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Introduction
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Publications
Publications (54)
Among the current global challenges, the research of new practices aimed at mitigating soil impoverishment, exacerbated by the pressing climate changes, is the most urgent. Studying soil organic matter (SOM) ecological dynamics and comparing the conventional intensive farming practices with the emerging alternative sustainable ones can represent a...
Introduction
Actinidia is highly susceptible to water stress, both excess and shortage, and is therefore a model fruit crop for irrigation management, requiring precise water application. The present study was carried out in a mature kiwifruit orchard in southern Italy to investigate the physiology of a yellow-fleshed kiwifruit cultivar under non-l...
Introduction
The use of treated municipal wastewater (TWW) represents a relevant opportunity for irrigation of agricultural crops in semi-arid regions to counter the increasing water scarcity. Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) are often detected in treated wastewater, posing a risk to humans and the environment. PhACs can accumulate in soil...
Kiwifruit vine decline syndrome (KVDS) is an emerging challenge related to various factors, including water stagnation, soil compaction, root hypoxia, imbalanced soil redox potential, soil nutrient imbalance and fungal pathogens, yet its definitive causes remain unconfirmed. This study compared soils and roots of healthy plants (CTRL group) and pla...
Background
A modified version of the QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe) method has been tested for quantifying six active compounds of pharmaceuticals (PhACs), i.e., two different antibiotics, two anti-inflammatories, one antifungal, and one anti-depressant, extracted from roots, leaves and stems, pulp, pits, and oil obtaine...
La riduzione dei ristagni idrici, l'adozione di strategie irrigue e di gestione sostenibile del suolo sono fondamentali per evitare il deperimento di nuovi actinidieti dovute alle abbondanti piogge invernali e molto poca rilevanza alle condizioni che si possono venire a determinare in seguito agli eccessi di irrigazione. Un'errata gestione dell'irr...
In C 3 plants, carbon isotope composition (δ 13 C) is influenced by isotopic effects during diffusion from the atmosphere to the chloroplasts and carboxylation reactions. This work aimed to demonstrate if δ 13 C of leaf soluble carbohydrates (δ 13 C leaves) and of dry matter from new-growth shoots (δ 13 C shoots) of Prunus plants subjected to a per...
Italy, the second-largest kiwifruit producing country in the world, has lost 10 percent of its production in recent years to Kiwifruit Vine Decline Syndrome (KVDS). Now a comprehensive examination of environmental factors, soil quality; fertility issues and kiwifruit crop management techniques could help the industry to better understand the phenom...
Aims
The conventional management adopted in many Mediterranean olive orchards makes them more vulnerable to climate change and attacks by pathogens, due to the decreased chemical plant defenses. In this scenario, a metabolomic analysis was carried out on the xylem sap (Xsap) of olive plants (Olea europaea L.) grown in the Salento peninsula (Italy)....
The study of local chestnut and traditional techniques related to their use and consumption are considered of primary importance to promote their nutritional/nutraceutical values. Fruit of four local chestnut cultivars (‘Carpinese’, ‘Pontecosi’, ‘Capannaccia’ and ‘Morona’) from Garfagnana (Italy) were analysed under nutritional and antioxidant aspe...
Soils and crops in Mediterranean agro-systems are particularly vulnerable to climate change and environmental stresses, and they will be more and more in the next future. In this scenario, soil organic matter (SOM) plays a crucial role and its level is principally determined by the continuous physical and chemical action of soil fauna. While the im...
Soils and crops in orchard agrosystems are particularly vulnerable to climate change and environmental stresses. In many orchard soils, soil biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides are under threat from a range of natural and manmade drivers. In this scenario, sustainable soil use aimed at increasing soil organic matter (SOM) and SOM-re...
Global climate change is affecting important natural resources including water. Increasing temperature will change rate of evaporation and transpiration, leading to variations in water availability, ground water recharge, and water consumption by plants. Thus, competition for water will be a major future challenge for agriculture. Increasing water...
