204 research outputs found
Electronic phase separation near the superconductor-insulator transition of Nd1+xBa2−xCu3O7−δ thin films studied by an electric-field-induced doping effect
We report a detailed study of the transport properties of Nd(1+x)Ba(2-x)Cu(3)O(7-delta) thin films with doping changed by field effect. The data cover the whole superconducting to insulating transition and show remarkable Similarities with the effect of chemical doping in high critical temperature superconductors. The results suggest that the add-on of carriers is accompanied by an electronic phase separation, independent on the details of the doping mechanism
Tomato ionomic approach for food fortification and safety.
Food fortification is an issue of paramount of importance for people living both in developed
and in developing countries. Among substances listed as "nutriceuticals", essential minerals have
been recognised for their involvement in several healthy issues, involving all ages. In this frame,
food plants are playing a pivotal role since their capability to compartmentalise ions and proteinmetal
complexes in edible organs. Conversely, the accumulation of high metal levels in those
organs may lead to safety problems. In the recent years, thanks to the availability of new and
improved analytical apparatus in both ionic and genomic/transcrittomics areas, it is became feasible
to couple data coming from plant physiology and genetics. Ionomics is the discipline that studies
the cross-analysis of both data sets. Our group, in the frame of GenoPom project granted by MiUR,
is interested to study the ionomics of tomatoes cultivars derived by breeding programmes in which
wild relatives have been used to transfer several useful traits, such as resistance to biotic or abiotic
stresses, fruit composition and textiture, etc. The introgression of the wild genome into the
cultivated one produces new gene combinations. They might lead to the expression of some traits,
such as increased or reduced adsorption of some metals and their exclusion or loading into edible
organs, thus strongly involving the nutritional food value. Our final goal is to put together data
coming from ions homeostasis and gene expression analyses, thus obtaining an ionomic tomato
map related to ions absorption, translocation and accumulation in various plant organs, fruits
included. To follow our hypothesis, we are studying the ionome of Solanum lycopersicum cv. M82
along with 76 Introgression Lines (ILs) produced by interspecific crosses between this cultivar and
the wild species S. pennellii. These ILs are homozygous for small portions of the wild species
genome introgressed into the domesticated M82 one. They are used as a useful tool for mapping
QTL associated with many traits of interest. It is worthy to note that, until now, little information is
available on QTL for ions accumulation in tomato. Moreover, as our knowledge, effects of new
gene combinations in introgressed lines on ions uptake related to food safety have not been
extensively studied. In this presentation we show results coming from the ionome analysis, carried
out on S . lycopersicum M82 and several ILs. Plants were grown in pots in a greenhouse and
watered with deionised water Thirty day-old plants were left to grow for 15 days in the presence of
non-toxic concentration of Cd, Pb, As, Cr and Zn given combined. Leaves of all plants were then
harvested and stored at -80°C for ionome and gene expression analyses. Preliminary results of
ionome analysis of S. lycopersicum M82 and several ILs, carried out using an ICP-MS, showed that
traits correlated to toxic metals and micronutrients accumulation in apical leaves were significantly
modified in response to specific genetic backgrounds. Those results are perhaps due to the
introgression of traits linked to uptake, translocation and accumulation of useful and/or toxic metal
into plant apical leaves and to interactions of the wild type introgressed genomic regions with the
cultivated genome. Also, data are shown on the identification and isolation of Solanum gene
sequences related to ions uptake, translocation and accumulation, useful for further real-time gene
expression evaluation in both cultivated and ILs during the treatments with the above-mentioned
metals
Last tesserae of a fading mosaic: floristic census and forest vegetation survey at Parche di Bilello (south-western Sicily, Italy), a site needing urgent protection measures.
