Sergio Mapelli

Italian National Research Council | CNR · Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology IBBA

A biocultural diversity approach integrates plant biology and germplasm dispersal processes with human cultural diversity. An increasing number of studies have identified cultural factors and ethnolinguistic barriers as the main drivers of the genetic diversity in crop plants. Little is known about how anthropogenic processes have affected the evol...

Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz (family Brassicaceae) or false flax, a new oilseed plant for biodiesel and jet fuel production, has been cultivated for centuries in the temperate climate belt of Europe, as an annual summer or winter crop. Camelina is gaining popularity because of its low input requirements and its possibility of being used as a low gre...

Italy ranks second in Europe as for production and export of olive oil. Oil production means proportional volumes of organic waste that need to be disposed of. Assuming that to be sustainable in the long term a production process must have a circular flow of energy and raw material, a system has been studied for oil waste valorization so to create...

Success of improvement of Jatropha curcas depends on wide germplasm from different agro-ecological regions showing specific and attractive traits. The present study aimed to compare characteristics of 28 jatropha accessions in the light of enhancing the viability of the oil-based biodiesel chain. The tested jatropha accessions showed a wide range o...

The effects of UV-B irradiation and Biomin (a natural substance extracted from coal with active ingredients of humic acids) on the content of endogenous polyamines spermine, spermidine and putrescine, and free amino acids in shoots and roots of young triticale seedlings were investigated. Biomin was added to the nutrient medium 3 days prior to UV-B...

The effects of copper and zinc salts on transgenic canola plants expressing rice transcription factor (TF) OsMYB4 were investigated. Transgenic plants (TPs), which showed high OsMyb4 expression in response to either Cu or to Zn excess, were used for the current study. In leaves of TPs, the content of Cu was equal and the content of Zn was significa...

Juglans regia L., Persian or English walnut, is an economically fruit crop species of edible kernels and widely planted in the temperate zones. Moldova has ancient walnut culture tradition. In the centuries outspreaded by seed occurred. Orchards with Moldovan registered or foreign varieties are established. Searching and selection of walnut biotype...

The work continues serial studies on short-term effects of medium-wave ultraviolet radiation (UV-B) at 12.5 kJ/m² on plants. Special attention is paid to the rapid response of the antioxidant system. Free and conjugated forms of putrescine polyamines (putrescine, spermine, and spermidine), as well as those of cadaverine, are recognized to be consti...

Common walnut (Juglans regia L) is an economically important species cultivated worldwide for its high-quality wood and nuts. It is generally accepted that after the last glaciation J. regia survived and grew in almost completely isolated stands in Asia, and that ancient humans dispersed walnuts across Asia and into new habitats via trade and cultu...

List of 450 fossil pollen sites from Eurasia considered in this study. The geographic coordinates in decimal degrees (Latitude, Longitude), early presence (1700–11.923 Ka BP), first detection of discontinuous and continuous occurrence of Juglans-type fossil pollen (radiocarbon-dating) during the Holocene and the related citation (a) and the presenc...

All scenarios tested in stages 1–2 of DIYABC analysis. All scenarios tested in stage 1 (a) and stage 2 (b) of DIYABC analysis. In these scenarios, N# refers to effective population size of each corresponding gene pool, and t# refers to time-scale in terms of the number of generations (more details for population parameters and models in S3 and S4 T...

Description of 91 common walnut populations sampled in Eurasia. Number of samples (N), geographic coordinates (Lat, Long) and elevation above sea level (Elev) for 91 common walnut populations collected in Eurasia. (DOCX)

Parameters used for DIYABC analysis. Population pools and the prior distributions of the parameters used for the two stages of DIYABC analysis. (DOCX)

Bottleneck analysis of 91 common walnut populations sampled across Eurasia using 14 SSR markers. Wilcoxon’s signed-rank’ test [35], shifted allele distribution analysis [37] and the M-ratio test [38] for each walnut population are reported. (DOCX)

Geographic location of 91 common walnut populations collected across Eurasia. Kyrgyzstan (1–9), Uzbekistan (10–26), China (27–32), Pakistan (33–34), Tajikistan (35), Iran (36), Georgia (37–38), Turkey (39–40), Greece (41–44), Romania (45), Moldova (46), Hungary (47–56), Slovakia (57),France (58–61), Spain (62) and Italy (63–91). (TIF)

Bayesian inference of the most probable number of clusters and sub-clusters for 91 walnut populations. Bayesian Inference of (a) K, the most probable number of clusters, based on microsatellite analysis of all 2,008 common walnut samples, (b) K’, the most probable number of sub-clusters, based on microsatellite analysis of 217 common walnut samples...

