Ontogenetic changes in swimming performance of a freshwater calanoid copepod

Most studies of copepod swimming have focused on marine adults. Here we studied in detail the changes in morpho-kinematics properties of swimming throughout the entire life cycle of a freshwater calanoid copepod, Sinodiaptomus sarsi, to provide information on the adaptive significance of metamorphosis. We investigated how the swimming speed of nauplii (N1 to N6) and copepodites (C1 to C6) changes with body size and shape, the size and number of limbs involved in movement, and with the stroke frequency and angular amplitude of the limbs using high-speed video filming. The speed of routine swimming in nauplii decreased during growth due to a disproportionate increase in body size relative to the length of the appendages. All three pairs of appendages were used by nauplii only during escape jumps reaching a frequency and relative speed of 240 Hz and 100 body lengths per second, respectively. Copepodites swimming speed increased with body size and the number of thoracic swimming legs and reached up to 300 body lengths per second during escape jumps. Our comparative kinematic analysis showed that nauplii and copepodites represent two different morpho-kinematic types of locomotion organization, well adapted to their body size and the corresponding hydrodynamic swimming regim

Citizen science platforms can effectively support early detection of invasive alien species according to species traits

Early detection and rapid response are essential to deal effectively with new introductions of invasive alien species (IAS). Citizen science platforms for opportunistic recording of species are increasingly popular, and there is potential to harvest their data for early detection of IAS, but this has not been tested. We evaluated the potential of data from existing citizen science platforms for early detection of IAS by obtaining 687 first records of species from 30 European countries where there was both an official first record (i.e. published in scientific literature or by a government agency) and a record in a citizen science platform. We tested how the difference between the two (time lag) was related to species traits, popularity in citizen science platforms, public and research attention and regulatory status. We found that for 50% of the time lag records, citizen science platforms reported IAS earlier than or in the same year as the official databases. Although we cannot determine causality (the first official record could have been from a citizen science platform, or contemporaneous with it), this demonstrates that citizen science platforms are effective for IAS early detection. Time lags were largely affected by species traits. Compared with official records, vertebrates were more likely to have earlier records on citizen science platforms, than plants or invertebrates. Greater popularity of the IAS in citizen science platforms and its observation in neighbouring countries resulted in earlier citizen science reporting. In contrast, inclusion in the EU priority list resulted in earlier official recording, reflecting the efficacy of targeted surveillance programmes. However, time lags were not affected by the overall activity of citizen platforms per country. Synthesis and applications. Multi-species citizen science platforms for reporting nature sightings are a valuable source of information on early detection of IAS even though they are not specifically designed for this purpose. We recommend that IAS surveillance programmes should be better connected with citizen science platforms, including greater acknowledgement of the role of citizen scientists and better data flow from smaller citizen science initiatives into global databases, to support efficient early detectio

Overwintering does not affect microbiota diversity in Halyomorpha halys: implications for its ecology and management

Host-associated microbial communities play an important role in regulating many aspects of insect biology, but changes in this microbiota during diapause and overwintering are still largely unknown. Halyomorpha halys is an invasive agricultural pest characterised by a unique overwintering strategy where individuals aggregate and enter a state of dormancy, making it an excellent model to study the relationship between microbiota and diapause. We investigated the bacterial diversity of wild H. halys specimens before and after dormancy using 16S rRNA gene amplicon-sequencing. We found that microbiota varies between geographically neighbouring sampling locations, but there were no significant differences in microbial diversity or composition between populations sampled before and after diapause, despite stressful overwintering conditions. Such stability may relate to the highly specific taxa that dominate the stinkbug-associated microbial community. In addition, we did not detect any strong association of stink bugs with phytopathogens, but we found that two populations harboured Nosema maddoxi, a microsporidian pathogen of stink bugs. Our results are relevant to the assessment of accidental spillovers of microorganisms in newly invaded areas and to the implementation of the sterile insect technique based on mass trapping, irradiation, shipping and release after diapause of wild individual

Latest applications of the LC-CO-IRMS for food and dietary supplements authentication

The LC-co-IRMS represents an innovative technique based on the oxidation in acid conditions of all the carbon-based compounds of a sample mixture, previously separated from each other through an appropriate analytical column. Since its introduction in the market in 2004, the LC-co-IRMS has been used to analyse various matrices [1]. Nevertheless, the potential of this techniques is still far from being fully exploited. In this work, we presented some of the latest LC-co-IRMS applications that our group developed for traceability purposes. In a recent study, the LC-co-IRMS was applied to check for the fraudulent addition of exogenous sugars to Italian authentic wine must. A database of about 100 samples from 16 different Italian regions was considered to set reference values for the carbon isotopic ratio (δ13C) of glucose and fructose in this matrix [2]. Besides sugars, organic acids have also been considered. The addition of biosynthetic citric acid obtained though the fermentation of cheap starting materials like cane sugar by the fungus Aspergillus Niger was detected in matrices such as tomato sauce, lemon and orange juice. Finally, dietary supplements and drugs have also been studied. Levodopa is an amino acid prescribed for Parkinson disease. Natural levodopa can be extracted from plants like the Mucuna pruriens, but cheaper analogues can be chemically synthesised or biochemically obtained from the fermentation of sugars by various fungi [3]. The LC-co-IRMS led to the characterisation of the different levodopa sources, pointing out the possibility to detect fraudulent additions of the biochemical active principle to products declared as natura

Effects of dietary processed former foodstuffs on slaughter performance and meat quality in broilers

