La déficience intellectuelle (DI) est une trouble du neuro développement caractérisée par une extrême hétérogénéité génétique, avec plus de 700 gènes impliqués dans des formes monogéniques de DI. Cependant un nombre important de gènes restent encore à identifier et les mécanismes physiopathologiques de ces maladies neuro développementales restent encore à comprendre. Mon travail de doctorat a consisté à identifier de nouvelles causes génétiques impliquées dans la DI. En utilisant différentes techniques de séquençage de nouvelle génération, j’ai pu augmenter le taux de diagnostic chez les patients avec DI et identifié plusieurs nouvelles mutations (dans AUTS2, THOC6, etc) et nouveaux gènes (BRPF1, NOVA2, etc) impliqués dans la DI. Pour les moins caractérisés, j'ai effectué des investigations fonctionnelles pour valider leur pathogénicité, caractériser les mécanismes moléculaires qu'ils affectent et identifier leur rôle dans cette maladie. Mes travaux de doctorat permettront d’améliorer et d’accélérer la possibilité d’obtenir un diagnostic moléculaire qui donnera accès à un meilleur suivi et à une meilleure prise en charge pour les patients. Cela permettra également de mieux comprendre les mécanismes physiopathologiques impliqués dans ces troubles neuro développementaux. Ces connaissances aideront éventuellement à identifier de nouvelles cibles thérapeutiques. / Intellectual disability (ID) is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by an extreme genetic heterogeneity, with more than 700 genes currently implicated in Mendelian forms of ID but still some are not yet identified. My PhD project investigates the genetic causes of these monogenic ID by using and combining different NGS techniques. By using this strategy, I reached a relative high diagnostic yield and identified several novel mutations (in AUTS2, THOC6) and genes (BRPF1, NOVA2, etc) involved in ID. For the less characterized ones, I performed functional investigations to prove their pathogenicity, delineate the molecular mechanisms altered and identify their role in this disease. Overall, this work improved and provided new strategies to increase the molecular diagnosis in patients with ID, which is important for their healthcare and better management. Furthermore, the identification and the characterization of novel mutations and genes implicated in ID better delineate the implicated pathophysiological mechanisms, opening the way to potential therapeutic targets.

Le cancer résulte de la prolifération excessive de cellules qui dérivent toutes de la même cellule initiatrice et suivent un processus Darwinien de diversification et de sélection. Ce processus est défini par l'accumulation d'altérations génétiques et épigénétiques dont la caractérisation est un élément majeur pour pouvoir proposer une thérapie ciblant spécifiquement les cellules tumorales. L'avènement des nouvelles technologies de séquençage haut débit permet cette caractérisation à un niveau moléculaire. Cette révolution technologique a entraîné le développement de nombreuses méthodes bioinformatiques. Dans cette thèse, nous nous intéressons particulièrement au développement de nouvelles méthodes computationnelles d'analyse de données de séquençage d'échantillons tumoraux permettant une identification précise d'altérations spécifiques aux tumeurs et une description fine des sous populations tumorales. Dans le premier chapitre, il s'agît d'étudier des méthodes d'identification d'altérations ponctuelles dans le cadre de séquençage ciblé, appliquées à une cohorte de patientes atteintes du cancer du sein. Nous décrivons deux nouvelles méthodes d'analyse, chacune adaptée à une technologie de séquençage, spécifiquement Roche 454 et Pacifique Biosciences.Dans le premier cas, nous avons adapté des approches existantes au cas particulier de séquences de transcrits. Dans le second cas, nous avons été confronté à un bruit de fond élevé entraînant un fort taux de faux positifs lors de l'utilisation d'approches classiques. Nous avons développé une nouvelle méthode, MICADo, basée sur les graphes de De Bruijn et permettant une distinction efficace entre les altérations spécifiques aux patients et les altérations communes à la cohorte, ce qui rend les résultats exploitables dans un contexte clinique. Le second chapitre aborde l'identification d'altérations de nombre de copies. Nous décrivons l'approche mise en place pour leur identification efficace à partir de données de très faible couverture. L'apport principal de ce travail consiste en l'élaboration d'une stratégie d'analyse statistique afin de mettre en évidence des changements locaux et globaux au niveau du génome survenus durant le traitement administré à des patientes atteintes de cancer du sein. Notre méthode repose sur la construction d'un modèle linéaire permettant d'établir des scores de différences entre les échantillons avant et après traitement. Dans le troisième chapitre, nous nous intéressons au problème de reconstruction clonale. Cette problématique récente est actuellement en plein essor, mais manque cependant d'un cadre formel bien établi. Nous proposons d'abord une formalisation du problème de reconstruction clonale. Ensuite nous utilisons ce formalisme afin de mettre en place une méthode basée sur les modèles de mélanges Gaussiens. Cette méthode utilise les altérations