This paper illustrates the botanic heritage of Parche di Bilello, a site located in the municipality of Castelvetrano. The study area hosts several woodland fragments dominated by Olea europaea var. sylvestris, Quercus suber and Quercus ilex, respectively. According to historical data, these nuclei represent the last remnants of an open forestland which covered a much wider coastal area between Mazara del Vallo and Sciacca until the end of Middle Age. Phytosociological relevés were focused on these forest nuclei, probably the most representative of south-western Sicily, which correspond to three habitats included in the 92/43 EEC Directive (9320, 9330 and
9340, respectively) and represent the final stage of three different edaphic series. Wild olive forests probably dominated on sandy calcareous soils, holm oaks prevailed on steep calcareous and N-exposed slopes. In contrast, cork oaks mostly occurred on sandy subacid soils issuing from pedogenetic processes on palaeodunes. Moreover, field surveys allowed to list 331 vascular plant taxa. Among them, Linaria multicaulis subsp. humilis, Orobanche balsensis and Serapias orientalis subsp. siciliensis are new to Trapani Province. Detailed information on the current distribution and the synecology of several plant taxa of high biogeographic and conservation interest is also provided. The study site also hosts one habitat of priority interest (6220, i.e. xerophilous Mediterranean perennial grasslands and annual swards) and two species protected by international laws, i.e. the orchid Ophrys lunulata and the lichen Teloschistes chrysophthalmus. Considering the high value of its natural heritage, this territory deserves the adoption of more effective protection measures. For this reason the authors recommend its inclusion as a new Site of Community Interest within the Sicilian Natura 2000 network
Quantized conductance in a one-dimensional ballistic oxide nanodevice
Electric-field effect control of two-dimensional electron gases (2-DEG) has
enabled the exploration of nanoscale electron quantum transport in
semiconductors. Beyond these classical materials, transition metal-oxide-based
structures have d-electronic states favoring the emergence of novel quantum
orders absent in conventional semiconductors. In this context, the
LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface that combines gate-tunable superconductivity and
sizeable spin-orbit coupling is emerging as a promising platform to realize
topological superconductivity. However, the fabrication of nanodevices in which
the electronic properties of this oxide interface can be controlled at the
nanoscale by field-effect remains a scientific and technological challenge.
Here, we demonstrate the quantization of conductance in a ballistic quantum
point contact (QPC), formed by electrostatic confinement of the LaAlO3/SrTiO3
2-DEG with a split-gate. Through finite source-drain voltage, we perform a
comprehensive spectroscopic investigation of the 3d energy levels inside the
QPC, which can be regarded as a spectrometer able to probe Majorana states in
an oxide 2-DEG
Polar catastrophe and electronic reconstructions at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface: evidence from optical second harmonic generation
The so-called "polar catastrophe", a sudden electronic reconstruction taking
place to compensate for the interfacial ionic polar discontinuity, is currently
considered as a likely factor to explain the surprising conductivity of the
interface between the insulators LaAlO3 and SrTiO3. We applied optical second
harmonic generation, a technique that a priori can detect both mobile and
localized interfacial electrons, to investigating the electronic polar
reconstructions taking place at the interface. As the LaAlO3 film thickness is
increased, we identify two abrupt electronic rearrangements: the first takes
place at a thickness of 3 unit cells, in the insulating state; the second
occurs at a thickness of 4-6 unit cells, i.e., just above the threshold for
which the samples become conducting. Two possible physical scenarios behind
these observations are proposed. The first is based on an electronic transfer
into localized electronic states at the interface that acts as a precursor of
the conductivity onset. In the second scenario, the signal variations are
attributed to the strong ionic relaxations taking place in the LaAlO3 layer
Origin of interface magnetism in BiMnO3/SrTiO3 and LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures
Possible ferromagnetism induced in otherwise non-magnetic materials has been
motivating intense research in complex oxide heterostructures. Here we show
that a confined magnetism is realized at the interface between SrTiO3 and two
insulating polar oxides, BiMnO3 and LaAlO3. By using polarization dependent
x-ray absorption spectroscopy, we find that in both cases the magnetic order is
stabilized by a negative exchange interaction between the electrons transferred
to the interface and local magnetic moments. These local magnetic moments are
associated to Ti3+ ions at the interface itself for LaAlO3/SrTiO3 and to Mn3+
ions in the overlayer for BiMnO3/SrTiO3. In LaAlO3/SrTiO3 the induced magnetic
moments are quenched by annealing in oxygen, suggesting a decisive role of
oxygen vacancies in the stabilization of interfacial magnetism.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Ion uptake and YSL1 gene identification in tomato
Tomato breeder are using wild tomato relatives, even non-cross compatibles ones, in order to
obtain cultivars with highly commercial values bearing new traits. However, the introgression of a
wild genome into the cultivated one produces a new gene combinations that may lead to the
expression of undeliverable traits, perhaps not so easy to recognise; even more, phenotypic
variations may escape during the selection procedure when minor genes or non-abnormal
phenotypes are involved. In the frame of the “GenoPom” project funded by MIUR, we have
focused our interest on the alteration of heavy metals uptake from the soil and their loading into
edible organs in commercial lines coming from Solanum interspecific crosses. Our final aim is to
put together data coming from ion homeostasis and gene expression analyses, thus obtaining a
ionomic map of tomato. To pursue our goal, we have started to study the cv M82 of Solanum
lycopersicon, the wild relative Solanum pennelli and their introgression lines IL. Regarding the
experiments on ion homeostasis, S. lycopersicon M82 and the introgression line IL 6-4-2 were
grown in hydroponics under controlled environmental conditions. Twenty day-old plants were left
to grow for 10 days in the presence of non-toxic concentration of Cd (10 mM), Pb (3 mM), Zn (100
mM) given separately or combined. Control and treated roots and leaves were then harvested and
stored at -80°C for ionic and gene expression analyses. Ions analysis of Solanum lycopersicon M82
and IL 6-4-2 showed that traits correlated to ionic homeostasis is significantly modified in response
to all metals and to the genotype. The analysis of ions data, obtained by ICP-MS, give a pictures of
the different responses performed both to different stress and to combined stress, probably
correlated to the up-regulation and/or down regulation of metal uptake proteins. Performed
experiments demonstrate that the introgression of the wild genome into the cultivated one produces
a new phenotype, perhaps due to the expression of traits linked to uptake, translocation and
accumulation of useful and/or toxic metal into plant tissues and organs.
