Elisa Pellegrini

Elisa Pellegrini
University of Pisa | UNIPI · Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (DAFE)

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87
Publications
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Publications

Publications (87)
Article
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Flavescence dorée (FD) is a major grapevine disease in Europe, despite the quarantine status of its causal agent [FD phytoplasma (FDp)] and the mandatory monitoring and vector control practices. As alarming FD epidemic outbreaks continue to appear in Tuscany (Central Italy), a 4-year survey was carried out in the main wine-growing areas of the regi...
Article
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The present study focused on three autochthonous varieties of apple trees belonging to the old Tuscany germplasm (central Italy), Chitignano, Mora and Ruggine, and aimed to (a) evaluate the presence of the four main latent viruses of apple trees (apple chlorotic leaf spot virus [ACLSV], apple mosaic virus [ApMV], apple stem grooving virus [ASGV] an...
Article
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In this work, we assessed the effects of increasing ozone (O3) on four petunia varieties with different floral pigmentation (pink, red, rose-red, and white). Plants were exposed, in open-top chambers located in China, to three O3 concentrations, i.e., (i) ambient air (AA), (ii) AA + 60 ppb O3 (AA + 60), and (iii) AA + 120 ppb O3 (AA + 120), for 85...
Article
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In Mediterranean countries, late‐sown durum wheat ( Triticum turgidum L. subsp. durum ) may face waterlogging (WL) at early stages. As mitigation of waterlogging by melatonin (MT) has been poorly explored, we analyzed the effects of exogenous MT foliar application to WL‐stressed durum wheat on its ecophysiological performance, growth and biomass pr...
Article
Citrus fruits, widely consumed around the world, can be negatively affected by pests and fungal infections during their cultivation, handling, transportation, and storage, thus resulting in substantial yield losses and food waste. The use of natural preservatives like chitosan (CHT) and essential oils (EOs) is a promising approach for reducing chem...
Article
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Plants constantly face the environment that surrounds them and fight for survival against biotic and abiotic stress factors. To deal with harmful conditions, plants have developed a multilayer defence system, making them capable of recognising threats and promptly recovering from them. This phenomenon, which takes advantage of the “memory effect”,...
Article
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As there has been no scientific evidence of the bioactivity of Sambucus ebulus (Adoxaceae) extracts against insects, we chemically characterized S. ebulus leaves and flowers extracted in methanol and water. The crude extracts, phenolic compounds, and amino acids isolated were tested as larvicides against the fourth-instar larvae of Aedes albopictus...
Article
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Ozone (O3) pollution is a critical issue for human health, crop yield, vegetation growth biodiversity, and food safety. Several protection strategies from O3-induced injuries have been proposed for crops. Here, we investigated if the foliar application of wood distillate (WD), a plant-based biostimulant applied once a week (0.2%, v/v) for four cons...
Article
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Plants are constantly subjected to environmental changes that deeply affect their metabolism, leading to the inhibition or synthesis of “specialized” compounds, small organic molecules that play a fundamental role in adaptative responses. In this work, Melissa officinalis L. (an aromatic plant broadly cultivated due to the large amounts of secondar...
Article
The necrotrophic fungus Seiridium cardinale is the main responsible for Cypress Canker Disease (CCD), a pandemic affecting many Cupressaceae worldwide. The present study aims to elucidate the signalling of the early responses in the bark and foliage of CCD‐susceptible and ‐resistant C. sempervirens clones to S. cardinale inoculation (SI and RI, res...
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Municipal solid waste (MSW) represents a significant global threat, which has to be managed by a model of production and consumption involving the sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling of existing materials and products for as long as possible, otherwise known as a circular economy (CE). However, there is not a universal...
Article
Effects of the phytotoxic and widespread ozone (O3) pollution may be species specific, but knowledge on Mediterranean conifer responses to long-term realistic exposure is still limited. We examined responses regarding to photosynthesis, needle biochemical stress markers and carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) isotopes of two Mediterranean pine species (Pin...
Article
1:1:1) LED light supplementation on production, nutraceutical quality and Botrytis cinerea control of harvested strawberry fruit. Yield, fruit color, firmness, soluble solid content, titratable acidity, primary and specialized metabolites, expression of targeted genes and mold development were analyzed in fruit from light-supplemented plants, start...
