CAZES , Dominique

The insect phenoloxidase (PO) cascade is known to be tightly regulated by serine proteases and serine protease inhibitors of the serpin family. As a key component of the insect immune system, it is also suspected to be inhibited by several endoparasitoid wasps, insects that develop inside other arthropods as hosts. However, the underlying...

The Drosophila endoparasitoid wasps Leptopilina boulardi and L. heterotoma (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) are proovigenic species, i.e., females contain their lifetime number of mature eggs at emergence. They are therefore able to immediately parasitize many hosts when present. In response to parasitoid oviposition, the larval host D. melanogaster...

National audience

National audience

The arms race between immune suppressive parasites that produce virulence factors and hosts that evolve resistance to these factors is suggested to be a key driver for the diversification of both partners. However, little is known regarding the diversity of virulence factors in closely related parasites or the mechanisms underlying the...

Animal venoms and other protein-based secretions that perform a variety of functions, from predation to defense, are highly complex cocktails of bioactive compounds. Gene duplication, accompanied by modification of the expression and/or function of one of the duplicates under the action of positive selection, followed by further duplication to...