Les marchés de la biodiversité

Depuis la fin des années 1980, l’essor des biotechnologies et l’extension des brevets sur le vivant ont laissé entrevoir des possibilités d’utilisations lucratives des substances naturelles, notamment dans les secteurs de la pharmacie, de la cosmétique, de l’agroalimentaire... Pour concilier la conservation de la biodiversité et les revendications des populations autochtones gardiennes de ces ressources, la Convention sur la diversité biologique, signée lors du Sommet de Rio en 1992, a préconisé l’institution de marchés. Il s’agissait aussi d’en finir avec la bio-piraterie et d’assurer « le partage juste et équitable des avantages tirés de l’exploitation des ressources génétiques ». Ces « marchés de la biodiversité », soutenus par la vague du libéralisme économique, ont été l’objet de toutes les spéculations. Mais au-delà du slogan, qu’en est-il aujourd’hui de la marchandisation du vivant ? Comment se décline-t-elle du Nord au Sud ? Le cadre juridique et politique de la Convention n’est-il pas déjà dépassé par l’évolution des connaissances et des techniques, et peu adapté à la complexité des situations observées ? Pour répondre à ces questions, économistes, juristes, sociologues, anthropologues et biochimistes apportent ici un éclairage nouveau, documenté et critique, sur le modèle de conservation de la biodiversité fondé sur son exploitation commerciale

Morphological Characterization of Some Local Varieties of Fig (Ficus carica L.) Cultivated in Southern Italy

Figs (Ficus carica L.) are ancient fruits of the Mediterranean basin. In Southern Italy, they are particularly important in the traditional course of local cuisine. In Southern Italy, fig trees are rarely cultivated in specialized orchards but are present in association with other fruit trees (for example, olive, almond, pear, pomegranate, and grapevine). These mixed orchards are particularly important in the traditional agroecosystems of the south of Italy. This study reports preliminary results on the local fig variety’s leaf morphological characterization, aiming to elucidate the presence of synonymousness or homonymy for in situ and ex situ conservation and further exploitation. A field survey was carried out during the summer of 2018 in some areas of the Basilicata district. Thirty local putative varieties were collected, and each of them was identified by GPS coordinates and recorded photographically. Moreover, they were cataloged with the name of the Municipality of origin, year, details of growing location (main crop, mixed orchard, gardens, and single plants), approximate age, and the local name supplied by the donor. All relevant information was included in the accession code. Leaf samples were collected from each accession from medium-length shoots. A digital image of each leaf sample was captured using a digital camera. Leaf morphometric traits were recorded using ImageJ and statistically analyzed using the software PAST 4.11 to discriminate among fig accessions. The multivariate morphometric approach applied correctly classified more than 90% of the leaves and helped to discriminate among accession. Moreover, linear discriminant analysis helped to recognize the presence of different synonymousness and homonymy of different accessions. The results revealed that measured leaf morphometric aided by image analysis could be a simple and inexpensive accessions classification tool

In situ polymerization of soil organic matter by oxidative biomimetic catalysis.

Background: Agricultural practices that enhance organic matter content in soil can play a central role in sequestering soil organic carbon (SOC) and reducing greenhouse gases emissions. Methods: We used a water-soluble iron-porphyrin to catalyze directly in situ oxidative polymerization of soil organic matter in the presence of H2O2 oxidant, with the aim to enhance OC stabilization, and, consequently, reduce CO2 emissions from soil. The occurred SOC stabilization was assessed by monitoring soil aggregate stability, OC distribution in water-soluble aggregates, soil respiration, and extraction yields of humic and fulvic acids. Results: Soil treatment with H2O2 and iron-porphyrin increased the physical stability of water-stable soil aggregates and the total OC content in small aggregates, thereby suggesting that the catalyzed oxidative polymerization increased OC in soil and induced a soil physical improvement. The significant reduction of CO2 respired by the catalyst- and H2O2-treated soil indicated an enhanced resistance of polymerized SOC to microbial mineralization. The catalyzed oxidative polymerization of SOC also significantly decreased the extraction yields of humic and fulvic acids from soil. Conclusions: The oxidative catalytic technology described here may become an efficient agricultural practice for OC sequestration in soils and contribute to mitigate global changes

Phenotyping Key Fruit Quality Traits in Olive Using RGB Images and Back Propagation Neural Networks

To predict oil and phenol concentrations in olive fruit, the combination of back propagation neural networks (BPNNs) and contact-less plant phenotyping techniques was employed to retrieve RGB image-based digital proxies of oil and phenol concentrations. Fruits of cultivars (×3) differing in ripening time were sampled (∼10-day interval, ×2 years), pictured and analyzed for phenol and oil concentrations. Prior to this, fruit samples were pictured and images were segmented to extract the red (R), green (G), and blue (B) mean pixel values that were rearranged in 35 RGB-based colorimetric indexes. Three BPNNs were designed using as input variables (a) the original 35 RGB indexes, (b) the scores of principal components after a principal component analysis (PCA) pre-processing of those indexes, and (c) a reduced number (28) of the RGB indexes achieved after a sparse PCA. The results show that the predictions reached the highest mean R2 values ranging from 0.87 to 0.95 (oil) and from 0.81 to 0.90 (phenols) across the BPNNs. In addition to the R2, other performance metrics were calculated (root mean squared error and mean absolute error) and combined into a general performance indicator (GPI). The resulting rank of the GPI suggests that a BPNN with a specific topology might be designed for cultivars grouped according to their ripening period. The present study documented that an RGB-based image phenotyping can effectively predict key quality traits in olive fruit supporting the developing olive sector within a digital agriculture domain

How soil microbial biodiversity is modified by soil chemical parameters in differently managed olive orchards

Soil restoration is an important challenge of the 21st century, facing the increasing soil degradation, characterized by decline in quality and decrease in ecosystem goods and services. Several studies confirmed that sustainable orchard management practices might sequester atmospheric CO2 into soil, tree biomass and litter, enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) stock and biodiversity. Higher biodiversity in ecosystems leads to greater stability and multifunctionality. In bacteria-plant interactions, both the bacteria and the plant profit from each other. These interactions play an important role in agriculture, positively affecting plant status and improving product quality. This study aimed at evaluating soil N/C parameters and microbial communities in soil, leaf (aerial part) and xylem sap between olive trees managed under sustainable practices for 17 years (i.e., no-tillage, drip irrigation with urban wastewater and recycling of polygenic carbon sources, like cover crops and pruning material) and trees managed under conventional ones (i.e., soil tillage, burning of pruning residues, mineral fertilization, rainfed), in a mature olive grove located in Southern Italy. In March 2017, samples of soil, leaf and xylem sap were collected in both treatments for DNA extraction and metagenomic analysis of the microbial communities. Soil samples were also collected for chemical and metabolic analyses. Results revealed that the long-term adoption of sustainable agricultural practices increased SOC, organic-N, and microbial biodiversity, with positive effects on plant growth protection and crop quality of olive plants

The prognostic value of stromal and epithelial periostin expression in human breast cancer: Correlation with clinical pathological features and mortality outcome

