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Isotopic insights from carpological remains: one of the first datasets for the Italian Bronze age
Get PDFEven though agriculture already spread into Eurasia during the Neolithic, the transition between the Copper Age and the Bronze Age was the time where Italian communities tuned horticultural techniques to foster the soil productivity. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses could be leveraged to identify some of those practices, such as manuring and irrigation. The former could spike the nitrogen values of plants, while water availability affects the carbon values. This work provides one of the first datasets of isotopic data for seeds from four Bronze Age Italian sites spanning overall from the end of the 3rd millennium to the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE: pile-dwelling of Ledro (TN, Trentino Alto Adige), settlement of S. Maria in Belverde (SI, Tuscany), Grotta Nuova (VT, Latium), and Grotta di Pastena (FR, Latium). One-hundred eighty seeds were first classified, then carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis were carried out for broad beans, wheat, emmer and barley. The obtained values were compared to predictive models to enhance the understanding of the agricultural efforts for each community. The provided dataset would be beneficial for future research on agricultural practices, subsistence strategies identification, and even local ecological reconstruction, as it represents one of the most extensive surveys for carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes values for plants in the focused time spa
AI solutions for vector surveillance: towards improving public health initiatives in Northern Italy
Get PDFAnalisi degli isotopi stabili: un valido strumento per garantire l'autenticità di composti fitoterapici e nutraceutici
Get PDFL’analisi del rapporto tra gli isotopi pesanti e leggeri degli elementi carbonio, azoto, zolfo, ossigeno e idrogeno è ben nota per il suo potere di discriminare l’origine geografica e di garantire l’autenticità di molti prodotti agroalimentari [1]. Il campo di applicazione di questa tecnica si è ampliato oggi anche ai nutraceutici e ai prodotti farmaceutici, in particolare al fine di garantirne l'origine naturale. Molecole chimicamente identiche sono infatti significativamente diverse da un punto di vista isotopico a causa del frazionamento che genera firme isotopiche uniche nel prodotto sintetizzato dalle piante rispetto a quello prodotti in laboratorio solitamente a partire da fonti fossili. Grazie all'accoppiamento della spettrometria di massa isotopica alla cromatografia liquida e alla gascromatografia è oggi possibile discriminare tra origine naturale e/o sintetica non solo del prodotto talquale ma anche dei suoi componenti specifici. L’analisi rappresenta uno strumento idoneo per differenziare ad esempio la Monacolina K e la statina commerciale [2] o la L-teanina naturale da quella prodotta biosinteticamente [3]. Estratti naturali (come i curcuminoidi [4] e i cannabidioli [5]) e il loro adulterante sintetico mostrano intervalli di variabilità isotopica significativamente diversi che consentendo l'identificazione non solo delle due origini, ma anche le aggiunte fraudolente di prodotti di sintesi al complesso natural
Exploring inducibile Caudoviricetes prophages in grana cheese production: characterization and implications
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Monitoring seasonal efficiency of dry anaerobic digestion plant
Get PDFThe lack of specific monitoring tools is a hurdle for dry anaerobic digestion plant performance studies, particularly for biochemical methane potential assessment. The work aims to suggest a solid-state BMP protocol to monitor the full-scale dry anaerobic digestion process. Physicochemical analyses, biomethane potential, and degradability data of different seasonal mixes fed in the reactor are provide
Impact of hybridization on Lepus timidus and L. Europaeus gut microbiota in the Italian Alps
No full textThe mountain hare (Lepus timidus) is a boreal mammalian species, with relict populations in the Alps threatened by climate change due to snow cover reduction and by habitat loss. An additional risk factor is hybridization with the European brown hare (L. europaeus), which is shifting its range to higher altitudes, once dominated by the mountain hare. Despite the recorded presence of hybrids between the two hare species in their Alpine ranges, there is a lack of information about the extent, altitudinal distribution and impact of hybridization. Since gut microbiota is known to affect mammalian health, but is also species- specific, depending on diet, physiology and evolutionary history, hybridization between the two hare species could affect microbiota composition and function, and thus species adaptability and survival. Using non-invasive (faecal pellet) samples, we investigated the altitudinal distribution of L. timidus, L. europaeus and their hybrids to evaluate the current extent of overlap of the two species in an LTSER site in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen – South Tyrol, Italy. Using a subset of these samples, we then investigated bacterial and fungal microbiota to understand whether its diversity and composition are influenced by species and/or altitude, and how hybrid’s gut microbial communities compare to that of the two species. Fresh faecal pellets were collected in the field in 2019 and 2020 at Val di Mazia/Matschertal, Italy at four different altitudes (1,000, 1,500, 2,000 and 2,500 m). A fragment of the mtDNA (D-loop) and 10 STR loci were used for individual genotyping, and the results were combined to identify species and hybrids. Gut microbiota richness and composition were investigated using amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and fungal ITS2 regions and meta-taxonomic bioinformatics. L. timidus was more common at 2,000–2,500 m, but L. europaeus ranged across the study site, with hybrids found between 1,500–2,500 m. Gut microbiota analysis showed that bacterial alpha diversity did not differ between the two species, but there was a significant difference in fungal richness. We found a clear distinction between bacterial community composition of the two species, while both species and elevation influenced fungal composition. Interestingly, hybrid microbiota clustered more closely with that of L. timidus, while fungal composition did not show a clear clustering with either species. The possible impact of these results on mountain hare conservation are discussed
IoT technology as a support tool for the calculation of Crop Water Stress Index in a Vitis vinifera L. cv. Chardonnay vineyard in Northern Italy
Get PDFNowadays agriculure is one of the main sectors affected by climate change. The continuous increase of temperature and drought periods are posing serious problems in terms of shift of plants’ phenological phases and a reduction of crop yield quantity and quality. Among the indexes used to assess plant water status, the Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI) is one of the most studied due to its ease of calculation. We performed a study in a vineyard in Trentino (San Michele all’Adige, Northern Italy) where we took advantage of IoT Technology to build a device to measure leaf temperature and automatically calculate the CWSI. Parameters necessary to determine the CWSI were the temperature of a non-transpiring leaf, (artificial 3D printed black leaf), and the temperature of a fully-transpiring leaf (wet bulb temperature of the air). We compared various types of thermometers to measure temperatures of the real leaves, and with repeated measuring campaigns performed during the summer of 2022 we could obtain spatial maps of CWSI that could highlight the stress levels of the vineyard and therefore address the irrigation management in a context of precision agricultur
Integrated approach for the evaluation of food loss and waste of fresh spinach during its storage
Get PDFAirborne DNA: State of the art. Established methods and missing pieces in the molecular genetic detection of airborne microorganisms, viruses and plant particles
Get PDFBioaerosol is composed of different particles, originating from organisms, or their fragments with different origin, shape, and size. Sampling, analysing, identification and describing this airborne diversity has been carried out for over 100 years, and more recently the use of molecular genetic tools has been implemented. However, up to now there are no established protocols or standards for detecting airborne diversity of bacteria, fungi, viruses, pollen, and plant particles. In this review we evaluated commonalities of methods used in molecular genetic based studies in the last 23 years, to give an overview of applicable methods as well as knowledge gaps in diversity assessment. Various sampling techniques show different levels of effectiveness in detecting airborne particles based on their DNA. The storage and processing of samples, as well as DNA processing, influences the outcome of sampling campaigns. Moreover, the decisions on barcode selection, method of analysis, reference database as well as negative and positive controls may severely impact the results obtained. To date, the chain of decisions, methodological biases and error propagation have hindered DNA based molecular sequencing from offering a holistic picture of the airborne biodiversity. Reviewing the available studies, revealed a great diversity in used methodology and many publications didn't state all used methods in detail, making comparisons with other studies difficult or impossible. To overcome these limitations and ensure genuine comparability across studies, it is crucial to standardize protocols. Publications need to include all necessary information to enable comparison among different studies and to evaluate how methodological choices can impacts the results. Besides standardization, implementing of automatic tools and combining of different analytical techniques, such as real-time evaluation combined with sampling and molecular genetic analysis, could assist in achieving the goal of accurately assessing the actual airborne biodiversity