143 research outputs found
MULTIDISCIPLINARY INVESTIGATION ON EARLY-MID HOLOCENE WILD CEREALS FOUND AT TAKARKORI (CENTRAL SAHARA)
Plant macroremains from rock shelters of central Sahara give information about the environmental conditions
during the Holocene, and the adaptive strategies of human groups living in the area. Takarkori was excavated by
the Italian-Libyan Archaeological Mission in the Acacus and Messak (directed by S. di Lernia, Sapienza University
of Rome) and its chronology ranges from ca. 10,200 to ca. 4,600 cal yr BP (Cremaschi et al. 2014)
Multidisciplinary analysis of Early \u2013 Mid Holocene wild cereal remains from central Sahara (SW Libya).
.Pollen and plant macroremains from rock shelters of central Sahara give information about
environmental conditions during the Holocene, and adaptive strategies of human groups living in
the area. Wild cereals were long-time exploited and are prevalent among plants selected and
transported to these sites. Spikelets and grains of Panicoideae are the most abundant plant remains
found at Takarkori, a rock shelter in the Tadrart Acacus Mts. (SW Libya). They have been studied
by means of morphological and molecular (ancient DNA) analyses.
The excavation by the Italian-Libyan Archaeological Mission in the Acacus and Messak
(Sapienza University of Rome and Libyan Department of Archaeology) exposed a surface of 140
m2. The deposit includes stone structures, fireplaces, plant accumulations and a burial area. The site
(dated 10,200-4,600 cal yr BP) was occupied throughout Early and Middle Holocene, a pivotal
period for human development as include the transition from hunter-gatherer subsistence to food
production. Peculiarity of the sequences is the surprising preservation of organic matter.
Systematic morphobiometrical analysis was carried out on 1,450 spikelets of Panicum,
Echinochloa and Sorghum selected on the basis of their different cultural contexts. The records
showed uniform size in each genus. aDNA was extracted testing different protocols and then was
studied by the DNA barcoding technique using four chloroplast markers. Bioinformatic analysis of
the results allowed to inspect the phylogenetic relationships between the archaeobotanical records
and the modern species of African wild cereals
Multidisciplinary analysis of wild cereals from the Holocene archaeological site of Takarkori (central Sahara)
Pollen and plant macroremains from central Sahara archaeological sites give information about the environmental conditions during the Holocene and the adaptive strategies of human groups living in the area . Wild cereals have been exploited for long time and are the prevalent taxa among those selected and transported to shelters and caves. The extraordinary state of preservation of the organic materials found at Takarkori allowed the morphological and molecular analyses of seeds/fruits belonging to the Poaceae family
New Insights on Plant Cell Elongation: A Role for Acetylcholine
We investigated the effect of auxin and acetylcholine on the expression of the tomato expansin gene LeEXPA2, a specific expansin gene expressed in elongating tomato hypocotyl segments. Since auxin interferes with clathrin-mediated endocytosis, in order to regulate cellular and developmental responses we produced protoplasts from tomato elongating hypocotyls and followed the endocytotic marker, FM4-64, internalization in response to treatments. Tomato protoplasts were observed during auxin and acetylcholine treatments after transient expression of chimerical markers of volume-control related compartments such as vacuoles. Here we describe the contribution of auxin and acetylcholine to LeEXPA2 expression regulation and we support the hypothesis that a possible
subcellular target of acetylcholine signal is the vesicular transport, shedding some light on the characterization of this small molecule as local mediator in the plant physiological response
Wild cereals from Holocene central Sahara archaeological sites: aDNA and archaeobotany from the Takarkori rockshelter
Both pollen and macroremains recovered from archaeological sites point to a long-time exploitation
of wild cereals and to the prevalence of these plants among those selected and transported to
shelters and caves of central Sahara (southwestern Libya)(1). Spikelets, florets and grains of
Panicoideae (Brachiaria, Cenchrus, Echinochloa, Panicum, Setaria, Urochloa, Sorghum) are the
most abundant plant remains in these sites. The archaeological excavation of the Takarkori
rockshelter by the Italian-Libyan Archaeological Mission in the Acacus and Messak (Central
Sahara), Sapienza University of Rome (directed by S. di Lernia), exposed a surface of c. 120 m2 in
extent. The 1.6 m thick deposit includes stone structures, fireplaces, plant accumulations, dung
layers and a burial area. Layers were deposited during hunter-gatherer and later pastoralist
occupational phases. Chronology ranged from c. 9000 to 4200 BP, and was based on stratigraphy,
radiocarbon dates, and archaeological materials (2). Systematic morphological analysis was carried
out on 200 spikelets/florets selected as representative of different chronological contexts. The
records of Panicum, Echinochloa and Sorghum showed homogeneous typology and fairly uniform
size in each genus. aDNA extraction confirming the morphological identifications of the three taxa
was obtained by Olmi et al. (3). aDNA was successfully performed using several methods (4, 5) and
then assayed using PCR with a primer set for the rbcL gene. New aDNA extraction was obtained
from Panicum spikelets and the analysis of matK, trnH-psbA and trnL barcode regions may help to
identify the records at species level
Immunomodulation of fucosyl-lactose and lacto-N-fucopentaose on mononuclear cells from multiple sclerosis and healthy subjects
The 1,2-fucosyl-oligosaccharides, and among these the 2’-fucosyl-lactose (2’-FL) and lacto-N-fucopentaose (LNFP)-I, are quantitatively the most represented
oligosaccharides of human milk. They are also seen to represent an important
immune device to prevent nursing infants from severe infectious diarrhoea.
