Incidence of Fusarium oxysporum on commercial seeds of Diplotaxis spp., Eruca sativa , Lactuca sativa and Valerianella locusta.

The economical importance of \u201cready to use\u201d fruit and vegetable products (4th range), greatly increased in the last ten years; to date Lactuca sativa, Cichorium spp., Eruca sativa, Diplotaxis spp and Valerianella locusta cover a great part of the vegetable market. The final products quality can be achieved using healthy seeds and appropriate agronomic techniques. One of the most important pathogens of these species is Fusarium oxysporum: infected plants are usually stunted, leaves turn pale green to golden yellow and later wilt, wither, die and drop off progressively upward from the stem base. Browning occur in vascular tissue (xylem) of roots and lower stem, while roots may decay and seedlings sometimes wilt and die. Surviving seeds can act as source of primary inoculum. In the present work more than 100 seed lots of Diplotaxis spp., Eruca sativa, Lactuca spp. and Valerianella locusta have been analyzed, in order to assess the incidence of F. oxysporum on commercial seeds. Our data highlight the very low frequency of F. oxysporum infection and the presence of other Fusarium species belonging to Gibberella fujikuroi complex

Nuclear and cytoplasmic mechanisms of apoptosis triggered by photoactivated Calphostin C in neoplastic cells

The nuclear and cytoplasmic mechanisms of apoptosis triggered by photoactivated Calphostin C in human cervical carcinoma C4-I and rat pyF111 transformed fibroblast cells are discusse

Involvement of protein kinase C-zeta at the nuclear membrane level of VP-16-treated human cervical carcinoma C4-I cells

The involvement of protein kinase C-zeta in several protein complexes at the nuclear envelope level of VP-16-treated human cervical carcinoma C4-I cells is demonstrated

Comano\u2019s (Trentino) thermal water interferes with tumour necrosis factor-\u3b1 expression and interleukin-8 production and secretion by cultured human psoriatic keratinocytes: Yet other mechanisms of its anti-psoriatic action.

Thermal balneotherapy with Comano's spa water (CW; Trentino, Italy) is beneficial for psoriasis and other skin disorders but its operative mechanisms are largely unknown. Previously, we showed that CW interferes with the production and secretion of IL-6 and various VEGF-A isoforms and with CK-16 expression by cultured human psoriatic keratinocytes. In this study, confluent cultures of epidermal keratinocytes isolated from the lesional areas of 9 psoriatic patients were exposed for 11-13 days to DMEM, whose chemicals had been dissolved in either deionised water (DW-DMEM, controls) or CW (CW-DMEM, treated cells), in order to assess the expression and secretion of TNF-alpha and IL-8 by such cells. The results gained by means of immunocytochemistry, Western immunoblotting (WB), and ELISA assays showed that CW exposure significantly down-regulated the intracellular levels of TNF-alpha, a key inducer of IL-8, IL-6, and other chemokines. However, no assayable TNF-alpha secretion occurred in keratinocyte-conditioned DW- and CW-DMEM samples. Moreover, the intracellular levels and secretion rates of IL-8 were also markedly reduced in the protein extracts and conditioned media of CW-DMEM-incubated keratinocytes. Notably, the most effective inhibition of IL-8 secretion was elicited by a 25% CW fraction in the DMEM. Altogether, our findings indicate that by attenuating at lesional skin sites the deregulated production and secretion of a cascade of several cytokines and chemokines (e.g. TNF- alpha, IL-8, IL-6, and various VEGF-A isoforms), and by offsetting the keratinocytes' abnormal differentiation program entailing CK-16 expression, CW balneotherapy may beneficially influence the clinical manifestations of psoriasis

Study on the presence of Fusarium spp. on rice reproduction seeds in Northern Italy

In years 2003-2004, a survey on samples from rice reproduction seeds from seed reproducing firms was carried out in order to evaluate the quantity and quality of mycetes belonging to the genus Fusarium and the sanitary state of rice reproduction seeds. The percentage of infected samples, infected seeds and the species of Fusarium on seeds were determined. The collected data showed that the number of samples infected by Fusarium is quite high (50.5-100%) and the percentage of infected seeds is pretty low (1-5.4%). F. semitectum was found to be the most frequent species. Rice seeds must be treated with fungicides active against Pyricularia oryzae, Bipolaris oryzae and also Fusarium, especially F. semitectum, since its spread on rice reproduction seeds is increasin

