Luigimaria Borruso

Luigimaria Borruso
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano | Unibolzano · Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences

PhD

About

85
Publications
34,523
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1,852
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Introduction
• Soil and molecular ecology • Fungal ecology • Plant – fungal/bacterial – soil interaction • Environmental DNA (eDNA) in biodiversity conservation • Agroecology • Science for Kids/soil literacy

Publications

Publications (85)
Article
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Background Fungal DNA is rarely reported in metagenomic studies of ancient samples. Although fungi are essential for their interactions with all kingdoms of life, limited information is available about ancient fungi. Here, we explore the possibility of the presence of ancient fungal species in the gut of Ötzi, the Iceman, a naturally mummified huma...
Article
Biodegradable mulching films offer an eco-friendly alternative to petroleum-based plastics in agriculture, but their effects on soil parameters are not well understood. A microcosm experiment (20 °C, 75% field capacity) investigated the impact of two doses (0.021% and 1% w/w) of a biodegradable polymer on soil chemical and microbiological propertie...
Article
The use of livestock manure as agricultural soil amendments is a significant source of ammonia emissions and nitrate leaching. Anaerobic digestion of manure can yield to solid and liquid by-products usable as fertilizers that can limit these negative impacts. They could be further supplemented with plant growth-promoting microorganisms (PGPM) to im...
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The Nearctic leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) is the primary vector of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma vitis’, the causative agent of Flavescence doreé in Europe. Although microorganisms play an important role in the ecology and behavior of insects, knowledge about the interaction between S. titanus and microbes is limited. In this...
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The relationship between phytophagous insects and plants is a central aspect of food webs and ecosystem functioning. The introduction of new species into an environment can have significant impacts on the food web of a native ecosystem. In many cases, there is a lack of knowledge on the biology and feeding behavior of invasive species prior their i...
Article
Highlights •Microbial communities associated with different native species were analyzed. •Microbial communities responses to invasion varied for different native species. •The responses varied in the study sites and were linked to edaphic conditions. •Fungal components of the communities are more affected than bacteria ones. •Carpobrotus invas...
Preprint
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Footwear design has traditionally followed a linear and profit-driven approach, leading to present ecological and social issues. Contemporarily, bio design experimentations have shown several opportunities in growing materials. We explore the use of mycelium composite cultures in the production of sneakers components, aiming to combat climate chang...
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Natural and human-induced environmental changes deeply affected terrestrial ecosystems throughout the Holocene. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions provide information about the past and allow us to predict/model future scenarios. Among potential records, peat bogs are widely used because they present a precise stratigraphy and act as natural archiv...
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Highly simplified microbial communities colonise rocks and soils of continental Antarctica ice‐free deserts. These two habitats impose different selection pressures on organisms, yet the possible filtering effects on the diversity and composition of microbial communities have not hitherto been fully characterised. We hence compared fungal communiti...
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Aims: Indri indri is a lemur of Madagascar which is critically endangered. The analysis of the microbial ecology of the intestine offers tools to improve conservation efforts. This study aimed to achieve a functional genomic analysis of three Lactiplantibacillus plantarum isolates from indris. Methods and results: Samples were obtained from 18 i...
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The “Sterile Insect Technique” (SIT), a promising method to control Aedes albopictus, the Asian tiger mosquito, is gaining increasing interest. Recently, the role of microbiota in mosquito fitness received attention, but the link between microbiota and larval diet in mass rearing programs for SIT remains largely unexplored. We characterized the mic...
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We investigated the changes in microbial community diversities and functions in natural downed wood at different decay stages in a natural oak forest in the Italian Alps, through metagenomics analysis and in vitro analysis. Alfa diversity of bacterial communities was affected by the decay stage and log characteristics, while beta diversity was main...
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Nutrient deficiencies considerably limit agricultural production worldwide. However, while single deficiencies are widely studied, combined deficiencies are poorly addressed. Hence, the aim of this paper was to study single and combined deficiencies of iron (Fe) and phosphorus (P) in barley (Hordeum vulgare) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Plant...
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Propolis is a resinous material produced by honeybees from different plant sources and used in the hive as a building material and to protect the colony from parasites and pathogens. Despite its antimicrobial properties, recent studies showed that propolis hosts diverse microbial strains, some with great antimicrobial potential. In this study, the...
