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This study investigated the efficacy of various traps differing in colour (green or yellow), presence or absence of decoys (dead Agrilus planipennis ) or design (commercial MULTz or multifunnel traps, and homemade bottle- or fan-traps ) for monitoring European Buprestidae in deciduous forests and pear orchards. Over two years, we collected 2220 samples on a two-week basis from 382 traps across 46 sites in Belgium and France. None of the traps proved effective for monitoring Agrilus sinuatus in infested pear orchards (17 specimens captured in 2021, 0 in 2022). The decoys did not affect the catch rates whatever the trap model, colour, buprestid species or sex. The fluorescent yellow traps (MULTz and yellow fan-traps ) tended to be more attractive than the green traps (green fan-traps and, to a lower extent, multifunnel green traps). Most Agrilus species showed similar patterns in mean trap catches, with the exception of Agrilus biguttatus ,which had the largest catches in the green multifunnel traps. Finally, we observed a high variation in catch rates between localities: the site explained 64% of the catches variance, while the tree within the site and the type of trap explained only 6–8.5% each. In many sites, we captured very few specimens, despite the abundance of dying mature trees favourable to the development of Buprestidae. For the early detection of non-native Buprestidae, it therefore seems essential to maximise the number of monitoring sites. Due to their cost-effectiveness, lightweight design, and modularity, fan-traps emerged as promising tools for buprestid monitoring. The study’s findings extend beyond European fauna, as a preliminary trial in Canada suggested that yellow fan-traps could also improve captures of non-European buprestid species and catch species of interest such as Agrilus bilineatus (a species on the EPPO A2 list of pests/pathogens recommended for regulation in the EU)., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Digitalization is having an increasing impact on all industrial sectors, including the chemical and biotechnological industries. Aiming for innovative research and development, the Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences play a pivotal role in transferring academic knowledge and know-how to industrial practice. We review selected examples of projects related to the digitalization of processes and bioprocesses at four different institutions across Switzerland. These developments cover the whole spectrum of digital technologies, including big data, connectivity, analytics and automation. They are conducted in close collaboration with industrial partners and aim to support the growth of this important industrial sector.

Doping of a transition-metal dichalcogenide deposited onto a conducting surface acting as bipolar electrode was recently reported. Here, freestanding macro- and microscale transition-metal dichalcogenide substrates are successfully employed as effective bipolar electrodes without the need of using an additional conducting support. This is first demonstrated by achieving site-selective bipolar electrodeposition of several metals, such as gold, silver, copper, and nickel, on macroscale MoSe 2 substrates (typically 1 mm in size). Also, the superior efficiency of MoSe 2 compared to that of a carbon substrate toward hydrogen evolution reaction, well-known in conventional electrochemistry, is demonstrated in the bipolar electrochemistry configuration. Such electrocatalytic properties can be advantageously used by combining this reduction with a given oxidation reaction to ease the electrochemical coupling. Also, as a wireless technique, bipolar electrochemistry enables the simultaneous addressing of large ensembles of bipolar electrodes with a single pair of driving electrodes. Therefore, in a bulk experiment, a suspension composed of thousands of individual MoSe 2 microparticles (with a typical size of 20-80 μm) that are addressed simultaneously, is employed to significantly accelerate electrolysis. Amplex Red was selected as an oxidizable organic model dye. Such electrolysis occurs on the timescale of several seconds, which is definitely not achievable by addressing a single macroscale MoSe 2 bipolar electrode. This performance is due to the collective behavior of the ensemble of MoSe 2 bipolar electrodes because the oxidation process occurs simultaneously at each individual anodic pole., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