Article
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To investigate how plants cope with multi-stress conditions, we analyzed the biochemical and molecular changes of Vitis vinifera leaves subjected to single or sequential double stresses (infection by Botrytis cinerea (Bc) and ozone (O3, 100 ppb for 3 h) treatment). In Bc+/O3− leaves, the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) induction (observed at 12 and 24 h f...
Article
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Mycotoxins contamination and pest infestation of foods and feeds represent a pivotal threat for food safety and security worldwide, with crucial implications for human and animal health. Controlled atmosphere could be a sustainable strategy to reduce mycotoxins content and counteract the vitality of deleterious organisms in foodstuff. Ozone treatme...
Chapter
Climate change (CC) is an urgent and complex issue and has been identified as one of the major societal challenges facing the world today. Ozone is one of the players in CC and is considered the most phytotoxic air pollutant to which wild, forest, and cultivated plants are exposed, by leading to yield reduction and changes in food quality, not to m...
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Antioxidants and phytohormones are hallmarks of abiotic stress responses in plants. Although it is known that they can offer cell protection or accelerate programmed cell death (PCD) depending on the level of stress, the involvement of these metabolites in stress acclimation is still not fully elucidated. Here, we showed the role of antioxidants an...
Article
Ozone (O3) is a phytotoxic air pollutant capable of limiting plant yield and growth, and altering the quality of edible plant products. This study aimed to investigate the effects of long-term O3 exposure at realistic and future concentrations (applied during fruit development) not only on morphological, physiological, and biochemical plant/leaf tr...
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With the idea of summarizing the outcomes of studies focusing on the resistance induced by Trichoderma spp. against Botrytis cinerea in tomato, the present paper shows, for the first time, results of a meta-analysis performed on studies published from 2010 to 2021 concerning the cross-talk occurring in the tomato–Trichoderma-B. cinerea system. Star...
Article
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Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. subsp. durum (Desf.) Husn) is a staple crop of the Mediterranean countries, where more frequent waterlogging events are predicted due to climate change. However, few investigations have been conducted on the physiological and agronomic responses of this crop to waterlogging. The present study provides a comprehensi...
Article
Molecular mechanisms underlying plant functioning under salt conditions have not been completely elucidated, especially in a recalcitrant and less studied fruit trees such as pomegranate (Punica granatum L.). Here, we identified and characterized the expression of NHX1, HKT1 and SOS1 to understand their role in mediating Na⁺ and K⁺ transport, trans...
Article
Eliciting plants consists in the application of chemical, physical, and biological factors that induce stressful conditions, and so trigger defense mechanisms and the production of bioactive compounds and phytochemicals. In this study, the phenolic and volatile organic compound (VOCs) profiles of sage leaves under a chronic ozone (O3) exposure (120...
Article
Ozone (O3)-induced metabolic changes in leaves are relevant and may have several ecological significances. Here, variations in foliar chemistry of two poplar clones (Populus deltoides × maximowiczii, Eridano, and P. × euramericana, I-214) under a chronic O3 treatment (80 ppb, 5 h d-1 for 10 consecutive days) were investigated. The aim was to elucid...
Article
The superheated steam technology (SHST) is a heat treatment that involves a heated saturated steam. To date, the use as cooking technology has not been evaluated in depth in terms of retention of phytochemicals. In this study, the use of SHST was compared with a conventional saturated steam (CS) oven in order to evaluate their impact on different v...
Article
Mediterranean plants are particularly threatened by the exacerbation of prolonged periods of summer drought and increasing concentrations of ground-level ozone (O3). The aims of the present study were to (i) test if selected markers (i.e., reactive oxygen species, ROS; malondialdehyde, MDA; photosynthetic pigments) are able to discriminate the oxid...
Article
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Advancements in the ability to detect plant responses to salinity are mandatory to improve crop yield, quality, and management practices. The present study shows the capability of hyperspectral reflectance (400–2400 nm) to rapidly and non-destructively detect and monitor the responses of two pomegranate cultivars (Parfianka, P, and Wonderful, W) un...
Article
Techniques to monitor oxidative stress pre-visually are essential to optimize plant management. Here, we investigated the capability of hyperspectral reflectance (350−2500 nm) to characterize responses of two pomegranate cultivars (Parfianka and Wonderful) under ozone (O3) episodes at a gradient of concentrations (50, 100 and 200 ppb for 5 h). Anal...