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Rock glaciers are relatively common in Antarctic permafrost areas and could be considered postglacial cryogenic landforms. Although the extensive presence of rock glaciers, their chemical–physical and biotic composition remain scarce. Chemical–physical parameters and fungal community (by sequencing the ITS2 rDNA, Illumina MiSeq) parameters of a per...
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Here, we present the results related to a new unique terrestrial ecosystem found in an englacial hypersaline brine found in Northern Victoria Land (Antarctica). Both the geochemistry and microbial (prokaryotic and fungal) diversity revealed an unicity with respect to all the other known Antarctic brines and suggested a probable ancient origin mainl...
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In the last decades, climate and human activities significantly affected ecosystems, particularly in mountain areas. Whereas the Alps have been extensively studied for palaeoclimatic reconstructions, little information is available about ecological changes, especially in the Southeastern Alps. This study presents a palaeoclimatic and palaeoecologic...
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Heavy metal (HM) accumulation in soil affects plants and soil fauna, yet the effect on microbial alpha-diversity remains unclear, mainly due to the absence of dedicated research synthesis (e.g. meta-analysis). Here, we report the first meta-analysis of the response of soil microbial alpha-diversity to the experimental addition of cadmium (Cd) and c...
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Rice is gaining importance for nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa, but domestic production can only cover a fraction of the actual needs. Suboptimal fertilization limits production and affordable solutions are needed. It is, however, of utmost importance to minimize negative impacts on the environment and on soil health, which is largely determined by...
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Stone-built cultural heritage exposed to urban environment is a habitat where heterogeneous microbial communities grow, inducing significant biodeterioration. The conservation of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence is a main issue of worldwide concern. We previously investigated the dark discoloration of the external white marble and...
Article
Phytoplasmas are obligatory intracellular bacteria that colonize the phloem of many plant species and cause hundreds of plant diseases worldwide. In nature, phytoplasmas are primarily transmitted by hemipteran vectors. While all phloem‐feeding insects could in principle transmit phytoplasmas, only a limited number of species have been confirmed as...
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The city of Zhangye (Gansu Region, China) has been subjected to several changes related to the development of new profitable human activities. Unfortunately, this growth has led to a general decrease in water quality due to the release of several toxic wastes and pollutants (e.g., heavy metals) into the Heihe River. In order to assess the environme...
Article
Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous contaminants. In recent decades, the hazardous impacts of MPs on the environment have raised significant concern. However, little attention has been focused on the interaction between MPs and plants in terrestrial agroecosystems. This study aims to investigate the effects of polyethylene microspheres (PE-MS) on th...
Article
Microplastics (MP) are ubiquitous contaminants of great concern due to their high persistence and potential hazardous impact on the environment. Depending on their size and shape, as well as the chemical additives they can have in their polymeric structure, MP can be taken up by organisms, ultimately leading to direct and indirect toxic effects. In...
Article
The replacement of energy crops with agricultural waste in biogas production through anaerobic digestion (AD) is both an environmentally sustainable and economically profitable strategy. However, the change of feeding mix in AD might result in nutrient imbalance or increase of the ammonium concentration, negatively affecting the activity of the mic...
Preprint
As human activities on our planet persist, causing widespread and irreversible environmental degradation, the need to biomonitor ecosystems has never been more pressing. These circumstances have required a renewal in monitoring techniques, encouraged by necessity to develop more rapid and accurate tools which will support timely observations of eco...
Preprint
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As human activities on our planet persist, causing widespread and irreversible environmental degradation, the need to biomonitor ecosystems has never been more pressing. These circumstances have required a renewal in monitoring techniques, encouraged by necessity to develop more rapid and accurate tools which will support timely observations of eco...
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Despite being not essential to plants, Silicon (Si) has proven to have promoting effects on plants growth, yield, and resistance against biotic and abiotic stressors. The increase of concentration in specific minerals in plant tissues can also improve shelf-life, which, in fruits like strawberries, is also affected by the epiphytic microbial commun...
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The impact of climate change in the European Alps has been roughly twice the global average, dramatically reducing permafrost extent and thickening of its active layer. Therefore, the study of the abiotic factors (i.e. chemical/physical parameters) affecting the microbial diversity inhabiting Alpine permafrost appears to be of dramatic relevance. W...
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Exposure to early adverse experiences induces persistent changes in physiological, emotional and behavioural functions predisposing the individual to an enhanced vulnerability to develop different disorders during lifespan. The adverse outcomes depend upon the timing of the stressful experiences, and in this contest, adolescence represents a key se...
