Table of Contents

Abstract: In this study, we present the morphological and molecular characterization of the ‘Badda’ bean, a landrace of outstanding organoleptic qualities that is diffused in the area of Polizzi in the province of Palermo in Sicily, Italy. This landrace is entitled to be valorized in the local market and therefore needs a thorough description to draw criteria to establish its distinctiveness from landraces with morphological and geographical proximity. Three ‘Badda’ accessions, representing the morphological variability within the landrace, have been evaluated together with suitable references. With the help of morpho-physiological traits, digital scanning of apical leaflets and ISSR molecular markers, we describe a spectrum of descriptors useful to distinguish the ‘Badda’ accessions among themselves and from similar landraces.

Abstract: Top-down controls of complex foodwebs maintain the balance among the critical groups of corals, algae, and herbivores, thus allowing the persistence of corals reefs as three-dimensional, biogenic structures with high biodiversity, heterogeneity, resistance, resilience and connectivity, and the delivery of essential goods and services to societies. On contemporary reefs world-wide, however, top-down controls have been weakened due to reduction in herbivory levels (overfishing or disease outbreak) while bottom-up controls have increased due to water quality degradation (increase in sediment and nutrient load) and climate forcing (seawater warming and acidification) leading to algal-dominated alternate benthic states of coral reefs, which are indicative of a trajectory towards ecological extinction. Management to reverse common trajectories of degradation for coral reefs necessitates a shift from optimization in marine resource use and conservation towards building socio-economic resilience into coral reef systems while attending to the most manageable human impacts (fishing and water quality) and the global-scale causes (climate change).

Abstract: We used near-term climate scenarios for the continental United States, to model 12 invasive plants species. We created three potential habitat suitability models for each species using maximum entropy modeling: (1) current; (2) 2020; and (3) 2035. Area under the curve values for the models ranged from 0.92 to 0.70, with 10 of the 12 being above 0.83 suggesting strong and predictable species-environment matching. Change in area between the current potential habitat and 2035 ranged from a potential habitat loss of about 217,000 km², to a potential habitat gain of about 133,000 km².

Abstract: Genetic resources of crop plants are essential for crop breeding. They are conserved in gene banks in form of a large numbers of accessions. These accessions harbor allelic variants of agronomically important genes and molecular tools allow a rapid assessment of this allelic diversity. Here, we have screened a collection of 1005 wheat gene bank accessions for powdery mildew resistance and a molecular characterization for functional alleles at the wheat powdery mildew resistance locus Pm3 was carried out mostly on the resistant accessions. The two analyzed sets of accessions consisted of 733 accessions originating from 20 different countries and 272 landraces originating specifically from Afghanistan. The Pm3 haplotype (indicating the presence of a Pm3-type of gene, susceptible or resistant) was found to be abundantly present in both sets. The accessions with a Pm3 haplotype were further screened for the presence of the functional Pm3a to Pm3g alleles using allele-specific molecular markers. Pm3b and Pm3c were the most frequently found alleles while the other five alleles were detected only in few accessions (Pm3d, Pm3e, Pm3f) or not detected at all (Pm3a, Pm3g). The data further showed that Pm3b is the major source of Pm3-mediated powdery mildew resistance in wheat accessions from Afghanistan. Susceptible allelic variants of Pm3 were found to be widespread in the wheat gene pool. The presented molecular analysis of Pm3 alleles in a diverse set of wheat accessions indicates that several alleles have defined geographical origins. Possibly, the widespread Pm3b and Pm3c alleles evolved relatively early in wheat cultivation, allowing their subsequent diffusion into a broad set of wheat lines.

Abstract: The processes of land conversion and agricultural intensification are a significant cause of biodiversity loss, with consequent negative effects both on the environment and the sustainability of food production.The anthrosols associated with pre-Colombian settlements in the Amazonian region are examples of how anthropogenic activities may sustain the native populations against harsh tropical environments for human establishment, even without a previous intentionality of anthropic soil formation. In a case study (Model I—“Slash-and-Burn”) the community structures detected by automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) revealed that soil archaeal, bacterial and fungal communities are heterogeneous and each capable of responding differently to environmental characteristics. ARISA data evidenced considerable difference in structure existing between microbial communities in forest and agricultural soils. In a second study (Model II—“Anthropogenic Soil”), the bacterial community structures revealed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) differed among an Amazonian Dark Earth (ADE), black carbon (BC) and its adjacent non-anthropogenic oxisoil. The bacterial 16S rRNA gene (OTU) richness estimated by pyrosequencing was higher in ADE than BC. The most abundant bacterial phyla in ADE soils and BC were Proteobacteria—24% ADE, 15% BC; Acidobacteria—10% ADE, 21% BC; Actinobacteria—7% ADE, 12% BC; Verrucomicrobia, 8% ADE; 9% BC; Firmicutes—3% ADE, 8% BC. Overall, unclassified bacteria corresponded to 36% ADE, and 26% BC. Regardless of current land uses, our data suggest that soil microbial community structures may be strongly influenced by the historical soil management and that anthrosols in Amazonia, of anthropogenic origins, in addition to their capacity of enhancing crop yields, may also improve microbial diversity, with the support of the black carbon, which may sustain a particular and unique habitat for the microbes.

Abstract: Jatropha curcas L. (2n = 2x = 22) is becoming a popular non-food oleaginous crop in several developed countries due to its proposed value in the biopharmaceutical industry. Despite the potentials of its oil-rich seeds as a renewable source of biodiesel and an interest in large-scale cultivation, relatively little is known with respect to plant reproduction strategies and population dynamics. Here, genomic DNA markers and FCSS analyses were performed to gain insights into ploidy variation and heterozygosity levels of multiple accessions, and genomic relationships among commercial varieties of Jatropha grown in different geographical areas. The determination of ploidy and the differentiation of either pseudogamous or autonomous apomixis from sexuality were based on the seed DNA contents of embryo and endosperm. The presence of only a high 2C embryo peak and a smaller 3C endosperm peak (ratio 2:3) is consistent with an obligate sexual reproductive system. Because of the lack of either 4C or 5C endosperm DNA estimates, the occurrence of gametophytic apomixis seems unlikely in this species but adventitious embryony cannot be ruled out. The investigation of genetic variation within and between cultivated populations was carried out using dominant RAPD and Inter-SSR markers, and codominant SSR markers. Nei’s genetic diversity, corresponding to the expected heterozygosity, was equal to H_e = 0.3491 and the fixation index as low as F_st = 0.2042. The main finding is that seeds commercialized worldwide include a few closely related genotypes, which are not representative of the original Mexican gene pool, revealing high degrees of homozygosity for single varieties and very low genetic diversity between varieties.