Article
Date palms are highly economically important species in hot arid regions, which may suffer ozone (O3) pollution equivalently to heat and water stress. However, little is known about date palm sensitivity to O3. Therefore, to identify their resistance mechanisms against elevated O3, physiological parameters (leaf gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescen...
Article
Full-text available
Specialized metabolites constitute a major antioxidant system involved in plant defence against environmental constraints, such as tropospheric ozone (O3). The objective of this experiment was to give a thorough description of the effects of an O3 pulse (120 ppb, 5 h) on the phenylpropanoid metabolism of sage, at both biochemical and molecular leve...
Article
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High-throughput and large-scale measurements of chlorophyll a fluorescence (ChlF) are of great interest to investigate the photosynthetic performance of plants in the field. Here, we tested the capability to rapidly, precisely, and simultaneously estimate the number of pulse-amplitude-modulation ChlF parameters commonly calculated from both dark- a...
Article
Two-year-old pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) plants of the commercial cultivars Wonderful (W) and Parfianka (P) were subjected for 47 days in the substrate to four salt concentrations (0, 100, 150 and 200 mM NaCl), in order to evaluate their strategies in terms of Na⁺/Cl⁻ translocation and tissue/organ compartmentalization, as well as of antioxida...
Article
To decipher the role of low molecular weight antioxidants in the sensitivity of Melissa officinalis L. (lemon balm, an aromatic plant, widely cultivated for pharmaceutical, food, beverage and cosmetic purposes) to realistic ozone (O3) concentrations, plants of this species were exposed to the gaseous pollutant (80 ppb for 5 h), and investigated for...
Article
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Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by some filamentous fungi, which can cause toxicity in animal species, including humans. Because of their high toxicological impacts, mycotoxins have received significant consideration, leading to the definition of strict legislative thresholds and limits in many areas of the world. Mycotoxins can reduc...
Article
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The final stage of leaf ontogenesis is represented by senescence, a highly regulated process driven by a sequential cellular breakdown involving, as the first step, chloroplast dismantling with consequent reduction of photosynthetic efficiency. Different processes, such as pigment accumulation, could protect the vulnerable photosynthetic apparatus...
Article
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Both ozone (O3) and drought can limit carbon fixation by forest trees. To cope with drought stress, plants have isohydric or anisohydric water use strategies. Ozone enters plant tissues through stomata. Therefore, stomatal closure can be interpreted as avoidance to O3 stress. Here we applied an optimization model of stomata involving water, CO2 and...
Article
Full-text available
Advancements in techniques to rapidly and non-destructively detect the impact of tropospheric ozone (O3) on crops are required. This study demonstrates the capability of full-range (350–2500 nm) reflectance spectroscopy to characterize responses of asymptomatic sage leaves under an acute O3 exposure (200 ppb for 5 h). Using partial least squares re...
Article
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Background Similar to other urban trees, holm oaks (Quercus ilex L.) provide a physiological, ecological and social service in the urban environment, since they remove atmospheric pollution. However, the urban environment has several abiotic factors that negatively influence plant life, which are further exacerbated due to climate change, especiall...
Article
Tropospheric ozone (O3) is the most important gaseous pollutant and induces a mass of negative impacts on vegetation at functional and genic levels. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of reactive oxygen species and signalling molecules in sage plants exposed to O3 (200 ppb, 5 h). Ozone exposure induced only a transient oxidati...
Article
There is a lack of knowledge about the possibility that plants facing abiotic stressors, such as drought, have an altered perception of a pulse of O3 and incur in alterations of their signalling network. This poses some concerns as to whether defensive strategy to cope episodic O3 peaks in healthy plants may fail under stress. In this study, a set...
Article
Plants are exposed to a broad range of environmental stresses, such as salinity and ozone (O3), and survive due to their ability to adjust their metabolism. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physiological and biochemical adjustments adopted by pomegranate (Punica granatum L. cv. Dente di cavallo) under realistic field conditions. One-year-o...
Article
Ozone (O3) pollution and the availability of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the soil both affect plant photosynthesis and chlorophyll (Chl) content, but the interaction of O3 and nutrition is unclear. We postulated that the nutritional condition changes plant photosynthetic responses to O3. An O3-sensitive poplar clone (Oxford) was subject to t...
Article
Plants are frequently exposed to adverse environmental conditions such as drought and ozone (O3). Under these conditions, plants can survive due to their ability to adjust their metabolism. The aim of the present study was to compare the detoxification mechanisms of three oak species showing different O3 sensitivity and water use strategy. Two-year...