This study assessed the effects of incorporating commercially processed former foodstuffs (cFF) as substitutes for corn, soybean meal and soybean oil in broilers’ diet on slaughter performance, physicochemical properties and meat sensory attributes. Two hundred and one-day-old male chicks (ROSS-308) were divided into four dietary groups with increasing levels of cFF (0, 6.25%, 12.5% and 25%) named cFF0, cFF6.25, cFF12.5 and cFF25, respectively. On d 33, 25 chickens per dietary group were slaughtered for analyses. Carcase traits were similar across groups, except for a decrease in gizzard yield in cFF25 group (p = .008). Shear force, cooking loss and drip loss were unaffected by the diet. Meat pH decreased linearly in both breast and thigh muscles, and the thigh muscle yellowness index increased (p < .05). Breast crude protein (CP) decreased, while thigh CP and breast ether extract increased as the cFF inclusion level rose (p < .05). The fatty acid (FA) content of breast and thigh meat showed a linear increase in monounsaturated FA, with thigh meat also exhibiting a linear increase in saturated FA (SFA). Conversely, polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) and the PUFA to SFA ratio decreased with increasing cFF levels (p < .05). Lipid oxidation levels remained unchanged across groups. Sensory analysis revealed no differences in overall acceptability or liking among groups, although two sensory attributes (sour and hard) resulted as discriminating factors (p < .05). Overall, cFF inclusion did not affect meat quality, oxidative stability or consumer perception but altered the FA composition, suggesting the need of further investigation to assess the optimal inclusion leve

Amplicon sequencing and culture-dependent approaches reveal core bacterial endophytes aiding freezing stress tolerance in alpine Rosaceae plants

Wild plants growing in alpine regions are associated with endophytic microbial communities that may support plant growth and survival under cold conditions. The structure and function of endophytic bacterial communities were characterized in flowers, leaves, and roots of three alpine Rosaceae plants in Alpine areas using a combined amplicon sequencing and culture-dependent approaches to determine the role of core taxa on plant freezing stress tolerance. Amplicon sequencing analysis revealed that plant tissue, collection site, and host plant are the main factors affecting the richness, diversity, and taxonomic structure of endophytic bacterial communities in alpine Rosaceae plants. Core endophytic bacterial taxa were identified as 31 amplicon sequence variants highly prevalent across all plant tissues. Psychrotolerant bacterial endophytes belonging to the core taxa of Duganella, Erwinia, Pseudomonas, and Rhizobium genera mitigated freezing stress in strawberry plants, demonstrating the beneficial role of endophytic bacterial communities and their potential use for cold stress mitigation in agriculture.IMPORTANCEFreezing stress is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting fruit production in Rosaceae crops. Current strategies to reduce freezing damage include physical and chemical methods, which have several limitations in terms of costs, efficacy, feasibility, and environmental impacts. The use or manipulation of plant-associated microbial communities was proposed as a promising sustainable approach to alleviate cold stress in crops, but no information is available on the possible mitigation of freezing stress in Rosaceae plants. A combination of amplicon sequencing, culture-dependent, and plant bioassay approaches revealed the beneficial role of the endophytic bacterial communities in alpine Rosaceae plants. In particular, we showed that culturable psychrotolerant bacterial endophytes belonging to the core taxa of Duganella, Erwinia, Pseudomonas, and Rhizobium genera can mitigate freezing stress on strawberry seedlings. Overall, this study demonstrates the potential use of psychrotolerant bacterial endophytes for the development of biostimulants for cold stress mitigation in agricultur

Current applications of benchtop FT-NMR in food science: from quality control to adulteration detection

The introduction of benchtop FT-NMR spectrometers in recent years represents a remarkable innovation in various fields, including the food sector. Modern benchtop FT-NMR spectrometers are low-field instruments, with a magnetic field ranging from 1 T to 2.35 T (1H resonance frequency from 43 MHz to 100 MHz), characterized by compact design, ease of use, and low maintenance costs. As in the case of high-field NMR instruments, benchtop NMR spectra (obtained by Fourier transformation) contain important information useful for compound identification and quantification. In this review, a description of the fundamental steps useful both to acquire benchtop NMR spectra and to treat the obtained data is reported together with a wide range of applications in the food field. In particular, peculiar aspects of commercial benchtop instruments as well as NMR data acquisition, processing and treatment are reviewed reporting also a practical pipeline and a list of good practices for benchtop NMR applications. Benchtop FT-NMR applications, mainly focused on food adulteration detection and quality control, are discussed here using targeted, metabolomic, and fingerprinting approaches. Finally, the industrial applicability of benchtop NMR methods in either static or continuous mode is reporte

Hypericum hircinum L.: botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, and pharmacological properties

Hypericum hircinum L., commonly known as goat St. John’s wort or stinking tutsan, is a medicinal plant native to the Mediterranean basin and widespread across Europe and parts of the Middle East. It has a long history of traditional uses in folk medicine to treat respiratory diseases, wounds, and burns and to relieve migraine, rheumatism, and muscular pains. Despite numerous scientific studies shading light on the phytochemical profile and on the beneficial properties of the plant extracts, a comprehensive overview of the current knowledge is missing. In this paper, we summarized the available information on botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, and pharmacological properties of Hypericum hircinum from peer-reviewed articles published till March 2025 in PubMed, ScienceDirect, Wiley, Springer, ACS, Scielo, and Web of Science databases. The presence of numerous valuable compounds, including terpenes, phenolic acids, flavonoids, and phloroglucinols, is reported as well as the wide range of pharmacological properties, such as antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral, antidepressant, anti-collagenase, anti-α-glucosidase, and antioxidant activities, together with non-pharmacological properties. The data reported in this review contribute to a deeper understanding of the biological properties of the species and pave the way for further investigation of its potential application