A recombinant flagellin fragment,which includes the epitopes flg22 and flgII-28, provides a useful tool to study flagellin-triggered immunity     

Serena Ciarroni  Christopher R. Clarke  Haijie Liu  Noam Eckshtain-Levi  Angelo Mazzaglia  Giorgio M. Balestra  Boris A. Vinatzer 《Journal of General Plant Pathology》2018,84(3):169-175

Plants and animals independently evolved the ability to recognize flagellin (also called FliC), the building block of the bacterial flagellum, as part of their innate immune response. While animals recognize a relatively large region of FliC, most plants recognize one or two short epitopes of FliC: flg22 and flgII-28. However, since most research in plants has focused on flg22 and flgII-28 and not the actual FliC protein, the importance of any FliC region beyond the two epitopes in plant immunity is poorly understood. Here we report cloning, overexpression, and purification of a Pseudomonas syringae FliC fragment from amino acid 1 to 143, which includes both FliC epitopes and the adjacent alpha helices. Exposing Arabidopsis thaliana leaves to FliC_1–143 did not reveal any additional FliC recognition capabilities beyond flg22. However, while the kiwifruit species Actinidia arguta did not respond to either flg22 or flgII-28, treatment of A. arguta leaves with FliC_1–143 triggered a significant reactive oxygen response, indicating recognition. This result suggests that in some plant species, recognition of FliC requires regions of FliC beyond the two well-known epitopes and that FliC_1–143 represents a useful tool in the study of plant immunity.  相似文献   

Natural antimicrobials in spray-dried microparticles based on cellulose derivatives as potential eco-compatible agrochemicals     

Cortesi  Rita  Quattrucci  Alessio  Esposito  Elisabetta  Mazzaglia  Angelo  Balestra  Giorgio M. 《植物病害和植物保护杂志》2017,124(3):269-278

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - It has been demonstrated that some aromatic substances synthesized by plants serve as plant defense mechanisms. However, natural extracts are difficult to...  相似文献   

Erratum to: Gaseous Elemental Mercury Level and Distribution in a Heavily Contaminated Site: the Ex-chlor Alkali Plant in Torviscosa (Northern Italy)     

Alessandro Acquavita  Stefano Biasiol  Daniel Lizzi  Giorgio Mattassi  Mariangela Pasquon  Nicola Skert  Luca Marchiol 《Water, air, and soil pollution》2017,228(4):157

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Polycystic kidney disease in a Chartreux cat     

Antonella Volta  Sabrina Manfredi  Giacomo Gnudi  Aldo Gelati  Giorgio Bertoni 《Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery》2010,12(2):138-140

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An innovative stabilization/solidification treatment For contaminated soil remediation: demonstration project results     

Petra Scanferla  Giorgio Ferrari  Roberto Pellay  Annamaria Volpi Ghirardini  Gabriele Zanetto  Giovanni Libralato 《Journal of Soils and Sediments》2009,9(3):229-236

Background, aim, and scope

An innovative stabilization/solidification (S/S) process using high-performance additivated concrete technology was developed for remediating soil contaminated by metals from abandoned industrial sites. In order to verify the effectiveness of this new ex situ S/S procedure, an area highly contaminated by metallic pollutants (As, Cd, Hg, and Pb), due to the uncontrolled discharge of waste generated from artistic glass production on the island of Murano (Venice, Italy), was selected as a case study. The technique transforms the contaminated soil into an aggregate material suitable for reuse as on-site backfill. This paper reports the main results of the demonstration project performed in collaboration with the local environmental protection agency (ARPAV).

