Menale B.

• Researcher at University of Naples Federico II

This study explores the impact of geographic barriers on the distribution and survival of Mediterranean endemic species, focusing on Centranthus sect. Nervosae , a tetraploid species complex found in Corsica and Sardinia. The aim is to analyse how these barriers influence genetic diversity, population structure, and phylogeographic pattern, thereby...

Centranthus is a small genus belonging to the family Caprifoliaceae, comprising approximately 16 taxa (nine species plus seven subspecies). Currently, it is incorporated into the Valeriana genus, which is the most species-rich in the world (> 400 species), even though its phylogeny is not clear. Despite its botanical relevance, genetic markers for...

The Ansanto Valley's Mefite, one of the Earth's largest non‐volcanic CO2 gas emissions, is distinguished by its cold natural carbon dioxide springs. These emissions originate from the intricate tectonics and geodynamics of the southern Apennines in Italy. Known for over two millennia for its lethal concentration of CO2 and other harmful gases, the...

The Mefite in the Ansanto Valley is one of the largest and oldest cold natural carbon dioxide springs (CNCDS) known in the world. This site is characterized by toxic concentrations of CO2 and other harmful gases, and few plant species can survive in this environment. Among these plants, there is an aberrant Genista tinctoria population previously d...

Riassunto. Vengono descritte le xerofite ita-liane di nuova introduzione nell'area espositi-va denominata il "Deserto" dell'Orto Botanico di Napoli. Queste specie vengono discusse per loro aspetti tassonomici, per il significato didattico e divulgativo che rivestono e per la loro importanza per la conservazione ex situ di specie vegetali di specifi...

The Botanical Garden of Naples has a collection of papier-mâché models that reproduce plant structures, whole plants, or fungi. They are known as Brendel Models, named after the German Company that built and supplied them to the Botanical Garden in the early nineteenth century. For their state of decay, due to time and continuous use for educationa...

Pancratium maritimum (Amaryllidaceae) is a bulbous geophyte growing on coastal sands. In this study, we investigated changes in concentrations of metabolites in the root and leaf tissue of P. maritimum in response to mild salt stress. Changes in concentrations of osmolytes, glutathione, sodium, mineral nutrients, enzymes, and other compounds in the...

The aim of this paper is to study at what extent current knowledge on traditional plant uses is still alive on the island of Procida (Campania, southern Italy). Information were collected using interviews on 48 persons native or residents in the island since decades. For each recorded species, scientific name, vernacular name (when available), chor...

In the Mediterranean area, the occurrence of citrus plants in ancient times is clearly attested in Sardinia and along the southern Tyrrhenian coasts through the presence of pollen grains and organic residues dating back to the sixth century bc. The presence of Citrus pollen was also detected in soil sediments from Pompeii (ad 79), in marine sedimen...

The Mediterranean Basin can be considered as a natural laboratory with which to study the effects of sea currents in the dispersal of coastal plant species that use hydrochory. Pancratium maritimum is a perennial geophyte, with a wide distribution along Mediterranean coasts. We aim to provide a timeframe for the origin of the diversification of thi...

The Mediterranean Basin can be considered as a natural laboratory with which to study the effects of sea currents in the dispersal of coastal plant species that use hydrochory. Pancratium maritimum is a perennial geophyte, with a wide distribution along Mediterranean coasts. We aim to provide a timeframe for the origin of the diversification of thi...

The present study assesses the in vitro antibiofilm potential activity of extracts of wild Allium ursinum and Allium oschaninii. The active ingredients of the extracts were obtained with a technique named Naviglio (rapid solid–liquid dynamic extraction, RSLDE) which is based on an innovative and green solid–liquid extraction methodology. The extrac...

Main conclusion An interesting AMF colonization microcosm has been detected in the roots of Pancratium maritimum (sea daffodil). Both sequencing techniques (Sanger and NGS) have been used for AMF characterisation, showing a balanced trade-off between pros and cons. By Sanger and next generation sequencing of rRNA nuclear molecular markers (SSU–ITS–...

Main conclusion Different levels of salt stress affected the OAS-TL expression levels in Pancratium maritimum organs (bulb, leaf and root). A detailed method has been described for the identification of the conserved domain of the OAS-TL cDNA in sea daffodil given the scarce data available for the Amaryllidaceae family. Abstract Pancratium mariti...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178262.].

