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Background Aberrant salience is the incorrect assignment of salience, significance, or value to different innocuous stimuli that might precede the onset of psychotic symptoms. The present study study aimed to perform a preliminary evaluation of potentially different correlations between the Aberrant Salience Inventory (ASI) score and dimensional or categorical diagnostic approaches. Methods 168 adult outpatients with a current psychiatric diagnosis were consecutively enrolled. Patients were evaluated using different psychometric scales. ASI was used to evaluate aberrant salience, and to evaluate the association between ASI scores and First Rank Symptoms (FRS), and/or with a psychiatric diagnosis. Principal dichotomic clusters of ASI were identified using the Chi-square Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) method. Results Current (16.76 ± 6.02 vs 13.37 ± 5.76; p = 0.001), lifetime (15.74 ± 6.08 vs 13.16 ± 5.74; p = 0.005) and past (15.75 ± 6.01 vs 13.33 ± 5.80; p = 0.009) FRS were the main clusters dichotomizing ASI. The average ASI score did not significantly differ among patients with different diagnoses. Conclusions ASI could be used as a tool to identify psychopathological dimensions, rather the categorical diagnoses, in the schizophrenic spectrum.

This paper reports the application of organic amendments, such as biochar (BC) or compost (CMP) in a Plant-assisted bioremediation (PABR) strategy of a soil contaminated by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and heavy metals (HM). BC and CMP were applied for improving PABR in specific plots where the highest amounts of PCBs were present. Before the organic treatments and six months after it, soil samples and plant tissue (leaves, shoots and roots) were collected from each investigated plot and chemical and microbiological analyses performed. Moreover, micro-X ray fluorescence (µXRF) analysis was performed on soil and biomass (leaves, roots). Preliminary results evidenced different effects of the CMP or BC on promoting PCB and HM removal, depending on the initial pollutant concentrations

Cichorium endivia is a typical Mediterranean species that has been cultivated since ancient times in the Mediterranean basin. C. endivia leaves represent an excellent source of health benefiting plant nutrients and are widely consumed as fresh, minimally processed and cooked traditional food. C. endivia commercial varieties show a high degree of intraspecific morphological variation, and two major varieties can be distinguished: var. latifolium with broad leaves (escarole) and var. crispum with narrow curly/crisp leaves (endive). Due to the striking morphological diversity of the leaves in escarole and endive, C. endivia represents a good model to study the relationship between leaf shape and function. A standing question, that is both of fundamental and applied interest, is the adaptive value of leaf shape in relation with its photosynthetic activity. We used transcriptomic data from leaves of two commercial cultivars of endive and two of escarole to explore regulatory networks of transcription factors (TFs) involved in leaf development and leaf function through cluster analysis and construction of Gene Co-expression Networks (GCN). We identified modules of functionally related TF genes acting in C. endivia leaves and regulatory networks that are differential between broad and curly leaves. We then analyzed how genes related to photosynthetic activity, as well as to molecules involved in energy dissipation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) detoxification (flavonoids, carotenoids and ascorbic acid), enter into the GCN networks and relate to the TF modules identified with a guide-gene approach. This allowed to predict the regulatory networks controlling photosynthesis in C. endivia leaves, their relationship with leaf morphological characteristics and the genetic hubs that are at the boundaries between shape and function. Physiological analysis of the photosynthesis properties linked to different leaf shapes were carried out to corroborate predictive models of the regulatory networks identified. Finally, target genes to be used in breeding selection programs and biotechnology were predicted based on network topological properties and node ranking.

Sulfonamide antibiotics are currently prescribed to treat urinary infections in human and veterinary therapeutics. Following administration, they are only partially metabolized and, therefore, a large amount is excreted unaltered or as active metabolites via urine and faeces; in the case of human administration, the antibiotic residues can reach wastewater treatment plants and, through effluents, the receiving waterbodies. Currently, there is little known about the fate and effects on health ecosystem of these compounds. Among Sulfonamides, sulfamethoxazole (SMX) is one of the most detected antibiotics in river waters. SMX disrupts the folate biosynthetic pathway in bacteria, which is identical to that of plants, raising concerns about toxicity effects on non-target organisms. Therefore, improving our knowledge on the persistence of SMX, especially in natural water ecosystems, is particularly needed. In this framework, macrophyte aquatic plants, such as Lemna minor L, growing in wetlands and contaminated water bodies, can be a useful tool to evaluate the interaction between aquatic plants and organic pollutants. Moreover, the plant-natural microbial community interactions on the antibiotics biodegradations have to take into accounts. In this context, the aim of this study was to improve our knowledge on the biodegradability of SMX in river water, focusing on the effect of the antibiotic on both the natural microbial community and plants. Lab-scale experiments were set up by using microcosms containing river water treated with 500 ug/L of SMX both in the presence/absence of the plant L. minor and in presence/absence (sterilized river water) of the natural microbial community. Other microcosms (Controls) were set up with no-treated river water (without the antibiotic). The experimental set was kept in a growth chamber under controlled conditions. Water samples were collected at fixed times and the SMX residual concentrations were measured over time, by a chromatographic method (HPLC-UV). The effects of the antibiotic on the natural microbial community were assessed in terms of cell vitality, abundance and phylogenetic diversity. Moreover, physiological and biochemical determinations were performed on plants. SMX residual concentrations in plants were also analyzed at the end of the experiment; in this case, Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE) followed by Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) purification methods were used.

