Paolo De Luca

• University of Naples - L'Orientale

The coral trees (genus Erythrina) have been fostering great interest among the botanists and gardeners of Naples, since their arrival in Europe in the second half of the 18th century. Numerous species were present in the royal and private botanical gardens of the region, but their number has decreased today. The purpose of this work was to verify w...

The genus Dioon occupies an important phylogenetic position as sister to the other Zamiaceae. However, its epidermal morphology is still poorly known. We employed scanning and transmission electron microscopy, confocal microscopy and light microscopy to examine the epidermal and cuticular morphology of 12 of the 14 currently recognized species of D...

Cyperus esculentus is widespread in tropical and temperate zones and is also present in cooler regions. It is used as a crop plant, but it also occurs in the wild and as a weed. As a consequence of its ecological plasticity, C. esculentus has remarkable variability, with several morphotypes. Four wild-type varieties are presently recognized, in add...

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...

The authors cultivated in vitro pollen grains of Ceratozamia mexicana and Cycas revoluta. In Ceratozamia the microgametophytes developed up to complete spermatogenesis, and tissue proliferation of the parenchyma type was observed on a medium modified with 2.4-D. In Cycas microgametophytes developed only up to the immature sperm mother cell stage.

The authors have cultivated in vitro microsporangia of Encephalartos altensteinii Lehm, observing the microgametophytes up to spermatogenesis.

Background and AimsRecent research on the history of Platanus reveals that hybridization phenomena occurred in the central American species. This study has two goals: to help resolve the evolutive puzzle of central American Platanus, and to test the potential of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detecting ancient hybridization.Methods S...

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...

Ketogenic enteral nutrition (KEN) is a modification of the protein sparing modified fast in which a protein solution is introduced with a continuous infusion through a nasogastric tube over 10-days cycles. The aim of the study was to perform a retrospective analysis of the safety, compliance, weight loss and body composition changes after 3 sequent...

Background Only protein diet has been used successfully to prevent loss of lean body mass first in post-surgical and then in obese patients. We studied overweight and obese patients receiving short treatments of an exclusively protein-based nutritional solution as 24-hour enteral infusion. Methods 19,036 patients (age 44.3 ± 13, M:F = 2:5) with an...

Apical regions of developing aerial shoots of Psilotum nudum (L.) Beauv. were studied using both scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and light microscopy (LM) with the aim of improving our understanding of early stages in stomatal and epidermal ontogenesis. SEM samples were fixed in gluteraldehyde, critical point dried, and coated with an Au-Pd allo...

The phylogenetics and biogeography of Pancratium (Amaryllidaceae) were investigated, with a focus on the Mediterranean and adjacent areas, with the aim of contributing new information towards a better understanding of the evolutionary history of the genus and the taxonomic placement of P. linosae and P. hirtum. To address these questions, we sequen...

A scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study of Cycas cuticle characteristics was undertaken in order to expand our knowledge of microscopic characters not observable under light microscopy and to clarify unresolved affinitites among some species within the genus. Whole leaf and isolated cuticle specimens from the middle region of leaflets of greenho...

Problems are discussed concerning drafting and publication of the Flora Napolitana (1811-1838), a monumental opus comprising 5 volumes in folio and 250 colour plates published by Michele Tenore. This is a fundamental work in the history of botanical exploration in southern Italy and is an indispensable reference for botanists studying the flora of...

In Southern Italy, an endemic monotypic genus belonging to family Apiaceae occurs: Petagnaea (P. gussonei), relict of Tertiary flora, belonging to subfamily Saniculoideae. At present, P. gussonei is an endangered species and is included in various lists of species deserving special protection. The genus belongs to scapose hemicryptophytes and share...

Occurrence and genomic organization of dispersed elements containing ZpS1 satellite repeats have been investigated in a wide representation of species of the old plant genus Zamia (Zamiaceae, Cycadales). In Z. paucijuga, the ZpS1 repeat is organized as long satellite DNA arrays and as short arrays inserted into AT-rich dispersed elements. A compara...

The expression of type 1 ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) in Phytolacca dioica L. leaves was investigated. Fully expanded leaves of young P. dioica plants (up to 3 years old) expressed two novel RIPs, dioicin 1 and dioicin 2. The former was also found in developing leaves from adult P. dioica within about two and a half weeks after leaf develo...