In this study, we used several molecular techniques to develop a fast and reliable protocol (DNA Verity Test, DVT) for the characterization and confirmation of the species or taxa present in herbal infusions. As a model plant for this protocol, Camellia sinensis, a traditional tea plant, was selected due to the following reasons: its historical pop...

The book brings together 16 contributions on the ancient and recent history of citrus fruits. Although they represent the main fruit production on a worldwide scale, very little is known about their original domestication and routes of introduction into the Mediterranean and temperate Europe: few organic remains identified as citrus have been found...

The genus Pinguicula (Lentibulariaceae) consists of about 100 carnivorous species, also known as butterworts. Eleven taxa are endemic to Italy, which represents a biodiversity hotspot for butterworts in Europe. The aim of our study was to provide a phylogenetic framework for the Italian endemics, in order to: a) investigate the relationships betwee...

Floral morphometric analysis of Pinguicula cf. christinae from Val d’Aveto. (DOCX)

The German botanist and head-gardener Friedrich Dehnhardt described several new names in Tritonia in poorly known publications covering plants cultivated in the former Hortus Camaldulensis (Naples, southern Italy). The names have been generally neglected or misinterpreted, and original specimens have not been traced. We have examined grey literatur...

Chloroplast inheritance is a very important information to obtain when cpDNA is used to study phylogeography or reconstruct phylogenies. A procedure used for the analyses of chloroplast inheritance in the sea daffodil (Pancratium maritimum) is described using multi-facet approach (artificial cross, germination and end-point PCR amplification).

The Mediterranean coastline is a dynamic and complex system which owes its complexity to its past and present vicissitudes, e.g. complex tectonic history, climatic fluctuations, and prolonged coexistence with human activities. A plant species that is widespread in this habitat is the sea daffodil, Pancratium maritimum (Amaryllidaceae), which is a p...

Structure output. Graph of delta K values to determine the ideal number of groups that were present in the accessions of Pancratium maritimum and genetic clusters (K) as obtained for the 48 P. maritimum populations (867 individuals) using STRUCTURE (K = 4). (DOCX)

Pairwise matrices of 48 Pancratium maritimum populations. Sheet 1: Pairwise geographic (nautical) distance. Sheet 2: Pairwise geographic (nautical) distance (log scale). Sheet 3: Pairwise distance matrix FST with ENA correction. Sheet 4: Pairwise distance matrix FST with no ENA correction. Sheet 5: Pairwise distance matrix FST/1-FST with ENA correc...

Species Distribution Models inputs/output. Sheet 1: Dataset of the Pancratium maritimum accessions that were used in both the Species Distribution Models (SDMs) and the genetic analyses. Sheet 2: Relative contribution to the models and related response curves of each environmental predictor. (XLS)

Ethnopharmacological relevance: This paper illustrates the results of an ethnobotanical study carried out in the Vesuvio National Park (VNP) (Campania, Southern Italy). It describes the medicinal uses of the plants in an ancient area rich in ethnobiodiversity investigated for the first time. Aim for the study: The main aim of the study was to un...

The unresolved name Erythrina laeta Dehnh. is neotypified by a water-colour kept in the Botanical Garden of Naples (Italy). The Dehnhardt’s name resulted to be a heterotypic synonym of E. americana. The nomenclatural types of the names and their synonyms are discussed, and the names E. enneandra DC. and E. fulgens Loisel. are lectotypified by two p...

Abstract Cyperus polystachyos is a hygrophilous, thermophilous and heliophilous plant with a punctiform distribution in southern Italy, where it is almost exclusively found on Ischia, an island in the Bay of Naples characterized by widespread volcanic hydrothermal activity. This species is a native of tropical and subtropical areas and there is evi...

Questo lavoro di tesi ha lo scopo di sperimentare, nell’ambito della Botanica etnologica, il nuovo approccio diffuso in tutto il globo delle tecnologie informatiche applicate alle Scienze della Natura. L’inerzia della civiltà odierna nell’utilizzare nuove tecnologie informatiche a rapido input è il mezzo sia per aggiornare la didattica delle Scienz...