Scenarios considered in the two stages of DIYABC analysis. Description of the scenarios of common walnut expansion across Europe considered in the two stages of DIYABC analysis. (DOCX)

Genetic characterization of 14 microsatellite loci for 91 common walnut populations. Total number of alleles (A), the effective number of alleles (Ae), observed (Ho) and expected heterozygosity (HE), polymorphic information content (PIC), and the unbiased estimate of Wright’s fixation indices, within-population inbreeding coefficient f (FIS), total...

Genetic diversity of 91 common walnut populations. Mean number of alleles per locus (A), effective number of alleles (Ne), allelic richness (Rs) and private allelic richness (PAR) standardized to eight individuals from the original number of trees per population, observed (HO), expected (HE), and unbiased expected heterozygosity (UHE) and inbreedin...

Mean percentage of membership (Qi) of each common walnut population inferred by STRUCTURE. Percentage of membership (admixture proportion-Q) of each predefined common walnut population in each of the four (K = 4) clusters, two (K’ = 4) sub-clusters for cluster 1, two (K” = 2) sub-clusters for cluster 2 and two (K”‘ = 2) sub-clusters for cluster 4 i...

Model checking of the most likely scenario inferred in the first and second stage. Model checking of the most likely scenario inferred in the first stage (scenario 5a) and in the second stage (scenario 6b) of DIYABC analysis. Deviation of summary statistics computed for the observed dataset from the posterior predictive distribution of the most lik...

Distribution of Juglans-types fossil pollen in Europe before the LGM and during the Holocene. Distribution of the radio-carbon dated Juglans-types fossil pollen in Europe and western Asia before the LGM and during the Holocene. (MOV)

The work continues serial studies on short-term effects of medium-wave ultraviolet radiation (UV-B) at 12.5 kJ/m 2 on plants. Special attention is paid to the rapid response of the antioxidant system. Free and conjugated forms of putrescine polyamines (putrescine, spermine, and spermidine), as well as those of cadav-erine, are recognized to be cons...

The seed of Cannabis sativa L. is an expanding source of proteins and oil for both humans and animals. In this study, the proximate composition of a collection of hemp cultivars and accessions of different geographical origins grown under the same conditions for 1 year was analyzed in order to identify potential accessions to improve hemp cultivars...

The seed of Cannabis sativa L. is an expanding source of proteins and oil for both humans and animals. In this study, the proximate composition of a collection of hemp cultivars and accessions of different geographical origins grown under the same conditions for 1 year was analyzed in order to identify potential accessions to improve hemp cultivars...

Common walnut (Juglans regia L) is an economically important species cultivated worldwide for its wood and nuts. It is generally accepted that J. regia survived and grew spontaneously in almost completely isolated stands in its Asian native range after the Last Glacial Maximum. Despite its natural geographic isolation, J. regia evolved over many ce...

Jatropha curcas L., a multipurpose shrub, originated in Central America, is present worldwide throughout tropical and subtropical regions. In India, J. curcas had recently been promoted as a potential source to reduce dependence on crude oil. However, our knowledge concerning genotype, phenotype and environmental interaction is limited. In the pres...

ID 310074 Аннотация Walnut trees have been shown to be very sensitive to abiotic stresses, especially to soil hypoxia consequence of soil flooding or waterlogging. The aim of study was to search for correlation between polyphenols and tolerance to flooding stress. Two-three years old walnut trees, Juglans regia, J. nigra and interspecific hybrids,...

Camelina (Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz) is an attractive alternative and sustainable oilseed crop for multipurpose uses, including as a biofuel feedstock. To evaluate the value of C. sativa in Lombardia (north Italy), seven genotypes were cultivated under different climates of two consecutive years and growing seasons; quality and quantity of seed,...

A natural substance extracted from coal with humic acids as its active ingredients, namely Biomin, was added to nutrient medium and applied to triticale roots 3 days prior to UV-B irradiation treatment. UV-B treatment increased malondialdehyde and anthocyanin contents and the activities of peroxidase and superoxide dismutase, while it decreased c...

Persian walnut (Juglans regia L) is an economically important species cultivated worldwide for its wood and nuts. Despite an increasing interest in the development of conservation strategies for walnut germplasm, an accurate and full-scale overview of wild genetic resources of J. regia has not been carried out because natural populations are locate...

Central Asia where walnut was grown since Oligocene was recognized as a center of its origin and distribution. Now in Uzbekistan, J. regia stands occupy three areas geographically isolated from each other by more than 250 km: Western Tien- Shan, Nurata and Hissar. Survey expeditions were performed mainly in natural thickets, half-wild plantations a...