ponctuelles et de nombre de copies - comme celles abordées dans les deux chapitres précédents - afin de caractériser et quantifier les différentes populations clonales présentes dans un échantillon tumoral. / Cancer results from the excessive proliferation of cells decending from the same founder cell and following a Darwinian process of diversification and selection. This process is defined by the accumulation of genetic and epigenetic alterations whose characterization is a key element for establishing a therapy that would specifically target tumor cells. The advent of new high-throughput sequencing technologies enables this characterization at the molecular level. This technological revolution has led to the development of numerous bioinformatics methods. In this thesis, we are particularly interested in the development of new computational methods for the analysis of sequencing data of tumor samples allowing precise identification of tumor-specific alterations and an accurate description of tumor subpopulations. In the first chapter, we explore methods for identifying single nucleotide alterations in targeted sequencing data and apply them to a cohort of breast cancer patients. We introduce two new methods of analysis, each tailored to a particular sequencing technology, namely Roche 454 and Pacific Biosciences. In the first case, we adapted existing approaches to the particular case of transcript sequencing. In the second case, when using conventional approaches, we were confronted with a high background noise resulting in a high rate of false positives. We have developed a new method, MICADo, based on the De Bruijn graphs and making possible an effective distinction between patient-specific alterations and alterations common to the cohort, which makes the results usable in a clinical context. Second chapter deals with the identification of copy number alterations. We describe the approach put in place for their efficient identification from very low coverage data. The main contribution of this work is the development of a strategy for statistical analysis in order to emphasise local and global changes in the genome that occurred during the treatment administered to patients with breast cancer. Our method is based on the construction of a linear model to establish scores of differences between samples before and after treatment. In the third chapter, we focus on the problem of clonal reconstruction. This problem has recently gathered a lot of interest, but it still lacks a well-established formal framework. We first propose a formalization of the clonal reconstruction problem. Then we use this formalism to put in place a method based on Gaussian mixture models. Our method uses single nucleotide and copy number alterations - such as those discussed in the previous two chapters - to characterize and quantify different clonal populations present in a tumor sample.

Estudos filogenômicos usando Sequenciamento de Próxima Geração (do inglês, Next Generation Sequencing - NGS) estão se tornando cada vez mais comuns. O uso de marcadores oriundos do sequenciamento de DNA de uma biblioteca genômica reduzida, neste caso ddRADSeq (do inglês, Double Digestion Restriction Site Associated DNA Sequencing), para este fim é promissor, pelo menos considerando sua relação custo-benefício em grandes conjuntos de dados de grupos não-modelo, bem como a representação genômica recuperada. Aqui usamos ddRADSeq para inferir a filogenia em nível de espécie do gênero Cereus (Cactaceae). Esse gênero compreende em cerca de 25 espécies reconhecidas predominantemente sul-americanas distribuídas em quatro subgêneros. Nossa amostra inclui representantes de Cereus, além de espécies dos gêneros próximos, Cipocereus e Praecereus, além de grupos externos. A biblioteca ddRADSeq foi preparada utilizando as enzimas EcoRI e HPAII. Após o controle de qualidade (tamanho e quantificação dos fragmentos), a biblioteca foi sequenciada no Illumina HiSeq 2500. O processamento de bioinformática a partir de arquivos FASTQ incluiu o controle da presença de adaptadores, filtragem por qualidade (softwares FastQC, MultiQC e SeqyClean) e chamada de SNPs (software iPyRAD). Três cenários de permissividade a dados faltantes foram realizados no iPyRAD, recuperando conjuntos de dados com 333 (até 40% de dados perdidos), 1440 (até 60% de dados perdidos) e 6141 (até 80% de dados faltantes) loci. Para cada conjunto de dados, árvores de Máxima Verossimilhança (MV) foram geradas usando duas supermatrizes: SNPs ligados e Loci. Em geral, observamos algumas inconsistências entre as árvores ML geradas em softwares distintos (IQTree e RaxML) ou baseadas no tipo de matriz distinta (SNPs ligados e Loci). Por outro lado, a precisão e a resolução, foram melhoradas usando o maior conjunto de dados (até 80% de dados perdidos). Em geral, apresentamos uma filogenia com resolução inédita para o gênero Cereus, que foi resolvido como um provável grupo monofilético, composto por quatro clados principais e com alto suporte em suas relações internas. Além disso, nossos dados contribuem para agregar informações sobre o debate sobre o aumento de dados faltantes para conduzir a análise filogenética com loci RAD. / Phylogenomics studies using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) are becoming increasingly common. The use of