[Monitoring of heavy metals and trace elements in the air, fruits and vegetables and soil in the province of Catania (Italy)]. / Monitoraggio di metalli pesanti ed oligoelementi in aria, ortofrutta e terreno nella provincia di Catania.

Contamination of fruits and vegetables with heavy metals can result from anthropogenic events (car or factory emissions, poor management of sewage and industrial waste) or from natural events (volcanic activity and geological soil matrix). The chemical and toxicological characteristics of heavy metals can have an impact on human health through several mechanisms. Other metals, on the other hand, are essential for maintenance of physiological and biochemical human processes, are protective against many diseases and must be present in the diet because they cannot be synthesized by the human body. The purpose of this study was to assess the presence of heavy metals and trace elements both in fruit and vegetable products widely consumed in the province of Catania (Sicily, Italy) and in various environmental matrices (air, water and land), and to investigate possible sources of contamination. Fruit and vegetable products (tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, eggplants, potatoes, zucchini, grapes, apples and pears) were sampled (n = 60) from the towns of Adrano, Biancavilla and Mazzarrone. These locations were selected for their geomorphology, climate and cultivation characteristics. Levels of lead, cadmium, nickel, copper, zinc, vanadium and selenium in fruit, vegetables, air and water samples were determined using atomic absorption spectrometer with graphite furnace Perkin-Elmer AAnalyst 800 while soil samples were evaluated by the atomic emission spectrometer Optima 2000 DV Perkin-Elmer. The presence of mercury was evaluated by atomic absorption spectrometry with cold vapor technique. Study results revealed widespread contamination of fruit and vegetables and mainly due to use of fertilizers and to volcanic activity. A strategy targeting the entire food chain is essential for ensuring food safety and consumer protection and maintaining contaminants at levels which are not hazardous to health.

Effects of a plant-derived biostimulant application on quality and functional traits of greenhouse cherry tomato cultivars.

A greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the effects of the application of a plant-derived biostimulant (Bioup® TF) on fruit quality and composition of two clusters (cluster II and cluster VI) of the cherry tomato cultivars 'Eletta', 'Kaucana', and 'Top Stellina'. The biostimulant application promoted fruit yield by 12% (up to 1.3 kg m-2 in 'Kaucana') and increased the concentrations of important functional constituents like phytoene, γ-tocopherol and ß-tocopherol by up to 16, 25, and 23%, respectively. Fruits from late-ripe cluster VI showed higher fruit weights, D-fructose, and total sugar contents than those from early-ripe cluster II (by 15, 7 and 5%, respectively), but reduced concentrations of acyclic carotenoids (phytoene and lycopene) and tocochromanols (mainly γ-tocopherol, -44%). 'Top Stellina' showed the highest responsiveness to the biostimulant, as particularly (all-E)-ß-carotene, phytofluene, and γ-tocopherol concentrations increased, indicating a genotype-dependent effect of the treatment. However, fruits of all treated genotypes showed a contextual decrease in D-fructose and total sugars in response to the biostimulant (on average by 7 and 10%, respectively), indicating a metabolic load burdening the accumulation of lipophilic antioxidants in cherry tomatoes at the expense of their taste-related C pool.

Alleviation of Copper-Induced Stress in Pea (Pisum sativum L.) through Foliar Application of Gibberellic Acid.

Copper (Cu) is an essential metal for plants. However, its excess in soil can adversely affect plant metabolism. The current study evaluated the effects of gibberellic acid (GA3) foliar applications on the performance of pea plants grown either in Cu-contaminated (Cu+) and non-contaminated (Cu-) soil. GA3 was sprayed (0, 10, 50, and 100 mg·L-1) on 15-days-old plants. The results showed that the increasing concentration of GA3 buffered the phytotoxic effects of Cu and enhanced plant growth, photosynthesis, and leaf chlorophyll content. Foliar-sprayed GA3 up to 100 mg·L-1 alleviated the oxidative stress, as inferred from the lower concentrations of MDA and H2O2 (33.3 µmol·g-1 and 182 µmol·g-1, respectively), and boosted the activity of superoxide dismutase (64.4 U·g-1·FW), peroxidase (122.7 U·g-1·FW), and catalase (226.3 U·g-1·FW). Interestingly, GA3 promoted Cu accumulation in different plant parts when compared to untreated plants, likely due to increased photosynthetic and transpiration rates. Overall, foliar application of GA3 promoted phytoextraction of Cu and alleviated the oxidative stress in pea plants grown in Cu+ soil.

Mineral Biofortification of Vegetables as a Tool to Improve Human Diet.