In ants, reproductive division of labour is typically associated with queen-worker dimorphism. In some species with ergatoid queens (wingless worker-like queens), this polymorphism is drastically reduced and virgin queens may integrate the worker force. While ergatoid queens have been described in several species, their colony and population genetic structure remain largely unstudied. Here, we investigated the population structure and sociogenetic organisation of the desert ant Ocymyrmex robustior. All Ocymyrmex species have only ergatoid queens that are worker-sized. Workers, queens, and males from a large population were genotyped at ten polymorphic microsatellite loci. Our results show that the study population is genetically structured, consistent with dependent colony foundation. Genetic analyses revealed that 17.6% of the males were diploid; diploid males are fertile, siring triploid females. Nests were typically headed by a single queen, and queens were strictly monandrous. However, several nests in the population shared matrilines, indicating polygyny, polydomy, dependent colony foundation, serial polygyny, or a combination of these processes. Dissections reveal that workers lay eggs in both queenright and queenless nests, while virgin ergatoid queens lay eggs in queenright nests only. However, our genetic analyses show that male offspring in queenright nests are all queen-produced, suggesting worker policing and/or trophic egg laying., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Hybridization and genetic introgression are significant evolutionary processes playing a keyrole in the adaptation and diversification of species. In desert ants of the genus Cataglyphis,some species have evolved a remarkable reproductive strategy, termed social hybridogenesis,that relies on a perpetual hybridization between two sympatric, yet genetically distinct lineages.The non-reproductive workers systematically result from mating between partners of differentlineages; in contrast, queens and males are both produced asexually by parthenogenesis.Consequently, workers are all interlineage hybrids, whereas reproductives are all pure-lineageindividuals. Although several studies have been carried out on the reproductive strategies ofCataglyphis desert ants, the origin and the mechanisms underlying social hybridogenesis in thegenus remain unclear.In this thesis, I first examined three aspects associated to the persistence of socialhybridogenesis using the ant Cataglyphis mauritanica as a model. (i) I showed that the tightcaste – genotype association stems from a strong genetic influence on female caste fate.However, some degree of phenotypic plasticity was retained in hybrid as well as pure-lineagegenomes, although not expressed in natural conditions. (ii) The genetic survey of a largehybridogenetic population of C. mauritanica reveals that the two lineages occur with equalfrequency. Furthermore, restricted dispersal and parthenogenetic production of queens result ina mosaic of clonal patches. In contrast, males disperse over patches, ensuring successfulinterlineage mating. (iii) To determine whether mating between partners from the same geneticlineage participate to queen production, I simulated genetic data under various rates of sexualvs. asexual queen production. I found that genetic diversity within each lineage fits with theoccurrence a few sex; however, the 100% clonality hypothesis could not be discarded.I then investigated the evolutionary origin of social hy, L’hybridation et l’introgression génétique jouent un rôle majeur dans l’adaptation et ladiversification des espèces. Chez les fourmis du désert du genre Cataglyphis, certaines espècesont évolué une stratégie de reproduction remarquable, appelée hybridogenèse sociale, reposantsur l’hybridation systématique entre deux lignées génétiquement distinctes. Les ouvrières nonreproductricessont issues de l’accouplement entre des partenaires de lignées distinctes ;enrevanche, les reines et les mâles sont produits de façon asexuée par parthénogenèse. Lesouvrières sont donc toutes des hybrides des deux lignées, alors que les individus reproducteurssont de pure-lignées. Bien que plusieurs études aient analysé les stratégies de reproduction desfourmis Cataglyphis, l’origine et le fonctionnement de l’hybridogenèse sociale au sein du genrerestent obscurs.Dans cette thèse, trois aspects associés au maintien de ce système ont premièrement étéétudiés en prenant la fourmi Cataglyphis mauritanica comme modèle. (i) La forte associationentre génotype et caste des femelles est lié à une forte influence génétique sur le déterminismede la caste. Néanmoins, une certaine plasticité phénotypique est maintenue dans les génomeshybrides et pure-lignée mais elle ne s’exprime pas en conditions naturelles. (ii) L’analysegénétique d’une population hybridogène de C. mauritanica montre que les deux lignées sontéquifréquentes. De plus, une dispersion limitée des reines ainsi que leur production parparthénogenèse mènent à la formation d’une mosaïque de patches clonaux. A l’inverse, lesmâles dispersent d’un patch à l’autre assurant les accouplements interlignées. (iii) Afin dedéterminer si les accouplements intralignées participent à la production des reines, des donnéesgénétiques ont été simulées sous différents taux de reproduction sexuée et asexuée. Les résultatsmontrent que la diversité génétique au sein de chaque lignée correspond à une faible fréquencede reproduction sexuée, bien que qu’un scénario av, Doctorat en Sciences, info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Gene expression changes are a hallmark of the neuropathology of Huntington's disease (HD), but the exact molecular mechanisms of this effect remain uncertain. Here, we report that in vitro models of disease comprised of primary striatal neurons expressing N-terminal fragments of mutant huntingtin (via lentiviral gene delivery) faithfully reproduce the gene expression changes seen in human HD. Neither viral infection nor unrelated (enhanced green fluorescent protein) transgene expression had a major effect on resultant RNA profiles. Expression of a wild-type fragment of huntingtin [htt171-18Q] also caused only a small number of RNA changes. The disease-related signal in htt171-82Q versus htt171-18Q comparisons was far greater, resulting in the differential detection of 20% of all mRNA probe sets. Transcriptomic effects of mutated htt171 are time- and polyglutamine-length dependent and occur in parallel with other manifestations of polyglutamine toxicity over 4-8 weeks. Specific RNA changes in htt171-82Q-expressing striatal cells accurately recapitulated those observed in human HD caudate and included decreases in PENK (proenkephalin), RGS4 (regulator of G-protein signaling 4), dopamine D(1) receptor (DRD1), DRD2, CNR1 (cannabinoid CB(1) receptor), and DARPP-32 (dopamine- and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein-32; also known as PPP1R1B) mRNAs. HD-related transcriptomic changes were also observed in primary neurons expressing a longer fragment of mutant huntingtin (htt853-82Q). The gene expression changes observed in cultured striatal neurons are not secondary to abnormalities of neuronal firing or glutamatergic, dopaminergic, or brain-derived neurotrophic factor signaling, thereby demonstrating that HD-induced dysregulation of the striatal transcriptome might be attributed to intrinsic effects of mutant huntingtin.

