Francesco Mercati

• Researcher at Italian National Research Council

Acidovorax citrulli (Ac), a gram-negative bacterium, is the causal agent of bacterial fruit blotch (BFB), which poses a significant threat to cucurbit crop production worldwide. Understanding the genetic diversity of Ac is crucial for identifying sources of resistance and implementing effective disease management strategies. In this study, we condu...

Acidovorax citrulli (Ac), a gram-negative bacterium, is the causal agent of bacterial fruit blotch (BFB), which poses a significant threat to cucurbit crop production worldwide. Understanding the genetic diversity of Ac is crucial for identifying sources of resistance and implementing effective disease management strategies. In this study, we condu...

Nitrate uptake by plants primarily relies on two gene families: Nitrate transporter 1/peptide transporter (NPF) and Nitrate transporter 2 (NRT2). Here, we extensively characterized the NPF and NRT2 families in the durum wheat genome, revealing 211 NPF and 20 NRT2 genes. The two families share many Cis Regulatory Elements (CREs) and Transcription Fa...

Model species continue to underpin groundbreaking plant science research. At the same time, the phylogenetic resolution of the land plant Tree of Life continues to improve. The intersection of these two research paths creates a unique opportunity to further extend the usefulness of model species across larger taxonomic groups. Here we promote the u...

Model species continue to underpin groundbreaking plant science research. At the same time, the phylogenetic resolution of the land plant Tree of Life continues to improve. The intersection of these two research paths creates a unique opportunity to further extend the usefulness of model species across larger taxonomic groups. Here we promote the u...

Background Understanding the complex regulatory network underlying plant nitrogen (N) responses associated with high Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) is one of the main challenges for sustainable cropping systems. Nitrate (NO3 ⁻), acting as both an N source and a signal molecule, provokes very fast transcriptome reprogramming, allowing plants to adapt...

We elucidate grapevine evolution and domestication histories with 3525 cultivated and wild accessions worldwide. In the Pleistocene, harsh climate drove the separation of wild grape ecotypes caused by continuous habitat fragmentation. Then, domestication occurred concurrently about 11,000 years ago in Western Asia and the Caucasus to yield table an...

The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has caused harmful impacts on the environment with the increase in economic burden. Biofertilizers are biological products containing living microorganisms capable of improving plant growth through eco-friendly mechanisms. In this work, three actinobacterial strains Streptomyces violaceoruber, Streptom...

Common bean cultivation has historically been a typical component of rural economies in Italy, particularly in mountainous and hilly zones along the Apennine ridge of the central and southern regions, where the production is focused on local landraces cultivated by small-scale farmers using low-input production systems. Such landraces are at risk o...

The salinity of soil is a relevant environmental problem around the world, with climate change raising its relevance, particularly in arid and semiarid areas. Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) positively affect plant growth and health by mitigating biotic and abiotic stresses, including salt stress. The mechanisms through which these benefits mani...

The citrus tristeza virus (CTV) is an agent of devastating epidemics of the citrus plant grafted on Citrus aurantium, one of the main rootstocks still used in the Mediterranean area. Consequently, CTV-tolerant alternative citrus rootstocks are considered necessary to manage this disease and/or its vector; that in Mediterranean countries is the aphi...

Several Triticum species spread in cultivation in Sicily and neighboring regions over the centuries, which led to the establishment of a large genetic diversity. Many ancient varieties were widely cultivated until the beginning of the last century before being replaced by modern varieties. Recently, they have been reintroduced in cultivation in Sic...

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), a wide-spread and commonly consumed vegetable, is susceptible to fungal infection caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melongenae (Fom), that can persist in the soil for many years, resulting into plant wilting and significant yield loss. It is known that the specific N-form can either prevent or delay the plant symp...

Robust protocols for the regeneration of somatic embryos in vitro are essential for the efficient use of the most modern biotechnologies. Unfortunately, in perennial trees such as Citrus, plants regenerated from juvenile tissues usually exhibit strong, undesirable juvenile characters such as thorny habit and delayed flowering and fruit production....

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is an important bulb crop grown worldwide. Dormancy in bulbous plants is an important physiological state mainly regulated by a complex gene network that determines a stop of vegetative growth during unfavorable seasons. Limited knowledge on the molecular mechanisms that regulate dormancy in onion were available until now. He...

Nitrogen (N) fertilization is one of the main inputs to increase crop yield and food production. However, crops utilize only 30–40% of N applied; the remainder is leached into the soil, causing environmental and health damage. In this scenario, the improvement of nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) will be an essential strategy for sustainable agricultur...