Vegetables represent pillars of good nutrition since they provide important phytochemicals such as fiber, vitamins, antioxidants, as well as minerals. Biofortification proposes a promising strategy to increase the content of specific compounds. As minerals have important functionalities in the human metabolism, the possibility of enriching fresh consumed products, such as many vegetables, adopting specific agronomic approaches, has been considered. This review discusses the most recent findings on agronomic biofortification of vegetables, aimed at increasing in the edible portions the content of important minerals, such as calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iodine (I), zinc (Zn), selenium (Se), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), and silicon (Si). The focus was on selenium and iodine biofortification thus far, while for the other mineral elements, aspects related to vegetable typology, genotypes, chemical form, and application protocols are far from being well defined. Even if agronomic fortification is considered an easy to apply technique, the approach is complex considering several interactions occurring at crop level, as well as the bioavailability of different minerals for the consumer. Considering the latter, only few studies examined in a broad approach both the definition of biofortification protocols and the quantification of bioavailable fraction of the element.

Scion and Rootstock Differently Influence Growth, Yield and Quality Characteristics of Cherry Tomato.

Grafting is a valuable tool for managing problems of tomato soil-borne pathogens and pests, but often generates unpredictable effects on crop yield and product quality. To observe these rootstocks-induced changes, experimental designs including many rootstock-scion combinations are required. To this end, a greenhouse experiment was conducted on 63 graft combinations, involving seven cherry tomato scions grouped in large, medium and small-fruited, and eight rootstocks with different genetic backgrounds (crosses between Solanum lycopersicum and S. habrochaites or S. peruvianum or S. pimpinellifolium, plus an intraspecific hybrid), using ungrafted controls. The response of the graft partners was firstly analyzed individually using the environmental variance (σ2E), then by grouping them by classes. When analyzed individually, the scion genotype influenced fruit L*, b*, shape index, total soluble solids (TSS) and its ratio with tritatable acidity (TSS/TA), whereas plant growth and yield were unpredictable. After clustering the graft partners, some of these responses were attributable to the imposed classes. The S. habrochaites-derived hybrids maximized plant biomass, unlike the S. pimpinellifolium ones. Both classes reduced fruit biomass in small- and medium-fruited scions (by 11 and 14%, respectively). The S. habrochaites and S. peruvianum hybrids reduced a* and TSS, whereas promoted TA. L-ascorbic acid was reduced by grafting (from -23 to -45%), in the S. pimpinellifolium group too, indicating, even in low vigor rootstocks, a dilution effect worsening this nutraceutical trait of tomatoes.

Effects of Genotype, Storage Temperature and Time on Quality and Compositional Traits of Cherry Tomato.

The experiment addressed the effects of two storage temperatures, namely 10 (T10) and 20 °C (T20), on main quality and functional traits of three cherry tomato cultivars ('Eletta', 'Sugarland' and 'Ottymo'), after 0 (S0), 7 (S7) and 14 (S14) days of storage. At T10 both fruit weight and firmness were better retained during storage. At S14, T10 promoted fruit Chroma and overall fruit color deviation (ΔE*ab). Total polyphenols content (TPC) of fruits peaked at S7 (4660 mg GAE kg-1 DW) then declined at S14 (by 16%), with the highest values recorded at T10. Lycopene showed a similar trend, but with a higher average concentration recorded at T20 (488 mg kg-1 DW). ß-carotene content peaked at S14, irrespective of the storage temperature. At S14, the concentrations of phytoene and phytofluene were higher at T20 (48.3 and 40.9 mg kg-1 DW, respectively), but the opposite was found at S7. 'Sugarland' and 'Ottymo' showed the highest ΔE*ab along storage, with the former cultivar proving the highest TPC and lycopene content, whereas 'Eletta' did so for phytoene and phytofluene. Our results suggest that unravelling the possible functional interactions among these three carotenoids would allow for a better orientation of breeding programs, targeting the phytochemical evolution of tomatoes during refrigerated storage.

Celery (Apium graveolens L.) Performances as Subjected to Different Sources of Protein Hydrolysates.