Caste determination in social Hymenoptera (whether a female egg develops into a reproductive queen or a sterile worker) is a remarkable example of phenotypic plasticity where females with highly similar genomes exhibit striking differences in morphology and behaviour. This phenotypic dichotomy is typically influenced by environmental factors. However, recent studies have revealed a strong caste-genotype association in hybridogenetic ants: workers are all interlineage hybrids while queens are all purebred, suggesting that female caste fate is genetically determined. Using the hybridogenetic ant Cataglyphis mauritanica, we show that under laboratory conditions, purebred offspring develop into reproductive queens but occasionally give rise to workers. Moreover, while hybrids typically become workers, juvenile hormone treatment can switch their developmental pathway to the reproductive caste. These results indicate that phenotypic plasticity has been retained in an ant with a strong caste-genotype association, despite its lack of expression in natural conditions., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

To test the hypotheses that mutant huntingtin protein length and wild-type huntingtin dosage have important effects on disease-related transcriptional dysfunction, we compared the changes in mRNA in seven genetic mouse models of Huntington's disease (HD) and postmortem human HD caudate. Transgenic models expressing short N-terminal fragments of mutant huntingtin (R6/1 and R6/2 mice) exhibited the most rapid effects on gene expression, consistent with previous studies. Although changes in the brains of knock-in and full-length transgenic models of HD took longer to appear, 15- and 22-month CHL2Q150/Q150, 18-month HdhQ92/Q92 and 2-year-old YAC128 animals also exhibited significant HD-like mRNA signatures. Whereas it was expected that the expression of full-length huntingtin transprotein might result in unique gene expression changes compared with those caused by the expression of an N-terminal huntingtin fragment, no discernable differences between full-length and fragment models were detected. In addition, very high correlations between the signatures of mice expressing normal levels of wild-type huntingtin and mice in which the wild-type protein is absent suggest a limited effect of the wild-type protein to change basal gene expression or to influence the qualitative disease-related effect of mutant huntingtin. The combined analysis of mouse and human HD transcriptomes provides important temporal and mechanistic insights into the process by which mutant huntingtin kills striatal neurons. In addition, the discovery that several available lines of HD mice faithfully recapitulate the gene expression signature of the human disorder provides a novel aspect of validation with respect to their use in preclinical therapeutic trials

