Use of Microsatellites to Study Agricultural Biodiversity and Food Traceability

Molecular markers are useful tools for measuring the genetic diversity among agricultural species. In plants, microsatellites are still the most used markers for germplasm characterization, conservation, and traceability purposes, while in the livestock sector, although having represented the standard for at least two decades, they are still used only for minor farm animal species. In this work, together with a review on the use of microsatellites in livestock, we also illustrate the use of these markers for the characterization of agricultural diversity and food traceability through two case studies: (i) the analysis of genetic diversity in ancient fruit tree cultivars of apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.), pear (Pyrus communis L.), sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.), and sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) from Northern Italy and (ii) the molecular authentication of wheat food chain. In the former case, a high genetic variability as well as the presence of different ploidy levels were detected, while in the latter microsatellite markers were shown to be useful for traceability and product authentication along the whole food chain. Overall, the presented evidence confirms the versatility of microsatellites as markers for both agrobiodiversity characterization and food traceability in cultivated plants and farm animals

Influence of genotype, location and year factors on quality and health promoting compounds of Rubus fruit

Berry fruits such as blackberry (Rubus fruticosus, L.) and raspberry (Rubus idaeus, L.) are widely consumed because of tradition and taste and for their positive nutritional properties. Their composition is characterized by a low calory and fat content as compared to other types of foods. Moreover, they are characterized by a high content in nutraceutical compounds, such as polyphenols and anthocyanins, that are found active for their protective effect against an excess production of free radicals, due to their antioxidant capacity. Fruit quality firstly depends on the genotypic difference, and secondly on the non-genetic, environmental factors, such as crop location and year of production. This work aims at contributing to the knowledge of the factors influencing Rubus fruit quality, by the comparative analysis of different cultivars of blackberry and raspberry picked during the period 2006-2009 in four locations of Northern Italy with very different pedological and climatic features. A first part of the work is focused on some bio-morphological variables (fruit weight, dimensions, soluble solids and acid content and skin colour measurement. A second part regarded the nutraceutical characteristics of fruit (total polyphenol, ascorbic acid, anthocyanin content and the 2,2-diphenyl-1-pycrilidrazyl – DPPH – assay). Significant differences were found between the analyzed cultivars and the locations, and the work try to contribute to open a discussion on the possible causes involved in these quality changes

Impollinazione Del Ciliegio Dolce. II Influenza Di Alcune Variabili Climatiche E Agronomiche Sulle Visite Di Apis Mellifera L.

In un precedente lavoro (FRILLI et al., 1983) è stata considerata l\u27influenza che talune variabili (anno, azienda e culrivar) esercitano sulla entità e sulla frequenza di visita degli insetti sui fiori di ciliegio dolce. Poichè il più importante ordine, dall\u27accertata attività pronuba, è quello degli Imenotteri (FREE, 1970; Mc GREGOR, 1976) e fra di essi la specie più frequente è Apis mellifera L. in questa nota si riferirà solo di essa. Al riguardo è ragio-nevole ritenere che il comportamento pronubo di Apis mellifera sia la risultante di numerosi fattori, variamente e finemente interagenti, di cui anno, azienda e cultivar rappresentano soltanto un\u27interpretazione piuttosto « gros-solana », seppur indubbiamente « comoda », per comprendere il legame esistente fra pronubo, impollinazione e produttività

Influence of Different Training Systems on Peach Trees Under Intertropical Altitude Conditions in Colombia

Colombia has about 5,000 cultivated hectares of temperate fruit trees (peach, plum, pear and apple) reaching in 2010 an amount of 52,984 tons of fruit production. The department of Boyac\ue1, which is found in the central region of Colombia, on the Andes, in the range 1,800-3,000 m.s.l. produces the most amount of temperate fruit in the country and its potential for peach trees cultivation has been widely highlighted by many Authors. About peach, there are still some problems regarding the low yielding and fruit quality and the neglected application of rational cultural practices. The natural forms that trees tend to adopt when they are not pruned, induce problems for their stability and break their branches for the weight of fruit. Cultural practices like pruning and thinning are rarely subject to specific investigations on a local level. For these reasons in 2011 a wide experiment was started for peach, but also apple, pear and plum, to check the vegetative and reproductive response of these fruit species rationally pruned and thinned. In particular, this study is relevant to the results, obtained for the peach trees, in the first 19 months after plantation and regarding some vegetative and productive preliminary data which were recorded at the end of this period

Trials on the Convenience of Mechanical Pruning of ‘Tonda Gentile delle Langhe’ in Piedmont

To obtain robust and extensible experimental results on the agronomic convenience of mechanical pruning of old bush trained hazelnut orchards in Piedmont, during the period 2006-2010 four trials to compare mechanical, manual and no pruning trees were made in 4 representative locations (=orchards). The orchards, located on flat or sloping grounds and growing TGL trees 6 to 18 years old, were pruned in March or in September, obtaining for each location 6 plots of 10-15 trees replicated twice and pruned once during the period 2006-2008. Observations generally regarded: pruning duration (s/tree) and amount of pruned wood; yielding and nut quality for at least 3 years after pruning operations. The results of the four trials were the following: - mechanical pruning duration was 1.4-3.9% higher than that of manual pruning. These figures can increase to 8-10% if device position time, manual finishing of larger cuts and desuckering are also considered; - the cumulative yield, 4 years after pruning operations, is equal but often greater for the mechanically pruned trees compared to non-pruned or manually pruned ones. These results are evidenced both in March and September trials. The cumulative production of manually pruned trees reached the amounts of the nonpruned plots only after 4-5 years. The convenience of pruning both by mechanical or manual system is evident starting from the first year after the cuts because of the better technological traits of nuts (e.g., seed weight, commercial rate, incidence of external and internal defects). However, these results are not registered for the younger orchard

L'olivicoltura in Emilia può avere buone chance

Uno studio realizzato dalle Università di Piacenza e Parma sottolinea le opportunità di espansione nelle province occidentali della regione