The virtues of being peripheral, recreational, and transnational: local wild food and medicinal plant knowledge in selected remote municipalities of Calabria, Southern Italy

Background The Italian “Strategy for Inner Areas” includes a series of actions to avoid depopulation of rural areas by safeguarding the territory from hydrogeological instability and triggering development. Such strategy classified each municipality according to the distance to a centre defined as a town where certain services are provided. This article analyses the ethnobotanical knowledge in four villages distant from a centre. Moreover, it discusses the effect of a millennium-old sacred natural site (SNS), the Certosa of Serra San Bruno, on the local ethnobotanical knowledge. Methods Sixty semi-structured interviews were conducted among elderly inhabitants of two peripheral and two ultra-peripheral Calabrian villages in 2017 and 2018. The interviews focused on the use of local wild and semi-wild plants currently gathered, for both culinary and medicinal purposes, and the modes of preparation and consumption. Results Our study reveals that in Calabria ethnobotanical knowledge is better preserved when it can contribute to household food security in contexts of remoteness and extremely poor economic conditions or when relative well-being allows spending time foraging as a recreational activity. Moreover, we found peculiar ethnobotanical practices in Serra San Bruno which may have been introduced by the monastic community and may have contributed to the creation of a “glocal” ethnobotany by introducing knowledge from other European contexts. Conclusions In conclusion, the “Strategy for inner areas” should target the rich ethnobotanical traditional knowledge still present in Calabria as it may represent a powerful tool for achieving sustainable development of peripheral and ultra-peripheral areas

Dissymmetry at the border: wild food and medicinal ethnobotany of Slovenes and Friulians in NE Italy

Cross-cultural and cross-border research represents a valuable tool for addressing traditional plant knowledge variability and change. An ethnobotanical field study was carried out during late spring 2018 within two culturally and linguistically distinct communities (Friulian and Slovenian speakers) in Friuli Venezia Giulia, NE Italy. Data were gathered via semi-structured interviews with 32 local inhabitants regarding the use of wild and semi-domesticated food and medicinal plants. We recorded 108 botanical taxa, of which 79 were common to both communities. Despite a common ecological landscape and an overlap in the overall used taxa, some differences were recorded for the most commonly utilized taxa. This indicates that the culture and language of minorities may have played an important role in preserving biocultural identity and customs. Our study shows how dissymmetry was shaped by the different distances of the two groups to the dominant standard Italian mainstream over the last few centuries and how cultural identity is actually constructed in relation to a dominant cultural code. Future studies should address the strategies of biocultural adaptation and resilience in multiethnic and multilingual crossroad regions

Molecular diversity, population structure, and linkage disequilibrium in a worldwide collection of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) germplasm

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The goals of our study were to assess the phylogeny and the population structure of tobacco accessions representing a wide range of genetic diversity; identify a subset of accessions as a core collection capturing most of the existing genetic diversity; and estimate, in the tobacco core collection, the extent of linkage disequilibrium (LD) in seven genomic regions using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. To this end, a collection of accessions were genotyped with SSR markers. Molecular diversity was evaluated and LD was analyzed across seven regions of the genome.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A genotyping database for 312 tobacco accessions was profiled with 49 SSR markers. Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) and Bayesian cluster analysis revealed structuring of the tobacco population with regard to commercial classes and six main clades were identified, which correspond to "Oriental", Flue-Cured", "Burley", "Dark", "Primitive", and "Other" classes. Pairwise kinship was calculated between accessions, and an overall low level of co-ancestry was observed. A set of 89 genotypes was identified that captured the whole genetic diversity detected at the 49 loci. LD was evaluated on these genotypes, using 422 SSR markers mapping on seven linkage groups. LD was estimated as squared correlation of allele frequencies (<it>r²</it>). The pattern of intrachromosomal LD revealed that in tobacco LD extended up to distances as great as 75 cM with <it>r²</it>> 0.05 or up to 1 cM with <it>r²</it>> 0.2. The pattern of LD was clearly dependent on the population structure.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A global population of tobacco is highly structured. Clustering highlights the accessions with the same market class. LD in tobacco extends up to 75 cM and is strongly dependent on the population structure.</p

Adaptive introgression from indicine cattle into white cattle breeds from Central Italy

Cattle domestication occurred at least twice independently and gave rise to the modern taurine and indicine cattle breeds. European cattle diversity is generally dominated by taurine cattle, although elevated levels of indicine ancestry have been recorded in several breeds from southern Europe. Here we use genome-wide high-density SNP genotyping data to investigate the taurine and indicine ancestry in southern European cattle, based on a dataset comprising 508 individuals from 23 cattle breeds of taurine, indicine and mixed ancestry, including three breeds from Central Italy known to exhibit the highest levels of indicine introgression among southern European breeds. Based on local genomic ancestry analyses, we reconstruct taurine and indicine ancestry genome-wide and along chromosomes. We scrutinise local genomic introgression signals and identify genomic regions that have introgressed from indicine into taurine cattle under positive selection, harbouring genes with functions related to body size and feed efficiency. These findings suggest that indicine-derived traits helped enhance Central Italian cattle through adaptive introgression. The identified genes could provide genomic targets for selection for improved cattle performance. Our findings elucidate the key role of adaptive introgression in shaping the phenotypic features of modern cattle, aided by cultural and livestock exchange among historic human societies

Combining landscape genomics and ecological modelling to investigate local adaptation of indigenous Ugandan cattle to East Coast fever