Article
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Physiological and biochemical responses to ozone (O3) (150 ppb, 8 h day⁻¹, 35 consecutive days) of two Italian provenances (Piedmont and Tuscany) of Fraxinus excelsior L. were evaluated, with special attention to the role of phenylpropanoids. Our results indicate (i) the high O3 sensitivity especially of Piedmont provenance (in terms of visible inj...
Article
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Liriodendron tulipifera (known as the tulip tree) is a woody species that has been previously classified as sensitive to ozone (O3) in terms of visible leaf injuries and photosynthetic primary reactions. The objective of this work is to give a thorough description of the detoxification mechanisms that are at the basis of O3 sensitivity. Biochemical...
Article
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The predicted effects of global change (GC) will be exacerbated in the more densely populated cities of the future, especially in the Mediterranean basin where some environmental cues, such as drought and tropospheric ozone (O3) pollution, already mine seriously plant survival. Physiological and biochemical responses of a Mediterranean, evergreen,...
Article
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Tropospheric ozone (O3) causes severe damage to many vascular plants but not to lichens. It was recently suggested that this may be due to their high levels of natural defences against the oxidative bursts associated to their fluctuating water content. In this study, the combined effects of watering regime (with or without a daily spray of distille...
Article
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The Mediterranean basin can be considered a hot spot not only in terms of climate change (CC) but also for air quality. Assessing the impact of CC and air pollution on ecosystem functions is a challenging task, and adequate monitoring techniques are needed. This paper summarizes the present knowledge on the use of reflectance spectroscopy for the e...
Chapter
The major tea-growing regions of the world are located in Asia, where tea contributes substantially to their economy. It is known how the rapid development of the economy, twinned to global change, has created in many districts of industrialized countries critical levels of air pollution. Abiotic stresses may affect plant growth, quality, and distr...
Article
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Drought frequency is predicted to increase in future environments. Leaf water potential (ΨLW) is commonly used to evaluate plant water status, but traditional measurements can be logistically difficult and require destructive sampling. We used reflectance spectroscopy to characterize variation in ΨLW of Quercus oleoides Schltdl. & Cham. under diffe...
Article
Removing lichen substances from dry lichen thalli using pure acetone is the least detrimental method. Measurements of properties strictly related to the photobiont, such as chlorophyll a fluorescence (Chl a F), are frequently used to verify acetone toxicity but they cannot reveal possible damage accumulated at the whole thallus level. Here, measure...
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Understanding the interactions between drought and acute ozone (O3) stress in terms of signaling molecules and cell death would improve the predictions of plant responses to climate change. The aim was to investigate whether drought stress influences the responses of plants to acute episodes of O3 exposure. In this study, the behavior of 84 Mediter...
Article
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Global climate change represents a moving target for plant acclimation and/or adaptation, especially in the Mediterranean basin. In this study, the interactions of severe drought (20% of the effective daily evapotranspiration) and O3 fumigation (80 ppb, 5 h day−1, for 28 consecutive days) on (i) photosynthetic performance, (ii) cell membrane stabil...
Article
Ozone (O3) and salinity are usually tested as combined factors on plant performance. However, the response to a single episode of O3 in plants already stressed by an excess of NaCl as occurs in the natural environment, has never been investigated but is important given that is commonly experienced in Mediterranean areas . Three-year-old Quercus ile...
Article
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Understanding the induction of plant defenses against viruses using biocontrol agents is essential for developing new strategies against these pathogens, given the ineffectiveness of chemical treatments. The ability of Trichoderma harzianum, strain T-22 (T22) to control Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) in Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme plants and...
Chapter
Among various contaminants, ozone (O3) is considered the most ubiquitous and phytotoxic atmospheric pollutant in industrialized and developing countries. It causes extensive risks for plant life, in terms of survival and productivity of wild and cultivated species. Plant response to O3 resembles the biotic defense reactions and includes two steps:...
Article
Full-text available
Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a global air pollutant that causes high economic damages by decreasing plant productivity. It enters the leaves through the stomata, generates reactive oxygen species, which subsequent decrease in photosynthesis, plant growth, and biomass accumulation. In order to identify genes that are important for conferring O3 tolera...
Data
Statistical pathway enrichment of the differentially expressed genes against Arabidopsis thaliana.
Data
Table showing the GO and associated InterPro annotations with ensembl transcripts showing the up- and down-regulations during the ozone treatment.