Achieving multiple resistance to fungal diseases, major threat in cucurbits production, is challenging due to the quick rate of variation of fungi species and races, the lack in the knowledge of resistance genes or their complexity, and dragging undesired genesin traditional breeding. Here, we generate polygenic resistance to fusarium and powdery m...

Achieving multiple resistance to fungal diseases, major threat in cucurbits production, is challenging due to the quick rate of variation of fungi species and races, the lack in the knowledge of resistance genes or their complexity, and dragging undesired genesin traditional breeding. Here, we generate polygenic resistance to fusarium and powdery m...

The genome of a new carlavirus isolate from asymptomatic wild Capparis spinosa L. plants in Sicily was sequenced via high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and 5’/3’ RACE experiments. The complete genomic sequence was found to be 8,280 nt in length, excluding the poly(A) tail, and contained five putative open reading frames (ORFs). Molecular characteriza...

The domestication and spreading of grapevine as well as the gene flow history had been described in many studies. We used a high-quality 7k SNP dataset of 1,038 Eurasian grape varieties with unique profiles to assess the population genetic diversity, structure, and relatedness, and to infer the most likely migration events. Comparisons of putative...

Baron Antonio Mendola was devoted to the study of grapevine, applying ampelography and dabbling in crosses between cultivars in order to select new ones, of which Moscato Cerletti, obtained in 1869, was the most interesting. Grillo, one of the most important white cultivars in Sicily, was ascertained to be an offspring of Catarratto Comune and Zibi...

Plants produce considerable amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with several biological functions, including protection against biotic agents such as viruses and their vectors. In citrus species, these metabolites can be related with their different susceptibility/tolerance toward the Tristeza virus (CTV), one of the main biotic constraint...

The olive tree (Olea europaea L.) is a typical Mediterranean crop, important for olive and oil production. The high tendency to bear fruits in an uneven manner, defined as irregular or alternate bearing, results in a significant economic impact for the high losses in olives and oil production. Buds from heavy loaded (‘ON’) and unloaded (‘OFF’) bran...

Citrus limon (L.) Burm. F. is an important evergreen fruit crop whose rhizosphere and phyllosphere microbiota have been characterized, while seed microbiota is still unknown. Bacterial and fungal endophytes were isolated from C. limon surface-sterilized seeds. The isolated fungi—belonging to Aspergillus , Quambalaria and Bjerkandera genera—and bact...

Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is a complex trait of great interest whose improvement represents a strategy to maintain high crop yield reducing N-supply. We report the transcriptomic analysis of four NUE-contrasting eggplants to identify key genes related to the NUE in root and shoot, after short- and long-term low-N exposure. Differentially expres...

Global warming is negatively impacting on crop yield and Earth’s climate changes can bring possible negative effects on the growth and reproductive success of crops [...]

The cosmopolitan genus Fraxinus comprises about 40 species occupying several habitats in the Northern Hemisphere. With some species hybridizing and sharing genetic variants, questions remain on the species assignment of germplasm within the genus Fraxinus despite numerous species-specific assessments. A multidisciplinary approach was employed to pr...

The historical cultivation of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) has resulted in the development of local populations/cultivars in restricted Italian rural areas. Many common bean landraces, still cultivated in small mountain areas from Sicily, have become outdated and endangered due to the commercial varieties spreading. These accessions are poor...

Simple Summary Thrips species (Insecta, Thysanoptera) identification using traditional approach is not an easy. In the present study, DNA barcoding was used to support the thrips species characterization of a wide collection sampled in onion fields. Our findings confirmed the selected method as a simple and accurate approach identifying major thrip...

The olive tree (Olea europaea L. subsp. europaea var. europaea) is a crop with a tendency of alternate bearing for fruit productivity, showing a high fruit load in a year (‘ON year’) followed by one characterized by limited or no yield (‘OFF year’). This trait should be determined by complex pathways included into the journey from axillary buds to...

Eggplant is the second most important solanaceous berry-producing crop after tomato. Despite mapping studies based on bi-parental progenies and GWAS approaches having been performed, an eggplant intraspecific high-resolution map is still lacking. We developed a RIL population from the intraspecific cross ‘305E40’, (androgenetic introgressed line ca...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Citrus essential oils are precious natural compounds characterized by a strong odor and formed as secondary metabolites. They are widely used in many fields all over the world and they have a large economic impact. Their pleasant flavors, bioactive capacity and nutritional value make them an integral part of pharmaceutical, agricultural, cosmetic a...

Genetic diversity and population structure studies of local olive germplasm are important to safeguard biodiversity, for genetic resources management and to improve the knowledge on the distribution and evolution patterns of this species. In the present study Algerian olive germplasm was characterized using 16 nuclear (nuSSR) and six chloroplast (c...

