Throughout their life cycle, plants adjust growth in response to their developmental and environmental situation within the limits of their energetic capacities. This capacity is defined by the local sugar availability, which is constantly modulated through synthesis, transport and consumption of sugar. The monitoring of sugar presence is carried out by a complex signalling network in which simple sugars (e.g. glucose, fructose and sucrose) act as metabolic signals for the modulation of physiological processes. However, often it remains unclear whether the regulation is induced by the simple sugars themselves or by their derivatives generated during sugar metabolism. This thesis focuses on the dissection of distinct sugar signals, their generation, perception and impact on the modulation of gene expression and cell division both in cell culture and young seedlings. Based on a stem-cell-like A. thaliana cell culture, which could be sustained in a hormone-free media, a new biological system, supplied with Xyl as the only carbon source was developed. The performance of a variety of sugar and sugar analogue treatments in this novel system allowed for the identification of sugar-responsive candidate genes, which were specifically regulated by glucose, fructose and sucrose. For several genes (e.g. bZIP63, AT5g22920, TPS9, MGD2 and BT2), this regulation required both sugar transport into the cytosol and metabolisation for the generation of the signal. Furthermore, gene expression analyses in young A. thaliana seedlings indicated the requirement for the catalytic activity of hexokinase 1 in the regulation of bZIP63, Atg22920 and BT2 under conditions of a perturbed carbohydrate balance. These findings have been combined in a proposed model for the transcriptional regulation of bZIP63, AT5g22920, TPS9, MGD2 and BT2, which further proposes a function of those genes in the regulation of cell division. The optimisation of a protocol for long-term real-time live-cell imaging provided a valuable tool to show that, similar to gene expression, the progression of cell division depended on a sugar-type-specific regulation at the single-cell level; this regulation was most likely caused by prolongation of the interphase. Together with the observation of cell death and growth arrest of the primary root in intact seedlings in response to the glucose analogue 2dog, this led to the conclusion that sugar signals themselves were sufficient to induce cell division. However, the continuation of cell cycle progression and consequently organ growth over long-time required the availability of the energy contained in the sugar.

De par leur grande diversité chimique et leur implication dans de nombreux mécanismes biologiques, les molécules phosphorées font l'objet de nombreuses recherches scientifiques. Depuis près de 30 ans, plusieurs composés phosphorés ont été développés et utilisés pour leurs propriétés médicinales ou phytosanitaires. Les dérivés de type phosphinates ou phosphonates se sont révélés être des composés de choix, grâce à leur grande stabilité chimique et enzymatique. Par ailleurs, les sucres et leurs analogues ont largement démontré leur potentiel biologique en raison de leur implication dans de nombreux processus biologiques. Dans ce contexte, il a été envisagé de développer des analogues de sucres phosphorés possédant un atome de phosphore endocyclique. Il s'agit de structures totalement inédites obtenues à partir de précurseurs phosphorés simples et par des réactions de type : P-alkylation, Pudovik, ouverture d'époxyde, cyclisation par transacétalisation ou transestérification. Grâce à des synthèses en 4 à 7 étapes, deux familles de phosphinosucres ont été préparées ainsi qu'une famille de phosphonosucres en tant qu'analogues de sucre. En parallèle, la synthèse d'analogues de nucléosides phosphorés a également été étudiée par introduction de nucléobases sur les analogues de sucres phosphorés précédemment cités. Ces travaux ont mis en jeu des réactions issues à la fois de la chimie de nucléosides mais également de la chimie du phosphore, permettant d'accéder à des analogues de nucléosides totalement inédits dont l'activité antivirale a pu être évaluée. Enfin, une nouvelle famille de phosphonates nucléosidiques acycliques a été synthétisée en 6 ou 7 étapes en série pyrimidique. Deux prodrogues dérivées de la cytosine et de l'uracile ont également été préparées avec des groupements enzymolabiles de type Bis-(S-acyl-2-thioéthyle). L'ensemble des analogues de nucléotides synthétisés ont été évalués pour leurs propriétés antivirales contre les virus de l'hépatite C et du SIDA. Ainsi, à travers ce projet, trois grandes familles de nouvelles molécules phosphorées ont été développées : les hétérocycles phosphorés oxygénés en tant qu'analogues de sucres, des analogues de nucléosides phosphorés, une nouvelle classe de phosphonates nucléosidiques acycliques. / According to their wide chemical diversity and their implication in many biological processes, phosphorus compounds are intensively studied by organic chemists. Since 30 years, many phosphorus molecules have been developed and used for their biological properties in medicine or agrochemistry. Chemically and enzymatically stable compounds, phosphonates and phosphoninates are potential derivatives for drug design. Besides, sugars are an important biological family involved in numerous biological pathways which have widely revealed a high therapeutic potential. In this context, the first objective of these works was to develop sugar analogues with an endocyclic phosphorus atom (phosphasugars) to synthesize unpublished families of phosphinosugars and phosphonosugars. Their synthesis were carried out in 4 to 7 steps, using as key reactions : P-alkylation, Pudovik, epoxyde ring-opening reaction, cyclisation by transacetalisation or transesterification. Moreover, these phosphasugars were extended to the synthesis of new nucleoside analogues by introducing nucleobase on phosphasugar moiety. The antiviral activity of these new compounds was evaluated. Finally, a new class of acyclic nucleoside phosphonates was prepared in pyrimidinyl series. Different nucleotide analogues and prodrugs were synthesized in 6-7 steps with uracil, thymine and cytosine and evaluated against HCV and HIV.