Effects of Heavy Metals and Arbuscular Mycorrhiza on the Leaf Proteome of a Selected Poplar Clone: A Time Course Analysis

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi establish a mutualistic symbiosis with the roots of most plant species. While receiving photosynthates, they improve the mineral nutrition of the plant and can also increase its tolerance towards some pollutants, like heavy metals. Although the fungal symbionts exclusively colonize the plant roots, some plant responses can be systemic. Therefore, in this work a clone of Populus alba L., previously selected for its tolerance to copper and zinc, was used to investigate the effects of the symbiosis with the AM fungus Glomus intraradices on the leaf protein expression. Poplar leaf samples were collected from plants maintained in a glasshouse on polluted (copper and zinc contaminated) or unpolluted soil, after four, six and sixteen months of growth. For each harvest, about 450 proteins were reproducibly separated on 2DE maps. At the first harvest the most relevant effect on protein modulation was exerted by the AM fungi, at the second one by the metals, and at the last one by both treatments. This work demonstrates how importantly the time of sampling affects the proteome responses in perennial plants. In addition, it underlines the ability of a proteomic approach, targeted on protein identification, to depict changes in a specific pattern of protein expression, while being still far from elucidating the biological function of each protein

C. PRESL) at the transcriptional level.

This paper investigates differences in gene expression among the two Thlaspi caerulescens ecotypes La Calamine (LC) and Lellingen (LE) that have been shown to differ in metal tolerance and metal uptake. LC originates from a metalliferous soil and tolerates higher metal concentrations than LE which originates from a non-metalliferous soil. The two ecotypes were treated with different levels of zinc in solution culture, and differences in gene expression were assessed through application of a cDNA microarray consisting of 1,700 root and 2,700 shoot cDNAs. Hybridisation of root and shoot cDNA from the two ecotypes revealed a total of 257 differentially expressed genes. The regulation of selected genes was verified by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Comparison of the expression profiles of the two ecotypes suggests that LC has a higher capacity to cope with reactive oxygen species and to avoid the formation of peroxynitrite. Furthermore, increased transcripts for the genes encoding for water channel proteins could explain the higher Zn tolerance of LC compared to LE. The higher Zn tolerance of LC was reflected by a lower expression of the genes involved in disease and defence mechanisms. The results of this study provide a valuable set of data that may help to improve our understanding of the mechanisms employed by plants to tolerate toxic concentrations of metal in the soil

Integration between TLS and UAV photogrammetry techniques for forestry applications

Forests are significant resources from an ecological, economic and social point of view. Their protection and management could greatly benefit from a complete knowledge of the shape and distribution of trees in forest stands. To this purpose, aerial surveys, especially through Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS), were carried out in the last years to acquire point clouds to be used in 3D models aimed at achieving an accurate description of tree crowns and terrain. However, airborne data acquisition is expensive and may provide poor results in case of dense foliage. Further, point cloud resolution is not very high, as models with a grid of 2-3 m are usually obtained. In order to implement more accurate 3D forest models, a feasible solution is the integration of point clouds obtained by aerial acquisition (ALS or photogrammetry) for the treetops and the terrain description, with information from terrestrial surveys. In this paper, we investigated the possible integration of point clouds obtained by Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) with those collected by photogrammetric 3D models based on images captured by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in a test site located in northern Italy, with the aim of creating an accurate dataset of the forest site with high resolution and precision. The limits of ALS and TLS were bridged by aerial photogrammetry at low altitude (and vice versa). A 3D model of the study area was obtained with a resolution of 5 cm and a precision of 3 cm. Such model may be used in a wide range of applications in forestry studies, e.g., the reconstruction of 3D shapes of trees or the analysis of tree growth throught time. The implications of the use of such integrate approach as a support tool for decision-making in forest management are discussed

Dense 3D Model Generation of a Dam Surface Using UAV for Visual Inspection

In recent years the term “industry 4.0” has been consolidated, indicating a trend towards the automation of industrial processes with the introduction of new technologies to support the production of goods and services. Connected to this new type of industry, in this paper, the authors describe the implementation of a solution based on the automatic analysis of data extracted from a photogrammetric survey. In particular, a low-cost UAV system has been used and, in this paper, all the analyses involved in the planning of the data acquisition phase, their management and processing within a GIS system are described. During the acquisition phase, different data sets were acquired using different techniques, recording 4 k video and acquiring high resolution images. The place chosen to perform this test was the Serrù dam, a plant located in Ceresole Reale, near Turin, Piedmont (Italy). A 3D model was made of this structure on which a wall integrity check was carried out

Quality criteria for multi-domain studies in the indoor environment: Critical review towards research guidelines and recommendations

10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109719Building and Environment226109719-10971

Stilbenoid-Enriched Grape Cane Extracts for the Biocontrol of Grapevine Diseases

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