Double Digest Restriction Site Associated DNA Sequencing (ddRADSeq) markers to this end is promising, at least considering its cost-effectiveness in large datasets of non-model groups as well as the genome-wide representation recovered in the data. Here we used ddRADSeq to infer the species level phylogeny of genus Cereus (Cactaceae). This genus comprises about 25 species recognized predominantly South American species distributed into four subgenera. Our sample includes representatives of Cereus, in addition to species from the closely allied genera Cipocereus and Praecereus, besides outgroups. The ddRADSeq library was prepared using EcoRI and HPAII enzymes. After the quality control (fragments size and quantification) the library was sequenced in Illumina HiSeq 2500. The bioinformatic processing on raw FASTQ files included adapter trimming, quality filtering (FastQC, MultiQC and SeqyClean softwares) and SNPs calling (iPyRAD software). Three scenarios of permissiveness to missing data were carry out in iPyRAD, recovering datasets with 333 (up tp 40% missing data), 1440 (up to 60% missing data) and 6141 (up to 80% missing data) loci. For each dataset, Maximum Likelihood (ML) trees were generated using two supermatrices: SNPs linked and Loci. In general, we observe few inconsistences between ML trees generated in distinct softwares (IQTree and RaxML) or based in distinctive matrix type (SNP linked and Loci). On the other hand, the accuracy and resolution were improved using the larger dataset (up to 80% missing data). Overall, we present a phylogeny with unprecedent resolution for genus Cereus, which was resolved as a likely monophyletic group, composed by four main clades and with high support in their internal relationships. Further, our data contributes to aggregate information on the debate about to increasing missing data to conduct phylogenetic analysis with RAD loci.

O número crescente de descobertas de substâncias bioativas produzidas pelo metabolismo secundário de cianobactérias tem despertado o interesse de grupos de pesquisa no mundo todo com o objetivo comum de descrever e explorar estas moléculas e entender a sua biossíntese. No Brasil, as pesquisas sobre moléculas bioativas produzidas por linhagens de cianobactérias nativas são escassas. Neste trabalho, utilizando iniciadores específicos da PCR e sequenciamento, a presença de genes envolvidos na biossíntese da neurotoxina saxitoxina (STX) foi confirmada em representantes dos gêneros Dolichospermum, Sphaerospermopsis, Cuspidothrix e Cylindrospermopsis, enquanto que genes da citotoxina cilindrospermopsina (CYN) foram detectados somente em representantes de Cylindrospermopsis. Genes envolvidos com a produção dos inibidores enzimáticos, microviridina (MDN) e a cianobactina microciclamida (MCA) foram sequenciados em isolados do gênero Microcystis. Os genomas das linhagens de Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii CENA302 e CENA303 foram sequenciados usando a plataforma HiScan SQ (Ilumina) com biblioteca pareada 2 x 100 pb. O genoma da Sphaerospermopsis torques-reginae ITEP-024 foi sequenciado utilizando a plataforma Ion Torrent (Life Technologies) com tamanhos de fragmentos de até 200 pb. As tentativas de montagem ab initio dos genomas foram realizadas e o agrupamento gênico da saxitoxina (28 kb) da linhagem C. raciborskii CENA302 foi identificado e caracterizado. As análises filogenéticas das sequências de aminoácidos envolvidos com a biossíntese das moléculas bioativas avaliadas demonstraram que os isolados brasileiros de cianobactérias formam clados com elevado valor de reamostragem com sequências homólogas de cianobactérias conhecidas como produtoras dessas moléculas. Neste estudo é relatada pela primeira vez a presença de genes cyr em linhagens da América do Sul de C. raciborskii e a presença simultânea de genes cyr e sxt em uma única linhagem de C. raciborskii. Além disso, este é o primeiro estudo que relata a presença de genes envolvidos na biossíntese de MDN e MCA nas espécies de cianobactérias M. protocystis, M. panniformis e M. wesenbergii. Análises por espectrometria de massas acoplada a cromatografia líquida (LC-MS) e imunoensaio enzimático (ELISA) foram utilizadas a fim de detectar e identificar variantes estruturais das moléculas bioativas das cianobactérias que tiveram os genes biossintéticos sequenciados. A análise de LC-MS mostrou a produção das variantes GTX2, GTX3, STX e dc-STX pela linhagem C. raciborskii CENA302, enquanto que a linhagem C. raciborskii CENA305 apresentou as variantes NEO, C1 e dcGTX3. As quatro novas variantes de MCY, [D-Val1]MC-RR, [D-Leu/Ile1]MC-RR, [D-Leu/Ile1]MC-YR e [D-Phe1]MC-LR, foram encontradas nas espécies M. panniformis SPC702 e M. protocystis SPC697. Este é o primeiro relato da produção de MCY por essas duas espécies de Microcystis. Dezesseis linhagens que ainda não possuíam as sequências do gene de RNAr 16S foram sequenciadas. O resultado da análise filogenética das sequências do gene de RNAr 16S foi coerente com as descrições morfológicas, sendo que todas as linhagens foram caracterizadas em nível de espécie. As informações geradas neste estudo contribuem para o aumento do conhecimento da diversidade metabólica dos isolados brasileiros de cianobactérias e trazem nova visão sobre a evolução dessas moléculas produzidas pelo metabolismo