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In October 2018, in Sele Valley (Italy), transplanted strawber- ry plants (Fragaria x ananassa) cv. Sabrina showed stunted starting growth. Then, a sample of 50 refrigerated plants, randomly collected from the stock, was analysed. They were externally disinfected, cut lengthwise and brown roots and crown reddish internal tissues fromsix plants were plated onto PDA; after two week-incubation, white and cottony fungal colonies, pale yellow on reverse side, developed, showing undulate margins and producing black acervuli, sometimes in yellow drops. Conidia were clavate (21.3 × 7.1 ?m, on average), composed by one pale yellow basal cell with two appendages (13 ?m, on average), three central brown cells and a yaline apical cell with one appendage (5.6 ?m, on average); the cells were separated by transverse septa. Based on the morphology, the fungus was identified as Neopestalotiopsis sp. (Maharachchikumbura et al. 2014). Identification was performed by amplifying and sequencing of two genetic regions ITS (ITS1, ITS4) (White et al. 1990) (GenBank accession No. MN149348) region and actin gene fragments (Triact l, Triact 2) from two isolates. BLAST analysis showed 100% identity with Neopestalotiopsis clavispora in NCBI GenBank. Each isolate was tested for pathogenicity on five strawberry plants by injecting five millilitres of a conidial suspension (1 × 10 6 spores mL -1 ) in a wound on the crown and incubated in growth chamber, at 25 °C and 85% humidity. After two months, reddish tissues were observed inside the collar, which resembled those on the naturally diseased plants while no symptoms were detected on water controls. The pathogen was re-isolated satisfying Koch's postulate, demonstrating that N. clavispora was responsible of reddish collar in strawberry as reported for the first time in Spain (Chamorro et al2016). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of N. clavispora causing disease on strawberry in Italy.

Plant-derived antifungals have an interesting potential to be used for the sustainable management of plant diseases. In this work, seven different local genotypes of Capsicum annuum, diffused in agricultural areas of Campania Region (Italy), were explored for their potential in providing phytochemical extracts suitable for antifungal applications. Bioactive hydro-methanolic extracts has been assessed for phenolic composition and antioxidant capacity and, then, assayed both in vitro and in planta for the suppression of Alternaria alternata, the causal agent of early blight of tomato. Ultra high-performance liquid chromatography- diode array detection (UPLC-DAD) analysis showed phenolic profiles of each extract, identifying and quantifying the individual known components, including gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, epicatechin, cumaric acid, rutin, ferulic acid and luteolin. The phenolic-rich extracts of all peppers varieties proved to be active against in vitro mycelial development of A. alternata. Dipping artificially infected tomato leaves using extracts at 10 µg GAE ml-1 of total phenolics, reduced foliar early blight disease severity closely to 50%, on average. The role played by the phenolic complex in the antifungal activity and in disease control efficacy of the extracts, has been discussed.

La salvaguardia e gestione in maniera sostenibile delle biorisorse nei settori agrario, alimentare, ambientale e della tutela della salute, insieme all'aumento delle conoscenze di biologia di base sono gli obiettivi istituzionali dell'Istituto di Bioscienze e Biorisorse del CNR di Bari. Il nucleo di questa attività è rappresentato dalla banca del germoplasma che dal 1970 custodisce oltre 65.000 accessioni di 524 specie di piante agrarie di interesse mediterraneo, 73 delle quali appartengono alle leguminose. Negli ultimi due decenni l'IBBR ha partecipato e coordinato numerosi progetti di ricerca, finalizzati al reperimento, caratterizzazione e promozione di centinaia di ecotipi italiani di leguminose. Queste attività sono state condotte in collaborazione con diverse Università, Istituti del CREA, assessorati regionali all'agricoltura, provincie, comuni e associazioni di agricoltori. Le ricerche svolte hanno consentito di definire le caratteristiche agronomiche, genetiche e nutrizionali degli ecotipi studiati. Inoltre, l'IBBR ha supportato da un punto di vista scientifico l'iter burocratico per l'ottenimento di marchi comunitari (IGP e DOP) e non (es. marchio De.C.O.) o l'iscrizione al registro dei prodotti tipici regionali per alcuni ecotipi di particolare pregio. A titolo di esempio dell'attività svolta sono presentati i risultati ottenuti in collaborazione col CREA-ORT di Pontecagnano, con l'ALSIA A.A.S.S.D. 'Pollino' di Rotonda (PZ), e quelli del progetto PSR "SaVeGRaINPuglia" attualmente in corso, che vede l'IBBR impegnato nel ruolo di capofila. La Campania è una delle regioni più ricche di biodiversità vegetale. Con la Misura 214 del PSR 2007-2013, sono stati finanziati due importanti progetti, Agrigenet e Salve, che hanno coinvolto Istituzioni universitarie e di ricerca (CREA, CNR) campane. Queste Istituzioni si sono impegnate nella caratterizzazione agronomica, morfo-fisiologica, biochimica, chimico-nutrizionale, organolettica e molecolare, di un elevato numero di varietà locali campane di ortive, fruttiferi e vitigni. Tra i legumi, sono stati caratterizzati 16 ecotipi di fagiolo, 9 di cicerchia, 7 di cece e 2 di lenticchia. Le caratterizzazioni eseguite ai vari livelli sopra menzionati, hanno consentito di confermare o individuare diversi legumi locali sicuramente degni di essere inseriti in percorsi di valorizzazione dei prodotti tipici, per i quali la Regione Campania sta molto investendo, al fine di creare opportunità di reddito e di presidio degli areali interni svantaggiati.

