Valeria Negri

University of Perugia | UNIPG · Department of agriculture, food and environmental sciences

Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) are wild plants that are genetically related to cultivated crops. Conserving the genetic diversity of CWR is essential for maintaining the sustainability of agriculture and food production in the face of various anthropogenic and environmental pressures. In this study we aim to contribute to the conservation planning of CW...

Introduction Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) have great socioeconomic importance for humans harbouring a broad spectrum of diversity and being important elements of different habitats. Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima ((L.) Arcangeli), also known as sea beet, is an important CWR of cultivated beets (GP-1). The high adaptability of this taxon to different en...

This paper offers an insight on present status of on-farm conservation of landrace diversity in the European Union. The review initially examines the types of materials that are the object of on-farm conservation, assesses the current status of maintenance and reproduction within farms and gardens, explores the motivations that drive ongoing conser...

Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) are wild plant taxa genetically close to a crop. Being a precious source of genetic variability and of traits for crop improvement, CWR have a high socioeconomic value and are identified among the main plant genetic resources. Alarming enough, the inter-and intraspecific diversity, as well as their habitat diversity, is un...

Salinity poses a significant challenge to global crop productivity, affecting approximately 20% of cultivated and 33% of irrigated farmland, and this issue is on the rise. Negative impact of salinity on plant development and metabolism leads to physiological and morphological alterations mainly due to high ion concentration in tissues and the reduc...

Crop landraces are genetically variable populations of agricultural plant species that through natural evolution and farmers’ selection and continuous cultivation have been adapted to the environment of their origin or cultivation. To be used and officially traded, there are more lax or strict registration schemes throughout the world concerning th...

Lebanon is a part of the Fertile Crescent recognized for its agrobiodiversity wealth in terms of both cultivated plants and crop wild relatives (CWR) diversity. Within the context of climate change and its adverse effect on agrobiodiversity, conservation of CWRs in Lebanon is essential to prevent the loss of potentially useful genetic diversity and...

The Italian seed bank network (RIBES) aims to improve the quality and safety of the germplasm reserves of native plant species in Italy to ensure the long-term conservation of endangered and/or endemic flora. The strategy includes traditional methods to secure seed conservation. A comprehensive priority list for seed collection is being defined, it...

Aim of this work is to evaluate the in situ status of different crop wild relative species in Italy by analysing the geographic distribution of their populations and to suggests possible strategies to improve their future conservation. The work has been focused on different species of the Allium, Beta, Brassica, Secale and Triticum genera that are...

In this study we explored the effects of short-term evolution on a barley population selected through evolutionary breeding, which evolved under five environmental conditions for three years: three environments were favorable for growing barley while two were affected by either extreme cold and freeing periods or scarce precipitations. Molecular ch...

During the last century, the progressive substitution of landraces with modern, high yielding varieties, led to a dramatic reduction of in situ conserved crop diversity in Europe. Nowadays there is limited and scattered information on where landraces are cultivated. To fill this gap and lay the groundwork for a regional landrace in situ conservatio...

Wild harvested plants (WHP) and crop wild relatives (CWR), part of the segment of natural diversity that is collectively known as ‘Plant Genetic Resources’, have great socioeconomic importance for humans because they are used either directly or in crop breeding. In order to lay down a solid base for constructing conservation strategies for Italy, a...

In the actual climate change scenario, in situ conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture can significantly contribute broadening the diversity of our food system as well as increasing its resilience; nevertheless, landrace cultivation has been dramatically reduced in the last decades all over Europe. One of the most effective...

Background: The use of high inputs in agriculture resulted in few varieties (hybrids and pure lines) used in all agricultural systems. Also varieties of vegetables, including broccoli, for organic and low-input agriculture, are almost exclusively hybrids, since there are very few specific breeding programs and varieties for sustainable agriculture...

Mineral deficiencies represent a global challenge that needs to be urgently addressed. An adequate intake of iron and zinc results in a balanced diet that reduces chances of impairment of many metabolic processes that can lead to clinical consequences. In plants, bioavailability of such nutrients is reduced by presence of compounds such as phytic a...

Background: The use of high inputs in agriculture resulted in few varieties (hybrids and pure lines) used in all agricultural systems. Also varieties of vegetables, including broccoli, for organic and low-input agriculture, are almost exclusively hybrids, since there are very few specific breeding programs and varieties for sustainable agriculture...

Background The use of high inputs in agriculture resulted in few varieties (hybrids and pure lines) used in all agricultural systems. Also varieties of vegetables, including broccoli ( Brassica oleracea L. spp. capitata L. (DC.) convar. botrytis (L.) Alef. var. italica Plenck), for organic and low-input agriculture, are almost exclusively hybrids,...