Biomulecular characterization of Fusarium poae strains isolated from durum wheat in central Italy

Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) is a worldwide disease affecting wheat, barley and other grains, reducing kernel weight and grain yield; infected seeds may contain a large number of mycotoxins, including trichothecenes of type a and B. These compounds have already been associated with human and animal toxicoses. Most common species causing the disease are F. graminearum, F. culmorum and F. avenaceum, but in the last few years a gradual increase in incidence of another species, F. poae, has been reported. In general terms, F. poae is a relatively weak pathogen, but its contribute to the increase of mycotoxins level still has to be clarified. Durum wheat is widely cultivated in the central part of Italy, however the effective incidence of F. poae in this area still has to be investigated. In order to monitor Fusarium risk, we collected dozens of F. poae strains on seeds and glumes of durum wheat coming from some of the most important cultivated areas of Central Italy. Every isolate was identified both by microscope observation and by PCR assay with the primer pair Fp82 FIR. Strains were therefore subjected to a more accurate molecular characterization by Translation Elongation Factor I-alpha (TEF -1 a) gene sequencing

Monitoraggio della presenza di Fusarium spp. su seme di riso da riproduzione nell'Italia del nord.

Nel biennio 2003-2004 \ue8 stata condotta un\u2019indagine eziologica, volta a quantificare ed a qualificare la presenza di miceti appartenenti al genere Fusarium, su campioni di seme da riproduzione di riso prelevato presso aziende sementiere. Sono state valutate la percentuale di campioni infettati, la percentuale di seme infetto e determinate e quantificate le specie di Fusarium presenti sul seme. I dati raccolti hanno messo in evidenza che il numero di campioni infetti da Fusarium spp. \ue8 piuttosto elevato (50.5%\uf7100%), ma la percentuale di semi infetti \ue8 molto contenuta (1%\uf75.4%). La specie isolata con maggiore frequenza \ue8 stata F. semitectum. La concia del riso da seme deve, pertanto, essere effettuata con fungicidi efficaci sia verso Pyricularia oryzae e Bipolaris oryzae, ma anche verso il genere Fusarium ed in particolare F. semitectum, data la sua crescente diffusione sul riso

EMP4 GENE

The present invention relates to altering plant development and more particularly to altering the development of the plant endosperm. It concerns in particular nucleic acid molecules which alter the endosperm development

Caratterizzazione biomolecolare di Fusarium Oxysporum isolato da seme di Eruca sativa e Diplotaxis spp..

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. raphani \ue8 stato definito come agente causale del deperimento della rucola coltivata (Eruca sativa) e della rucola selvatica (Diplotaxis spp.) in Italia (Garibaldi et al., 2003). La principale fonte di diffusione, a lunga e a breve distanza, di questa tracheomicosi sembra essere il seme (Garibaldi et al., 2005). L\u2019esatta identificazione degli agenti causali \ue8 punto cruciale nella valutazione della sanit\ue0 delle sementi e nella gestione di questa problematica. Considerando che i miceti riferibili alla specie F. oxysporum sono agenti di deperimenti o marciumi radicali su centinaia di ospiti vegetali, distinti sulla base di risposte ospite specifiche in \u201cformae speciales\u201d, che la specie \ue8 ubiquitaria e cosmopolita, risulta difficile effettuare una identificazione tempestiva e certa con il solo approccio morfologico. Nel presente lavoro sono stati analizzati 49 lotti di semente, di cui 37 di rucola selvatica e 12 di rucola coltivata, su substrato semiselettivo (Komada\u2019s medium) per la ricerca di F. oxysporum. Per l\u2019individuazione di F. oxysporum f. sp. raphani, i 21 isolati collezionati, unitamente a 2 ceppi di riferimento, sono stati saggiati biologicamente tramite prove di patogenicit\ue0 differenziali in ambiente controllato e caratterizzati molecolarmente sulla base dello studio dei geni ITS e TEF. Nessun isolato da seme analizzato in questa indagine risulta appartenere a F. oxysporum f.sp. raphani