East Coast fever (ECF) is a fatal sickness affecting cattle populations of eastern, central, and southern Africa. The disease is transmitted by the tick Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, and caused by the protozoan Theileria parva parva, which invades host lymphocytes and promotes their clonal expansion. Importantly, indigenous cattle show tolerance to infection in ECF-endemically stable areas. Here, the putative genetic bases underlying ECF-tolerance were investigated using molecular data and epidemiological information from 823 indigenous cattle from Uganda. Vector distribution and host infection risk were estimated over the study area and subsequently tested as triggers of local adaptation by means of landscape genomics analysis. We identified 41 and seven candidate adaptive loci for tick resistance and infection tolerance, respectively. Among the genes associated with the candidate adaptive loci are PRKG1 and SLA2. PRKG1 was already described as associated with tick resistance in indigenous South African cattle, due to its role into inflammatory response. SLA2 is part of the regulatory pathways involved into lymphocytes' proliferation. Additionally, local ancestry analysis suggested the zebuine origin of the genomic region candidate for tick resistance

AdaptMap: exploring goat diversity and adaptation

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Strengthening insights into host responses to mastitis infection in ruminants by combining heterogeneous microarray data sources

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gene expression profiling studies of mastitis in ruminants have provided key but fragmented knowledge for the understanding of the disease. A systematic combination of different expression profiling studies via meta-analysis techniques has the potential to test the extensibility of conclusions based on single studies. Using the program Pointillist, we performed meta-analysis of transcription-profiling data from six independent studies of infections with mammary gland pathogens, including samples from cattle challenged <it>in vivo </it>with <it>S. aureus</it>, <it>E. coli</it>, and <it>S. uberis</it>, samples from goats challenged <it>in vivo </it>with <it>S. aureus</it>, as well as cattle macrophages and ovine dendritic cells infected <it>in vitro </it>with <it>S. aureus</it>. We combined different time points from those studies, testing different responses to mastitis infection: overall (common signature), early stage, late stage, and cattle-specific.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Ingenuity Pathway Analysis of affected genes showed that the four meta-analysis combinations share biological functions and pathways (e.g. protein ubiquitination and polyamine regulation) which are intrinsic to the general disease response. In the overall response, pathways related to immune response and inflammation, as well as biological functions related to lipid metabolism were altered. This latter observation is consistent with the milk fat content depression commonly observed during mastitis infection. Complementarities between early and late stage responses were found, with a prominence of metabolic and stress signals in the early stage and of the immune response related to the lipid metabolism in the late stage; both mechanisms apparently modulated by few genes, including <it>XBP1 </it>and <it>SREBF1</it>.</p> <p>The cattle-specific response was characterized by alteration of the immune response and by modification of lipid metabolism. Comparison of <it>E. coli </it>and <it>S. aureus </it>infections in cattle <it>in vivo </it>revealed that affected genes showing opposite regulation had the same altered biological functions and provided evidence that <it>E. coli </it>caused a stronger host response.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This meta-analysis approach reinforces previous findings but also reveals several novel themes, including the involvement of genes, biological functions, and pathways that were not identified in individual studies. As such, it provides an interesting proof of principle for future studies combining information from diverse heterogeneous sources.</p

Disease-specific and general health-related quality of life in newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients: The Pros-IT CNR study

Background: The National Research Council (CNR) prostate cancer monitoring project in Italy (Pros-IT CNR) is an observational, prospective, ongoing, multicentre study aiming to monitor a sample of Italian males diagnosed as new cases of prostate cancer. The present study aims to present data on the quality of life at time prostate cancer is diagnosed. Methods: One thousand seven hundred five patients were enrolled. Quality of life is evaluated at the time cancer was diagnosed and at subsequent assessments via the Italian version of the University of California Los Angeles-Prostate Cancer Index (UCLA-PCI) and the Short Form Health Survey (SF-12). Results: At diagnosis, lower scores on the physical component of the SF-12 were associated to older ages, obesity and the presence of 3+ moderate/severe comorbidities. Lower scores on the mental component were associated to younger ages, the presence of 3+ moderate/severe comorbidities and a T-score higher than one. Urinary and bowel functions according to UCLA-PCI were generally good. Almost 5% of the sample reported using at least one safety pad daily to control urinary loss; less than 3% reported moderate/severe problems attributable to bowel functions, and sexual function was a moderate/severe problem for 26.7%. Diabetes, 3+ moderate/severe comorbidities, T2 or T3-T4 categories and a Gleason score of eight or more were significantly associated with lower sexual function scores at diagnosis. Conclusions: Data collected by the Pros-IT CNR study have clarified the baseline status of newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients. A comprehensive assessment of quality of life will allow to objectively evaluate outcomes of different profile of care

Les droits disciplinaires des fonctions publiques : « unification », « harmonisation » ou « distanciation ». A propos de la loi du 26 avril 2016 relative à la déontologie et aux droits et obligations des fonctionnaires

The production of tt‾ , W+bb‾ and W+cc‾ is studied in the forward region of proton–proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.98±0.02 fb−1 . The W bosons are reconstructed in the decays W→ℓν , where ℓ denotes muon or electron, while the b and c quarks are reconstructed as jets. All measured cross-sections are in agreement with next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions.The production of $t\overline{t}$, $W+b\overline{b}$ and $W+c\overline{c}$ is studied in the forward region of proton-proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.98 $\pm$ 0.02 \mbox{fb}^{-1}. The $W$ bosons are reconstructed in the decays $W\rightarrow\ell\nu$, where $\ell$ denotes muon or electron, while the $b$ and $c$ quarks are reconstructed as jets. All measured cross-sections are in agreement with next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions