Can Seaweed Extract Improve Yield and Quality of Brewing Barley Subjected to Different Levels of Nitrogen Fertilization?

Barley is the primary matrix for malting process of beer production. Farmers count on increasing cultivation inputs, especially nitrogen fertilization, in order to reach a higher yield. Nevertheless, an overuse of nitrogen, besides causing environmental damages, can determine a deterioration of quality traits of malting barley, in particular an increase in grains protein content, which should range between 10 and 11% as required by the mating industry. Over two successive years, barley was grown under 4 different nitrogen (N) doses—0 kg N ha−1—N0; 20 kg N ha−1—N20; 40 kg N ha−1—N40 and 60 kg N ha−1—N60, and subject to a biostimulant treatment (Ecklonia maxima seaweed extract). Barley yield and growth parameters increased with nitrogen and seaweed application. N40 was already sufficient in the second year to reach the plateau of the highest production. Biostimulant application increased 17.9% the nitrogen use efficiency, 15.7% the biomass production, and 17.0% the yield with respect to untreated plants. Our results indicate that a significant reduction in nitrogen is possible and desirable, combined with the application of a plant-based biostimulant like seaweed extract, which determines an improvement in nitrogen use efficiency, assuring a higher production and lower fertilization inputs

Role of DNA repair machinery and p53 in the testicular germ cell cancer: a review

Notwithstanding the peculiar sensitivity to cisplatin-based treatment, resulting in a very high percentage of cures even in advanced stages of the disease, still we do not know the biological mechanisms that make Testicular Germ Cell Tumor (TGCT) "unique" in the oncology scene. p53 and MDM2 seem to play a pivotal role, according to several in vitro observations, but no correlation has been found between their mutational or expression status in tissue samples and patients clinical outcome. Furthermore, other players seem to be on stage: DNA Damage Repair Machinery (DDR) , especially Homologous Recombination (HR) proteins, above all Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated (ATM), cooperates with p53 in response to DNA damage, activating apoptotic cascade and contributing to cell "fate". Homologous Recombination deficiency has been assumed to be a Germ Cell Tumor characteristic underlying platinum-sensitivity, whereby Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), an enzyme involved in HR DNA repair, is an intriguing target: PARP inhibitors have already entered in clinical practice of other malignancies and trials are recruiting TGCT patients in order to validate their role in this disease. This paper aims to summarize evidence, trying to outline an overview of DDR implications not only in TGCT curability, but also in resistance to chemotherapy

Caratterizzazione e valutazione bio-agronomica delle principali cultivar del germoplasma olivicolo campano

L’obiettivo del presente lavoro è stato completare la caratterizzazione delle varietà più diffuse appartenenti al patrimonio genetico campano, valutandone sia gli aspetti morfologici, vegetativi, produttivi e vivaistici, fino ad arrivare ai caratteri chimici e sensoriali degli oli monovarietali. Il lavoro ha interessato 20 cultivar autoctone di olivo: 4 della provincia di Avellino, 5 di Benevento, 4 di Caserta e 7 di quella di Salerno. Il progetto sperimentale ha avuto quattro campi d’interesse: 1) Caratterizzazione morfologica e bio-agronomica; 2) Comportamento vivaistico delle cultivar; 3) Caratterizzazione chimica e sensoriale degli oli; 4) Effetto dell’ambiente sulla maturazione delle drupe e sulla composizione degli oli. Nell’ambito della caratterizzazione bio-agronomica sono state eseguite osservazioni fenologiche e biometriche del frutto, endocarpo e foglia, individuando per ciascuna cultivar l’epoca di fioritura e d’invaiatura, mettendo in evidenza un’ampia variabilità tra le cultivar. La caratterizzazione analitica e sensoriale degli oli, ha riguardato la composizione in acidi grassi, il contenuto fenolico e il profilo sensoriale, ed ha permesso di riscontrare un’ampia variabilità tra le cultivar, distinguendo quelle con un alto contenuto polifenolico da quelle a più basso contenuto e cultivar dai profili sensoriali complessi, ricchi di aromi, da cultivar con sentori più dolci. Lo studio sulla radicazione ha messo in luce la variabilità dell’attività rizogena delle cultivar di olivo appartenenti al germoplasma campano. I risultati ottenuti, sia con il NAD che con l’NAA, indicano che la radicazione delle talee risponde positivamente a entrambi i trattamenti di stimolo, anche se con differente efficacia, individuando nelle porzioni di ramo apicale e mediano, quelle più idonee alla radicazione. Tra i trattamenti in grado di favorire l’accrescimento delle giovani piantine in vivaio l’Osmocote fa registrare un incremento dello sviluppo dell’altezza e della superficie fogliare. Trattamenti a base di Trichoderma spp ha mostrato, invece, di poter incidere positivamente sulla sviluppo dell’apparato radicale delle giovani piante d’ulivo, così da favorire il superamento della crisi da trapianto. L’ambiente di coltivazione è determinante nell’espressione della tipicità e della qualità della cultivar. Anche se è difficile scomporre l’influenza dei parametri ambientali dai vari aspetti quantitativi e qualitativi della produzione, i dati ottenuti indicano, nel loro complesso, una migliore espressione della varietà autoctona Ortice coltivata nella sua area d’origine. L’ambiente di coltivazione ha modificato il contenuto degli acidi grassi e dei polifenoli dell’olio della cultivar Ortice, mentre il profilo aromatico è rimasto piuttosto stabile nei due ambienti, facendo prevalere per quest’ultimo aspetto l’effetto della cultivar sul fattore ambientale. Questa evidenza sperimentale conferma come la tipicità dell’olio extra vergine sia fortemente legata al binomio varietà-ambiente, requisito chiave per il riconoscimento di una denominazioni di origine protetta

Plant pathogens but not antagonists change in soil fungal communities across a land abandonment gradient in a Mediterranean landscape

We assessed whether the presence and abundance of plant pathogens and antagonists change in soil fungal communities along a land abandonment gradient. The study was carried out in the Cilento area (Southern Italy) at a site with three different habitats found along a land abandonment gradient: agricultural land, Mediterranean shrubland and woodland. For all microbiological substrates the colony forming units were about 3.1 × 106 g−1 soil for agricultural land and about 1.1 × 106 g−1 soil for Mediterranean shrubland and woodland. We found the following genera in all habitats: Cladosporium, Mortierella, Penicillium and Trichoderma. In agricultural land, the significantly most abundant fungus genera were Aspergillus, Fusarium, Cylindrocarpon and Nectria; in Mediterranean shrubland, Rhizopus and Trichoderma; and in woodland, Bionectria, Mortierella, Cladosporium, Diplodia, Paecilomyces, Penicillium and Trichoderma. We found a total of 8, 8 and 9 species of fungal antagonist, and 16, 6 and 6 species of fungal plant pathogens in agricultural land, Mediterranean shrubland and woodland respectively. Fungal plant pathogens decreased significantly over a land abandonment gradient, while we no found significant differences among fungal antagonists in the three habitats. We conclude that a decrease in the number of fungal pathogen species occurs when formerly cultivated areas are abandoned. On the other hand, fungal antagonists seem not to be affected by this process

Essential oils content and antioxidant properties of peel ethanol extract in 18 lemon cultivars

Composition of essential oils and antioxidant activity of peel ethanol extract were analyzed in 18 local lemon cultivars. Essential oils composition was determined by GC/FID analysis, and antioxidant activity with the ABTS method. Fruit weight, polar and equatorial diameters, peel thickness, seed number, juice percentage, titratable acidity and juice pH were also determined for each cultivar. The main component in the peel essential oil was limonene, accounting for 72.5–76.4%, followed by _-pinene (11.6–18.7%). Several other monoterpene hydrocarbons were also identified at appreciable contents, namely terpinene (2.88–8.26%), _-pinene (1.4–1.5%) and myrcene (0.95–1.12%). No clear relationship could be shown between the antioxidant activity and the essential oil composition of the extracts. In this study, cultivars with higher essential oil content and antioxidant activity were identified. Data were subjected to analysis of variance using ANOVA and means were compared by the Duncan test

Crop growth analysis and yield of a lignocellulosic biomass crop (Arundo donax L.) in three marginal areas of Campania region

The depletion of energy resources from fossil fuels and global warming have pushed to consider the agro-energy as one of the renewable energy sources for mitigation of climate change. In this context, agro-energy based on cultivation of energy crops in marginal lands allows to reduce competition with food crops and marginal lands abandonment, producing incomes for farmers. The aim of this work is to improve the knowledge on a promising crop (Arundo donax L.) for the production of bio-energy in marginal lands. Therefore, the behaviour of this crop was evaluated in three study areas of Campania region, under different energy inputs: two levels of nitrogen fertilisation, N100 and N50 in Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi (SA) and Bellizzi (BL). In Acerra (AC) site compost fertilisation was made to verify its effect on pollutant phytoextraction. In the last year, also crop growth analysis was done in the three sites. The results showed that giant reed confirms its adaptability to low fertility soils, allowing interesting biomass yield also in marginal lands. In more fertile environments, effect of fertilisation is not significant at least in the short term. Nevertheless, nitrogen uptake (65-130 kg N ha–1), also if lower than other highyielding crops, needs to be compensated with fertilisation to avoid depletion of soil nutrient reserves and to guarantee sustainability of this cropping system. Giant reed had a positive environmental impact, due to the improvement in soil fertility (soil organic matter and nitrogen increase) and to the mitigation of climate change (C storage in the soil). In marginal soils of Southern Italy this crop confirms an increasing trend of yield during the first 3-4 years. High productivity levels of this crop are related to the extremely high duration of the vegetative period and thus of the photosynthetic activity (from March to November in the Mediterranean area). These last are well expressed by the leaf area duration index, which is more than double than other high-yielding crops such as maize (280 vs 140 days)