Latest Articles

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  Section: Ecotoxicology & Environmental Chemistry ; Topics: Environmental sciences, Agricultural sciences, Sustainability science

  France’s Pesticide Load Index: Decreasing Ecotoxicity, Persistent Human Toxicity, Rising Concern For Environmental Fate

  Perrot, Thomas;   Fontaine, Colin;   Möhring, Niklas  

  10.24072/pcjournal.817 - Peer Community Journal, Volume 6 (2026), article no. e109

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  Pesticide use has strong adverse effect on biodiversity, ecosystem functioning  and human health . Numerous policies have been proposed to reduce their use and associated risk but evaluations of changes in pesticide risk over time and space are still rare. Here, we evaluate temporal and spatial trends of pesticide risks in France between 2012-2022 using the Pesticide Load Index. The Pesticide Load Index assesses ecotoxicity, human health and fate risks of pesticides, and has been previously employed in Denmark and the UK. The Pesticide Load Index was evaluated accounting for 293 different active substances and 2977 commercial products (99% of sold pesticides mass). We found that pesticide risks have decreased by 29% from 2012 to 2022, mainly due to a reduction in the Ecotoxicity Load (-37.4%) linked to the ban of some of the most toxic active substances, while the Fate Load increased by 13.2% and no significant change was observed in the Human Health Load. Insecticides contributed nearly half (47.6%) of the Pesticide Load Index despite accounting for only 11.2% of the total mass of commercial pesticide products. We also found that the Pesticide Load Index and its three sub-indices were spatially correlated, with higher risks consistently observed in the North and West of France, where beet crops, vineyards, and vegetables cultivation are predominant. Our study identifies priority areas for the mitigation of pesticide  risks, and provides data for public policies to further reduce the use of the most toxic pesticides, focusing not only on ecotoxicity, but also on human health risks and the environmental persistence, mobility and bioaccumulation of pesticides.

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  Section: Plants ; Topics: Plant biology, Biology of interactions, Systems biology

  Transcriptional responses of Solanum lycopersicum to three distinct parasites reveal host hubs and networks underlying parasitic successes

  Truch, Julia;   Jaouannet, Maelle; Da Rocha, Martine;   Kulhanek-Fontanille, Emmanuelle; Van Ghelder, Cyril;   Rancurel, Corinne;   Migliore, Olivier; Pere, Arthur; Jaubert, Stephanie;   Coustau, Christine; Galiana, Eric;   Favery, Bruno  

  10.24072/pcjournal.815 - Peer Community Journal, Volume 6 (2026), article no. e108

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  Crops face attacks from a wide range of pathogens and pests that deploy various parasitic strategies. All aggressors must manipulate major plant functions, such as immune signaling, hormone pathways, metabolism, and development, to successfully establish themselves and complete their life cycle. Here, we compared the tomato plant’s response to three evolutionary distant pathogens (nematodes, aphids and oomycetes) during compatible interactions using a transcriptomic approach. We identified differentially expressed genes and biological processes, and highlighted potential key host hubs associated with successful parasitism. By integrating recent published datasets, we refined our understanding of the global and tissue-specific mechanisms targeted during compatible interactions and, through co-expression analysis, identified clusters showing shared dysregulation patterns enriched in specific GO terms. Finally, model-to-crop translational analysis using the Arabidopsis interactome network, repositioned tomato candidates within larger interaction networks and emphasized the key positions occupied by some of them. Identifying these pivotal tomato targets is crucial to decipher processes underlying parasitism and, consequently, offers new opportunities to develop sustainable multi-pathogen control strategies.

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  Section: Evolutionary Biology ; Topics: Evolution, Population biology, Genetics/genomics

  The geometry of gametic dispersal in a flying mammal, Rhinolophus hipposideros

  Brazier, Thomas;   Zarzoso-Lacoste, Diane;   Lehnen, Lisa;   Jan, Pierre-Loup;   Puechmaille, Sebastien J.;   Petit, Eric J.  

  10.24072/pcjournal.811 - Peer Community Journal, Volume 6 (2026), article no. e107

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  Dispersal influences population and evolutionary dynamics, in a manner that depends on by which dispersal strategies gene flow occurs. In some species, mating partners move exclusively for mating, dispersing genes but not individuals. This is the case in many bat species, of which the lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) shows a genetic structure at a fine spatial scale suggesting restricted dispersal. We investigated how natal and mating dispersal shape gene flow in this species in two metapopulations using paternity and population assignments. Half of the inferred paternities were intra-colonial and gave an estimate of the mean mating dispersal distance of around 11 km, explaining the observed genetic structure. Complete gametic dispersal distances were further estimated by combining natal with mating dispersal distances. The resulting gametic dispersal kernels showed a mean distance of around 20 km and a fat-tailed distribution typical of an excess of long-distance dispersal movements. It is the first time that natal and mating dispersal distances have been separately estimated and then combined in animals, documenting quantitatively how mating dispersal decorrelates gene and individual flows. It is important to consider this mechanism to explain dispersal evolution.

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  Section: Ecotoxicology & Environmental Chemistry ; Topics: Environmental sciences

  Combination of instrumental and biomonitoring approaches elucidate the contributions of multiple and contrasted sources of atmospheric exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

  Reuillard, Mathilde; Dron, Julien;   Durand, Amandine;   Gandolfo, Adrien;   Wortham, Henri; Wafo, Emmanuel; Austruy, Annabelle

  10.24072/pcjournal.813 - Peer Community Journal, Volume 6 (2026), article no. e106

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  A combined approach was implemented to investigate the origins of elevated PAH concentrations in a complex urban environment where numerous emission sources coexist. This approach integrated one year of atmospheric measurements  PM10 filters and continuous atmospheric monitoring), alongside lichen biomonitoring and soil analyses. Results revealed diffuse multi-source contamination, characterized by high PAH levels in both soils and lichens, with a major contribution from the resuspension of soil particles from contaminated brownfields. Pronounced seasonal variations, particularly in winter, reflected the influence of residential heating, with a minor and local contribution from agricultural stubble-burning. Current industrial and port activities were also identified as significant contributors notably through fine particle. The integration of these complementary spatial and temporal approaches enable the ranking of source as follows: (i) resuspension of contaminated soil particles, (ii) industrial and maritime emissions, (iii) residential heating, and (iv) stubble-burning. Combining biomonitoring with atmospheric monitoring provides a robust methodology for characterizing PAH exposure in complex multi-exposure atmospheric contexts, and for guiding environmental health risk management.