Protective Effect of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Juglans regia</Emphasis> L. Walnut Extract Against Oxidative DNA Damage

Walnuts (Juglans regia L.) are relevant components of the Mediterranean diet providing important macronutrients, micronutrients and other bioactive constituents including unsaturated fatty acids, proteins, fiber, vitamins, minerals, phytosterols and polyphenols. Although the walnut beneficial effects in human health are widely recognized by a lot of epidemiologic studies very little is known regarding its effect on damaged DNA. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of Juglans regia L. ethanolic extract from kernel on the induction of DNA strand breaks by thiol/Fe³⁺/O₂ mixed function oxidase, tert-butyl hydroperoxide or UVC radiations in acellular and cellular models. Plasmid DNA cleavage and fast Halo assay were used to monitor oxidative damage to DNA. Both approaches showed protection of oxidatively injured DNA. These results agree with a lot of scientific proofs which recommend walnut as dietary adjunct in health promotion and prevention as well as in treatment of lifestyle-related oxidative diseases.     

Long‐Term Tillage and Cropping System Effects on Chemical and Biochemical Characteristics of Soil Organic Matter in a Mediterranean Semiarid Environment

Several studies have reported how tillage and cropping systems affect quantity, quality, and distribution of soil organic matter (SOM) along the profile. However, the effect of soil management on the chemical structure of SOM and on its hydrophobic and hydrophilic components has been little investigated. In this work, the long‐term (19 years) effects of two cropping systems (wheat monoculture and wheat/faba bean rotation) and three tillage managements (conventional, reduced, and no tillage) on some chemical characteristics of SOM and their relationships with labile carbon (C) pools were evaluated. Soil samples were taken from the topsoil (0–15 cm) of a Chromic Haploxerert (central Sicily, Italy). After 19 years of different tillage and cropping systems management, total organic C significantly differed among treatments with the labile organic C pools showing the greater amount in no till and in wheat/faba bean plots. Hydrophobic and hydrophilic components of SOM, determined by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, were mainly affected by cropping system, whereas aromatic components of SOM by tillage. Soil organic matter components and characteristics showed significant correlations with the soil biochemical parameters, confirming the expected synergism between chemical and biochemical properties. This study demonstrated that (i) no tillage and crop rotation improve the chemical and biochemical properties of SOM of Vertisols under semiarid environment; and (ii) tillage management and cropping systems have affected, after 19 years, more the chemical and biochemical properties of SOM than its quantity. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Changes in the concentration of yeast-derived volatile compounds of red wine during malolactic fermentation with four commercial starter cultures of Oenococcus oeni

The effects of malolactic fermentation (MLF) on the concentration of volatile compounds released by yeasts during the production of red wine were investigated by inoculation with four commercial starters of Oenococcus oeni. Volatile compounds in wine at the end of MLF were extracted, analyzed by GC-MS and GC, and compared with those extracted form a noninoculated reference sample. Several esters known to play a role in the aroma profile of red wine, such as C4-C8 ethyl fatty acid esters and 3-methylbutyl acetate, were found to increase with MLF, and their final concentration was dependent on the bacterial starter employed for the induction of MLF. The overall increase of ethyl fatty acid esters was generally larger than the one observed for acetate esters. Ethyl lactate, 3-hydroxybutanoate, 2-phenylethanol, methionol, and gamma-butyrolactone were also increased by bacterial metabolism. The impact of MLF on other volatiles or red wine, including several higher alcohols, fatty acids, and nitrogen compounds, was generally negligible.     

Thermal biology of Tuta absoluta: demographic parameters and facultative diapause

Journal of Pest Science - The South American tomato pinworm, Tuta absoluta, (SATP) is now a devastating pest worldwide of crops in the family Solanaceae. Most prior studies of SATP’s thermal...     

Biological and Artificial Matrixes as PAH Accumulators: An Experimental Comparative Study

In order to find out a new effective accumulator of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) useful for monitoring studies on a large scale and low costs, the accumulation capacity of both biological and artificial matrixes (mosses and polyester fibers, respectively) has been tested. For this purposes, Hypnum cupressiforme and dacron® were exposed to pollution airborne in two sites located nearby an active iron industry and in center of the town of Trieste, where high PAH pollution spots, due to vehicular traffic, are usually detected. The samplers were exposed in six sampling sessions for 21 days. The results obtained were compared with data collected by active PAH samplers, usually employed for official widespread monitoring. The level of correlation between the data sets was calculated. Furthermore, a repeatability study of data was performed. According to the results, both matrixes are good PAH accumulators, though they show different skills.     