secundário / The growing numbers of discoveries of bioactive substances produced by cyanobacterial secondary metabolism has attracted the interest of research groups around the world with the common goal of describing and exploring these molecules and understanding their biosynthesis. In Brazil, researches on bioactive molecules produced by native cyanobacterial strains are scarce. In this work, using specific PCR primers and sequencing, the presence of genes involved in the biosynthesis of the neurotoxin saxitoxin (STX) was confirmed in representatives of the genera Dolichospermum, Sphaerospermopsis, Cuspidothrix and Cylindrospermopsis, while genes of the cytotoxin cylindrospermopsin (CYN) were detected only in representatives of Cylindrospermopsis. Genes involved in the production of protease inhibitors, microviridin (MDN) and the cianobactin microciclamide (MCA), were sequenced in isolates of the genus Microcystis. The genomes of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii strains CENA302 and CENA303 were sequenced using the high-throughput platform HiScan SQ (Illumina) as paired-ends 2 x 100 bp. The Sphaerospermopsis torques-reginae ITEP-024 genome was sequenced using the high-throughput platform Ion Torrent (Life Technologies) with fragment sizes up to 200 bp. Attempts of ab initio genomes assembly were performed and the 28 kb saxitoxin gene cluster of C. raciborskii strains CENA302 was identified and characterized. Phylogenetic analyses of amino acid sequences involved in the biosynthesis of the bioactive molecules evaluated showed that the Brazilian cyanobacterial isolates formed clades with high bootstrap values with homologous sequences of known cyanobacterial producers of these molecules. In this study is reported for the first time the presence of cyr genes in South America strains of C. raciborskii and the simultaneous presence of cyr and sxt genes in a single C. raciborskii strain. Furthermore, this is the first study reporting the presence of genes involved in the biosynthesis of MDN and MCA in the cyanobacterial species M. protocystis, M. panniformis e M. wesenbergii. Analyses by mass spectrometry coupled to liquid chromatography (LC-MS) and enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) were used to detect and identify structural variants of bioactive molecules of the cyanobacteria that had the biosynthetic genes sequenced. Analysis of LC-MS showed the production of the variants GTX2, GTX3, STX and dc-STX by the C. raciborskii strain CENA302, whereas the strain C. raciborskii CENA305 presented the variants NEO, C1 and dcGTX3. The new four MCY variants [D-Val1]MC-RR, [D-Leu/Ile1]MC-RR, [D-Leu/Ile1]MC-YR and [D-Phe1]MC-LR were found in the species M. panniformis SPC702 and M. protocystis SPC697. This is the first report of the MCY production by these two species of Microcystis. Sixteen strains that still lacked the 16S rRNA gene sequences were sequenced. The result of the phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences was consistent with the morphological descriptions, and all strains were characterized to species level. The informations generated in this study contribute to the increase of knowledge on metabolic diversity of Brazilian cyanobacterial strains and bring new insight into the evolution of these molecules produced by secondary metabolism

L'épigénomique pourrait nous aider à mieux comprendre pourquoi différents types cellulaires montrent différents comportements. Puisque, dans le cadre d'études épigénétiques, il peut êtrenécessaire de comparer plusieurs profils de séquençage, il y a un besoin urgent en nouvelles approches et nouveaux outils pour pallier aux variabilités techniques sous-jacentes. Nous avons développé NGS-QC, un système de contrôle qualité qui détermine la qualité de données et Epimetheus, un outil de normalisation d'expériences de modifications d'histones basé sur les quartiles afin de corriger les variations techniques entre les expériences. Enfin, nous avons intégré ces outils dans un pipeline d'analyse allèle-spécifique afin de comprendre le statut épigénétique de XCI dans le cancer du sein où la perte du Xi est fréquent. Notre analyse a dévoilé des perturbations dans le paysage épigénétique du X et des réactivations géniques aberrantes dans le Xi, dont celles associées au développement du cancer. / Epigenomics would help us understand why various cells types exhibit different behaviours. Aberrant changes in reversible epigenetic modifications observed in cancer raised focus towards epigenetic targeted therapy. As epigenetic studies may involve comparing multi-profile sequencing data, thereis an imminent need for novel approaches and tools to address underlying technical variabilities. Wehave developed NGS-QC, a QC system to infer the experimental quality of the data and Epimetheus, a quantile-based multi-profile normalization tool for histone modification datasets to correct technical variation among samples. Further, we have employed these developed tools in an allele-specific analysis to understand the epigenetic status of X chromosome inactivation in breast cancer cells where disappearance of Xi is frequent. Our analysis has revealed perturbation in epigenetic landscape of X and aberrant gene reactivation in Xi including the ones that are associated with cancer promotion.