Materials and methods

An ex situ treatment for brownfield remediation, based on the transformation of contaminated soil into very dense, low porous, and mechanically resistant granular material, was set up and tested. Specific additives (water reducers and superplasticizers) to improve the stabilized material properties were developed and patented. A demonstration plant assembled on the study area to treat 6 m³ h^–1was then tested. After excavation, the contaminated soil was screened to remove coarse material. The fraction Ø?>?4 mm (coarse fraction), mainly composed of glass, brick, concrete, and stone debris, was directly reused on site after passing through a washing treatment section. The highly polluted fraction Ø?≤?4 mm (fine fraction) was treated in the S/S treatment division of the plant (European patent WO/2006/097272). The fine fraction was mixed with Portland cement and additives defined on the basis of the high performance concrete technique. the mixture was then granulated in a rolling-plate system. After 28 days curing in an onsite storage area to allow for cement hydration, the stabilized material was monitored before its in situ relocation. The chemical, mechanical, and ecotoxicological reliability and performance of the treatment was checked. Metal leachability was verified according to four leaching test methods: Italian Environmental Ministry Decree (1998), EN 12457 (2002) tout court, amended only with MgSO₄ and, lastly, with artificial sea water. The mechanical properties were measured according to BS (1990) and AASHTO (1999) to obtain the Aggregate Crushing Value and California Bearing Ratio, in that order. Moreover, leachate samples prepared with artificial seawater were assessed via the Crassostrea gigas embryotoxicity test and Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence inhibition test to discriminate the presence of potential ecotoxicological effects for the brackish and saltwater biota.

Results

Outcomes from all leachate samples highlighted the effectiveness of the remediation treatment, fully complying with the Italian legislation for non-hazardous material reuse under a physicochemical viewpoint. The stabilized granular material demonstrated high mechanical strength, low porosity, and leachability. Moreover, ecotoxicological surveys indicated the presence of low toxicity levels in leachate samples according to both toxicity tests.

Discussion

Remediated soil samples revealed a significant decrease in leachability of heavy metals as a consequence of the application of additivated cement that enhanced granular material properties, resulting in improved compactness due to the reduction in water content. The toxicity data confirmed this state-of-the-art technique, indicating that leachates could be deemed as minor acutely toxic.

Conclusions

The proposed S/S treatment proved to be able to remediate soil contaminated by heavy metals through trapping pollutants in pellet materials presenting adequate physicochemical, mechanical, and ecotoxicological properties in order to prevent leachability phenomena, their reclamation, and reuse being made easier by its granular form.

Recommendation and perspectives

This project foresees long-term monitoring activity over several years (until 2014) to consider treatment durability.  相似文献   

Multivariate approach to evaluate the penetrometer resistance in different tillage systems   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Matteo Stelluti  Michele Maiorana  Donato De Giorgio 《Soil & Tillage Research》1998,46(3-4):145-151

At present, the penetrometer is the most widely used instrument for assessing in situ soil strength, one of the extrinsic factors affecting plant growth and crop productivity. In this paper we propose a method that discriminates penetrometer resistance due to different soil treatments, by means of Principal Component (PC) analysis. We hypothesized and demonstrated that penetrometer resistance values measured at different soil depths are correlated among themselves (multicollinearity). Considering measurements at each depth as different variables, PC analysis restructured data sets containing these correlated variables into a smaller number of components, whose scores were utilized in univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test differences among imposed soil treatments. We applied the procedure to penetrometer resistance values measured by means of a hand-held cone penetrometer in two long-term experiments conducted in southern Italy, on durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) under continuous cropping. In the first trial, four different soil tillage treatments were compared; in the second, two different tillages and two residue management systems were examined. In both trials, PC analysis reduced the original 14 depths of measurements into only 4 PC's, based on correlations of their resistance values, explaining more than 80% of the total variation. Furthermore, ANOVA applied to the scores of each PC, clearly indicated treatment effects on soil strength.

The proposed method has thus allowed assemblage a posteriori of penetration resistance data into only a few significative intervals, using correlations among the measurements made at the different depths. This way, the possible resistance differences due to tillage and/or management treatments have been more easily and more unambiguously showed.  相似文献   

DNA extraction and analysis from processed coffee beans     

Martellossi C  Taylor EJ  Lee D  Graziosi G  Donini P 《Journal of agricultural and food chemistry》2005,53(22):8432-8436

The authenticity of coffee is an important issue for both producers and consumers. Premium Arabica material is especially prone to being adulterated, and a number of different techniques have been employed to determine the quality of both roasted and instant coffee. Currently, assessment of coffee authenticity relies on chemical methods which can discriminate between coffee species, but not varieties. Several genetic markers are available for assessing coffee origin, but their suitability to testing commercial coffee is limited by the ability to extract DNA from highly processed beans. In this paper, we demonstrate that PCR-grade DNA may be obtained from roasted beans and even instant coffee. This would allow analysis of commercial samples, provided that suitable markers for species/variety identification are found.  相似文献   