BACKGROUND: Alpha‐lipoic acid (ALA), is a potent antioxidant mitochondrial coenzyme, the trometamol salt of thioctic acid that has been shown in clinical studies to be neuroprotective. This study examined the effect of ALA on the symptomatology of Burning mouth syndrome (BMS). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Forty‐two patients with BMS and no clinical or lab...

Petagnaea gussonei is a rhizomatous, perennial scapose hemicryptophyte species belonging to a monospecific genus of Apiaceae. It lives only along woodland rivulets and is a Tertiary relic localized in the restricted area of the Nebrodi Mountains (NE Sicily, Italy). Ecological indicators have been employed to understand the status of eight localitie...

The genus Ceratozamia has a distribution from Mexico to Central America. Molecular relationships were explored among Mexican Ceratozamia species using variable molecular markers, namely Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLP). Three AFLP primer-combinations generated 77 loci for a total of 1,684 fragments. Molecular variation was 75.72% amon...

The behaviour of three different laccase-based graphite biosensors was studied in view of their use in agricultural or industrial waters polluted by phenolic compounds. Catechol was used as a substrate model. Laccase from Trametes versicolor was immobilized on one biosensor (type A electrode) by adsorption while, on the other two biosensor types, l...

A study of the influence of electromagnetic fields (EMF) of various frequencies, from 50 up to 400 Hz, on the catalytic activity of soluble and insoluble horseradish peroxidase (POD) was carried out. To simulate the conditions in which the enzyme operates in vivo, the POD was immobilized by entrapment on a gelatin membrane or by covalent attachment...

By using soluble and insoluble glucose oxidase, the changes in intrinsic emission fluorescence in the visible spectral region were studied as a function of glucose concentration. Insoluble glucose oxidase (GOD) was obtained by entrapment in a gelatine membrane or by covalent attachment on an agarose membrane grafted with hexamethylendiamine. The in...

Laccase from Rhus vernicifera was immobilised on a nylon membrane chemically grafted with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA). Hexamethylenediamine (HMDA) and glutaraldehyde (GLU) were used as spacer and bifunctional coupling agent, respectively. Quinol was used as substrate.To know how the immobilisation procedures affected the enzyme reaction rate the ca...

The influence of an extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic field (50 Hz and 1 mT, EMF) on the activity of a soluble and insoluble horseradish peroxidase (E.C. 1.11.17) has been studied as a function of time. Insoluble derivatives were obtained by enzyme entrapment into two different gelatin membranes or by covalent attachment of the enzyme on two n...

We have cloned and characterised a highly repetitive DNA family that represents about 5% of the nuclear genome of Zamia paucijuga, a member of Cycadales, an ancient and rare group of seed plants. The unit repeat, cloned from EcoRV digested genomic DNA, has a length of about 323 bp, an high GC content (65-70%) and a subtelomeric localisation. The DN...

β-Galactosidase has been immobilised through spacers of different length on nylon membranes grafted with glycidyl methacrylate. Hexamethylendiamine, ethylendiamine or hydrazine have been separately used as spacers.The behaviour of the catalytic membranes has been studied in a bioreactor operating under non-isothermal conditions as a function of the...

A new hydrophobic and catalytic membrane was prepared by immobilizing Penicillin G acylase (PGA, EC.3.5.1.11) from E. coli on a nylon membrane, chemically grafted with butylmethacrylate (BMA). Hexamethylenediamine (HMDA) and glutaraldehyde (Glu) were used as a spacer and coupling agent, respectively. PGA was used for the enzymatic synthesis of ceph...

The mode of inheritance of chloroplast DNA has been determined in Encephalartos by employing a restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of chloroplast DNA. Artificial F1 hybrids were produced between a female specimen of E. natalensis and a male specimen of E. woodii. The hybridization patterns of all hybrids correspond, in all cases, with...

The poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-like thermozyme purified from Sulfolobus solfataricus was characterised with respect to some physico-chemical properties. The archaeal protein exhibited a scarce electrophoretic mobility at both pH 2.9 and pH 7.5. Determination of the isoelectric point (pI=7.0-7.2) allowed us to understand the reason for the limited...

Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA), is a potent antioxidant mitochondrial coenzyme, the trometamol salt of thioctic acid that has been shown in clinical studies to be neuroprotective. This study examined the effect of ALA on the symptomatology of Burning mouth syndrome (BMS). Forty-two patients with BMS and no clinical or laboratory evidence of organic oral d...

The plastid trnC‐trnL(UAA)‐ilvH region from Galdieria sulphuraria was cloned and sequenced with the aim of verifying the absence of the trnL intron. The sequence alignment shows both the absence of a trnL intron and the colinearity of the whole region of the plastidial DNA of G. sulphuraria with that of the other thermoacidophilic red algae.