The specific features of the Jatropha curcas plant such as prominent source for the biofuel production, protein concentrates as livestock feed and value-added products that could enhance the economic viability of Jatropha seed oil-based biodiesel production made it a multipurpose plant. The genus Jatropha is distributed throughout the tropics and s...

The effect of spermine (Spm) treatment on the content of polyamines (PAs) and activities of antioxidant enzymes in the roots and leaves of Thellungiella salsuginea (Pall.) O.E. Schulz plants grown under optimal conditions were studied. The genes encoding three forms of ascorbate peroxidase (APX; APX1, APX2, and APX4) and genes of key enzymes of pro...

Nella presentazione sono analizzate, da un punto di vista tecnico economico, alcune realtà comunali dove mediante l’inserimento di impianti di digestione anaerobica la Frazione Organica del Rifiuto Urbano (Forsu) è stata trasformata da rifiuto a risorsa energetica.

The effects of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) irradiation and polyamine spermine on the content of some stress marker and non-enzymatic antioxidants in leaves of young pea plants were investigated. UV-C irradiation led to a decrease in pea fresh weight, the content of leaf pigments and free proline, accompanied with an increase in malondialdehyde. The initia...

A genomic DNA library enriched with GA/TC repeats from Camelina sativa variety Calena has been analysed. After sequencing of about 200 randomly selected clones, approximately 60 % of them showed to contain simple or compound micro-satellites with a high number of repeats. Among all microsatellite markers analysed 15 primer pairs amplified polymorph...

Agronomic and environmental performances of Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz were investigated in Italian Lombardy region. Camelina showed promising field performances, with an overall mean grain yield of about 1.5 t ha -1 . Sowing time significantly affect the grain yield, with better performances during the autumn plantation. No significant difference...

La buona resa in granella e il contenuto in olio, ottenuti in condizioni di basso input colturale, rendono questa oleaginosa molto interessante per la produzione di energia rinnovabile

Common sage (Salvia officinalis L.) plants grown in water culture to the stage of 4–5 true leaves were treated with paraquat (PQ) ( 1 ml of the solution containing 0.1 μM PQ in 0.05% Tween 80), putrescine (Put), spermidine (Spd), or Spermine (Spm) (all polyamines (PA) at the concentration of 0.5 mM in 0.05% Tween 80) or PA plus PQ for 6, 12, 24, 36...

Young tomato plants were grown in 10 or 25% polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000 solutions to impose water stress. Plant organs were analyzed to ascertain whether the various plant parts accumulated PEG and to determine the physiological effects. PEG 6000 was taken up by tomato roots and translocated to the shoots. PEG accumulation was greater in roots a...

Common sage (Salvia officinalis L.) plants grown in water culture to the stage of 4–5 true leaves were treated for 12, 24, 36, or 48 h with proline added to nutrient medium to a final concentration of 5 mM, or irradiated with UV-B light (12.3 kJ/m2 for 10 min), or subjected to combined action of these factors. In these plants, activity of proline d...

Pea (Pisum sativum L.) seedlings were exposed to low, moderate, and high regimes of ultraviolet-B (UV-B) (ld-B 4.4, md-B 13.3, and hd-B 26.5kJm−2day−1), or ultraviolet-C (UV-C) (ld-C 0.1, md-C 0.3, and hd-C 0.6kJm−2day−1) radiations. Concentrations of total phenols, free proline, and low-molecular thiol groups were determined in the last formed (yo...

Functioning of the antioxidant system in roots and leaves of Plantago major L. in water culture at the stage of 5–6 genuine leaves of the plants subjected to NaCl (100 mM) action for 96 h was investigated. This plant exhibited a pronounced organ specificity of antioxidant defense system functioning. The roots were characterized by high constitutive...

All abiotic and biotic stresses induce or involve oxidative stress to some degree, and the plant ability to control oxidant levels is highly correlated with stress tolerance. Polyamines (PAs) have antioxidant properties and their induction in response to stress is well known. Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L., Thellungiella halophila Mey., Plantago...

The behaviour of the antioxidant defence system was studied in pea (Pisum sativum L., cv. Scinado) leaves after exposure of intact plants to short pulses of ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation. Low and moderate regimes were used, B1 (4.4 kJ m-2 d-1) and B2 (13.3 kJ m-2 d-1), for two weeks. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) levels increased moderately after 7 and...

Grey mould post-harvest infection caused by Botrytis cinerea, one of the main causes of decay in harvested tomato, was controlled by inducing resistance with the plant activator benzothiadiazole (BTH, Bion™). Ripened red tomatoes (cv. Ciliegino), of uniform size and colour, were sprayed every other day with 0.3 mM BTH, three times, then inoculated...