Le diabète et l’obésité ont atteint de telles proportions dans le monde qu’on parle de pandémie. Les enjeux médicaux et financiers font de ces deux maladies un problème majeur de santé publique. Deux groupes de facteurs contribuent à ces deux maladies : l’environnement, et la génétique sur laquelle cette thèse s’appuie. Ce travail s’est focalisé sur les formes rares et monogéniques qui constituent les formes extrêmes de diabète de type 2 et d’obésité.Ces formes sont loin d’être totalement élucidées. Mon projet s’est concentré sur l’utilisation du séquençage de nouvelle génération (NGS) pour identifier de manière plus optimale, par rapport au séquençage classique de type Sanger, des mutations dans des gènes déjà connus chez de nouveaux patients introduits dans notre cohorte dans une optique de diagnostic. Le deuxième objectif était d’utiliser les techniques de NGS pour découvrir de nouveaux loci, liés à de nouvelles voies de signalisation impliquées dans la physiopathologie du diabète et de l’obésité.La première approche utilise une technique d’enrichissement par hybridation en phase liquide et se focalise sur 34 gènes associés à des formes monogéniques et polygéniques d’obésité. Le criblage a été réalisé sur 201 individus dans 13 familles dont la cause d’obésité est inconnue. Cette approche a mené à l’identification d’une mutation dans un gène connu de l’obésité : PCSK1. Cette mutation est causale, car elle conduit à un codon-stop au début de la protéine et n’est présente que chez des individus obèses. De plus, l’étude fonctionnelle a démontré une inhibition partielle de PC1/3 par la protéine tronquée et un possible impact sur la maturation et la sécrétion de l’enzyme.La deuxième approche se base sur une technique d’amplification par PCR dans des microgouttelettes lipidiques développée par la société Raindance, dont le premier test vise à réidentifier les mutations causales du diabète et/ou de l’obésité chez 40 patients. Cette approche a donné des résultats satisfaisants, car pour une large majorité de patients, les mutations causales ont pu être à nouveau identifiées. Seul un patient n’a pu être reconfirmé à cause des outils bioinformatiques actuels qui restent limités dans la détection des indels complexes. Parmi les 39 patients identifiés, 3 d’entre eux sont potentiellement porteurs de plusieurs mutations causales. Cette technique pourrait être envisagée dans le domaine clinique, car elle permet une approche multigénique en fournissant un diagnostic rapide, moins couteux et qualitativement aussi bon que le séquençage Sanger.La troisième approche met en jeu le séquençage de l’exome entier (WES) chez 4 individus où la famille entière s’est précédemment révélée négative pour tous les gènes connus du diabète. Cette approche a permis la découverte d’un 13e gène du MODY, KCNJ11, et confirme le large spectre phénotypique qui va du diabète néonatal au MODY selon les mutations. La difficulté majeure de cette technique est le filtrage des variants en vue d’aboutir à une seule mutation causale (ou éventuellement plusieurs sur un même gène) pour identifier de nouveaux gènes du MODY. La stratégie utilisée combinait à la fois un filtrage bioinformatique, avec par exemple des filtres sur la coségrégation familiale et sur des bases de SNPs référencés, et un filtrage biologique, avec l’utilisation d’une technique de génotypage haut débit. En conclusion, ce travail a permis de tirer parti des avancées technologiques comme la capture, le séquençage ciblé de masse et le NGS pour élucider et améliorer le criblage des formes monogéniques de diabète et d’obésité. Cette amélioration de la compréhension des mécanismes moléculaires conduira peut-être au développement de meilleurs traitements comme la médecine personnalisée. On espère voir des améliorations directes pour le patient dans un futur proche, par exemple un diagnostic moléculaire plus rapide, plus sûr et plus exhaustif. / Diabetes and obesity have reached such proportions worldwide we are talking about pandemic. Both diseases are a major cause of mortality and multiple complications. Medical and financial issues are for both diseases a major public health problem. Two groups of factors contribute to these two diseases: environment, and genetics on which this thesis is based. This work focused on rare and monogenic forms which are extreme forms of type 2 diabetes and obesity.These forms are far from being fully understood. My project focused on the use of next generation sequencing (NGS) to identify more optimally, compared to conventional Sanger sequencing, mutations in already known genes among new patients in our cohort for diagnostic purposes. The second objective was to use NGS to discover new loci associated with new signaling pathways involved in the pathophysiology of diabetes and obesity.The first approach uses a liquid-phase hybridization technique and focuses