A three-year longitudinal study on the effects of a diet containing genetically modified Bt176 maize on the health status and performance of sheep     

Massimo Trabalza-Marinucci  Giorgio Brandi  Cristina Rondini  Luca Avellini  Camilla Giammarini  Silva Costarelli  Gabriele Acuti  Chiara Orlandi  Giovanni Filippini  Elisabetta Chiaradia  Manuela Malatesta  Silvia Crotti  Chiara Antonini  Giulia Amagliani  Elisabetta Manuali  Anna Rita Mastrogiacomo  Livia Moscati  Mohamed Naceur Haouet  Alberto Gaiti  Mauro Magnani   《Livestock Science》2008,113(2-3):178-190

This study shows that a diet including insect-resistant Bt176 maize, fed to 53 ewes and their progeny for 3 years, did not have adverse effects on their health or performance and that no horizontal gene transfer to ruminal microorganisms or animal tissues was detected. No differences were observed regarding performance, reproductive traits, haematological parameters, antioxidant defences, lymphocyte proliferative capacity, phagocytosis and intracellular killing of macrophages, and ruminal microbial population characteristics between control and genetically modified (GM) maize-fed animals. Immune response to Salmonella abortus ovis vaccination was more efficient in GM maize fed sheep. No modifications of histological features of tissues were found; however, cytochemical analyses of ruminal epithelium by Ki67 staining provided evidence of proliferative activation of basal cells in all GM maize-fed ewes. Preliminary electron microscopy analyses of the liver and pancreas revealed smaller cell nuclei containing increased amounts of heterochromatin and perichromatin granules in GM maize-fed lambs. Meat protein content and water loss by cooking were slightly affected by the dietary treatment. No transgenic DNA was detected in tissues, blood, and ruminal fluid or ruminal bacteria. Longitudinal studies should be included in evaluation of food safety whenever possible and sheep may be a useful animal model for toxicological assessment.  相似文献   

Detection and phylogenetic characterization of astroviruses in insectivorous bats from Central‐Southern Italy          下载免费PDF全文

Maria Grazia Amoroso  Danilo Russo  Gianvito Lanave  Luca Cistrone  Annamaria Pratelli  Vito Martella  Giorgio Galiero  Nicola Decaro  Giovanna Fusco 《Zoonoses and public health》2018,65(6):702-710

In recent years, bats have been found to harbour many viruses, raising several questions about their role as reservoirs and potential disseminators of zoonotic viruses. We investigated the presence of six virus families in bats in three regions of Central‐Southern Italy. Astroviruses were identified in seven of 13 bat species. Sequence analysis revealed marked genetic heterogeneity among the astroviruses identified, with nucleotide identity ranging between 60.26% and 87.62%. Astrovirus diversity was not associated with the bat species, the geographic areas or the bat colony, suggesting the circulation of several astrovirus strains in Italian ecosystems. Genetic diversification and interspecies transmission appear common in bat astroviruses and could provide, potentially, the bases for transmission to humans and other mammals. Yet overemphasizing this risk might have detrimental consequences for bat conservation and preservation of the important ecosystem services bats provide.  相似文献   

Thin film deposition by PECVD using HMDSO-O<Subscript>2</Subscript>-Ar gas mixture on knitted wool fabrics in order to improve pilling resistance     

Fabio Rombaldoni  Raffaella Mossotti  Alessio Montarsolo  Michela Bianchetto Songia  Riccardo Innocenti  Giorgio Mazzuchetti 《Fibers and Polymers》2008,9(5):566-573

In this work knitted wool fabrics were coated by a Si:O_x:C_y:H_z thin film with the aim to promote pilling resistance. The wool samples were plasma coated in a radio frequency (RF) glow discharge using hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) as the precursor, in mixture with argon and oxygen gases, for different deposition times and reaction pressures, at constant discharge power. Deposited films were characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and surface morphology by means of scanning electron microscopy; moreover, propensity to pilling of treated samples was investigated, showing that treated fabrics had a better pilling performance respect to untreated ones.  相似文献