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On the mountains, along an elevation gradient, we generally observe an ample variation in temperature, with the associated difference in vegetation structure and composition and soil properties. With the aim of quantifying the relative importance of temperature, vegetation and edaphic properties on soil respiration (SR), we investigated changes in...
Article
Agrochemicals are commonly used in agriculture to protect crops and ensure yields. Several of them are mobile within the plant and, being perceived as xenobiotics regardless of their protective/curative roles, they induce a reprogramming of secondary metabolism linked to the detoxification processes even in the absence of phenotype symptoms. Moreov...
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Research on the gut microbiome may help with increasing our understanding of primate health with species’ ecology, evolution, and behavior. In particular, microbiome-related information has the potential to clarify ecology issues, providing knowledge in support of wild primates conservation and their associated habitats. Indri (Indri indri) is the...
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Here, we investigated the possible linkages among geophagy, soil characteristics, and gut mycobiome of indri (Indri indri), an endangered lemur species able to survive only in wild conditions. The soil eaten by indri resulted in enriched secondary oxide-hydroxides and clays, together with a high concentration of specific essential micronutrients. T...
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Intensive agricultural management significantly affects soil chemical properties. Such impacts, depending on the intensity of agronomic practices, might persist for several decades. We tested how current soil properties, especially heavy metal concentrations, reflect the land-use history over a 24,000 ha area dominated by intensive apple orchards a...
Article
Here we investigate the effect of agricultural integrated management on soil microbial diversity within a vineyard with a history (20 years) of exposure to frequent applications of fertilizers and pesticides each season. Considering that these practices were mainly directed to the target plant (i.e. grapevine) and its surrounding area, we expected...
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The amount of nitrogen (N) deposition onto forests has globally increased and is expected to double by 2050, mostly because of fertilizer production and fossil fuel burning. Several studies have already investigated the effects of N depositions in forest soils, highlighting negative consequences on plant biodiversity and the associated biota. Never...
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Questionnaires on farming conditions were retrieved from 2,129 dairy farms and clustered, resulting in 106 representative raw cow`s milk samples analyzed in winter and summer. Substantiating the efficiency of our survey, some farming conditions affected the milk physicochemical composition. Culturing identified several species of lactic acid bacter...
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In recent decades, agriculture has faced the fundamental challenge of needing to increase food production and quality in order to meet the requirements of a growing global population. Similarly, viticulture has also been undergoing change. Several countries are reducing their vineyard areas, and several others are increasing them. In addition, viti...
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The aim of this work was to study the biological catalysts and possible substrate conversion routes in mesophilic dark fermentation reactors aimed at producing H2 from olive mill wastewater. Bacillus and Clostridium were the most abundant phylotypes during the rapid stage of H2 production. Chemical analyses combined with predictive functional profi...
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Apple proliferation is an economically important disease and a threat for commercial apple cultivation. The causative pathogen, the bacterium ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma mali’, is mainly transmitted by Cacopsylla picta, a phloem-feeding insect that develops on the apple tree (Malus spp.). To investigate the feeding behavior of adults of the phytoplasma...
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Tree responses to fertilizer management are complex and are influenced by the interactions between the environment, other organisms, and the combined genetics of composite trees. Increased consumer awareness of the environmental impact of agriculture has stimulated research toward increasing nutrient-use efficiency, improving environmental sustaina...
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A perennially frozen lake at Boulder Clay site (Victoria Land, Antarctica), characterized by the presence of frost mounds, have been selected as an in situ model for ecological studies. Different samples of permafrost, glacier ice and brines have been studied as a unique habitat system. An additional sample of brines (collected in another frozen la...
Article
Supraglacial debris of Miage Glacier (Mont Blanc, Italy) was used as an in situ model for monitoring growth and modification of the taxonomic structure of fungal populations using an in-growth mesh bag approach over three consecutive years. Sterilized debris was placed in mesh bags (MB) and buried in the debris layer. Pristine debris (D) covering t...
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The source of antibiotic residuals can be directly related to the presence of municipal or industrial wastewater and agricultural activities. Antibiotics can trigger the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes within bacterial communities. The mobile genetic elements Class 1 integrons (intl1 region) has been already found to be correlated with...
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Despite the massive presence of biofilms causing aesthetic alteration to the façade of the Monza Cathedral, our team in a previous work proved that the biocolonization was not a primary damaging factor if compared to chemical-physical deterioration due to the impact of air pollution. Nonetheless, the conservators tried to remove the sessile dwellin...