on 34 genes associated with monogenic and/or polygenic obesity. The screening was carried out on 201 people in 13 families for which the cause of obesity is unknown. This approach led to the identification of a mutation in a known gene of obesity: PCSK1. This mutation is causal because it leads to a stop codon at the beginning of the protein and is present only in obese individuals. Additionally, functional studies have demonstrated partial inhibition of PC1/3 by the truncated protein and the possible impact on the processing and secretion of this enzyme. This study has been published published in the "International Journal of Obesity" newspaper.The second approach is based on a PCR amplification technique in lipid microdroplets developed by Raindance. The first test is to re-identify the causal mutations of diabetes and/or obesity in 40 patients. This approach has yielded satisfactory results because for a large majority of patients, the causative mutations have been identified again. Only one patient was unable to be reconfirmed because current bioinformatics tools are limited in the detection of complex indels. Of the 39 patients identified, 3 of them are potential carriers of several causative mutations. This technique could be considered in the clinical field because it allows a multigene approach by providing a rapid diagnosis, cheaper and with a quality similar to the gold standard Sanger sequencing. For us, the purpose of this technique is a fast and optimal clinical diagnosis in order to identify unsolved cases, which are candidates for exome sequencing. This second study was published in "Diabetes Care" journal.The third approach involves whole exome sequencing (WES) in 4 individuals where the whole family was previously tested negative for all known genes of diabetes. This approach led to the discovery of a thirteen MODY gene, KCNJ11, and confirms the broad phenotypic spectrum that goes from neonatal diabetes to MODY depending on the mutations. The major difficulty with this technique is filtering variants in order to get a single causal mutation (or possibly several on the same gene) to identify new MODY genes. The strategy we used combined both a bioinformatics filter for example with filters on family cosegregation and on SNP databases and a biological filter, with the use of a technique for high-throughput genotyping. This pioneering study in the use of NGS to identify new genes of MODY has been published in "PLoS ONE".In conclusion, this work took advantage of technological advances such as capture, targeted sequencing and NGS to elucidate and to improve the screening of monogenic forms of diabetes and obesity. This improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms may lead to the development of better treatments like personalized medicine. We hope to see direct improvements for patients in the near future, such as a more accurate, faster and more comprehensive molecular

Les accidents nucléaires des centrales de Tchernobyl et de Fukushima rendent primordial la compréhension des transferts de la contamination radioactive dans l'environnement et de ses conséquences écologiques. Bien que certaines études aient été réalisées sur les organismes supérieurs, trop peu ont étudié les communautés bactériennes telluriques, qui jouent pourtant un rôle essentiel dans la mobilité des contaminants dans les sols en diminuant ou en améliorant leur transfert vers d'autres compartiments (eau, végétaux, animaux). Cependant, les radionucléides (RNs) peuvent avoir des effets toxiques sur les bactéries, entrainant une inhibition de leur rôle dans ce transfert. Les objectifs de cette étude étaient (1) d'évaluer l'impact d’une contamination radioactive sur les communautés bactériennes d’un sol de la zone d’exclusion de Tchernobyl (sol de la tranchée n°22) et (2) d’étudier les interactions bactérie-uranium pour une souche résistante, isolée à partir de ce sol. / The nuclear power plants accidents of Chernobyl and Fukushima demonstrate the importance of the understanding of the transfers of the radioactive contamination in the environment and their ecological consequences. Although certain studies have been realized on superior organisms of the food chain, studies on telluric bacterial communities are scarce. The later play nevertheless an essential role in the mobility of contaminants in soils by decreasing or by improving their transfer towards other compartments (water, vegetables, and animals). Moreover, radionuclides (RNs) can have toxic effects on bacteria, leading to an inhibition of their participation in such transfer. The objectives of this study were (1) to estimate the impact of radioactive contamination on bacterial communities belonging to a soil of a Chernobyl exclusion zone (trench n°22) and (2) to study the uranium-bacteria interactions of a resistant strain, isolated from this soil.