In Sicily, small differences exist between wild and cultivated rosemary biotypes; VOCs and genetic profiles may be a useful tool to distinguish them. A germplasm collection of Rosmarinus officinalis L. was harvested from 15 locations in Sicily. Eleven wild and four cultivated populations were collected and, due to the surveyed area covered, they ca...

Guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.) is mainly cultivated as an industrial crop due to its high-quality galactomannan gum used as a thickener, flocculant, emulsion stabilizer and gelling agent in many industrial activities. In the present study, carried out in Southern Italy, a core collection of 46 guar genotypes, collected across the natural...

Several thrips species (Insecta, Thysanoptera) are globally known as important crop pests and vectors of viral deseases, but their identification is difficult because of their small body size and inconspicuous morphological differences. Sequencing variation in the mitochondrial COI region has been proven to be useful for the identification of speci...

Caper (Capparis spinosa L.) is a xerophytic shrub cultivated for its flower buds and fruits, used as food and for their medicinal properties. Breeding programs and even proper taxonomic classification of the genus Capparis has been hampered so far by the lack of reliable genetic information and molecular markers. Here, we present the first genomic...

In the framework of forest resources conservation, this study aims to understand the dynamic and the genetic structure of sessile oak forests in Calabria, Italy. Two old populations of sessile oak (Quercus petraea (Mattuschka) Liebl.) from two areas of Sila and Aspromonte massifs in Calabria were analyzed for genetic diversity and population struct...

During the XX Century, the widespread use of modern wheat cultivars drastically reduced the cultivation of ancient landraces, which nowadays are confined to niche cultivation areas. Several durum wheat landraces adapted to the extreme environments of the Mediterranean region, are still being cultivated in Sicily, Italy. Detailed knowledge of the ge...

Background Magna Graecia is the ancient name for the modern geopolitical region of South Italy extensively populated by Greek colonizers, shown by archeological and historical evidence to be the oldest wine growing region of Italy, crucial for the spread of specialized viticulture around Mediterranean shores. Here, the genetic diversity of Magna Gr...

Key message Our results provide a comprehensive overview how the alloplasmic condition might lead to a significant improvement in citrus plant breeding, developing varieties more adaptable to a wide range of conditions. Abstract Citrus cybrids resulting from somatic hybridization hold great potential in plant improvement. They represent effective...

Complete genome sequence of new virulent actinophages belonging to Streptomyces flavovirens We report biological and physiochemical features and use NGS to provide the complete annotated genomes for two new strains (Sf1 and Sf3) of the virulent phage Streptomyces flavovirens, isolated from Egyptian soil samples. The S. flavovirens phages (Sf1 and S...

Complete genome sequence of new virulent actinophages belonging to Streptomyces flavovirens We report biological and physiochemical features and use NGS to provide the complete annotated genomes for two new strains (Sf1 and Sf3) of the virulent phage Streptomyces flavovirens, isolated from Egyptian soil samples. The S. flavovirens phages (Sf1 and S...

Four allotetraploid somatic hybrids of citrus, with potential for rootstock improvement, have been evaluated for their response to Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) infection. CTV is the most important viral pathogen affecting citrus production worldwide. Somatic combinations of ‘Milam’ lemon (Citrus jambhiri Lush.) + Sour orange (C. aurantium L Osb.), C...

Fig fruits are usually highly sensitive to some physiopathological disorders during post-harvest life, such as softening and skin cracking. Indeed, the use of edible coating (EC) has been evaluated in several fruit crops to reduce fruit post-harvest transpiration and to maintain fruit visual quality. The aim of this study was to determine the post-...

Scatter plot matrix with the correlation coefficients between analyzed variables and their significance levels. The distribution of each variable is shown on the diagonal; the bivariate scatter plots with a fitted line are displayed on the bottom of the diagonal; the value of the correlation plus the significance level as stars was highlighted on t...

List of the metabolites analysis with the metabolomic approach.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most important crops worldwide. In this study, we used 7720 genome-wide SNPs to characterize the genetic diversity within a tomato germplasm collection enriched with 64 accessions from southern Italy of the so called "da serbo" type i.e. drought-tolerant and long storage landraces. Notwithstanding the...

Botrytis cinerea is a polyphagous fungal pathogen causing gray mold disease. Moreover, it is one of the most destructive infections of small fruit crops such as pepper (Capsicum annnum L.). C. sativum is a species belonging to the Solanaceae family and Turkey is one of the main producers in the World. In the present work, aiming to obtain informati...

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the earliest domesticated crops, dating back 6000 years ago in the Near East before spreading into Europe. Despite the abundance of historical, archaeological and genetic records, until now secondary domestication events in European regions are not well demonstrated. Here, a genetic characterisation of grape...

