Comparative flavivirus-host protein inter-
action mapping reveals mechanisms of dengue and Zika
virus pathogenesis, Cell 175 (2018) 1931–1945 [PMCID:
PMC6474419].
[5] N. Link, H.L. Chung, A. Jolly, M. Withers, B. Tepe, B.R.
Arenkiel, et al., ANKLE2, a target of Zika virus, controls asym-
metric cell division of neuroblasts and uncovers a novel
microcephaly pathway, Biorxiv (2019) [611384].
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crvi.2019.09.002
2
Drosophila research: From the
genome to the proteome
Markus Affolter
Departement Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland
E-mail address: markus.affolter@unibas.ch
Starting from 1900, Drosophila melanogaster has been studied in
the laboratory by scientists interested in many different aspects
of animal development, physiology, and evolution. Over much
of this more than hundred year period, genetic analyses have
been at the basis of most studies, also those who led to the
Nobel prices attributed to scientists working with Drosophila.
More recently, fluorescent proteins and optogenetic tools have
been added to the ever-expanding genetic toolbox allowing for
a better understanding of basic cellular processes underlying
complex developmental processes.
Even more recently, a novel approach is being added to the
toolbox. Small protein binders can be used to directly tar-
get and manipulate proteins in their native environment, in
cells of the living organism. The development of numerous
antibody- and non-antibody-based scaffolds of protein binders
(Fig. 1) has allowed the rapid identification of such small bind-
ing domain, recognizing virtually any target protein of interest.
Such binding molecules can then be functionalized in many dif-
ferent ways, allowing for acute and direct protein manipulation
Fig. 1 A–H: Different protein binder scaffolds that can be used
in developmental biology studies (see [1]).
Fig. 2 Protein binders can be expressed as functionalized pro-
teins in vivo (see [2]).
Insects: Friends, foes, and models/Insectes : amis, ennemis et modèles / C. R. Biologies 342 (2020) 247–278 249
in vivo (degradation, trapping, relocalization, etc.; Fig. 2). Sev-
eral cases in which such small, functionalized protein binders
have been used in Drosophila will be discussed, and a look into
the promising future of research with Drosophila will end the
presentation.
Disclosure of interest The author declares that he has no com-
peting interest.
References
[1] S. Harmansa, M. Affolter, Protein binders and their appli-
cations in developmental biology, Development 145 (2)
(2018), http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/dev.148874 [Review, pii:
dev148874].
[2] D. Bieli, I. Alborelli, S. Harmansa, S. Matsuda, E. Caussinus,
M. Affolter, Development and Application of Functional-
ized Protein Binders in Multicellular Organisms, Int. Rev.
Cell. Mol. Biol. 325 (2016) 181–213, http://dx.doi.org/10.
1016/bs.ircmb.2016.02.006 [Epub 2016 Mar 19, Review].
Further reading
E. Caussinus, O. Kanca, M. Affolter, Fluorescent fusion protein
knockout mediated by anti-GFP nanobody, Nat. Struct. Mol.
Biol. (1) (2011) 117–121, doi: 10.1038/nsmb.2180.
S. Harmansa, F. Hamaratoglu, M. Affolter, E. Caussinus,
Dpp spreading is required for medial but not for lateral
wing disc growth, Nature 527(7578) (2015) 317–322, doi:
10.1038/nature15712. Epub 2015 Nov 9.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crvi.2019.09.003
3
Insects as interactants in artists’
minds: Symbols and
anti-symbols
Yvan Rahbé1,∗, Edwige Keller-Rahbé2, Sibylle Orlandi2
1 INRA, France
2 Laboratoire MAP, UMR5240, Université Claude-Bernard Lyon-I,
bâtiment Lwoff, campus scientifique de La Doua, 43, boulevard
du 11-Novembre-1918, 69100 Villeurbanne, France
∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: yvan.rahbe@inra.fr (Y. Rahbé)
Insects, as small animals of frequent and easy access to humans,
at least under their non-flying larval stages, have always
been of interest to our species. The interest has probably
been nutritional, but also naturalistic and symbolic. Many
aspects of insects’ biology are of high symbolic potential,
among which biodiversity, metamorphosis or flight. These
three creative attributes of the insect orders, over the mam-
malian order at least–the self or reference class of human
life–, probably induced early interests in human societies.
This interest is indicated by folk classification of insects in
some indigene cultures of northern America or central Africa
[1]. Representation of insects in paleolithic art is scarce but
existing; one of the earliest attested records could be that
of “the buprestid” of Arcy-sur-Cure, revised as a ground
beetle–carabid–(Magdalenian III, ≈ 15000 years BP), or that of
“the grasshopper” of Enlène [2]. The first is sculpted in lig-
nite and could have served as a shamanic representation, while
the latter is more obviously naturalistic in nature, and carved
on bone. The more recently discovered Chauvet cave might
contain insect representations (a “butterfly” or a many-legged
animal), but no attested insects yet. Similarly, no insect men-
tion come yet from Sulawesi caves (late Mousterian, < 30,000
years BP).
Neolithic representations are much more numerous, as exem-
plified by bee hunting and bee rearing in Iberic or Egyptian
parietal and monumental arts. This trend culminated in Egyp-
tian jewellery and its quasi-industrial representations of scarab
or dung beetles. Noteworthy, most prehistoric representation
of insects lie on coleoptera and Hymenoptera, and associated
with symbolic features linked to colour, strength (beetles),
metamorphosis (all) or social and utility behaviours (bees,
ants). Aristotle himself did not clearly recognize aphids as a
group, as the ancient Greek word  ´ ı˛ did not differ-
entiate aphids and psyllids. Many mentions however, on the
reproduction of such insects, for example, show that he was
talking of aphids.
In line with these historical roots, insects have been associ-
ated with far eastern or Christian society arts [3]— in contrast,
Islamic and Jewish imaging or alimentary taboos having
banned them from visible representations in middle eastern
societies. A previous review on the subject gives an excellent
outline of our matter, restricted to European painting [4]. I will
here sketch a variant perspective, trying to uncover a hitherto
hidden monument of cultural entomology, with the case study
of the representation of aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in var-
ious arts and all periods of history. Our purpose is to draw a
reflexive perspective on what such invisible insects, through
their invisibility, tell us of their representation in artists’ minds,
and more generally in any human mind (being he a reader, a
writer, a watcher, an actor, or in any position of the artistic
universe).
The first and archetypal position to be quoted in my survey of
invisible insects is the detail aphid. This position of a subject,
the detail, have been analysed thoroughly in the history of arts
[5]. It reflects both scientific and artistic mastery end precision
(it is painted because it exists), and a position of power of the
painter who is freely choosing low signification or even forbid-
den or non-codified subjects due to the act of freedom of the
artist (and art factories, often specialized in such very specific
matters); I paint it because I want/know it. This is characteristic
of the Flemish and Dutch renaissance, as visible in the Bou-
quet of flowers in a vase by Jan velvet Brueghel the Elder (Fig. 1).
In contrast to many of its fellow insects, cricket, coleoptera,
syrphid, the aphid is extremely difficult to localize (Fig. 1A),
and needs an intensive focus on its lily host-plant to be seen
(Fig. 1B). However, in spite of its minute size, it is precisely
depicted, and the crescent-marked lily aphid was recognized by
expert aphidologists (Colin Favret, pers. comm.). A non-expert
comparison between object and subject (Fig. 1B,C,D), be it liv-
ing (1 C) or mounted (1D) is edifying and informs us on the
naturalistic and observational abilities of the painter(s).
As one may imagine, such identification of aphids in European
classical painting is extremely difficult and has been only found
on three occasions and with the help of the G-art Gigapixel
project, apart from Fig. 1: in another still life by velvet Brueghel,
Flowers in a Vase displaying at the Antwerp museum of fine
arts, and in a third Chat renversant un vase de fleurs by Abraham
Mignon, Museum of Fine Arts, Lyon.
Fig. 1 Bouquet of flowers in a vase, by Jan Brueghel the Elder
(1608, oil on copper 65 × 45 cm); original (A) in the Pinacoteca
Ambrosiana (Milan, Italy), © with permission. Detail with an
aphid on a lily leaf (B) situated at the bottom-left corner of
the bouquet. Inferred species, with the help of Dr C. Favret:
Neomyzus circumflexus, quoted from Encyclop’aphid (C) with
its typical darkish crescent on the back (D).