Huntington's disease (HD) pathology is well understood at a histological level but a comprehensive molecular analysis of the effect of the disease in the human brain has not previously been available. To elucidate the molecular phenotype of HD on a genome-wide scale, we compared mRNA profiles from 44 human HD brains with those from 36 unaffected controls using microarray analysis. Four brain regions were analyzed: caudate nucleus, cerebellum, prefrontal association cortex [Brodmann's area 9 (BA9)] and motor cortex [Brodmann's area 4 (BA4)]. The greatest number and magnitude of differentially expressed mRNAs were detected in the caudate nucleus, followed by motor cortex, then cerebellum. Thus, the molecular phenotype of HD generally parallels established neuropathology. Surprisingly, no mRNA changes were detected in prefrontal association cortex, thereby revealing subtleties of pathology not previously disclosed by histological methods. To establish that the observed changes were not simply the result of cell loss, we examined mRNA levels in laser-capture microdissected neurons from Grade 1 HD caudate compared to control. These analyses confirmed changes in expression seen in tissue homogenates; we thus conclude that mRNA changes are not attributable to cell loss alone. These data from bona fide HD brains comprise an important reference for hypotheses related to HD and other neurodegenerative diseases

Huntington's disease (HD), caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin (HTT) gene, is characterized by abnormal protein aggregates and motor and cognitive dysfunction. Htt protein is ubiquitously expressed, but the striatal medium spiny neuron (MSN) is most susceptible to dysfunction and death. Abnormal gene expression represents a core pathogenic feature of HD, but the relative roles of cell-autonomous and non-cell-autonomous effects on transcription remain unclear. To determine the extent of cell-autonomous dysregulation in the striatum in vivo, we examined genome-wide RNA expression in symptomatic D9-N171-98Q (a.k.a. DE5) transgenic mice in which the forebrain expression of the first 171 amino acids of human Htt with a 98Q repeat expansion is limited to MSNs. Microarray data generated from these mice were compared with those generated on the identical array platform from a pan-neuronal HD mouse model, R6/2, carrying two different CAG repeat lengths, and a relatively high degree of overlap of changes in gene expression was revealed. We further focused on known canonical pathways associated with excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, dopamine signaling and trophic support. While genes related to excitotoxicity, dopamine signaling and trophic support were altered in both DE5 and R6/2 mice, which may be either cell autonomous or non-cell autonomous, genes related to mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress and the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor are primarily affected in DE5 transgenic mice, indicating cell-autonomous mechanisms. Overall, HD-induced dysregulation of the striatal transcriptome can be largely attributed to intrinsic effects of mutant Htt, in the absence of expression in cortical neurons

Evaluation of transcriptional changes in the striatum may be an effective approach to understanding the natural history of changes in expression contributing to the pathogenesis of Huntington disease (HD). We have performed genome-wide expression profiling of the YAC128 transgenic mouse model of HD at 12 and 24 months of age using two platforms in parallel: Affymetrix and Illumina. The data from these two powerful platforms were integrated to create a combined rank list, thereby revealing the identity of additional genes that proved to be differentially expressed between YAC128 and control mice. Using this approach, we identified 13 genes to be differentially expressed between YAC128 and controls which were validated by quantitative real-time PCR in independent cohorts of animals. In addition, we analyzed additional time points relevant to disease pathology: 3, 6 and 9 months of age. Here we present data showing the evolution of changes in the expression of selected genes: Wt1, Pcdh20 and Actn2 RNA levels change as early as 3 months of age, whereas Gsg1l, Sfmbt2, Acy3, Polr2a and Ppp1r9a RNA expression levels are affected later, at 12 and 24 months of age. We also analyzed the expression of these 13 genes in human HD and control brain, thereby revealing changes in SLC45A3, PCDH20, ACTN2, DDAH1 and PPP1R9A RNA expression. Further study of these genes may unravel novel pathways contributing to HD pathogenesis. DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank accession no: GSE19677

Reproduction and dispersal are key aspects of species life history that influence spatial genetic structure in populations. Several ant species in the genus Cataglyphis have evolved a unique breeding system in which new reproductives (that is, queens and males) are produced asexually by parthenogenesis; in contrast, non-reproductives (that is, workers) are produced via sexual reproduction by mates from distinct genetic lineages. We investigated how these two coexisting reproductive methods affect population-level spatial genetic structure using the ant Cataglyphis mauritanica as a model. We obtained genotypes for queens and their male mates from 338 colonies, and we found that the two lineages present in the study population occurred with equal frequency. Furthermore, analysis of spatial genetic structure revealed strong sex-biased dispersal. Because queens were produced by parthenogenesis and because they dispersed over short distances, there was an extreme level of spatial structuring: a mosaic of patches composed of clonal queens was formed. Males, on the other hand, dispersed over several hundred metres and, thus, across patches, ensuring successful interlineage mating., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published