In conventional olive growing, frequent soil tillage strongly reduces the complexity and diversity of the agro-ecosystem. Here, a metabolomic analysis was carried out on the xylem sap (XS) of olive plants (Olea europaea L.) from a grove located in Southern Italy (Basilicata region). The orchard has been divided in two plots that have been managed f...
Under suitable conditions, low-quality, treated urban wastewater (TWW) is an additional water resource for irrigation in water-scarce environments but its use in agriculture requires a careful monitoring of a range of hygiene parameters, including human pathogenic bacteria (HPB). DNA-based microbiological analyses on soil, xylem sap, and leaves sur...
Background: Beneficial bacteria-plant interactions play an important role in agriculture, positively affecting plant status and improving product quality. Bacterial endophytes do not cause apparent damage and contribute to host plant protection and survival.
Aim: This study characterised the bacterial communities present in soil, leaf surface and x...
The main objective of this study was to apply microbial indicators of soil quality in drip-irrigated olive and peach orchards managed with sustainable agricultural practices. Soil characterization was carried out in different areas of the orchards along the row, under the drippers (Rdr), and along the inter-row, rainfed (IRrf), to evaluate the effe...
Irrigation methods differ in terms of fraction of wetted soil surface. Soil moisture is among the most dominant variable affecting plant water relations, and other soil processes which ultimately affect CO2 soil emissions. This study compared the influence of microjet (MJ) and drip irrigation method (D) on levels of absisic acid concentration in ro...
This paper mainly focuses the effects of changed soil management practices from conventional (soil tillage, mineral fertilisers, burning of pruning residues) to sustainable (no-tillage, pruning residues and cover crop retention, compost application) on soil microbial biomass and organic carbon (SOC). Additionally, the water footprint (m 3 t-1) for...
Abscisic acid (ABA) is a phytohormone able to regulate the stomatal behaviour, transpiration and photosynthesis. ABA synthesis is usually associated to drought conditions. Based on the evidence that drip irrigation wets only 15-20% of soil surface and that 80% is dry during summer, this study tests the hypothesis that in a well drip irrigated tree...
Orchard ecosystems may represent a key factor of carbon (C) cycle, contributing to store atmospheric CO2. Among other, nutrient management is a challenge for lowinput farming techniques, which are oriented to improve soil organic carbon (SOC) content. Increased SOC is a crucial step for soil fertility remediation and it is also beneficial for soil...
Higher calcium (Ca) concentration in several fleshy fruit including kiwifruit is a pre-requisite for lower incidence of Ca-related diseases and improved fruit nutritional value. This review examines the internal and external factors operating along the soil-to-fruit pathway that are involved in the uptake and partitioning of Ca in kiwifruit vines....
Background:
Water temperature greatly influences the physiology and behaviour of teleost fish as other aquatic organisms. While fish are able to cope with seasonal temperature variations, thermal excursions outside their normal thermal range might exceed their ability to respond leading to severe diseases and death.Profound differences exist in th...
Canine nodular dermatofibrosis is a rare skin disease associated with renal cystadenoma or cystadenocarcinoma and uncommonly with uterine leiomyoma. It is generally seen in German shepherd dogs, but has been also reported in other breeds, and a relationship has been suggested with mutation of the gene encoding folliculin (FLCN), which is located on...
Many typical Italian cheeses made from ovine milk are certified as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). Because caprine and ovine milk production is limited, the fraudulent addition of cows' milk is widespread. In addition, some compounds in bovine milk have high allergenic potential; therefore, such fraud also has implications for consumer healt...
In some parts of Italy, there is a tradition of eating special, highly prized species of cod, fished and dried in Norway.
In order to safeguard the value of this food product, in 2005, the Italian government legislated that the commercial term
“stockfish” can only be attributed to Gadus morhua (Gm). In this study, we present an improved real-time P...
Aquaculture represents the most sustainable alternative of seafood supply to substitute for the declining marine fisheries, but severe production bottlenecks remain to be solved. The application of genomic technologies offers much promise to rapidly increase our knowledge on biological processes in farmed species and overcome such bottlenecks. Here...
RNA amplification, labelling and array hybridization. Details of the followed procedure for sample labelling and hybridization.