Insects as interactants in artists’ minds: Symbols and anti-symbols

Sommaire / Contents

Alessandra Santillo

Luigi Rosati

Marina Prisco

Gabriella Chieffi Baccari

Piero Andreuccetti

Sara Falvo

Maria Maddalena Di Fiore

Aromatase immunolocalization and activity in the lizard's brain: Dynamic changes during the reproductive cycle

CV2 - Editorial Board/Français

Not a member yet

Antagonist effects of strains of <i>Bacillus</i> spp. against <i>Rhizoctonia solani</i> for their protection against several plant diseases: Alternatives to chemical pesticides

Les récepteurs hépatiques X définissent la réaction immunitaire pendant le syndrome général d’adaptation (SGA)

Multigenerational exposure to uranium changes morphometric parameters and global DNA methylation in rat sperm

Altered nigrostriatal dopaminergic and noradrenergic system prompted by systemic lead toxicity versus a treatment by curcumin-III in the desert rodent <i>Meriones shawi</i>

A new genus of Kimulidae; first record of the family from Colombia (Opliones, Grassatores)

Insects as interactants in artists’ minds: Symbols and anti-symbols

Sommaire / Contents

Aromatase immunolocalization and activity in the lizard's brain: Dynamic changes during the reproductive cycle

CV2 - Editorial Board/Français

CV2 - Editorial Board/Français

1,432

2,355