The diverse epidendroid orchid tribe Neottieae is characterized by multiple transitions between autotrophy and mycoheterotrophy, allogamous and autogamous mating systems, pollen released as tetrads or monads, and pollen exine tectate or semitectate. We use transmission and scanning electron microscopy on pollen of ten species of Neottieae to invest...

In this paper, we studied the relationships of the only surviving Italian population of Ipomoea imperati (Convolvulaceae), a pantropical sandy coastal species, in Sicily and other populations in the Mediterranean region. Herbarium samples which are representative of extinct populations growing in Campania (Italy) were also investigated together wit...

Our investigation aims to understand the genetic structure and evolutionary history of Petagnaea gussonei, an ancient and endangered species belonging to the Saniculoideae subfamily (Apiaceae). It is paleoendemic to Sicily, with a small number of populations in the Nebrodi Mountains. A total of seven chloroplast microsatellite repeat loci and 12 AF...

Sansevieria Thunb. (1794) and Sanseverinia Petagna (1787) are generally regarded as separate generic names, and the former has been conserved over the latter (see App. III of the Vienna Code). However, it is determined that the two are not separate generic names but that Thunberg's Sansevieria is a misspelling of Petagna's Sanseverinia. Nonetheless...

Despite highly specialized pollination strategies, hybridization is a common phenomenon among Mediterranean deceptive orchids. Food-deceptive species sire a progeny of F1 unfertile plants, which work as a late post-zygotic barrier. Conversely, when pre-zygotic barriers of sexually deceptive (Ophrys) species are absent, the hybrids are fertile and a...

Riassunto. Nel corso di un'indagine etnobotanica condotta nel Molise nord-occidentale sono state raccolte informazioni sugli usi locali delle piante attraverso interviste condotte presso le comunità locali. L'indagine ha consentito di censire 80 specie di interesse etnobotanico in rappresentanza di 37 famiglie. 61 specie hanno uso medicinale, 23 us...

Garlic has been used worldwide as a folk medicine to cure a wide range of diseases. AlthoughAllium sativum is the species commonly used, several otherAllium species have been used as a substitute for common garlic, especially in the past. This work compares the extracts from bulbs of common garlic with those of otherAllium species. TLC analysis was...

A polymorphic non-coding region of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from herbarium specimens of Pinus brutia and P. halepensis. The samples belong to the historical collection of Michele Tenore. Several discordances and inconsistencies in taxonomic attribution are present for historical specimens of P. br...

The genetic diversity in Centaurea tenorei Guss. ex Lacaita, an endemic species of the “Penisola Sorrentina” (Campania region, Italy), was assessed by comparing the allozymic polymorphisms of its populations, hitherto considered as different formae of this taxon. These forms are discontinuously distributed along the coasts (C. tenorei fo. maritima)...

Isatis tinctoria L. (Brassicaceae), commonly known as woad, is a biennial species with erect stem, hastate leaves, and yellow flowers clustered in racemes. Fruits are pendulous siliques. This species, probably indigenous of southeastern Asia, was used for the extraction of a dyeing agent called 'indigo' Woad was introduced in ancient times in Italy...

A small population (16 individuals) of Orchis colemanii Cortesi, a natural hybrid between O. mascula (L.) L. and O. pauciflora Ten. was sampled from a locality near Sassano (National Park of Cilento, province of Salerno, Southern Italy) in order to assess its genetic structure. Filter hybridizations of O. colemanii, O. mascula and O. pauciflora DNA...

A specimen of Orchis x dietrichiana, a natural hybrid between O. tridentata and O. ustulata (Orchidaceae) was collected at flowering time on the mountains E of Vallo di Diano (Salerno province, Italy) and characterised by using morphology and molecular characters. Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphis...

Gli autori hanno condotto un'indagine floristica sulle orchidee presenti nella zona occidentale del Vallo di Diano.Le entità raccolte od osservate nel corso del presente studio ammontano a 49; tra queste Ophrys oxyrrhynchos Tod. subsp. oxyrrhynchos viene segnalata per la prima volta per la penisola, essendo finora nota solo per la Sicilia.L'alto nu...

Authors reported on the morphology and the alkaloid content of a poppy cultivar attributable to Papaver somniferum L., collected in a private garden close to Caserta.