Erythema multiforme (EM) is an acute inflammatory disease with an autoimmune pathogenesis clinically expressing in a wide variety of mucocutaneous illnesses. It is usually described in a minor form (Von Hebra) characterized by classical cutaneous lesions, and in major form (Stevens-Johnson), involving mucosal damage, while a clinical type restricte...

Erythema multiforme (EM) is an acute inflammatory disease with an autoimmune pathogenesis clinically expressing in a wide variety of mucocutaneous illnesses. It is usually described in a minor form (Von Hebra) characterized by classical cutaneous lesions, and in major form (Stevens-Johnson), involving mucosal damage, while a clinical type restricte...

Oral Lichen Planus is a chronic inflammatory pathology with not well defined etiology, characterized by an immunoreactivity directed against the keratinocytes of basal layer and mediated by a cellular infiltrate of T-lymphocytes. This immunoreactivity is caused by a modification of basal keratinocytes surface antigens, with activation of antigen-pr...

Four type-1 (single-chain) ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs), with isoelectric points between 9.5 and 9.7, were isolated from leaves of Phytolacca dioica L. The purification procedure furnished the four proteins with an overall yield of about 16% and separated them from a protein of 29,407 +/- 2 Da, as determined by electrospray mass spectromet...

Ribosomal DNA sequences were employed to infer relationships among EuropeanPottiaceae. Intragenic spacer I was sequenced for sixTrichostomoideae (Eucladium verticillatum, Pleurochaete squarrosa, Tortella flavovirens, T. nitida, T. tortuosa, Trichostomum brachydontium) and seven taxa from the other European subfamilies included inPottiaceae (Bryoery...

Light and scanning electron microscopy were utilised to study stoma and cuticle morphology whereas transmission electron microscopy was used to observe plastid ultrastructure in Ceratozamia kuesteriana Regel (Zamiaceae). Results show that in G kuesteriana a diperigenous‐type stoma (or a derivation of a diperigenous type) occurs and that protein cry...

Genista tyrrhena is a species endemic to the Aeolian and Pontine Islands and belonging to a group of species with a peritirrenic distribution. A molecular investigation has been undertaken in order to verify whether dispersion occurred between the disjunct populations of this taxon. Results obtained by comparing the plastid sequences of the trnL(UA...

Morphometric characters on 118 herbarium specimens ofLomelosia crenata subsp.crenata (regarded as including subsp.pseudisetensis) were statistically evaluated to detect discontinuities in the variation pattern. Three morphotypes were detected: specimens with short stems and long calyx bristles, specimens with short stems and short bristles, and spe...

Three ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) similar to those already known (Stirpe et al. (1992) Bio/Technology 10, 405-412) were purified from the seeds of Phytolacca dioica. These proteins, called Phytolacca dioica RIPs (PD-S1, PD-S2 and PD-S3 RIPs), are glycoproteins, with M(r) approx. 30,000, inhibit protein synthesis by a rabbit reticulocyte l...

A phylogenetic analysis of all the intrageneric taxa of the genus Dioon Lindley (Zamiaceae) was undertaken by using chloroplast DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Wagner parsimony analysis on a 187 character matrix yielded two equally parsimonious trees, differing only for the position of D. caputoi. The consensus tree has two w...

A series of 40 lesions of various kinds as lichen planus are examined using samples stained with trichromic test. HLA-DR expression with immunoperoxidase technique and direct immunofluorescence using the standard techniques. The aim of the study was to discover the usefulness for diagnosis of direct immunofluorescence, above all in histologically u...

The authors describe experience during 2 cycles of examinations of HIV+ patients in an outpatient department devoted to seropositive screening. The results were statistically evaluated in order to seem up the typical characteristics of oral health in this population.

Distribution, ecology, and morphology of the species of Dion are presented. The genus Dion is distributed in Mexico and in Honduras, where it is generally scattered and restricted to rocky, steep habitats. On the basis mainly of the morphology of the seeds, of the seedlings, and of the female cones, three natural groups were recognized. The first g...

Dion tomasellii sp. nov. occurs with an interrupted distribution from Guerrero to central Sonora. It is characterized by falcate to subfalcate leaflets. The populations from Sonora and northern Sinaloa are segregated asD. tomasellii var.sonorense on the basis of their narrower and glaucous leaflets.

