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Federica Zoratto,1 Luigi Rossi,1 Angelo Zullo,2 Anselmo Papa,1 Eleonora Zaccarelli,1 Luigi Tomao,3 Erika Giordani,1 Maria Colonna,4 Giovanni Baiano,5 Silverio Tomao11Department of Medico-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, “Sapienza” University, Oncology Unit, “SM Goretti” Hospital, Latina; 2Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy Unit, “Nuovo Regina Margherita” Hospital, Rome; 3Biology Department, “Regina Elena National Cancer Institute”, Rome; 4Oncology Unit, “Don Luigi di Liegro” Hospital, Gaeta, 5Surgery Unit, “San Giovanni di Dio” Hospital, Fondi, ItalyAbstract: Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. The prognosis of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer in recent years has increased from 5 months with best supportive care to nearly 2 years with chemotherapy combined with bevacizumab, an antivascular endothelial growth factor monoclonal antibody. New prognostic and predictive biomarkers have been identified to guide chemotherapy in metastatic colorectal cancer, such as KRAS and BRAF oncogenes. However, the status of these oncogenes does not affect the efficacy of bevacizumab, and biomarkers predicting response to treatment with bevacizumab are still lacking. Addition of bevacizumab to regimens based on fluoropyrimidines or irinotecan has been shown to improve overall survival in treatment-naïve patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Similarly, a significant increase in overall survival rate is achieved by adding bevacizumab to fluoropyrimidines and oxaliplatin in patients with disease progression. Bevacizumab has been found to be effective even when used as third-line therapy and later. In addition, cohort studies have shown that bevacizumab improves survival significantly despite disease progression. Finally, bevacizumab therapy in the neoadjuvant setting for the treatment of liver metastasis is well tolerated, safe, and effective.Keywords: metastatic colorectal cancer, bevacizumab, chemotherapy, biomarkers, liver metastases

Vengono riportati i principali studi effettuati dalla comunità scientifica sulla ricerca di fonti di resistenza alla sharka e lo sviluppo di genotipi resistenti per quanto riguarda la coltura del pesco. In alcune drupacee sono state rinvenute fonti di resistenza, purtroppo non in pesco, così la resistenza è stata trovata in specie botanicamente affini com mandorlo o Prunus davidiana. Il breeding tradizionale è stato poi affiancato dall'ingegneria genetica di cui vengono ripercorsi i pochi successi ottenuti. La relazione ha come scopo principale di evidenziare i primi risultati ottenuti da un progetto nazionale (PPVCON) che stà affrontando il problema sharka su pesco con approccio multidisciplinare. I primi risultati, descritti nel dettaglio, sembrano molto incoraggianti in quanto alcune accessioni di pesco (vecchie cv del germoplasma italiano e selezioni costituite nell'ambito del progetto stesso) presentano una resistenza putativa alla sharka, sebbene siano ancora qualitativamente non competitive con le cv commerciali.

Pear psylla, Cacopsylla pyri L., is one of the most important insect pests in European pear production areas. Control measures are directed specifically at controlling pear psylla and require accurate and timely information about insect densities in the orchard. Thus, there is a widespread interest in the search for suitable biological control agents and in breeding for resistance to pear psylla. Modes of host plant resistance to pear psylla damage have been studied extensively by several authors and the susceptibility of many European pear genotypes have been investigated in order to detect cultivars resistant or highly tolerant to this pest useful in breeding programs. This review presents an update of published results and knowledge on psylla life, host finding for feeding and oviposition, type of damages, monitoring and control strategies with renewed and improved efficacies, resistance characterization and breeding, with particular regard to the identified sources of resistance and the screening methods., Advances in Horticultural Science, Vol 26 No 2 (2012)

Two uniferous strawberry cultivars, ‘Marmolada®Onebor’ and ‘Elsanta’, were tested in three experimental fields located at 1,200 m asl; phenological phases and fruit quality of first and second season crops were compared. Harvesting time in the first year crop occurred 40 days later than in the second season crop. Cultivar significantly affected fruit skin brightness and chroma index, flesh firmness, titratable acidity and yield in the first season crop; the experimental field location exerted a significant effect also on fruit weight and diameter, but not on total acidity. Fruit weight was higher in the second season crop, and ‘Marmolada®Onebor’ fruits (22.7 g) resulted heavier than those of ‘Elsanta’ (19.7 g). Total solid soluble content ranged from 7.4 to 8°Brix in ‘Elsanta’, compared to 6.2 to 7.4°Brix in ‘Marmolada®Onebor’. Neither diseases nor arthropod attacks were noticed on plants and fruits., Advances in Horticultural Science, Vol 26 No 2 (2012)

Most persimmon production relies on parthenocarpy; nevertheless male fertility is a relevant issue for breeding and, secondarily, when, for specific environmental or productive conditions, fruit-set needs to be improved. One of the bottle-necks in breeding is the natural sex-expression of persimmon (a polygamous dioic species) linked to the effect of anthropic selection of progenies, which leads to a small amount of monoic cultivars. In non-native areas of persimmon, germplasm collections usually hold a very limited number of pollen donors. Hence pollen storage is an important step in order to conserve/transport viable pollen grains for breeding purposes. In this study pollen grains of three accessions of D. kaki, one of D. lotus and one of D. virginiana have been stored at +4, -20, -80 degrees C and in liquid nitrogen, for 0, 15, 30, 90, 180 and 360 days. Pollen grain viability and in vitro germinability depended mostly on temperature and duration of storage. After one year of conservation, storage in liquid nitrogen allowed to have rates of viable and germinable pollen grains ranging from 11 to 18% and from 5 to 9%, respectively; on the contrary, pollen grains stored for the same time at +4 and -20 degrees C, even if viable in small amounts, did not germinate.