The NanoSCAPE project aims to develop a new analytical methodology based on the use of nanoparticles and spectrometry techniques for the very high sensitive detection of bacteria and pathogens. The use of spectrometrically revealed nanoparticles will allow the direct detection of bacteria with extremely low detection limits, of the order of 0.1 bacteria/ml in biological fluids (e.g. blood, urine, synovial fluid). Furthermore, this approach will allow the highly selective detection and counting of up to 30 strains of target bacteria and pathogens simultaneously and in just a few minutes. As part of the NanoSCAPE project, we will carry out a proof of concept on 10 different strains of bacteria. This new approach could be complementary or even alternative to indirect diagnostic methods such as those based on antibody detection (ELISA, Western blot), or PCR. An application for the direct detection of Borrelia involved in Lyme disease, which is considered difficult to diagnose, will be developed using blood, urine or synovial fluid samples. Through a diagnostic programme on nearly 450 patients (including controls) at different stages of the disease, we will evaluate the NanoSCAPE analytical approach in terms of efficiency, selectivity and ease of implementation on the different biological fluids mentioned above. The results will be systematically compared to existing tests and will allow us to decide on the relevance of proposing new tests based on the methodology developed in the project. Given the wide range of scientific and technological fields involved (analytical chemistry, physical chemistry of nanoparticles, immunology, medicine), we have set up a consortium of 3 public research laboratories (including a university hospital), each of which is an expert in a key discipline, a private company that is a leader in the development of antibodies and a hospital that is recognised as a centre of competence for Lyme disease. A significant part of the project will be devoted to technological (patents with the support of a regional SATT) and scientific (conferences, peer-reviewed articles) development. As such, it is not possible to give more strategic, technical and scientific information on the NanoSCAPE project in this summary. In addition, after having carried out the main actions of technological valorisation, we will boost the interactions towards the general public through several conferences, interventions in high schools/colleges, diffusion on social networks and creation of a comic strip. We will also subcontract an expert organisation in the field of scientific popularisation to ensure not only the quality and content of the media (videos, comic strip) but also high visibility (several million views per week). An association (at least) on Lyme disease will also serve as a relay for the dissemination of the project's progress to the general public. We will also rely on the actions of a competitiveness cluster to help us disseminate our advances to the industrial world. The NANOScape project will thus make it possible to develop a novel, extremely sensitive and rapid approach for the simultaneous detection of bacteria and pathogens in biological fluids, with applications that will ultimately go beyond the detection of Lyme disease.

BioInspired Oleophobic Self-Cleaning surfaces for Automotive indoor environment The fast development of new types of mobility based on car sharing, with frequent change of drivers and occupants of the vehicle, reinforces the need for the development of innovative automotive interior materials surfaces with anti-fouling and self-cleaning properties, especially against oily deposits. Based on bioinspired models of superoleophobic surface texture and composition, from natural species such as springtails, the BIOSCA project gathers two research laboratories specialized in bio-inspired surface functionalization, and two major actors of the automotive industry. It combines 1) the preparation and structuration at the nano and micro levels of polymer surfaces, 2) their chemical functionalization to achieve low surface energy, 3) the evaluation of performances on automotive interior materials samples and process industrialization. This applied research project relies on complementary scientific expertises of the academic partners. One research laboratory has developed an expertise to create polymer films exhibiting topographical features such as hierarchical organization and re-entrant roughness or porosity relevant for superoleophobicity. This topography can be achieved by the “breath figure” (BF) process leading to honeycomb films in close-packed hexagonal arrays after fast drying of a polymer solution under a humid air-flow. It can also combine nanoscale self-assembly of diblock copolymers. Another research laboratory, coordinator of the project, is one of the world leaders in the preparation of bioinspired superhydrophobic/suoeroleophobic surfaces thanks to a molecular conception developed from the deposition of polymers to their nanostructural and chemical surface functionalization using electrochemical and plasma-assisted treatments. The industrial partners will select car interior parts of interest for anti-fouling and self-cleaning treatment, and will prepare samples of car interior materials, possibly painted or film-coated. After their surface treatment by the academic partners theses samples will undergo a series of standardized tests to validate and quantify the performance of the process, including its durability after ageing. They will also analyze the technical and economical feasibility of industrializing the process, with environment compliance criteria and cost targets. Possible extension to other car parts and to other industrial sectors will also be examined.

Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant, able to be converted into highly neurotoxic monomethylmercury (MMHg), a compound bioaccumulated and bioamplified in food webs. Microorganisms regulate environmental MMHg level, by controlling directly inorganic Hg (IHg) methylation and MMHg degradation or indirectly through redox transformations controlling Hg bioavailability. Understanding the biotransformation processes of Hg in the environment is a key component of risk assessment of Hg in ecosystems and human health. However, there is little knowledge on the cellular processes leading to MMHg production. It is of special interest to develop studies at a cellular level to understand Hg transformations in terms of genetic determinism, cellular pathways and environmental factors regulating them. The MicroMer project aims to characterize the process of Hg methylation and demethylation at cellular level and environmental level. At cellular level, MicroMer aims to determine 1) the speciation of Hg in the cell environment favoring Hg transformations, 2) the mechanisms of Hg recognition by the cell, 3) the intracellular steps of Hg speciation and, 4) the Hg species export from the cell. Our hypothesis is that methylation and demethylation processes are coupled and that they are driven by Hg uptake but also its export. Thus, we intend to decipher the role of Hg cell trafficking and Hg speciation (in the extracellular and intracellular compartments) in Hg transformations. The processes will be investigated in Sulfate Reducing Bacteria models, Pseudodesulfovibrio hydrargyri BerOc1, able to methylate IHg and demethylate MMHg and two other strains able only to demethylate MMHg: Pseudodesulfovibrio piezophilus C1TLV30 and Desulfovibrio alaskensis G20. P. hydrargyri BercOc1 mutants of either Hg methylation, sensing, and export, and their heterologous expression in C1TLV30 and G20 will be performed. By experimental evolution, we will also generate BerOc1 strains with higher methylation and demethylation capacities. The consequences of mutations in 1) Hg methylation and demethylation, 2) Hg speciation and nature of Hg ligands (thiols), and 3) localization will be determined. MicroMer explores an outstanding and original line of work to understand Hg transformation based on our solid previous results. The striking combination of genetics, bacterial physiology and imaging methods (nano X-ray fluorescence, and electron microscopy) coupled with X-ray absorption spectroscopy and hyphenated mass spectrometry techniques is, to our knowledge, unique and innovative, and will forcefully bring new results and perspectives in the understanding of Hg methylation and demethylation. The MicroMer project has also an environmental scope that aims to determine the representativeness of the mechanism described in our model strains. By applying metagenomics and metatranscriptomics in a time-dependent (daily and seasonally) approaches, we will determine the fate of our model strain in its original environment. In parallel, we will determine the diversity and expression of major genetic determinisms in order to gain an overview of the representativeness of the model deciphered in MicroMer project in a natural environment. The MicroMer project proposes extensive and collaborative studies on mercury transformations mediated by bacteria using interdisciplinary approaches (molecular genetics, microbial physiology, analytical chemistry, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, imaging and microbial ecology). The project unites research teams (IPREM, MIO, and BIC) with strong expertise on those approaches in order to shed light on challenging topic. The environmental and health implications of the expected data obtained in this basic research project are of major interest. They will provide key information about the highly toxic MMHg production that is essential for risk evaluation, management, and sustainable development.

Organocatalysis is a rapidly expanding methodology enabling challenging chemical transformations to be performed in the broad context of sustainable chemistry (metal-free procedures, catalyst recycling…) in line with Challenge 3, CS07 of the ANR Work Program 2018. Despite major achievements, organocatalysts generally suffer from low rate acceleration and turnover and the need for relatively high amounts to achieve good conversion and selectivity. This project which involves three academic laboratories in France and one in Spain, with a strong and unique complementarity, is aimed at developing original catalytic systems utilizing the chiral micro-environment of oligourea helices to catalyze challenging asymmetric transformations at (very) low catalyst loading. Particular attention will be paid to mechanistic studies to elucidate the mode of action of these helical oligomers with the aim to optimize their performance and further expand their reaction and substrate scope.