At the crossroads of interconnected history, of cultural transfers and of material culture, the scheme Exogenesis proposes to establish the concept of "boundary objects" as objects born to exogenesis, that is to say, the contact with materials, techniques, shapes, skills, or items coming from the antipodes. Since the 16th century, from which era the cognizance of four separate continents has been entrenched, such objects have also been done to perpetuate the link binding Us to the Others (Todorov T., 1989). If the focus on the history of objects is commonplace in the historiography of art, the approach using the most recent anthropological methods relative to objects, conceived as concentrators of meaning, and applying those methods to the study of Europe understood as a meeting ground, is relatively novel. Indeed, using this approach, the focus on "boundary objects" will translate into the analysis of metabolic phenomena. More precisely, studying the usage of “boundary objects” permits to address the history of the construction of the European identity through dialogue with the Others. In such a way, the history of art will itself be driven towards its boundaries. The object as a conveyor is still insufficiently studied as such in the interconnected history of economics, politics or sociology, although it is at times found as an ingredient of historical or artistic speech. A fortiori, the object engendered by a match with an extra-European item has rarely been a point of focus. The scheme proposes to bare remedy to this by pointing to the precise moment when the "exogenous" makes the "endogenous". The making of the meaning of objects by the surrounding context as well as the intrinsic ambivalence of objects (Jeudy-Ballini M.-B. Derlon 2008) are key issues of the scheme. Whatever the surrounding context, nature or provenance, the various terms of production of “boundary objects” will be analysed. "The boundary object" will be regarded as a hub of complex relations which will be analysed from a nexus of selected cases. A paradigmatic "boundary object", the nautilus of the South Pacific Seas mounted by German silversmiths in the late sixteenth century, has been recently described as a "relic holder of a new type” (du Crest S., 2009). Around these particularly meaningful "boundary objects", the status of objects can be addressed effectively so as to further lead the history of art into a more thorough understanding of all its objects. These objects manufactured in Europe, born in the European consciousness, can be understood only in the European context. They do not amount to interbreeding since they have been founders of a European identity they still help build. Taste, imitation, stimulation, hybridisation are essential ingredients of the process of acculturation (Labrusse R., 2011). Based on the analysis of the contextualization, the project proposes to follow the reasons and issues of the production of the « boundary objects » in which the track of their originary exogenesis is still visible. Following this process in the design and making, "boundary objects" have become, and still are, objects of Europe. The relation to the Other, with an interplay of fascination and repulsion, is now made conspicuous by these objects. This process of acculturation generates such "boundary objects" with their shapes. Exogenesis proposes to elicit the related causes and consequences.