open6noBackground: PN is a secreted cell adhesion protein critical for carcinogenesis. In breast cancer, it is overexpressed compared to normal breast, and a few reports suggest that it has a potential role as a prognostic marker. Methods: Tumour samples obtained at the time of mastectomy from 200 women followed for a median time of 18.7 years (range 0.5-29.5 years) were investigated through IHC with a polyclonal anti-PN antibody using tissue microarrays. Epithelial and stromal PN expression were scored independently according to the percentage of coloured cells; the 60th percentile of PN epithelial expression, corresponding to 1 %, and the median value of PN stromal expression, corresponding to 90 %, were used as arbitrary cut-offs. The relationships between epithelial and stromal PN expression and clinicalpathological features, tumour phenotype and the risk of mortality following surgery were analysed. Appropriate statistics, including the Fine and Gray competing risk proportional hazard regression model, were used. Results: The expression of PN in tumour epithelial cells was significantly lower than that which was observed in stromal cells (p < 0.000). No specific association between epithelial or stromal PN expression and any of the clinicalpathological parameters analysed was found as it was observed in respect to mortality when these variables were analysed individually. However, when both variables were considered as a function of the other one, the expression of PN in the stromal cells maintained a statistically significant predictive value with respect to both all causes and cancerspecific mortality only in the presence of high epithelial expression levels. No significant differences in either all causes or BCa-specific mortality rates were shown according to epithelial expression for tumours displaying higher stromal PN expression rates. However, the trends were opposite for the higher stromal values and the patients with high epithelial expression levels denoted the group with the worst prognosis, while higher epithelial values in patients with lower stromal expression levels denoted the group with the best prognosis, suggesting that PN epithelial/stromal interactions play a crucial role in breast carcinogenesis, most likely due to functional cross-talk between the two compartments. On the basis of PN expression in both compartments, we defined 4 subgroups of patients with different mortality rates with the group of patients characterized by positive epithelial and low stromal PN expression cells showing the lowest mortality risk as opposed to the groups of patients identified by a high PN expression in both cell compartments or those identified by a low or absent PN expression in both cell compartments showing the worst mortality rates. The differences were highly statistically significant and were also retained after multiparametric analysis. Competing risk analysis demonstrated that PN expression patterns characterizing each of previous groups are specifically associated with cancer-specific mortality. Conclusions: Although they require further validation through larger studies, our findings suggest that the patterns of expression of PN in both compartments can allow for the development of IHC "signatures" that maintain a strong independent predictive value of both all causes and, namely, of cancer-specific mortality.openNuzzo, P.V.; Rubagotti, A.; Zinoli, L.; Salvi, S.; Boccardo, S.; Boccardo, F.Nuzzo, PIER VITALE; Rubagotti, Alessandra; Zinoli, Linda; Salvi, Sara; Boccardo, S.; Boccardo, F

Different water and light regimes affect ionome composition in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.)

Many inorganic cations play a major role in winemaking processes and wine quality. For this reason, chemistry at the elemental level ("ionomic") of the grape berry is of concern not only to the viticulturist, but also to the oenologist due to their direct impact on juice and must composition, which in turn affect wine quality. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of reduced irrigation and incident light (by means of micronized calcite) on the berry skin ionome of the Italian red grape 'Aglianico'. The study was carried out in a five-years-old vineyard (Vitis vinifera L. 'Aglianico') located in Southern Italy. Half of the plants (IRR) were drip irrigated, whereas the other half were not irrigated (NIR). Half of IRR and NIR plants were treated with Megagreen® micronized calcite. In all the treatments, plant water status and gas exchange were determined. The mean values of stem water potential (ψw) during the experiment were –1.02 and –1.10 MPa in IRR and NIR, respectively. The calcite treatments did not show changes in ψw values if compared to the untreated ones. The values of gas exchange were not statistically different among the four treatments. Grape berries were separated into three groups of mass, and the levels of macroelements, microelements and lanthanides were measured. Irrigation and calcite significantly affected macroelements distribution in all the three groups of mass, with Fe, Cu and Zn being significantly higher in the IRR and calcite-treated treatments. The effect of irrigation on the changes in microelement levels was significant for some elements. Calcite-treated vines showed higher mean values of Co, Cd, Hg and Pb. Regarding lanthanides, in calcite-untreated vines, irrigation determined significant decreases in average La, Ce, Nd, whereas in calcite-treated vines, increases in the mean concentrations of Ce, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Er and Yb were found. Generally, lanthanide levels did not change between calcite-treated and untreated vines, and in all the treatments Lu resulted to be the most abundant one. Macroelements, microelements and lanthanide levels generally decreased with decreasing berry weight. The dynamics of the extractability of metals from grape berries to must during fermentation could be used to predict wine quality during the following processes and for wine traceability purposes.