The vegetable production sector is currently fronting several issues mainly connected to the increasing demand of high quality food produced in accordance with sustainable horticultural technologies. The application of biostimulants, particularly protein hydrolysates (PHs), might be favorable to optimize water and mineral uptake and plant utilization and to increase both production performance and quality feature of vegetable crops. The present study was carried out on celery plants grown in a tunnel to appraise the influence of two PHs, a plant-derived PH (P-PH), obtained from soy extract and an animal PH (A-PH), derived from hydrolyzed animal epithelium (waste from bovine tanneries) on yield, yield components (head height, root collar diameter, and number of stalks), mineral composition, nutritional and functional features, as well as the economic profitability of PHs applications. Fresh weight in A-PH and P-PH treated plants was 8.3% and 38.2% higher, respectively than in untreated control plants. However, no significant difference was found between A-PH treated plants and control plants in terms of fresh weight. Head height significantly increased by 5.5% and 16.3% in A-PH and P-PH treated plants, respectively compared with untreated control (p ≤ 0.05). N content was inferior in PHs treated plants than in untreated control. Conversely, K and Mg content was higher in A-PH and P-PH treated plants as compared to the untreated ones. Furthermore, A-PH and P-PH improved ascorbic acid content by 8.2% and 8.7%, respectively compared with the non-treated control (p ≤ 0.001). Our results confirmed, also, that PHs application is an eco-friendly technique to improve total phenolic content in celery plants. In support of this, our findings revealed that animal or plants PH applications increased total phenolics by 36.9% and 20.8%, respectively compared with untreated plants (p ≤ 0.001).

The genome sequence of the outbreeding globe artichoke constructed de novo incorporating a phase-aware low-pass sequencing strategy of F1 progeny.

Globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus) is an out-crossing, perennial, multi-use crop species that is grown worldwide and belongs to the Compositae, one of the most successful Angiosperm families. We describe the first genome sequence of globe artichoke. The assembly, comprising of 13,588 scaffolds covering 725 of the 1,084 Mb genome, was generated using ~133-fold Illumina sequencing data and encodes 26,889 predicted genes. Re-sequencing (30×) of globe artichoke and cultivated cardoon (C. cardunculus var. altilis) parental genotypes and low-coverage (0.5 to 1×) genotyping-by-sequencing of 163 F1 individuals resulted in 73% of the assembled genome being anchored in 2,178 genetic bins ordered along 17 chromosomal pseudomolecules. This was achieved using a novel pipeline, SOILoCo (Scaffold Ordering by Imputation with Low Coverage), to detect heterozygous regions and assign parental haplotypes with low sequencing read depth and of unknown phase. SOILoCo provides a powerful tool for de novo genome analysis of outcrossing species. Our data will enable genome-scale analyses of evolutionary processes among crops, weeds, and wild species within and beyond the Compositae, and will facilitate the identification of economically important genes from related species.

Cortical silent period prolongation in spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2).

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder mapped on chromosome 12. Different results have been reported in spinocerebellar ataxias following transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). TMS-induced cortical silent period (CSP) was prolonged in different cerebellar disorders. Here we evaluate the duration of the TMS-induced CSP following a single magnetic stimulus in a large homogeneous group of SCA2 patients compared with idiopathic cerebellar ataxia (IDCA) patients with similar disease duration and severity, and in 20 healthy controls. The CSP duration in both arm and leg muscles was significantly (p<0.005) longer in patients than in controls. A significant positive correlation between disease duration and CSP prolongation in both SCA2 and IDCA was found. No correlation between age, onset and CSP duration emerged in either group. This study shows a prolongation of the TMS-induced silent period in both SCA2 and IDCA indicating that the cortical inhibitory mechanism is dependent on the disease duration and severity. Thus, the cerebellum seems to exert a pliable physiological influence on the cortico-spinal system through control of inhibitory cortical interneurons.

Genetic mapping and identification of QTL for earliness in the globe artichoke/cultivated cardoon complex.

BACKGROUND: The Asteraceae species Cynara cardunculus (2n = 2x = 34) includes the two fully cross-compatible domesticated taxa globe artichoke (var. scolymus L.) and cultivated cardoon (var. altilis DC). As both are out-pollinators and suffer from marked inbreeding depression, linkage analysis has focussed on the use of a two way pseudo-test cross approach. RESULTS: A set of 172 microsatellite (SSR) loci derived from expressed sequence tag DNA sequence were integrated into the reference C. cardunculus genetic maps, based on segregation among the F1 progeny of a cross between a globe artichoke and a cultivated cardoon. The resulting maps each detected 17 major linkage groups, corresponding to the species' haploid chromosome number. A consensus map based on 66 co-dominant shared loci (64 SSRs and two SNPs) assembled 694 loci, with a mean inter-marker spacing of 2.5 cM. When the maps were used to elucidate the pattern of inheritance of head production earliness, a key commercial trait, seven regions were shown to harbour relevant quantitative trait loci (QTL). Together, these QTL accounted for up to 74% of the overall phenotypic variance. CONCLUSION: The newly developed consensus as well as the parental genetic maps can accelerate the process of tagging and eventually isolating the genes underlying earliness in both the domesticated C. cardunculus forms. The largest single effect mapped to the same linkage group in each parental maps, and explained about one half of the phenotypic variance, thus representing a good candidate for marker assisted selection.