Gene flow has long been considered to take place within species only but we now realize that it often occurs between species as well. We still don’t know, however, how much gene flow effectively affects the genome of hybridizing species in the late stage of speciation. Such hybridization may be a source of adaptive genetic variation via the transfer of adaptations from the genome of one species to another, a phenomenon called “adaptive introgression”. While there are a few known prominent examples, its overall importance for adaptation is still largely unknown. In this project, we address the following main questions: i) how much of the genome is affected by introgression and ii) what proportion of introgression is adaptive? We have selected the Iberian wall lizard species complex because they have accumulated substantial genomic divergence; in spite of strong barriers to gene flow, nuclear and mitochondrial introgression still occurs; a transcriptome from our model and a reference genome from a close relative are available and we know their distribution, ecology and climatic niches. Last, we already have over 1000 tissue samples so sampling will be limited to additional locations specifically targeted for this project. To achieve this, we will use whole-genome sequencing to quantify the proportion of the genome affected by admixture. We will then quantify which proportion of introgressed genome is better explained by positive selection. To do so, instead of trying to pinpoint which genes have been experienced adaptive introgression, we will develop a theoretical study using simulations to establish the neutral variance in admixture rates among loci then estimate which proportion of admixture events cannot be explained by neutral processes (see Task 4). To overcome some of the limits of purely genomic approaches, we also propose an ecological test of the adaptation hypothesis based on candidate genes for climatic adaptation (mitochondrial DNA and the nuclear genes of the OXPHOS chain) in populations living in contrasted climatic conditions (Task 5). We will sample several pairs of populations within each species, each pair being composed of one population located in highly suitable climatic areas and the other in areas where climatic conditions resemble the climatic niche of a hybridizing (donor) species. Finding more loci that have been subjected to introgression in areas that resemble more the climatic conditions of the “donor” species would support the role of adaptive introgression. Tasks 1 & 2 We will model the current realized climatic niche in all lineages. We will then sample populations in locations (2 per species) of high climatic suitability for the focal species and in the heart of their distribution and in locations (2 per species) where climatic suitability is higher for the other species that hybridizes with the focal species. Task 3 We will obtain WGS data from 3 individuals in each sampled population (6 per species, 6 species). Task 4 We will establish by simulation the neutral variance in introgression levels between nuclear loci in the absence of selection. This should give us the limits of the variation that can be reached between loci in terms of introgression level in absence of selection and allow developing methodological tools to identify loci that have been subject to adaptive introgression. Task 5 We will identify introgressed genomic regions using already published methods then apply results from task 4 to test our idea that the proportion of loci affected by adaptive introgression (the proportion of high-frequency introgressed alleles that cannot be explained by neutral processes) is higher in areas where climatic conditions are closer to the climatic niche of the species which “gave” its genes through introgression, both for the whole genome data and for the OXPHOS genes and mtDNA.

Existing electrochemical sensors for environmental monitoring suffer from limitations in terms of sensitivity and selectivity. Better sensors are needed to respond to the rising societal demand for continuous information on environmental safety. The HYPERION project will investigate the development of functionalised membranes hierarchically porous to form a new class of electrochemical sensors based on ion transfer voltammetry. The sensors will consist of a macroporous polymeric membrane modified electrochemically with a mesoporous silica film. This project will focus on (i) the preparation of hierarchically porous membranes using sol-gel chemistry and micro-fabrication methods, (ii) the understanding of the formation mechanism and (iii) the exploitation of the selectivity properties of the pore dimension and of the surface chemistry for analytical applications. The research developed in this project will combine (i) microscopic features to improve the mass transport and (ii) mesopores with chemical functions to boost both sensibility and selectivity. This project will establish the fundamental knowledge for the development of a novel class of electrochemical sensors.

At the current warming rate, many organisms should go extinct if they are not able to disperse or adapt locally, which often involves plastic responses. In ectotherms, warming influences plastic life history traits with an acceleration of early life production at the expense of longevity and senescence. This may be due to trade-offs involving warming-induced oxidative stress and telomere shortening. Although pace-of-life acceleration may provide short-term benefits, it also increases sensitivity to limited resources, extreme climate events and unusual nighttime thermal conditions. Thus, in an increasingly warmer climate, ectotherms could reach critical physiological thresholds that would precipitate their decline. To date, physiological mechanisms and ecological consequences of this pace-of-life acceleration are poorly characterized. Here, we will combine experimental, observational and analytical approaches to unlock critical gaps in our understanding of thermal plasticity of life history. We will focus on a bimodal reproductive lizard (Zootoca vivipara), which offers a unique context to analyze how evolutionary transition between oviparity and viviparity influenced pace-of-life acceleration. Using long-term data sets and surveys across climatic gradients, we will document patterns of pace-of-life acceleration in response to climate warming in the two reproductive modes, focusing on vulnerable populations of the warm margin. In addition, we will perform outdoor and laboratory experiments to identify physiological tipping points in the context of day-night asymmetry of warming and extreme climate events. Given their major potential role in this thermal plasticity, non-energetic trade-offs will be quantified using longitudinal and cross-sectional assays of oxidative stress and telomere length dynamics. Altogether, this project will highlight patterns, mechanisms, and consequences on population viability of pace-of-life acceleration in response to climate warming.