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Sugar status regulates mechanisms controlling growth and development of plants. We studied the effects of sucrose at a genome-wide level in dark-grown 4-day-old Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings, identifying 797 genes strongly responsive to sucrose. Starting from the microarray analysis data, four up-regulated (At5g41670, At1g20950, At1g61800, and At2g28900) and four down-regulated (DIN6, At4g37220, At1g28330, and At1g74670) genes were chosen for further characterisation and as sugar sensing markers for in vivo analysis. The sugar modulation pattern of all eight genes was confirmed by real time RT-PCR analysis, revealing different concentration thresholds for sugar modulation. Finally, sugar-regulation of gene expression was demonstrated in vivo by using the starchless pgm mutant, which is unable to produce transitory starch. Sucrose-inducible genes are upregulated in pgm leaves at the end of a light treatment, when soluble sugars levels are higher than in the wild type. Conversely, sucrose-repressible genes show a higher expression at the end of the dark period in the mutant, when the levels of sugars in the leaf are lower. The results obtained indicate that the transcriptional response to exogenous sucrose allows the identification of genes displaying a pattern of expression in leaves compatible with their sugar-modulation in vivo.

Scientific investigation is very important in studies addressing issues of archaeological and historical objects. Ion beam analysis (IBA) and macro X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF) spectroscopy are remarkable tools to obtain information about elemental composition and imaging of historical artefacts with a non-invasive character. These investigation techniques were employed in the framework of a project aimed at supporting the characterization of materials and techniques related with the Roman wall painting. The archaeological excavations at Villa della Piscina in Rome have revealed a luxury building with a large pool (about 50 m long) and thermal baths and numerous fragments of plaster, coming from intentional demolitions referable to two distinct architectural contexts of the Villa during the imperial age, have been found. This work deals with studying the interesting wall pictorial apparatus of great cultural value of the heritage inherited from the Roman age in the area of the ancient city of Rome. The colour palette of the pigments investigated, in particular, by MA-XRF and particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) and has revealed Fe, Cu, Pb, Si and Hg as main elements. Traces of other constituents uncover the choice of the different colours chosen by the artists who had embellished the rooms of the Villa.