Integrated strontium isotope stratigraphy and biochronology in the upper Pliocene and Pleistocene of DSDP Site 132 (western Mediterranean)

Planktonic foraminifer shell samples from the upper Pliocene and Pleistocene sequence of the DSDP Site 132 (Tyrrhenian Sea) provide evidence for a general increasing trend in the seawater 87Sr/86Sr isotopic ratios and suggest the applicability of the high-resolution oceanic curves of Sr isotope variations in the land-locked Mediterranean basin. However, a possible exception is detected in the interval between 0.8 and 0.3 Ma, where ratios lower than coeval oceanic values are recognised. The planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy and biochronology of this site are consistent with previous Mediterranean studies. The first occurrences (FOs) of Beella digitata, Orcadia riedeli and Globigerina bermudezi, observed in the Pleistocene interval of site 132 succession, are rarely recorded in Mediterranean sections. These bioevents however are easily recognized in several oceanic sequences in the same stratigraphic position; consequently, they can be used in the Mediterranean biostratigraphy

Worldwide correlation of the Pliocene/Pleistocene GSSP at Vrica (Southern Italy) confirmed by strontium isotope stratigraphy

High-precision measurements of 87Sr/86Sr ratios from foraminifers at the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary-stratotype section at Vrica (Southern Italy) show moderate variations throughout the section, ranging between 0.709043 and 0.709102. In the two samples closest to the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary stratotype in which strontium isotopic determinations are available, the 87Sr/86Sr ratio is constrained between 0.709063 ± 12 and 0.709051 ± 8; slightly above, the ratio rises to 0.709089 ± 7. The strontium isotope stratigraphy of the Vrica section is generally in agreement with published data from DSDP/ODP sections and confirms the worldwide correlatability of the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary-stratotype placed at Vrica, as previously suggested by biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic data

Reduction screening with endophytic fungi: synthesis of homochiral secondary alcohols

Twelve strains of endophytic fungi, isolated from various plants (i.e. Eugenia hallii, Schinus molle, Crataegus monogyna, Juniperus communis and Sambucus nigra) sampled in Amazonian forest and in Italy, were screened for their reduction activity with a cocktail of ketones 1-4. The four most active strains [i.e. Phomopsis (FE86 and FE290), Pestalotia and Epicoccum] were chosen for the reduction of 5-hexen-2-one 1, acetophenone 2, cis-bicyclo[3.2.0]hept-2-en-6-one 3, 2-methylcyclohexanone 4, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one 5, 2-furyl methyl ketone 6, 1-indanone 7, and 2,4,4-trimethyl-2-cyclohexen-1-one 8 and in all cases the S-alcohols were obtained with variable yields and enantiomeric excesses depending on the strains

Genetic analysis of Soil-Borne Cereal Mosaic Virus response in durum wheat: evidence for the role of the major quantitative trait locus QSbm.ubo-2BS and of minor quantitative trait loci.

Genetic analysis of Soil-Borne Cereal Mosaic Virus (SBCMV) resistance in durum wheat was carried out using a population of 180 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) obtained from Simeto (susceptible) 9 Levante (resistant). The RILs were characterized for SBCMV response in the field under severe and uniform SBCMV infection in two growing seasons and genotyped with simple sequence repeat (SSR) and Diversity Arrays Technology_ markers. Transgressive segregation was observed for disease reaction as estimated by symptom severity scores and virus concentration in leaves. Heritability of the disease response was high, with h2 values consistently above 80%. A major quantitative trait locus (QTL) (QSbm.ubo-2BS) in the distal telomeric region of chromosome 2BS accounted for 60\u201370% of the phenotypic variation for symptom severity, 40\u201355% for virus concentration and 15\u201330% for grain yield. The favorable allele was contributed by Levante. Seven additional QTL influenced SBCMV resistance, with the low-susceptibility allele contributed by Levante at five QTL and by Simeto at the remaining two. The meta-QTL analysis carried out using the data from two mapping populations (Simeto 9 Levante and Meridiano 9 Claudio) suggests that in both populations SBCMV resistance is likely controlled by QSbm.ubo-2BS. Our results confine QSbm.ubo-2BS to a c. 2-cM-wide interval flanked by SSR markers that are already being used for mar

Three new species of Aspergillus from Amazonian forest soil (Ecuador)

From an undisturbed natural forest soil in Ecuador, three fungal strains of the genus Aspergillus were isolated. Based on molecular and morphological features they are described as three new species, named A. quitensis, A. amazonicus, and A. ecuadorensis

Three new species of Aspergillus from Amazonian forest soil (Ecuador)

From an undisturbed natural forest soil in Ecuador, three fungal strains of the genus Aspergillus were isolated. Based on molecular and morphological features they are described as three new species, named A. quitensis, A. amazonicus, and A. ecuadorensis