Pharmaceuticals residues have been receiving increasing attention as bioactive chemicals in the aquatic environment. They are considered as emerging contaminants being still unregulated or currently undergoing a regularization process. Release of pharmaceutical compounds and their metabolites in the aquatic ecosystem is mostly due to an incomplete removal by conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Consequently, they are detected in WWTP effluents, surface water and, less frequently, in groundwater. Among them, a particular attention is paid to ibuprofen (IBU), one of the most diffused drug in surface waters and sediments. Despite the high removal by WWTPs, IBU amount in WWTP effluents is in the range of ?g L-1, whereas in rivers and groundwater generally in the ng L-1 range. Due to their physical-chemical characteristics, IBU and its metabolites represent a potential risk for the aquatic organisms, even if eco-toxicological data are very scarce. Phytoremediation is a technology able to improve the performance of existing WWTPs, including emerging micropollutants. Willows and poplars are proved to remove and degrade organic and inorganic pollutants from contaminated substrates thus they can act as bio-tool to mitigate the impact of micro-contaminants in the riparian ecosystem. Lemna gibba L. is a model aquatic plant species, commonly utilized in water quality biomonitoring and in standardized tests for environmental risk assessment, and thus also proposed as a biological tool for wastewater reclamation. In our studies poplars, willows and L. gibba. plants were used in different experiments to analyse the possible toxic effects of IBU and its metabolites on plants and to evaluate the ability of these plant species in reducing IBU concentration in the growth medium. In separated experiments, callus cultures of P. nigra L. and two clones of Salix alba L. (SS5 and SP3) were exposed for three weeks to different IBU concentrations in agar medium and under hydroponics, respectively. Moreover, L. gibba plants were exposed to 1 mg L-1 IBU (a threshold dose used to evaluate tolerance/sensitive responses in duckweed) in a eight days-test under hydroponics. Results evidenced a notable tolerance of poplar cells to IBU, especially at high concentrations (IBU 30 mg L-1), which even stimulated growth. Furthermore, a complete removal of IBU from the growth medium by poplar cells occurred. The experimental trial on Salix sp. demonstrated that clone SS5 was more tolerant and showed a higher ability to reduce IBU concentration in the solution than clone SP3. The high tolerance to IBU shown by SS5 was likely due to several mechanisms including the capacity to maintain an elevated photosynthetic activity and an efficient antioxidative defence. Finally, a growth stimulation of Lemna gibba L. in response to high level of IBU and the detection of IBU and some metabolites within plant tissues were observed. All these findings represent a valuable contribution to a better evaluation of the biomonitoring and phytoremediation potential of plants used in these trials, and to highlight the fate and the toxic action of IBU and its metabolites in the aquatic ecosystem.

Emissions of wastes from variable origins into the environment has led to soil contamination in many sites, mainly by heavy metals. The phytoremediation is emerging as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly technology to remove these pollutants. Poplar is a suitable candidate for phytoremediation because of its rapid growth, ease of propagation, and high biomass production. Moreover, poplar presents a high genetic variability inter- and intra-species and its genome has been entirely sequenced. The availability of the poplar genome sequence is a great progress for the identification of the genetic determinants of environmental adaptation. The objective of this work is the identification of the allelic variation associated with the tolerance to heavy metals. The strategy is based on the comparison of two highly divergent Populus nigra genotypes that also present a different tolerance to cadmium stress. A mapping pedigree was obtained by controlled cross between these genotypes and used for the construction of genetic maps. The candidate genes characterised in this study are involved in metal sequestration (metallothionein 2a), ion transport (vacuolar H+-ATPase), and response to oxidative stress (ascorbate peroxidase 2, glutathione reductase, glutathione S-transferase). In a previous experiment, these genes presented a differential expression among two genotypes of Populus alba submitted to salt stress. They are likely involved in the intra-specific variability of stress tolerance. As the Populus genome is highly duplicated, for each candidate gene the presence of paralogs was checked in the Populus trichocarpa genome database. When paralogs were found, specific primers allowing their discrimination were designed in order to amplify and sequence a fragment of each gene copy. The sequences were used to identify allelic polymorphisms (SNPs), develop SNP markers, and map the genes by allele-specific PCR. The different gene paralogs were individually mapped on the expected linkage groups according to the Populus trichocarpa genome sequence. This strategy aims at obtaining a genetic map rich of candidate genes to dissect cadmium tolerance by QTL analysis. The next step will be to investigate the functional role of the candidate genes in response to cadmium stress. The availability of paralog-specific markers will allow to analyse separately their expression in the two Populus nigra genotypes under stress.

In illuminated stems and branches, CO2 release is often reduced. Many light-triggered processes are thought to contribute to this reduction, namely photorespiration, corticular photosynthesis or even an inhibition of mitochondrial respiration. In this study, we investigated these processes with the objective to discriminate their influence to the overall reduction of branch CO2 release in the light. CO2 gas-exchange measurements of young birch (Betula pendula Roth.) branches (

This review will focus on the interaction of the photosynthetic apparatus with Cd and on the role that thiols play in buffering the damaging reactivity of this heavy metal towards enzymes and other molecular components of photosynthesis