Juglans regia L. is a multipurpose species important for quality wood and fruit production. In order to contrast the erosion and to properly conserve, manage and revaluate the genetic resources of Italian walnut, possible ecotypes, naturally adapted and still present in Italy have been researched. Leaves and fruits have been sampled in Campania reg...

In the seed, arginine, glutamate and alanine dominated cotyledonary free amino acid pool, whereas alanine was the main component of the embryo free amino acid pool. Seed germination resulted in marked changes in the metabolism of free amino acids present in cotyledons. In one month of seedlings subjected to nitrogen autotrophic growth, cotyledons w...

The transgenic poplar (Populus tremula L.) was obtained by transfer of the ugt and acb genes via triparental mating, which was employed to deliver large fragments of TDNA as a cluster. Freshly harvested seeds of local poplar were placed on MS agar medium and plantlets were obtained. After 1year of subcultivation, plantlets were infected with a tran...

The common ice plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.) attained significance as a model organism for plant molecular biology studies on biochemical and physiological adaptation mechanisms, due to its extreme stress tolerance, drought and high salinity resistance, and its ability to shift from C3 photosynthesis to CAM in response to environmental s...

Indole-3-acetic acid is the principal phytohormone affecting and regulating growth and developmental events and productivity of plants. However, the exogenous application of IAA does not result in desired changes in the real level and distribution of endogenous auxin between compartments within the cell. The optimization of IAA level for growth sti...

D-Tryptophan (DTry) accumulating in wilted plant tissues and seeds may be used simultaneously in IAA biosynthesis and in the formation of N-malonyl-D-tryptophan (MDTry). MDTry synthesis may be considered as a drought inducible step in the regulation of IAA biosynthesis; MDTry synthesis results in a temporary reserve for the inactivated precursor wh...

We investigated the composition of free amino acids in walnut (Juglans regia L.) seeds (embryo and cotyledons). We also examined xylem transport of free amino acids in young seedlings grown in the absence of external nutrients. A relatively high concentration of free alanine was found in seed tissue, whereas a relatively high concentration of citru...

It emerged recently that there is an inter-relationship between drought and ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation in plant responses, in that both stresses provoke an oxidative burst. The purpose of this investigation was to compare the effects and interaction of drought and UV-B in wheat and pea. The absence of changes in relative leaf water content (RWC...

Few data on amino acid presence and composition in xylem sap of trees have been reported; the studies were mainly focused on the seasonal variation and the phenological stages of the trees. The aim of the present work has been to study the influence of water stresses, either drought and flooding, during the vegetative stage of walnut tree on the co...

Walnut tree (Juglans regia) is highly sensitive to environmental stresses. Changes in water regime, either abundance and shortage, affect the physiological parameters of the growth. From visible morphological point of view the two stresses seem to have the same answers: wilting and epinastic leaves appear in trees subjected to both stresses. This i...

The gene ugt, coding for maize UDPG-transferase, was introduced into the plants of four cultivars of Solanum tuberosum L. and S. demissum L. using a transconjugate of a triparental cross between Agrobacterium tumefaciens A699 (gus-int, 35S), Escherichia coli XL1-Blue with a pBluescript (ugt), and E. coli K802 with pRT104 (gus, 35S, ugt). IAA biosyn...

Rice, one of the few plant species adapted to growth in wetland conditions, is able to germinate in waterlogged soils promoting only the growth of a white coleoptile in order to reach the surface of the water, contact the atmosphere, and transfer oxygen to the seed, allowing subsequent growth of the radicle and leaf. In the anoxic cells of rice col...

Woody species vary in their ability to tolerate flooding. In sensitive plants when soil is flooded, the reduction of root nutrient and water uptake, due to root mortality or hypoxic root metabolism, are clearly observable on the foliage. The flood tolerance in woody species has been correlated with the capacity of the plants to produce adventitious...

Rice, one of the few plant species adapted to growth in wetland conditions, is able to germinate in waterlogged soils promoting only the growth of a white coleoptile in order to reach the surface of the water,contact the atmosphere, and transfer oxygen to the seed, allowing subsequent growth of the radicle and leaf.

The coleoptiles of rice seedlings germinated under water bubbled with nitrogen (anaerobic conditions) and placed to grow in a horizontal position by turning the growth jar 90°, showed a fast gravitropic responsiveness. This process was inhibited by IAA at 0.1 mM. The decrease in the osmotic potential induced in rice coleoptiles by exogenous auxin a...

Indoleacetic acid and abscisic acid are present in cereal seeds. It is believed that they play roles in seed maturation and germination. Modi- fication of environmental conditions can inhibit or modify germination and seedling elongation. Our aim is to analyse the role played by IAA and ABA during the anoxia seedlings growth in lack of oxygen compa...