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Growing conditions used in FitotronÂŽ Growth Rooms (Weiss Technik, UK). *â =â dark conditions. In this *.docx file are reported the growing conditions used to cultivate Creso and Svevo plants. (DOCX 17 kb)

Iris è una pianta appartenente alla famiglia delle Iridacee, comunemente nota come Giaggiolo o Iris. Al fine di osservare delle differenze tra la struttura riproduttiva e per avanzare delle ipotesi circa la sterilità di molte specie di Iris, è stata condotta l'analisi del polline mediante microscopia elettronica a scansione (SEM). L'analisi micromorfologica dell'esina è utile per identificare probabili formazioni anomale del polline, al fine di preservare le differenti specie e valutare i possibili cambiamenti negli bridi naturali. Lo studio della struttra dell'esina è un importante metodo per classificare differenti specie di Iris, ma anche per dare informazioni circa la formazione del polline. I risultati ottenuti non hanno mostrato anomalie significative tra le differenti specie di Iris analizzate

L'Orto Botanico dell'Università del Salento da anni attua sul territorio interventi di rinaturazione e restauro ambientale in aree naturali e seminaturali locali dove sempre maggiore è la minaccia di erosione della biodiversità. La presenza di tartufaie naturali nel Salento rappresenta un elemento importante nella realizzazione di corridoi ecologici con specie strutturanti previamente micorrizate, vista la maggior resistenza e vigoria che il rapporto simbiotico offre alle piante e quindi alla riuscita dell'intervento stesso. In fase preliminare è stata studiata la distribuzione e l'ecologia degli ipogei più rappresentativi del territorio, Tuber aestivum Vittad. e Tuber aestivum Vittad.: quest'ultimo, particolarmente diffuso nell'area salentina. I primi risultati hanno confermato che le tartufaie naturali corrispondono sia a formazioni vegetali ben consolidate, quali boschi di leccio (Quercus ilex L.), sia a formazioni di recente costituzione come i rimboschimenti a pino d'Aleppo (Pinus halepensis Miller) ed i boschi misti delle due specie. In particolare, attraverso la caratterizzazione morfologica e molecolare dei corpi fruttiferi, T. borchii è stato identificato in presenza di Q. ilex e P. halepensis rispettivamente nel 31 % e nel 38% dei siti di campionamento, mentre T. aestivum è stato identificato prevalentemente in presenza di Q. ilex (48% dei siti di campionamento); inoltre T. borchii sembra essere più diffuso di T. aestivum (rispettivamente 7% e 3% dei siti) nei boschi misti considerati. Giovani piante di specie vegetali strutturanti propagate in serra per via generativa sono state micorrizate con tartufi salentini: risultati più soddisfacenti sono stati registrati nelle prove di inoculo di Q.ilex con T. aestivum. Questi risultati rivelano che i tartufi, in passato largamente ignorati, sono una componente comune e importante dell'area studiata; la loro distribuzione e gli aspetti floristico-vegetazionali possono dare informazioni utili per la ricostruzione delle aree degradate.

Bio-diesel può rappresentare una valida alternativa per il diesel e la sua produzione è in relazione alla coltivazione di specie oleaginose. Per ottenere un'elevata produzione di bio-diesel è necessario avere elevate rese in biomassa gli obiettivi del lavoro sono stati: identificare nuove varietà di girasole per la produzione autunnale, esaminare la possibilità di coltivare il cartamo nel Salento. Risultati preliminari hanno evidenziato una buona capacità di germinazione delle varietà di girasole analizzate, sebbene le basse temperature condizionano la crescita, ed inoltre, si è evidenziata una buona crescita delle varietà di cartamo analizzate.

The relative abundance of Tuber borchii Vittad. in the Salento area (Apulia, Italy) led us to try a genetic characterization of the different strains of such truffle. The aim of the work was to individuate T.borchii strain(s) typical of the Salento area and to compare them with other Italian T. borchii.

Phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL; E.C.4.3.1.5.) is the gateway from primary metabolism into the important secondary phenylpropanoid metabolism in plant. PAL catalyses the non oxidative elimination of ammonia from L-Phe to give trans-cinnamate, a precursor of numerous phenylpropanoid compounds that fulfil various essential functions as mechanical supports (lignins), as protectans against biotic and biotic stresses, as pigment like the anthocyanins. Because of its key role in secondary phenylpropanoid metyabolism and secondary metabolites, PAL is one of the most extensively studied plant enzymes. A PAL gene, designed PaPAL, was isolated from Passiflora incarnata with a full length cDNA of 2384 nucleotides; a partial cDNA of 1987 nucleotides, named EcPAL, was obtained from Echinacea angustifolia roots. The expression analysis of the two genes revealed that the PaPAL gene is expressed in young leaves at the first stage of development, whilst the EcPAL is expressed only in the roots of Echinacea plants cultivated in hydroponic cultivation . These results indicate that the expression of PAL genes is highly regulated by the culture conditions and stage of development.

Salvia clandestina L. is a wild perennial species present in the Salento area of Italy. Here, we examined the in vitro effects of an aqueous extract of S. clandestina L. on the MG‐63 osteosarcoma cell line. The extract reduced osteosarcoma cell viability mainly by way of apoptosis, as we observed (1) upregulation of gene and protein expression of p53, cyclin‐dependent kinase inhibitors p21WAF1 and p27Kip1, and proapoptotic BAX; (2) activation of caspases; and (3) induction of a sub‐G1 peak in the cell cycle. The mitogen‐activated protein kinases (MAPKs) JNK1/2 and p38 are activated and involved in the intracellular effects of the S. clandestina extract, as preincubation with the JNK1/2 inhibitor SP600125 or the p38 inhibitor SB203580 significantly decreased S. clandestina extract–induced cytotoxicity and inhibited increase in p53, p21WAF1, p27Kip1, and BAX. SP600125 also inhibited mRNA levels for all the aforementioned proteins, while SB203580 only affected p53 mRNA. Furthermore, S. clandestina extract treatment counteracted epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition, inhibited cell migration, and decreased the expression and activity of matrix metalloproteinase MMP2. In addition, S. clandestina extract enhanced the cytotoxic activity of cisplatin on MG‐63 cells through downregulation of the Akt/PKB protein kinase. We conclude that S. clandestina extract may be a novel agent for osteosarcoma treatment., In this report, we examined the effects of an aqueous extract of Salvia clandestina L. on the MG‐63 osteosarcoma cell line. The extract reduced osteosarcoma cell viability mainly by inducing apoptosis; it also counteracted epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition, inhibited cell migration, and decreased the expression and activity of matrix metalloproteinase MMP2, as well as enhanced the cytotoxic activity of cisplatin. S. clandestina extract may therefore be a novel agent for osteosarcoma treatment.

The purpose of this research was to investigate phytochemical profiles and antioxidant activity in four Salvia species growing in Salento (Southern Italy). The hydrodistillation products obtained from the aerial parts of Salvia clandestina, Salvia fruticosa, Salvia officinalis and Salvia sclarea were characterized by GC–MS and 50 compounds were detected. With the exception of S. clandestina, that did not produce essential oils, the other species shared different amounts of monoterpenes oxygenated (camphor 2.13%-9.16%) and sesquiterpenes hydrocarbons (caryophyllene 4.65%-18.33%; humulene 1.87%-12.39%). The phenolic profiling, analyzed by HPLC ESI/MS-TOF, highlights that S. clandestina is a rich source of danshensu (4.76 mg/g DW) while S. sclarea of rosmarinic acid (15.57 mg/g DW). Mutivariate statistical analysis (PCA) of hitherto studied Salvia phenols have shown similarities in profiles between S. fruticosa and S. officinalis, while S. clandestina and S. sclarea showed distinctive profiles. Otherwise, essential oil profiles analysed by PCA are clearly different among the three productive species. The extracts from collected plants were found to be effective antioxidant in three different in vitro assays (DPPH, ABTS, FRAP and Superoxide anion scavenging activity). Thus, they can be proposed as natural ingredients in functional foods, herbal medicines or as sources of bioactive molecules.