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BACKGROUND This study assessed the composition and dynamics of the bacterial and archaeal communities in a full‐scale two‐stage anaerobic digester over five months. The plant was fed on a variable mixture of feedstock, in which the energy crops were replaced with poultry manure/litter (from 1.6% to 7.5%) to reduce the operational costs. RESULTS Th...
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Rock varnish is a microbial habitat, characterized by thin (5-500 μm) and shiny coatings of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) oxides associated with clay minerals. This structure is well studied by geologists, and recently there have been reports about the taxonomical composition of its microbiome. In this study, we investigated the rock varnish microbi...
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Background The glaciers in the Alps, as in other high mountain ranges and boreal zones, are generally retreating and leaving a wide surface of bare ground free from ice cover. This early stage soil is then colonized by microbes and vegetation in a process of primary succession. It is rarely experimentally examined whether this colonization process...
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Microbes drive leaf litter decomposition, and their communities are adapted to the local vegetation providing that litter. However, whether these local microbial communities confer a significant home-field advantage in litter decomposition remains unclear, with contrasting results being published. Here, we focus on a litter transplantation experime...
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This study reports the first application of a next generation sequencing (NGS) analysis. The analysis was designed to monitor the effect of the management of microbial resources associated with alcoholic fermentation on spontaneous malolactic consortium. Together with the analysis of 16S rRNA genes from the metagenome, we monitored the principal pa...
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Erwinia amylovora is the etiological agent of fire blight, a devastating disease which is a global threat to commercial apple and pear production. The Erwinia genus includes a wide range of different species belonging to plant pathogens, epiphytes and even opportunistic human pathogens. The aim of the present study is to understand, within the Erwi...
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Key words: bluegreen infrastructure, rain gardens, urban stormwater runoff, water sensi ve urban design. Abstract: Several laboratory studies have shown the ability of bioreten on sys tems to remove pollutants from stormwater. However, to our knowledge, no exis ng research has addressed the use of ornamental shrubs for improving water quality in bi...
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Litter decomposition is the main source of mineral nitrogen (N) in terrestrial ecosystem and a key step in carbon (C) cycle. Microbial community is the main decomposer, and its specialization on specific litter is considered at the basis of higher decomposition rate in its natural environment than in other forests. However, there are contrasting ev...
Article
Ingestion of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is inevitable linked to their widespread use in food, medicines and other consumer products. However, their effects on human microbiota at non-lethal concentrations remain poorly understood. In this study, the interactions among 1 μg mL⁻¹ AgNPs, the intestinal microbiota, and the probiotic Bacillus subtilis...
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We studied the relationship between plant functional foliar traits and the endophytic bacterial communities associated in trees, taking the example of sessile oak ( Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl). Forty-five samples with replicates of eight leaves per sample were collected in spring, summer and autumn. Bacterial community diversity was analyzed via...
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The halophytes have evolved several strategies to survive in saline environments; however, an additional support from their associated microbiota helps combat adverse conditions. Hence, our driving interests to investigate the endophytic bacterial community richness, diversity, and composition associated to roots of Salicornia europaea from two tes...
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Wood-tar is a liquid material obtained by wood gasification process, and comprises several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Tar biodegradation is a very challenging task, due to its toxicity and to its complex chemistry. The 'microbial resource management' concerns the use of environmental microbial communities potentially able to provide us...
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Brines are hypersaline solutions which have been found within the Antarctic permafrost from the Tarn Flat area (Northern Victoria Land). Here, an investigation on the possible presence and diversity of fungal life within those peculiar ecosystems has been carried out for the first time. Brines samples were collected at 4- and 5-meter depths (TF1 an...
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Leaf litter and deadwood have important roles in the forest ecosystems, providing shelter for several organisms, preventing erosion and microclimate fluctuations. Their decomposition is a key process of biogeochemical cycles in forest. Microorganisms are the primary agents of decomposition. Particularly, fungi are considered the major contributors...
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The Erwinia genus comprises species that are plant pathogens, non-pathogen, epiphytes, and opportunistic human pathogens. Within the genus, Erwinia amylovora ranks among the top 10 plant pathogenic bacteria. It causes the fire blight disease and is a global threat to commercial apple and pear production. We analyzed the presence/absence of the E. a...
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Wood-inhabiting fungi are major decomposers of organic matter in forest systems, playing a crucial role for the maintenance of critical ecosystem processes. Despite their importance, very few studies have investigated wood-inhabiting fungi with biomolecular techniques, especially in Southern Europe. We studied deadwood quality along with stand stru...