Seventeen strains comprising six species of Azolla were studied. A. filiculoides was the most suitable for green manure in temperate climates. The endophytes of all species appeared to be identical in morphology although heterocyst frequency varied.

Cyanidium caldarium Geitler, Cyanidioschyzon merolae De Luca, Taddei & Varano and Galdieria sulphuraria (Galdieri) Merola are the three thermoacidophilic algae characterized by a chloroplast which is bounded by a single membrane. The presence of this atypical chloroplast made the inclusion of these algae in the Rhodophyta difficult. The discovery i...

The patterns of monosaccharide distribution of the mucilages of Cycadales are characteristic at the generic level. Arabinose, fucose, galactose, mannose, rhamnose and methylrhamnose were identified in the hydrolysed mucilage of Bowenia, Ceratozamia, Cycas, Dioon, Encephalartos, Lepidozamia, Macrozamia, Microcycas and Zamia. Stangeria contains no rh...

Dion edule is distributed through the Sierra Madre Oriental from Veracruz to Nuevo León and in dijunct stations in Tamaulipas. The most significant variation consists in the reduction of leaflet width from the south northwards. On this basis, two varieties are recognized:D. edule var.edule, characterized by wide leaflets and a distribution in Verac...

A new species ofDioon (Dioon holmgrenii), found on the Pacific slope of southern Oa xaca, is characterized by leaflets which are spinulose especially on the upper margin, elongate and narrow. Distribution and ecology of OaxacanDioon species are reported.

The authors carry out a systematic revision of three unicellular eucaryotic algae, often living in mixed population in thermal acidic environment. Such algae were often confused under the binomium Cyanidium caldarium.The authors state that the following specific binomia are to be attributed to the three algae: Galdieria sulphuraria (Galdieri) Merol...

A new species ofDioon found in northwestern Chiapas is characterized by linear-lanceolate leaflets arising at an acute angle from the rachis, obliquely inserted on it and imbricate.

The authors have studied acidophilic algae from the fumaroles of crater Tjitrodromoko (Mount Lawu, Java) which is the locus classicus of Cyanidium caldarium Geitler.This alga has actually been found there and it is undoubtedly the same which was described by Geitler; together with it Pleurococcus sulphurarius Galdieri was found, an alga which had n...

Megagametophytes of Macrozamia communis were incubated in White's Basal Medium and in White's Basal Medium modified with 2,4-D and kinetin. On the medium enriched with growth substances, regeneration of coralloid roots was induced. These are morphologically identical to sporophytic coralloid roots, without any endosymbiont and displaying negative g...

A new species ofDioon has been found in Oaxaca. It is characterized by leaflets which are entire, lanceolate but unequally tapering toward the apex and over 10 mm wide at the middle portion of the frond.

A new species ofDioon (D. caputoi), found in Puebla, Mexico, is characterized by narrow leaflets, arising at an acute angle from the rachis and regularly and widely spaced along it. This species has hitherto been confused withD. purpusii.

Two species of unicellular, eukaryotic, thermoacidophilic algae were found near the acid hot springs of North and Central America. One species has a cell diameter that ranges from 1.5 to 5 μm, contains one mitochondrion and one cup-shaped chloroplast bounded by a single membrane, lacks vacuoles, and multiplies by always forming four autospores. The...

Tillandsia tomasellii from Río Hondo, Oaxaca, Mexico, is described and compared to related speciesT. xerographica andT. fasciculata.

Megagametophytes of Ceratozamia mexicana, Cycas revoluta and Encephalartos umbeluziensis were induced to proliferate in vitro.Callusing was observed in the three species; regeneration occurred only in Ceratozamia mexicana and Cycas revoluta.Megagametophytes of Ceratozamia mexicana produced adventive embryos on White's basal medium. They became mono...

A new Mexican species ofDioon has been found in Oaxaca,Dioon califanoi, characterized by keeled fronds and leaflets inserted obliquely above the rachis. A key to the known species ofDioon is given.

Physiological adaptations to « aerial » life in the genus Tillandsia.—Ten « atmospheric » Tillandsia species, with different degree of adaptation to drought, were investigated to verify the occurrence of CAM and to determine their daily transpiration pattern.Most of the species were collected during the Botanical Expeditions of the Accademia dei Li...

The authors have studied the fatty acid composition of the two acidophilic and thermophilic algae isolated at Campi Flegrei (Naples, Italy), provisionally called Cyanidium caldarium forma A and C. caldarium forma B, but belonging to different taxa above the rank of species.The two algae, at the same growing conditions, had a fatty acid composition...