Innovations towards sustainable olive crop management: a new dawn by precision agriculture including endo-therapy.

Olive trees (Olea europaea L.) are deeply interwoven with the past, present and future of Mediterranean civilizations, both as essential economical as well as cultural valuables. Olive horticulture constitutes one of the primary agroecosystems in the Mediterranean regions of today. Being inhabitant of ecological niches, Olea europaea is prone to a peculiar vulnerability towards climatic and socioeconomical transformations that are briskly reshaping regional and global agroecosystems. Because of climatic changes and the biosafety risks of global agricultural trades, olive plants are highly susceptible to newly emerging diseases and pests, and the traditional olive horticultural crop protection practices are under scrutiny towards reducing their ecological impact. Hence there is an eminent demand for a more nature-positive olive tree crop management. Recent innovations in precision agriculture are raising the prospect for innovative crop protection methods that may provide olive farmers the required agility to respond to present and future agricultural challenges. For instance, endo-therapy, which is the systemic delivery of active ingredients via trunk injection, is a technology that holds promise of a true step-change in sustainable olive crop management. Endo-therapy allows reaching vascular diseases inaccessible to foliar treatments and delivers active ingredients in a precise manner with no risks of off-target drifts. Similarly, progresses in biological precision delivery using controlled release of active ingredients based on innovative formulation technologies are showing an exciting potential for more targeted and sustainable crop protection solutions. This review summarizes the latest innovations on both physical and biological precision deliveries in the realm of olive arboriculture in the Mediterranean regions and gives an outlook how these technologies may help orchestrating innovative olive culture practices soon.

Endophytic Colonization by the Entomopathogenic Fungus Beauveria Bassiana Affects Plant Volatile Emissions in the Presence or Absence of Chewing and Sap-Sucking Insects.

Entomopathogenic fungi are gaining acceptance in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) systems as effective and environmental safety biological control agents to protect a great variety of crops against pest insects. Many of these insect-pathogenic fungi can establish themselves as endophytes and thereby may induce the plant immune system. The activation of plant defenses by the fungal endophytic colonization can have a direct impact on herbivores and plant pathogens. An integral component of many plant defense responses is also the release of volatile organic compounds, which may serve as an indirect defense by attracting the natural enemies of herbivores. Here we investigated the effect of endophytic colonization by the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana on the volatile emission by melon and cotton plants, either unharmed or after being damaged by sap-sucking aphids or leaf chewing caterpillars. We found that when the plants are colonized by B. bassiana they emit a different blend of volatile compounds compared to uncolonized control plants. Some of the emitted compounds have been reported previously to be released in response to herbivory and have been implicated in natural enemy attraction. Several of the compounds are also known to have antimicrobial properties. Therefore, endophytic colonization by B. bassiana might help to not only direct control insect pests but also increase the resistance of plants against agronomically important pests and phytopathogens.

Unveiling an odd fate after death: The isolated Eneolithic cranium discovered in the Marcel Loubens Cave (Bologna, Northern Italy).

An isolated human cranium, dated to the early Eneolithic period, was discovered in 2015 at the top of a vertical shaft in the natural Marcel Loubens gypsum Cave (Bologna area, northern Italy). No other anthropological or archaeological remains were found inside the cave. In other caves of the same area anthropic and funerary use are attested from prehistory to more recent periods. We focused on investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of this individual, since the cranium shows signs of some lesions that appear to be the results of a perimortem manipulation probably carried out to remove soft tissues. Anthropological analyses revealed that the cranium belonged to a young woman. We analysed the taphonomic features and geological context to understand how and why the cranium ended up (accidentally or intentionally) in the cave. The analyses of both the sediments accumulated inside the cranium and the incrustations and pigmentation covering its outer surface suggested that it fell into the cave, drawn by a flow of water and mud, likely from the edges of a doline. The accidental nature of the event is also seemingly confirmed by some post-mortem lesions on the cranium. The comparison with other Eneolithic archaeological sites in northern Italy made it possible to interpret the find as likely being from a funerary or ritual context, in which corpse dismemberment (in particular the displacement of crania) was practiced.

Effects of woody biochar on dry thermophilic anaerobic digestion of organic fraction of municipal solid waste.

This study presents the results of semi-pilot scale anaerobic digestion tests conducted under dry thermophilic conditions with the addition of biochar (6% on fresh mass basis of inoculum), derived from an industrial gasification plant, for determining biogas and biomethane production from organic fraction of municipal solid waste. By using two types of inocula (from a full-scale dry anaerobic digestion plant and from lab-scale biomethanation tests), the obtained experimental results did not show significant increase in methane yield related to the presence of biochar (330.40 NL CH4 kgVS-1 using plant inoculum; 335.41 NL CH4 kgVS-1 using plant inoculum with biochar, 311.78 NL CH4 kgVS-1 using lab-inoculum and 366.43 NL CH4 kgVS-1 using lab-inoculum with biochar), but led to significant changes in the microbial community composition. These results are likely related with the specific biochar physical-chemical features and low adsorption potential. Resulting digestate quality was also investigated: biochar-enriched digestates were characterized by increased biological stability (809 ± 264 mg O2 kgVS-1 h-1 vs. 554 ± 76 mg O2 kgVS-1 h-1 for biochar-free and biochar-enriched digestates, respectively), lower heavy metals concentrations (with the exception of Cd), but higher polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons content, with a reported maximum concentration of 8.9 mgPAH kgTS-1 for biochar-enriched digestate derived from AD test with lab-inoculum, which could trigger non-compliance with regulation limits for agricultural reuse of digestates. However, phytotoxicity assessments showed a decreased toxicity of biochar-containing digestates when compared to biochar-free digestates.

Bottom-up control of geographic variation in insect herbivory on wild cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) by plant defenses and climate.

PREMISE: The occurrence and amount of herbivory are shaped by bottom-up forces, primarily plant traits (e.g., defenses), and by abiotic factors. Addressing these concurrent effects in a spatial context has been useful in efforts to understand the mechanisms governing variation in plant-herbivore interactions. Still, few studies have evaluated the simultaneous influence of multiple sources of bottom-up variation on spatial variation in herbivory. METHODS: We tested to what extent chemical (phenolics, production of terpenoid glands) and physical (pubescence) defensive plant traits and climatic factors are associated with variation in herbivory by leaf-chewing insects across populations of wild cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). RESULTS: We found substantial population variation in cotton leaf defenses and insect leaf herbivory. Leaf pubescence, but not gossypol gland density or phenolic content, was significantly negatively associated with herbivory by leaf-chewing insects. In addition, there were direct effects of climate on defenses and herbivory, with leaf pubescence increasing toward drier conditions and leaf damage increasing toward wetter and cooler conditions. There was no evidence, however, of indirect effects (via plant defenses) of climate on herbivory. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that spatial variation in insect herbivory on wild G. hirsutum is predominantly driven by concurrent and independent influences of population variation in leaf pubescence and climatic factors.