The Legislative Decree n.214 dated 19-9-2005 introduced in Italy the Council Directive 2000/29/CE, as amended by the Council Directive 2002/89/CE. The aforesaid Decree enforced protective measures against the introduction and spread into the Community of organisms harmful to plants/plants products. In the annexes of the Decree, there are 20 phytopathogenic bacteria. The key measures foreseen in the Decree are strengthened plant health checks, carried out by the regional Plant Health Services (SFR) at the place of production and on imported/exported plants/plant products. In this respect, laboratory analyses are essential for the detection of latent infections. Currently, the analyses are carried out in laboratories belonging to SFR or, under the supervision of each SFR, in private or public laboratories. The Decree 214/2005 lays down a national laboratory network (art.53) to support SFR in performing their analyses. The network operates under the supervision of a central Phytosanitary Committee (art.52). In 2006, a special inquiry showed that SFR are characterised by different needs as they perform different bacteriological analyses for the crops grown in their areas and for the checks of other materials imported through the relevant points of entry. Nevertheless three quarantine bacteria resulted to be of common interest. The national laboratory network, laid down by the Decree 214/2005, should take into account the demand for analyses expressed by the SFR, that have already provided useful data regarding their bacteriological needs. This national laboratory network could provide the SFR with an effective support also in the control of regulated non quarantine pests.

The soil is the ultimate source of mineral nutrients and sustains several living organisms. In order to contrast soil degradation, it is important to convert conventional agricultural practices to environmentally sustainable management of crops. To this end, the application of biotic or abiotic bio-stimulants could be considered as a good strategy. PGPR (Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria) are included into the biotic bio-stimulant category and can promote plant growth by: i) regulating nutritional and hormonal balance; ii) solubilizing nutrients and inducing resistance against plant pathogens. Humic acids (HA) (abiotic bio-stimulants) are naturally occurring organic compounds that arise from the decomposition of plant, animal, and microbial residues. They are chemically complex with no clearly defined chemical structure and can directly impact on metabolic plant processes, as well as can exert hormone-like effects. Compost tea combines biotic and abiotic bio-stimulants, because it is produced from compost by extraction and fermentation processes, conducted in liquid phase, with or without active aeration. The aim of this work is to develop a strategy of investigation, using RNA-Seq experiments, in order to describe the molecular mechanisms underpinning tomato plant response to bio-stimulation by PGPR, HA and compost-tea. The ultimate goal is the identification of key genes to be used in breeding programmes to develop low-input tomato varieties for sustainable agriculture. In a first phase, preliminary tests were performed in vitro to identify the growth-promoting bacterial strain belonging to Pseudomonas putida species, as well as the optimal concentration of both HA and compost-tea. The results showed, in general, an increase of root development in tomato treated seeds. In a second phase, tomato plants in controlled hydroponics conditions were inoculated with P. putida strain 16, or HA, or sterile/non-sterile compost-tea. Then, plant roots were sampled at 24, 48 and 72 h after bio-stimulation, and the RNA were extracted. Before proceeding with RNA sequencing, we checked if plant-bacteria interaction occurred by evaluating expression levels of candidate genes involved in the interaction using qRT-PCR. In case of P. putida, results confirmed that the interaction took place in the experimental conditions adopted since an increased expression of the genes was observed, in the roots, compared to the untreated control plants. At the moment, a directional single-end sequencing has been performed on an Illumina HiSeq1500 device only for all the sample collected after bio-stimulation with P. putida. Ongoing bioinformatics analysis includes: i) Read quality checking and adapter trimming; ii) read alignments to the tomato reference genome; iii) summarization: aggregation of sequence reads over gene loci as biological units; iv) intra- and inter-sample normalization; v) identification of differentially expressed genes. This work was carried out in the frame of the "GenoPom-pro - Integrating post-genomic platforms to enhance the tomato production chain" project (PON02_00395_3082360) and is supported by the PON R&C 2007-2013 grant funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research in cooperation with the European Funds for the Regional Development (FESR).

Genetic relationships, agronomic, nutritional and technological traits of ten Italian landraces, two improved lines and two cultivars of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) were investigated using a multi-disciplinary approach. Seed storage proteins, used as biochemical markers, were able to detect polymorphisms with variability mainly related to the polypeptide abundance. Microsatellite (SSR) molecular markers provided very useful information on genetic variation and relationships among landraces, with polymorphic fragments able to discriminate all the accessions. Lentil landraces were grouped in different clusters and sub-clusters principally on the basis of their geographical origin. The highest levels of genetic diversity were observed for lentils from ‘Castelluccio di Norcia’, ‘Colliano’ and ‘Villalba’. Field trials, performed in two locations of Southern Italy, revealed a high influence of location on yield. Comparing performances at both tested locations, the best landraces were ‘Linosa’ and ‘Valle di Nevola’ suggesting that these have the highest adaptability. Technological and nutritional data together with the agronomic ones evidenced that ‘Linosa’ lentil is the best landrace, however also ‘San Gerardo’ deserves some attention.