Regarding the functional genomics approach for gaining insight into gene networks involved
in mineral-ion accumulation in tomato plants, in literature has been reported that at least 25 major
family genes are involved for metal homeostasis in plants. Among them, the genes ysl, hma, mtp,
znt, zrt have been already studied at least in the plant species Arabidopsis thaliana, A. halleri and
Thlaspi caerulescens. So far, no such genes have been reported to be cloned in Solanum species.
We have focused our study on the genes YSL1, ZNT1 and MTP1 responsible for uptake,
translocation and accumulation of metal such as zinc, cadmium, and iron into plant compartment.
For all of them, consensous sequences from nucleotide multialignment have been obtained. Then,
each of those were blasted in a Solanum EST collection databank and an assembled UniGene
sequence was obtained.. Finally, we have designed primers and performed PCR analysis on S.
lycopersicon and S. pennelli genomic DNA. So far, we have cloned a putative ysl1 sequence from
tomato, that has shown that a very high percentage of identity (92%) with whole ysl1 gene of
Nicotiana tabacum; the in silico translated sequence of this sequence has shown a 89% of identity
with the same tobacco protein
Electric field effect and superconducting–insulating transition in ‘123’ cuprate superconductors
The physics of high critical temperature superconductors (HTS) remains a fascinating but undisclosed issue in condensed matter. One of the most interesting topics is the transition from the insulating phase of the parent compound, having long range antiferromagnetic order, to the superconducting phase. A method to investigate in detail the superconducting to insulating (SIT) transition in HTS is to control the doping of the CuO(2) planes in a fine way. Here, by using the electric field effect on thin Nd(1)Ba(2)Cu(3)O(7) films, we present a study of the HTS phase diagram close to the SIT with unprecedented detail. By virtue of these data, we will show that doping of holes in samples located at the boundary separating the superconducting and insulating regions produces changes in the transport characteristic consistent with an electronic phase separation scenario. Some consequences of these data are the failure of standard 2D quantum scaling theory and the possible coexistence of superconducting and weakly insulating phases in this region of the phase diagram. A continuous transition between the two competing phases as a function of doping place evident constraints on the mechanism of superconductivity
SOLANUM LYCOPERSICUM X S. PENNELLII INTROGRESSION LINES WERE USEFUL TO CHARACTERISE THE IONOME OF TOMATO FRUIT
In the frame of "GenoPom" PON-MIUR project, we have
began a study of tomato ionome in order to identify the contribution of specific chromosome and
part of them on the ionome. For this purpose, we have analysed by ICP-MS plants of an
introgression line (IL) population derived from the cross between Solanum lycopersicum cv. M82
and S. pennellii (Eshed and Zamir, 1995) grown under controlled environmental conditions.we report results derived from tomato whole fruits ionome analysis of 30 IL,
covering all 12 tomato chromosomes, along with the recurrent parent cv. M82. Among several
detected elements, the following ones have firstly been analysed: Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn and Se. Each
element concentration data were referred to cv. M82
Ionome variations in tomato Introgressed Lines (Solanum Pennellii x S. Lycopersicum cv. M82) following metal treatements shed new light on food health.
A tomato introgression line population that combines single chromosomal segments introgressed from the wild, green fruited species Solanum pennelli in the background of the domesticated tomato, S. lycopersicum cv. M82, was used in this study. Results shed light both on the metal accumulation of ILs
tomato plants and on theirs ionome modifications
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