Recent evidences show that the appearance of 2’-FL and LNFP-I in human colostrums
is synchronised with the macrophage inhibition and that LNFP-III induces
a Th2 response from the mouse peripheral immune system. Since mannosyl-fucosyl
receptors are described on the macrophage surface, all these evidences allow
us to investigate on the possible immune function of human 2’-FL and LNFP-I in
vitro on LPS-activated mononuclear cells (MNC) from 12 patients with multiple
sclerosis (MS) and 20 matched health controls (HC). We found that 2’-FL and
LNFP-I significantly decrease, to a different extent, the MNC proliferation from
both HC and MS patients, in a linear and dose-dependent manner. 2’-FL and LNFPI
also reduce the production of IL-12 and IFN-γ, particularly in MS patients as
compared to HC (p=0.01 and p<0.001, respectively), while increasing that of IL-
10. The overall immunomodulatory effect of 2’-FL and LNFP I here presented may
represent a future therapeutic option for the abnormal immune response found in
some monocyte-mediated diseases
Multiple sclerosis: peripheral mononuclear cells inhibit <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> growth and are activated by parasite antigens
The human genome has been subjected to selective
pressures to resist to infectious agents in spite
of a heavy segregational load. With this regard,
thalassaemia and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase
deficiency have been considered an efficient
genetic protection against P. falciparum malaria in
Sardinia, insular Italy. In this island, some multiple
sclerosis (MS)-associated HLA haplotypes
have the highest odds ratios in the same highestrate
malarious areas of the island. Moreover, tumor
necrosis factor (TNF) polymorphisms epidemiologically
associated with both MS and malaria
are ten-fold more frequent amongst Sardinians compared
to other populations worldwide4. A possible
association between MS and malaria in this island
was never analysed experimentally. We studied the
immunological response of mononuclear cells to
P. falciparum and the killing effect of macrophages
on parasites in Sardinian MS patients and in
matched healthy controls (HC)
Brassica and Sinapis Seeds in Medieval Archaeological Sites:An Example of Multiproxy Analysis for Their Identification and Ethnobotanical Interpretation
The genus Brassica includes some of the most important vegetable and oil crops worldwide. Many Brassica seeds (which can show diagnostic characters useful for species identification) were recovered from two archaeological sites in northern Italy, dated from between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. We tested the combined use of archaeobotanical keys, ancient DNA barcoding, and references to ancient herbarium specimens to address the issue of diagnostic uncertainty. An unequivocal conventional diagnosis was possible for much of the material recovered, with the samples dominated by five Brassica species and Sinapis. The analysis using ancient DNA was restricted to the seeds with a Brassica-type structure and deployed a variant of multiplexed tandem PCR. The quality of diagnosis strongly depended on the molecular locus used. Nevertheless, many seeds were diagnosed down to species level, in concordance with their morphological identification, using one primer set from the core barcode site (matK). The number of specimens found in the Renaissance herbaria was not high; Brassica nigra, which is of great ethnobotanical importance, was the most common taxon. Thus, the combined use of independent means of species identification is particularly important when studying the early use of closely related crops, such as Brassicaceae
Combined Effects of LED Lights and chicken manure on Neochloris oleoabundans Growth
In this study a photobioreactor prototype is presented for the culture growth of microalgae
model organism Neochloris oleoabundans by using chicken manure waste as feedstock
along with the optimum combination of led light wavelengths and light intensity.
Particularly interesting results are observed on the strains fed by chicken manure medium
under the proper combination of red and blue LED light illumination, the microalgal
growth resulted comparable with the strains fed by the costly commercial microalgal
growth medium (BG 11 medium). Cell concentration, optical density, growth rate, cell
size, total lipid and photosynthetic pigment content have been monitored during a
time-course experiment. The data suggest that there are difficulties due to white light
diffusion into the dark chicken medium, which leads to a generally lower intensity
scattered along all wavelengths; blue or combined red and blue lights resulted in a higher
irradiation density, affecting microalgae cell growth
Inhibitory Activity of Leaves Extracts of Citrullus colocynthis Schrad. on HT29 Human Colon Cancer Cells
Aims: Citrullus colocynthis is a plant endemic in Asia, Africa and in the Mediterranean basin. It is
used in folk medicine against infections, inflammations and cardiovascular and immune-related
diseases. There are further evidences of the use of Citrullus colocynthis Schrad in the treatment of
cancer in traditional practices. The present study aimed to determine the potential antiproliferative
effects of different Citrullus colocynthis leaf extracts on human cancer cells.
Methodology: Antiproliferative and antioxidant effects on HT-29 human colon cancer cells were
detected by MTS assay and a modified protocol of the alkaline Comet assay. In vitro antioxidant
activities of different leaf extracts were evaluated through DPPH, \u3b2-carotene/linoleic acid and
reducing power assays.
Results: The leaf chloroform extract exhibited the higher cell growth inhibitory activity without
induction of DNA damage; it showed to be able to significantly decrease DNA damage induced by
H2O2 (100 M). This antioxidant activity seems to be comparable to that of vitamin C (1 mM). Ethyl
acetate, acetone and methanol leaf extracts showed to be the most effective in reducing the stable
free DPPH radical (IC50 =113 g/ml), in transforming the Fe3+ to Fe2+ (IC50 = 134 \ub5g/ml) and in
inducing linoleic acid oxidation with an inhibition of 31.9 %.
Conclusion: Our results confirm the antiproliferative potential of Citrullus colocynthis Schrad. on
human cancer cells
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