Les nouvelles technologies de séquençage (NTS) offrent de nouvelles opportunités d'explorer les génomes et transcriptomes d'espèces polyploïdes. L'assemblage de transcriptomes et l'identification des copies de gènes dupliqués par allopolyploïdisation (homéologues) constituent cependant un véritable défi C ‘est plus particulièrement le cas dans un contexte de superposition de plusieurs évènements de polyploïdie et en l'absence de génome de référence diploïde. Les Spartines (Poaceae, Chloridoideae) représentent un excellent système pour étudier les conséquences à court terme des évènements d'hybridation et de polyploïdisation. En effet, S. maritima (hexaploïde) s'est hybridée à deux reprises avec S. alterniflora (hexaploïde) suite à son introduction récente en Europe, formant deux hybrides homoploïdes (S. x townsendii et S. x neyrautii). La duplication du génome de S. x townsendii a formé une nouvelle espèce allododécaploïde S. anglica (à la fin du XIXème siècle) qui a depuis envahi les marais salés de plusieurs continents. L'identification des gènes dupliqués au sein de S. anglica et de ses parents est importante pour la compréhension de son succès évolutif. Cependant, leurs niveaux de ploïdie, et l'absence d'espèce diploïde de référence chez les spartines nécessitent le développement d'outils adaptés. Dans ce contexte, nous avons développé et validé différents outils bioinformatiques permettant de détecter des polymorphismes afin d'identifier les différents haplotypes au sein de jeux de données NTS. Ces approches nous ont permis d'étudier l'hétérogénéité des domaines de l'ADN ribosomique 45S de S. maritima. Nous avons mis en évidence la perte de copies homéologues en conséquence de la diploïdisation en cours. Afin de développer les ressources transcriptomiques de ces espèces, cinq nouveaux transcriptomes de référence (110 423 contigs annotés pour les 5 espèces dont 37 867 contigs non-redondants) ont été assemblés et annotés. Les co-alignements des haplotypes parentaux et hybrides/allopolyploïdes nous ont permis d'identifier les homéo-SNPs discriminant les séquences homéologues. De plus, nous avons évalué la divergence entre les copies de gènes, identifié et confirmé les évènements de duplications récents au sein des Spartines. Au cours de cette thèse, nous avons également initié des approches de phylogénomique des spartines, qui permettront de préciser l'origine évolutive des copies dupliquées. / Next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies offer new opportunities to explore polyploid genomes and their corresponding transcriptomes. However, transcriptome assemblies and identification of homoeologous gene copies (duplicated by polyploidy) remain challenging, particularly in the context of recurrent polyploidy and the absence of diploid reference parents. Spartina species (Poaceae, Chloridoideae) represent an excellent system to study the short term consequences of hybridization and polyploidization in natural populations. The European S. maritima (hexaploid) hybridized twice with the American S. alterniflora (hexaploid) following its recent introduction to Europe, which resulted in the formation of two homoploid hybrids (S. x townsendii and S. x neyrautii). Whole genome duplication of S. x townsendii resulted in the fertile new allododecaploid S. anglica species (during the 19th century) that has now invaded saltmarshes on several continents. Identification of duplicated genes in S. anglica and its parental species is critical to understand its evolutionary success but their high ploidy levels require the development of adapted tools. In this context, we developed and validated different bioinformatics tools to detect polymorphisms and identify the different haplotypes from NGS datasets. These approaches enabled the study of the heterogeneity of the highly repeated 45S rDNA in S. maritima. In order to develop transcriptomic resources for these species, 5 new reference transcriptomes (110 423 annotated contigs for the 5 species with 37 867 non-redundant contigs) were assembled and annotated. Co-alignments of parental and hybrid/allopolyploid haplotypes allowed the identification of homoeoSNPs discriminating homoelogs. The divergence between duplicated genes was used to identify and confirm the recent duplication events in Spartina. Phylogenomic approaches on Spartina were also initiated in this thesis in the perspective of exploring the evolutionary history of the duplicated copies.

Regeneration is a relatively widespread phenomenon in nature, although different organisms exhibit different abilities to reconstitute missing structures. Due to the diversity in the extent of damage the organisms can repair it has been debated for a long time whether those abilities are evolutionary traits that arose independently in multiple organisms or whether they represent a by-product of more basic processes. To date, due to constant increase in the amount of available genomic information this question can be approached by means of comparative genomics by comparing several taxa that have different regenerative capabilities. Two relatively closely related salamander species, newt, Notophthalmus viridescens, and the Mexican axolotl, Ambystoma mexicanum, offer a unique opportunity to compare two organisms with well-known regenerative capabilities. Despite their importance for regeneration research, relatively little sequence information was available until recently, owing mainly to the large sizes of the respective genomes. In this work I aimed to create a comprehensive transcriptome assembly of the axolotl by sequencing and then assembling the sequence data from a number of tissues and developmental stages. I also incorporated available sequence information that mostly comes from cDNA libraries sequenced previously. I assessed the completeness of the transcriptome by comparing it to a set of available axolotl sequences and found that 96% of those have homologs in the assembly. Additionally, I found that 7,568 of 7,695 protein families common to vertebrates are also represented in the transcriptome. In order to turn the assembly from a merely collection of sequences into a valuable and useful resource for the entire research community I first annotated the sequences, predicted the open reading frames and protein domains and additionally put together multiple bits of information available for each sequence including but not limited to time-course and tissue- specific expression data and in situ hybridization results. The assembly was thereafter made available for the entire axolotl research community through a web portal I developed. Not only does the web portal provide access to the transcriptome data, it is also equipped with an engine for automated data retrieval, which could facilitate automated cross-species bioinformatics analyses. The study crossed the boundary between pure bioinformatics and biology as the transcriptome allowed for computational comparison of the axolotl and the newt in order to identify salamander-specific genes possibly implicated in regeneration and subsequent functional analysis thereof in the lab. Since regeneration closely resembles embryonic development in terms of genes involved in both processes, I first identified approximately 200 homologous contigs in axolotl and newt, which had a predicted open reading frame, but did not have homologs in non-regenerating species. The expression profile of one of those candidate genes suggested that it had a role in regeneration. I studied the molecular function of that gene using CRISPR/Cas system to confirm that it was protein-coding and to create knock-out animals to study the effect of gene knock-down and knock-out. Knock-out animals exhibited significant delays in both, limb development and tail regeneration. The exact mechanism causing this delay is currently being investigated.

