Characterization and nutritional valorization of agricultural waste corncobs from Italian maize landraces through the growth of medicinal mushrooms.

The research investigates the potential use of maize cobs (or corncobs) from five genotypes, including the B73 inbred line and four locally cultivated landraces from Northern Italy, as substrate for implementing Solid State fermentation processes with four Medicinal Mushrooms (MMs). The corncobs were characterized based on their proximate composition, lignin, phenolics content (both free and bound), and total antioxidant capacity. Among the MMs tested, Pleurotus ostreatus and Ganoderma annularis demonstrated the most robust performance. Their growth was parametrized using Image Analysis technique, and chemical composition of culture samples was characterized compared to that of corncobs alone. In all culture samples, the growth of MMs led to a significant reduction (averaging 40%) in the total phenolics contents compared to that measured in corncobs alone. However, the high content of free phenolics in the cobs negatively impacted the growth of P. ostreatus. The final MM-corncob matrix exhibited reduced levels of free sugars and starch (≤ 2.2% DW, as a sum) and increased levels of proteins (up to 5.9% DW) and soluble dietary fiber (up to 5.0% DW), with a notable trend toward higher levels of ß-glucan compared to corncobs alone. This research paves the way for the use of this matrix as an active ingredient to enhance the nutritional value of food preparations.

Scaffold-based developmental tissue engineering strategies for ectodermal organ regeneration.

Tissue engineering (TE) is a multidisciplinary research field aiming at the regeneration, restoration, or replacement of damaged tissues and organs. Classical TE approaches combine scaffolds, cells and soluble factors to fabricate constructs mimicking the native tissue to be regenerated. However, to date, limited success in clinical translations has been achieved by classical TE approaches, because of the lack of satisfactory biomorphological and biofunctional features of the obtained constructs. Developmental TE has emerged as a novel TE paradigm to obtain tissues and organs with correct biomorphology and biofunctionality by mimicking the morphogenetic processes leading to the tissue/organ generation in the embryo. Ectodermal appendages, for instance, develop in vivo by sequential interactions between epithelium and mesenchyme, in a process known as secondary induction. A fine artificial replication of these complex interactions can potentially lead to the fabrication of the tissues/organs to be regenerated. Successful developmental TE applications have been reported, in vitro and in vivo, for ectodermal appendages such as teeth, hair follicles and glands. Developmental TE strategies require an accurate selection of cell sources, scaffolds and cell culture configurations to allow for the correct replication of the in vivo morphogenetic cues. Herein, we describe and discuss the emergence of this TE paradigm by reviewing the achievements obtained so far in developmental TE 3D scaffolds for teeth, hair follicles, and salivary and lacrimal glands, with particular focus on the selection of biomaterials and cell culture configurations.

Changes in endopolygalacturonase levels and characterization of a putative endo-PG gene during fruit softening in peach genotypes with nonmelting and melting flesh fruit phenotypes.

The changes in endopolygalacturonase (endo-PG) levels and endo-PG expression in nonmelting flesh (NMF) and melting flesh (MF) peach fruits (Prunus persica) during softening were studied. The endo-PG gene was analysed to identify polymorphisms exploitable for early marker-assisted selection (MAS) of flesh texture. The role of endo-PG in softening was assessed by western and northern blotting and by biochemical analyses. Polymorphisms in the endo-PG gene were revealed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and sequencing. An endo-PG protein was detected in both NMF and MF fruits. The levels of this endo-PG protein were higher and increased with softening in MF fruits, but remained lower and were constant in NMF fruits. The different levels of endo-PG appeared to be caused by the differential expression of an endo-PG gene, whose open-reading frame (ORF) showed five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in NMF 'Oro A' compared with MF 'Bolero'. One of these SNPs allowed us to determine the allelic configuration at the melting flesh (M) locus and also seemed to be exploitable for early MAS in other NMF/MF phenotypes. The NMF phenotype does not seem to be caused by a large deletion of the endo-PG gene.

Distribution, habitat and behavior of grasshopper sparrows, Ammodramus savannarum (Passeriformes: Emberizidae) in northeastern Nicaragua.

During March and April of 1996, I made field observations of the sedentary subspecies of grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum cracens), in 600 points of the pine savannas of northeastern Nicaragua. Isolated individuals were found in the humid depressions, but breeding populations were located exclusively in areas that had suffered a recent fire. Territorial behavior varied in intensity apparently as a function of territory size: the most aggressive males were those trying to defend smaller territories in populations close to Miskito villages, where most of the fires occur. In contrast to what is happening in other parts of Central America, the Nicaraguan grasshopper sparrow may be indirectly protected from extinction by the Miskito's traditional fire practices.

Changes in the Levels of Calmodulin and of a Calmodulin Inhibitor in the Early Phases of Radish (Raphanus sativus L.) Seed Germination: Effects of Aba and Fusicoccin.

An inhibitor of Ca(2+)-calmodulin (Cam)-dependent brain phosphodiesterase was present in the soluble fraction of embryo axes from ungerminated radish (Raphanus sativus L.) seeds. This inhibitor is a Ca(2+)-dependent, Cam-binding protein; in fact: (a) its effect was strongly reduced by treatment with proteases; (b) the inhibition was counteracted by Cam but not by Ca(2+); (c) on gel filtration in the presence of Ca(2+), Cam co-chromatographed with the inhibitor. The inhibitor is heat stable and positively charged at pH 7.5. During early phases of germination, the fresh weight and the levels of DNA and RNA of embryo axes increased, the level of the inhibitor decreased, and the level of Cam increased. Abscisic acid (ABA) inhibited germination, the decrease of inhibitor, and the increase of Cam. Fusicoccin (FC) stimulated the increase in fresh weight but not the increase in the RNA and DNA levels; in this condition, the inhibitor level decreased and the increase in Cam level was higher than in the control. In the presence of both ABA and FC, there was an increase in fresh weight not accompanied by an increase in DNA and RNA levels; Cam increased and, on a fresh weight basis, reached the value of the control. These results indicate that the Ca(2+)-Cam system was activated in early germination of radish seeds by an increase in Cam and a decrease in the inhibitor levels, that FC, probably through the activation of membrane functions, increased Cam level, and that the ABA inhibition on germination was not mediated by the Ca(2+)-Cam system.