Male fertility and cytology of triploid hybrids between tetraploidSolanum commersonii (2n=4x=48, 2EBN) and Phureja-Tuberosum haploid hybrids (2n=2x=24, 2EBN)

Summary Solanum commersonii Dun. is a diploid (2n=2x=24, 1EBN) wild species of potential value for potato breeding. It is a reproductively isolated species and cannot be crossed with Tuberosum haploids (2n=2x=24, 2EBN) or other diploid 2EBNSolanum species. In order to overcome the EBN barriers, triploid hybrids were produced between Phureja-Tuberosum haploid hybrids, which form 2n pollen grains by parallel spindles, and tetraploidS. commersonii. Microsporogenesis analysis of the triploids indicated a trend towards low values of chromosome distribution at Anaphase I; lagging chromosomes were often observed as well. Despite these abnormalities, the percentage of stainable pollen was very high, ranging from 5.0% to 74.3%. A high variation in pollen grain diameter was also evident. Parallel and tripolar orientation of spindles at Metaphase II of microsporogenesis was a common feature of all the triploids analyzed, but dyads and triads were observed at a very low frequency. Therefore, also the frequency of 2n pollen was very low; the different size of stainable pollen appears to represent the ploidy levels which are possible according to the distribution of chromosomes in Anaphase I. The results obtained also suggest thatS. commersonii could have minor genes acting at the end of meiosis in such a way that, despite the presence of parallel/tripolar spindles, dyads/triads are not formed.Contribution no. 124 from the Research Center for Vegetable Breeding.     

Spatial patterns of diversity and genetic erosion of traditional cassava (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Manihot esculenta</Emphasis> Crantz) in the Peruvian Amazon: An evaluation of socio-economic and environmental indicators

This study evaluates quantitatively the suitability of the use of site-specific socio-economic and environmental data as indicators to rapidly assess patterns of diversity and genetic erosion risk in cassava. Socio-economic data as well as farmers’ estimation of genetic erosion were collected in the study area, the Ucayali region of the Peruvian Amazon, through interviews with 285 cassava farmers in 50 communities, while diversity was assessed based on agromorphological characterization of 295 cassava accessions. Using multivariate regression analyses, 50 and 45% of the variation in respectively diversity and genetic erosion estimation could be explained by a selected set of socio-economic and environmental indicators. In both regression models four out of the total of 38 variables proved to contribute significantly (at p < 0.10 level). Additionally, the study revealed that farmers are a good direct source of information on the diversity present at community level, which can contribute to the development of methodologies to assess diversity more rapidly. The results of this study are valuable for the development of models to rapidly assess diversity dynamics in large areas.     

Effect of long term addition of composts and poultry manure on soil quality of citrus orchards in Southern Italy

A 6-year study was conducted in an organically managed orange orchard located in Sicily (Southern Italy) to assess the effect of compost and organic fertiliser utilisation on soil quality. Adopting a randomised-block experimental design with three replicates, four treatments were carried out. In treatments 1 and 2, two different composts (C1 from distillery by-products and C2 from livestock waste) were applied. The plots of treatment 3 were fertilised using dried poultry manure. The control treatment was fertilised by mineral/synthetic fertilisers. In order to verify the hypothesis that composts and organic fertilisers improve soil fertility, soil quality was evaluated by selecting dynamic soil parameters, as indicators linked to C and N cycles. Total organic C, total N, C/N ratio, humified fraction, isoelectric focussing (IEF) of extracted organic matter, microbial biomass C, potentially mineralisable N under anaerobic conditions, potentially mineralisable C, C mineralisation quotient and metabolic quotient were determined for each sample. Moreover, the Community Level Physiological Profile (by Biolog technique) was defined, calculating derived functional biodiversity and versatility indexes. Parameters related to IEF and potentially mineralisable C showed significant differences among the treatments. Moreover, total C, total N and humification parameters tended to increase, while no differences were observed in biodiversity indexes. On these findings, it was concluded that composts and poultry manure only weakly affected soil properties, though they increased soil potentially available nutritive elements to crops.     

Diet drives convergence in gut microbiome functions across mammalian phylogeny and within humans

Coevolution of mammals and their gut microbiota has profoundly affected their radiation into myriad habitats. We used shotgun sequencing of microbial community DNA and targeted sequencing of bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA genes to gain an understanding of how microbial communities adapt to extremes of diet. We sampled fecal DNA from 33 mammalian species and 18 humans who kept detailed diet records, and we found that the adaptation of the microbiota to diet is similar across different mammalian lineages. Functional repertoires of microbiome genes, such as those encoding carbohydrate-active enzymes and proteases, can be predicted from bacterial species assemblages. These results illustrate the value of characterizing vertebrate gut microbiomes to understand host evolutionary histories at a supraorganismal level.