Monitoring Xylella fastidiosa is critical for eradicating or at least containing this harmful pathogen. New low-cost and rapid methods for early detection capability are very much needed. Metabolomics may play a key role in diagnosis; in fact, mobile metabolites could avoid errors in sampling due to erratically distributed pathogens. Of the various different mobile signals, we studied dicarboxylic azelaic acid (AzA) which is a key molecule for biotic stress plant response but has not yet been associated with pathogens in olive trees. We found that infected Olea europaea L. plants of cultivars Cellina di Nardò (susceptible to X. fastidiosa) and Leccino (resistant to the pathogen) showed an increase in AzA accumulation in leaf petioles and in sprigs by approximately seven- and sixfold, respectively, compared with plants negative to X. fastidiosa or affected by other pathogens. No statistically significant variation was found between the X. fastidiosa population level and the amount of AzA in either of the plant tissues, suggesting that AzA accumulation was almost independent of the amount of pathogen in the sample. Furthermore, the association of AzA with X. fastidiosa seemed to be reliable for samples judged as potentially false-negative by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (cycle threshold [Ct] > 33), considering both the absolute value of AzA concentration and the values normalized on negative samples, which diverged significantly from control plants. The accumulation of AzA in infected plants was partially supported by the differential expression of two genes (named OeLTP1 and OeLTP2) encoding lipid transport proteins (LTPs), which shared a specific domain with the LTPs involved in AzA activity in systemic acquired resistance in other plant species. The expression level of OeLTP1 and OeLTP2 in petiole samples showed significant upregulation in samples positive to X. fastidiosa of both cultivars, with higher expression levels in positive samples of Cellina di Nardò compared with Leccino, whereas the two transcripts had a low expression level (Ct > 40) in negative samples of the susceptible cultivar. Although the results derived from the quantification of AzA cannot confirm the presence of the erratically distributed X. fastidiosa, which can be definitively assessed by traditional methods, we believe they represent a fast and cheap screening method for large-scale monitoring.

Heavy metals (HMs), such as copper, zinc, lead, mercury and cadmium, are the most abundant and dangerous inorganic environmental pollutants. Growing pieces of evidence suggest that mycorrhizal fungi can alleviate metal toxicity in plants. In this study, we focused attention on the ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungus Tuber borchii Vitt., which is widespread in Italy and is of great ecological interest because of the mutualistic associations and the advantages it provides to host plants. Seedlings of the Mediterranean shrub Cistus creticus L., mycorrhized and non mycorrhized with the ECM fungus T. borchii , were treated with HMs (zinc, lead and chromium). HMs induced leaves’ chlorosis in non mycorrhized seedlings; while no significant difference was observed in pigmentation of mycorrhized seedlings’ leaves. This observation was confirmed by Euclidean Distance of color measurements in L*a*b* units from RGB digital images of leaves. The decrease in leaves pigmentation observed in HM treated non mycorrhized seedlings strongly correlated with a reduced expression of key genes associated with chlorophyll biosynthesis; instead, no significant variation of gene expression was detected in mycorrhized seedlings treated with HMs. Finally, a comet test on nuclei isolated from leaves of mycorrhized and non mycorrhized C. creticus seedlings, treated or not with HMs, confirmed that the DNA damage induced by HMs stress was lower in mycorrhized than in non mycorrhized seedlings. Taken together, the data suggest the involvement of the mycorrhizal fungus T. borchii in the improvement of HM stress tolerance in C. creticus host.