Legumes' cultivation contributes services to agro-ecosystems and society, in line with the principles of sustainability. Among pulses, the common bean is one of the most important sources of plant proteins and other important nutrients for humans. Extensive phenotypic and genetic characterisations of unexplored bean germplasm are still needed to un...

Background The use of high inputs in agriculture has resulted in few varieties (hybrids and pure lines) used in all agricultural systems. Also varieties of vegetables, including broccoli (Brassica oleracea L.), for organic and low-input agriculture, are almost exclusively hybrids, due to lack of specific breeding programs and varieties for sustaina...

Background The use of high inputs in agriculture has resulted in few varieties (hybrids and pure lines) used in all agricultural systems. Also varieties of vegetables, including broccoli , for organic and low-input agriculture, are almost exclusively hybrids, since there are very few specific breeding programs and varieties for sustainable agricult...

The common bean is one of the most important staples in many areas of the world. Extensive phenotypic and genetic characterization of unexplored bean germplasm are still needed to unlock the breeding potential of this crop. Dissecting genetic control of flowering time is of pivotal importance to foster common bean breeding and to develop new variet...

Currently, there is a high concern from consumers regarding food quality, with emphasis on the origin of food sources. We here review the current situation of beans (Phaseolus spp.) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) landraces in the South of Europe focusing on morpho-agronomic and genetic diversity and physiological adaptation to the differ...

Brassica incana is a secondary-gene pool wild relative of Brassica oleracea. Twenty-two B. incana populations are recorded in Italy, where the species has recently been pointed out as in priority need of conservation. While data on the spatial and temporal variation of B. incana Italian populations are completely lacking, this information is useful...

Agro-biodiversity is seriously threatened worldwide and strategies to preserve it are dramatically required. We propose here a methodological approach aimed to identify areas with a high level of agro-biodiversity in which to set or enhance in situ conservation of plant genetic resources. These areas are identified using three criteria: Presence of...

Administrative subdivision of the Italian regions. (TIF)

Details of 995 quadrants, with information on georeferentation, LRD, PWS and AED indices. (DOCX)

Italian corine land cover class. (DOCX)

Requiring water and minerals to grow and to develop its organs, Maize (Zea mays L.) production and distribution is highly rainfall-dependent. Current global climatic changes reveal irregular rainfall patterns and this could represent for maize a stressing condition resulting in yield and productivity loss around the world. It is well known that low...

Instrumental settings of the ICP-MS and HPLC.

DNA methylation level in maize plants subjected to drought stress or not, treated or not with selenium.

Moisture of aerial parts and roots. Length of aerial parts.

Principal component analysis, data.

It is recognised that one of the main causes for the relative low yields under organic conditions is the use of modern cultivars which are bred for high-input management systems. The work described here aimed to study and test possible breeding strategies to produce cultivars of common bean for organic agriculture. To this purpose, crosses between...

Plant biodiversity is a great and important resource for the humankind and for agriculture. In particular, plant genetic resources and, among them, the crop wild relatives assume primary importance in breeding and conservation strategies. The genetic diversity contained in these species should not be lost because it represents a source of useful ge...

Varieties specifically bred for organic and low-input agriculture are presently lacking. A strategy to develop them is evolutionary breeding that relies on a combination of natural and artificial selection. This study investigated the ability of an evolutionary breeding program, carried out over 24 years, to select barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) heter...

Recognizing both the stakes of traditional European common bean diversity and the role farmers’ and gardeners’ networks play in maintaining this diversity, the present study examines the role that local adaptation plays for the management of common bean diversity in situ. To the purpose, four historical bean varieties and one modern control were mu...

Energy crops were cultivated in Umbria, Italy and monitored in the period 2007-2012 at the Biomass Research Centre

In the context of flourishing crop wild relative (CWR) conservation studies and initiatives at the national level, the purpose of this chapter is to review the current status of development and implementation of national CWR conservation strategies worldwide, and to perform a comparative study of the different approaches, challenges and solutions p...

Main Description Maintaining food security in the face of human population increase and climate change is one of the critical challenges facing us in the 21st Century. Utilisation of the full range of agrobiodiversity will be a necessary tool in addressing this challenge. In this book a team of international contributors review all aspects of util...

Il miglioramento genetico evolutivo (MGE) è una tecnica che si basa sull’impiego di popolazioni geneticamente eterogenee originate da incroci fra linee diverse o dalla semplice mistura di diverse sementi. Tali popolazioni sono lasciate evolvere nella località specifica di coltivazione; su di esse agisce la selezione naturale determinata dalle carat...

