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The National checklists of Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) and Wild Harvested Plants (WHP) are the basic tools for the development of in situ and ex situ conservation strategies of plant genetic resources. Here we discuss the methodologies and the prioritization process we previously used in the preparation of the prioritized checklist of CWR and WHP for Italy. The starting point were the most up-to-date Italian checklists of native and alien flora with their updates used as a nomenclatural and distributive source of data. Sardinia and Sicily were kept separate from peninsular Italy to perform detailed analyses focused on the taxa of the two major islands. The origin, the endemic status, cultivation, economic importance, uses, gene pool or taxon group, and the Red List status information were added. The WHP status was attributed to all the taxa with known direct uses. A qualitative approach was adopted in the prioritization process, the main criteria used were: 1) the inclusion of wild relative taxa of crops listed in Annex I of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and/or by the Italian Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) for cultivated areas and yield in the last 5 years; 2) the threatened taxa occurring in national or global Red lists; 3) the endemism. This prioritization process generated 102 taxa as most in need of specific protection and /or monitoring measures, 57 taxa requiring monitoring because of their restricted distribution although not requiring specific protection measures and 735 taxa not requiring any specific protection. However, different prioritization processes could have been applied to the Italian checklists yielding different results. Here we discuss the matter.

Background and aimsCardiac structural and functional changes have been demonstrated in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Because of the frequent association of NAFLD with hypertension, we aimed to examine the relationship of liver steatosis with left ventricular (LV) changes in patients with hypertension.Materials and methodsIn a cross-sectional study, we included 360 untreated, essential hypertensive patients who were free of major cardiovascular and renal complications. Liver steatosis was assessed by three different biochemical scores (NAFLD Liver Fat Score, LFS; Fatty Liver Index, FLI; Hepatic Steatosis Index, HSI). Echocardiography was performed with standard B-mode and tissue-Doppler imaging.ResultsLV hypertrophy was present in 19.4% and LV diastolic dysfunction in 49.2% of patients who had significantly higher body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), and homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) index and higher frequency of the metabolic syndrome and liver steatosis that was defined by presence of 2 or more positive scores. LV mass index increased progressively across patients who had none, 1, or 2 or more liver steatosis scores, with associated progressive worsening of LV diastolic function. LV mass index was significantly and positively correlated with age, BMI, BP, HOMA-index, LFS, and HSI. Logistic regression analysis showed that age, BP, and liver steatosis scores independently predicted LV hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction. Liver steatosis independently predicted LV dysfunction but not LV hypertrophy even after inclusion in analysis of the HOMA-index.ConclusionNAFLD is associated with LV hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction in untreated patients with hypertension. In hypertension, NAFLD could contribute to LV diastolic dysfunction with mechanisms unrelated to insulin resistance.

Abies nebrodensis (Lojac.) Mattei is a Critically Endangered forest tree included in Appendix I of the Bern Convention and as a priority species in Annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive [1]. In situ and ex situ conservation strategies [2] and, more recently, a LIFE Natura project [3] allowed a marked improvement of health conditions of trees and of seedlings renewal. A first attempt to characterize the ectomycorrhizas of A. nebrodensis was carried out by Venturella & Rambelli [4]. In the frame of the activities of the II National Workshop of Ectomycorrhyza (Palermo, 2015), this paper reports the preliminary investigation carried out on the ectomycorrhyzal community of A. nebrodensis in comparison with that of Fagus sylvatica L. Root samples were collected from 12 different trees of the native population of A. nebrodensis and from 12 plants of F. sylvatica growing close to the firs. For each root samples we selected 100-200 mycorrhizas, divided in morphotypes on the basis of their morpho-anatomic features. Each morphotype was also genetically characterized through amplification and direct sequencing of ITS region of rDNA. The preliminary results show a higher richness of ectomycorrhizal species in F. sylvatica compared to A. nebrodensis. Cenococcum geophilum Fr. is the dominant species on F. sylvatica and A. nebrodensis. The higher number of species in F. sylvatica and A. nebrodensis is from genus Cortinarius (Pers.) Gray while Tomentella Pers. ex Pat. and Sebacina Tul & C. Tul. are underepresented.

Nel presente contributo sono riportati i risultati di uno studio sulla diversità della comunità fungina ectomicorrizica (ECM) presente in un impianto artificiale di conifere alloctone (Abies alba Mill., Pinus nigra Arnold e Cedrus atlantica (Endl.) Manetti ex Carrière), in cui è presente rinnovazione di A. alba e di Quercus ilex L., unica specie vegetale arborea autoctona presente nell’ambiente di studio. L’area d’indagine è localizzata a Tempio Pausania (Sardegna), sul monte Limbara in località Madonna della Neve (1262 s.l.m). Al suo interno sono stati individuati 5 plot omogenei, ed in ciascuno di essi sono stati prelevati frammenti radicali dalla base di esemplari adulti di A. alba, P. nigra e C. atlantica e da esemplari di 1-2 anni di Q. ilex e A. alba. In laboratorio le ectomicorrize di ciascun ospite sono state isolate e sottoposte ad analisi morfologiche e genetiche. In totale sono state osservate 54 unità tassonomiche operative, delle quali 41 attribuite a Basidiomycota, 5 ad Ascomycota e 8 non classificate. La famiglia più rappresentata è quella delle Thelephoraceae con 3 generi e 15 specie. Dal confronto tra le comunità ECM associate ai diversi ospiti quella osservata nelle piantine di leccio ha la maggiore ricchezza in specie e diversità. Più del 40% delle specie ECM osservate sull’abete bianco sono esclusive di questa specie. Le piantine di leccio e abete bianco hanno comunità ectomicorriziche abbastanza diverse, infatti, esse condividono solo 6 specie fungine ECM. Tuttavia, è interessante notare che 3 di queste specie sono presenti solo su esemplari di abete e leccio giovani e non su piante adulte, trattandosi, probabilmente, di specie che entrano in simbiosi solo con piante di giovane età. Il 65% delle specie trovate su conifere sono tipiche di questo tipo di ospiti vegetali. Tra queste sono presenti 4 delle specie che dominano la comunità ECM nel complesso. Infine il 65% delle specie osservate sul leccio sono presenti anche sulle conifere. Ciò evidenzia l’importante ruolo che queste specie forestali hanno nel favorire il processo di rinaturalizzazione del leccio all’interno del popolamento artificiale oggetto dell’indagine.

Truffle ascocarps were collected from a natural forest located in Lahti, Finland (100 km north to Helsinki ) by the help of a trained truffle dog called Siro in Autuman 2006 . By morphological identification , the truffles were identified as Tuber maculatum and Tuber scruposum . The truffle ascocarps were found in soil with relatively high pH value in coniferous forest . Our studies showed that both tuber species prefer the mixed forest with host- trees such as spruce and pine . Samples of the truffle fruit bodies are conserved in the collection of biological materials in the Juva Truffle Center . Further investigatio concerning truffle species (DNA) and soil properties will be performed in the coming seasons .