Les hautes montagnes des Andes du Nord abritent un écosystème de type tropical alpin connu localement sous le nom de páramo. En dépit de conditions climatiques stressantes, ces habitats totalisent 10 à 20% de la richesse de la flore Andine et contiennent les radiations de plantes alpines les plus rapides au monde. Les Espeletiinae (Asteraceae; Heliantheae), endémique de ces habitats et figurant parmi ces exemples majeurs de diversification andine, ont su profiter des avantages écologiques fournit par la formation des páramos, en développant une remarquable diversité morphologique et écologique en moins de 3 Ma pour faire face aux nombreux stress abiotiques présents dans ces écosystèmes. Ce complexe de +/- 135 espèces inclut des formes de vie arborescentes ramifiées, des rosettes acaules naines, et des rosettes caulescentes aussi bien sessiles que géantes, constituant une adaptation emblématiques des milieux tropicaux alpins. Ces plantes sont également caractérisées par une distribution d'espèces diversifiée au niveau du páramo dans des milieux humides, des prairies alpines ouvertes ou des pentes rocailleuses à partir de la limite supérieur des forets andines vers 2500m d'altitude jusqu'aux bords des glaciers à environ 4600m. Cette forte diversité morphologique et écologique observée, associée à de forts taux de sympatrie entre ces espèces, a conduit à l’hypothèse d’une radiation adaptative des Espeletiinae dans les páramos. Or les reconstructions phylogénétiques préalablement effectuées, permettant de tester cette origine évolutive, s’avèrent peu résolues en raison de l’évolution très récente du complexe couplées à l’utilisation de marqueurs phylogénétiques traditionnels ou encore en raison de nombreux événements d’hybridation observés pouvant biaiser les reconstructions phylogénétiques. Aujourd’hui, l’avènement des nouvelles technologies de séquençage offre de nouvelles perspectives en phylogénomique. Si bien qu’au travers de ce travail de thèse, l’utilisation de fragments génomiques aléatoires (par méthode de shotgun-sequencing) et ciblés (par méthode de ddRAD-sequencing) a permis de reconstruire pour la première fois des phylogénies robustes et d’étudier les événements d’hybridations à l’intérieur du complexe, apportant ainsi de nouvelles réponses quant à l’évolution de ces taxons dans les páramos. / The high-elevations ecosystems in the Northern Andes, known as paramos, exhibit an exceptional diversity of species accounting for 10 to 20% of Andean flora's richness and contain the fastest alpine plant radiation in the world. The Espeletiinae (Asteraceae, Heliantheae), endemic to these habitats and among these major examples of Andean diversification, took advantage of the ecological benefits provided by the uplift of the páramos, by developing a remarkable morphological and ecological diversity in less than 3 Ma to cope with the abiotic stresses of these ecosystems. This complex of +/- 135 species includes branched tree life forms, dwarf rosettes, and caulescent as well sessile as giant rosettes, constituting an emblematic adaptation of tropical alpine environments. These plants are also diversified in páramo, in wetlands, open alpine meadows or rocky slopes from the upper limit of the Andean forests at 2500m altitude to the edges of the glaciers at 4600m. Such morphological and ecological diversity, in association with high sympatric rates between these species, led to the hypothesis of an adaptive radiation of Espeletiinae. However, the first phylogenetic reconstructions, testing this evolutionary origin, failed to depict any relationships between these species because of the very recent evolution of the complex, the use of traditional phylogenetic markers and/or the widely hybridization events, which could skew the phylogenetic signal. Today, the advent of new sequencing technologies offers new perspectives in phylogenomics. As a result of this thesis work, the use of random (shotgun-sequencing) and targeted genomic fragments (by ddRAD-sequencing method) made it possible to reconstruct for the first time robust phylogenies and to study the hybridization events inside this complex, bringing new answers to the evolution of these plants in the páramos.