Legumes are bee-pollinated, but to a different extent. The importance of the plant–pollinator interplay (PPI), in flowering crops such as legumes lies in a combination of the importance of pollination for the production service and breeding strategies, plus the increasing urgency in mitigating the decline of pollinators through the development and...

In order to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture and improve the resilience and sustainability of our food systems, there is an increasing interest in shifting from the present agricultural systems, which are characterized by high external inputs, to low-input productive systems characterized by high resilience and sustainability. Purpose...

It has been widely recognized as the problem of conservation of biodiversity and the human well-being are closely linked to each other. For this reason, international conventions and policies, such as the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), highlighted as conservation programs represent a human need, con...

Seeds have evolved in association with diverse microbial assemblages that may influence plant growth and health. However, little is known about the composition of seed-associated microbial assemblages and the ecological processes shaping their structures. In this work, we monitored the relative influence of the host genotypes and terroir on the str...

Brycon amazonicus is an important freshwater migratory fish in the Amazon Basin. 29 Studies involving populations of B. amazonicus are of great importance for the conservation and 30 management of this species. We developed eight microsatellite loci and applied them to 31 investigate the genetic variation of 32 wild individuals from Catalan lake of...

Field trials were conducted for three years on an organic farm in England to assess the performance and yield variability of two synthetic sprouting broccoli populations with 4 or 8 parents respectively, along with the original landrace mother plants and a commercial F1 hybrid variety as control (Santée). In terms of total yield, Santée outperforme...

Many studies have highlighted the continuously increasing need for genetic diversity in the field; nonetheless, plant breeding is still predominantly generating uniform cultivars. Evolutionary plant breeding offers the possibility of reconciling agro-biodiversity, high yields and adaptation to climate change. However, the diversity that can be cons...

Poorly adapted cultivars may be partially responsible for the yield gap between organic and conventional farming systems, as most commercial varieties are bred for the latter conditions. At present, cultivars specifically bred for organic agriculture do not exist for the majority of the crop species, including the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L....

Organic (OA) and low-input (LI) farming rely on genotypes with high adaptability that maintain good performance over a broad range of agronomic and environmental conditions. Two synthetic varieties of Brassica oleracea var. italica Plenck (broccoli) were developed from a landrace. Their performance and stability under LI and OA farming conditions w...

Brassica oleracea L. is an important species that originated in the eastern Mediterranean area. From there, B. oleracea L. subsp. capitata (L.) DC. convar. botrytis (L.) Alef. var. italica Plenck (broccoli) was introduced into Italy where considerable diversification took place. Several landraces of broccoli, which are highly appreciated by local p...

The aim of this study was to investigate the flowering variation and the molecular polymorphism in key regulatory genes that control flowering in a Phaseolus vulgaris L. collection of 94 accessions from Europe and the Americas. The analysis of variance revealed that the difference in days-to-flowering between accessions was significant, with Europe...

The aim of this study was to construct a solid basis for developing a crop wild relatives (CWR) and wild harvested plants (WHP) conservation strategy at the European and national levels. To this end we (i) worked out an annotated and synonymized Working Database of the Italian Vascular Plants, (ii) worked out a full CWR–WHP checklist for Italy, (ii...

To develop synthetic varieties (Syn) of broccoli for organic agriculture, we initiated a breeding programme from a landrace (LR). A Syn was obtained through a farmer-assisted selection programme that mirrors the original LR. The diversity level of the Syn was assessed using 14 putatively neutral microsatellite markers (simple sequence repeats (SSR)...

After a brief presentation of the European Directives on seed marketing of conservation varieties, data relative to their implementation status are given and discussed in relation to on farm conservation of landraces. Although generally aimed to ensure in situ conservation and the sustainable use of plant genetic resources, the Directives focus on...

Common bean diversity within and between Mesoamerican and Andean gene pools was compared in 89 landraces from America and 256 landraces from Europe, to elucidate the effects of bottleneck of introduction and selection for adaptation during the expansion of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Europe. Thirteen highly polymorphic nuclear microsatel...

Novel characterization of crop wild relative and landrace resources as a basis for improved crop breeding' Conserving Europe's plant genetic resources for use now and in the future

Phaseolus vulgaris L. originated in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the American continent. Wild common bean can only flower under a short-day photoperiod. A selection pressure towards photo-insensitivity was presumably experienced by domesticated common bean germplasm upon introduction into Europe where the growing season coincides with l...

The creation of the landraces inventory represents a means of safeguarding them and of implementing conservation strategies. This landraces inventory is the result of the work on Plant Genetic Resource carried out by Italian Regions and Autonomous Provinces across the last two decades and reports data available at Jannuary 2013. http://vnr.unipg.it...