Sex chromosomes evolved from autosomes many times across the eukaryote phylogeny. Several models have been proposed to explain this transition, some involving male and female sterility mutations linked in a region of suppressed recombination between X and Y (or Z/W, U/V) chromosomes. Comparative and experimental analysis of a reference genome assem...

Olea europaea L. subsp. laperrinei (Oleaceae) is an endemic taxon of the mountainous regions of central Sahara, consisting of currently fragmented and small relict populations. The tree can propagate vegetatively or by seed, but no recent natural regeneration was observed in the Algerian massive populations, some of which are considered threatened...

Background Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies provide exciting possibilities for whole genome sequencing of a plethora of organisms including bacterial strains and phages, with many possible applications in research and diagnostics. No Streptomyces flavovirens phages have been sequenced to date; there is therefore a lack in available inf...

Somatic cybridization is a technique based on inducted or spontaneous fusion between nuclear genome of one parent and either the cytoplasmic genome of the other parent or a combination of both donors. This approach is considered a powerful biotechnological tool in plant improvement since it enables to obtain novel intergenomic recombinations that a...

Complete genome sequence of new virulent actinophages belonging to Streptomyces flavovirens We report biological and physiochemical features and use NGS to provide the complete annotated genomes for two new strains (Sf1 and Sf3) of the virulent phage Streptomyces flavovirens, isolated from Egyptian soil samples. The S. flavovirens phages (Sf1 and S...

Stigma/style somatic embryogenesis (SE) is proved to be effective in the complete elimination of the main Citrus virus and virus-like diseases in 100 % of analysed cases. In the present research SE was applied on 13 genotypes, belonging to the Algerian germplasm collection of two different Citrus species (Citrus limon and C. sinensis) infected by o...

Current phylogenetic sampling reveals 23 that dioecy and an XY sex chromosome pair evolved once or possibly twice in the genus Asparagus. Although there appear to be some lineage-specific polyploidization events, the base chromosome number of 2n=2x=20 is relatively conserved across the Asparagus genus. Regardless, dioecious species tend to have lar...

The viticulture of Sicily, for its vocation, is one of the most important and ancient forms in Italy. Autochthonous grapevine cultivars, many of which known throughout the world, have always been cultivated in the island from many centuries. With the aim to preserve this large grapevine diversity, previous studies have already started to assess the...

Spatial and temporal fluctuations in nitrate (NO3-) availability are very common in agricultural soils. Therefore, understanding the molecular and physiological mechanisms involved in regulating NO3- uptake in regions along the primary root is important for improving the NOS uptake efficiency (NUpE) in crops. Different regions of maize primary root...

Nitrogen (N) supply usually limits crop production and optimizing N-use efficiency (NUE) to minimize fertilizer loss is important. NUE is a complex trait that can be dissected into crop N uptake from the soil (NUpE) and N utilization (NUtE). We compared NUE in 14 genotypes of three week old tomatoes grown in sand or hydroponic culture supplied with...

Current phylogenetic sampling reveals that dioecy and an XY sex chromosome pair evolved once or possibly twice in the genus Asparagus . Although there appear to be some lineage-specific polyploidization events, the base chromosome number of 2n=2x=20 is relatively conserved across the Asparagus genus. Regardless, dioecious species tend to have large...

Spatial and temporal fluctuations in nitrate (NO3-) availability are very common in agricultural soils. Therefore, understanding the molecular and physiological mechanisms involved in regulating NO3- uptake in regions along the primary root is important for improving the NO3- uptake efficiency (NUpE) in crops. Different regions of maize primary roo...

The landraces are considered important sources of valuable germplasm for breeding activities to face climatic changes as well as to satisfy the requirement of new varieties for marginal areas. Runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus L.) is one of the most cultivated Phaseolus species worldwide, but few studies have been addressed to assess the genetic div...

Protocolli di pretrattamento sul prodotto agroalimentare fresco o minimamente processato e individuazione del processo ottimale 1 I.A.M.C-CNR di Capo Granitola Protocolli di pretrattamento sul prodotto agroalimentare fresco o minimamente processato e individuazione del processo ottimale.

L’obiettivo è quello di identificare più tipologie di pectina aventi caratteristiche chimico-fisiche, di purezza e trasparenza tali da poter essere applicate, da sole o in miscela con altre sostanze, in forma di gel. Tale studio permetterà di identificare quelle miscele che meglio si prestano ad essere utilizzate come film edibili da applicare sui...

Sex chromosomes have evolved independently in phylogenetically diverse flowering plant lineages. The genes governing sex determination in dioecious species remain unknown, but theory predicts that the linkage of genes influencing male and female function will spur the origin and early evolution of sex chromosomes. For example, in an XY system, the...