1,721,105 research outputs found
Genetic polymorphism and transplanting success in the Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica
No full textPRIMER NOTE: ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MICROSATELLITE LOCI IN THE ASCIDIAN CIONA INTESTINALIS (L.)."
No full textPRIMER NOTE: ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MICROSATELLITE LOCI IN THE ASCIDIAN CIONA INTESTINALIS (L.)."
No full textUrbanisation and the genetic structure of Passer italiae (Vieillot 1817) populations in the South of Italy
No full textUrbanisation and the genetic structure of Passer italiae (Vieillot 1817) populations in the South of Italy
No full textA green roof case study in the urban context of milan: Integrating the residential and cultivation functions for sustainable development
Full text linkGreen roofs are increasing in popularity because of both their pleasant appearance and their positive effects for the urban ecosystems and the building indoor climatic conditions. Though this technology has already been applied all over the world, it is still commonly considered of difficult application and management. Easy and fast approaches for green roofs must therefore be examined and encouraged in order to increase their number to counterbalance urban overheating. This thesis case study aimed to represent a prototype of a green roof integrated with a residential function in order to achieve an easy management of the cultivation area. The project was designed in terms of sustainability and was analyzed for its social, environmental and economic impacts, pointing out the numerous benefits that can be derived by the combination and juxtaposition of humans and native plants. The proposed solution is favorable in terms of a sustainable development: it aspires to be reproduced and extensively applied to other facilities of a city as a solution for the overheating and overpopulation of contemporary cities
Within- and among-leaf variations in photo-physiological functions, gene expression and DNA methylation patterns in the large-sized seagrass Posidonia oceanica
No full textThe knowledge of how molecular functions vary in relation to developmental and environmental cues within and among seagrass leaves is scarce in comparison with terrestrial angiosperms. This strongly limits the mechanistic understanding of photosynthetic development and light acclimation processes in seagrasses, besides having fundamental methodological implications when small leaf sections are utilized as a proxy for assessing the photosynthetic performance and molecular responses to environmental changes for the whole plant. Here, the expression gradients of genes associated with key plant metabolic processes (i.e. photosynthesis, energy dissipation mechanisms, stress response and programmed cell death) were determined, for the first time, in three segments (i.e. basal, medium and high) along the longitudinal axis of three ranked leaves (i.e. leaf 1, 2 and 3) in the large-sized seagrass Posidonia oceanica. The evaluation of major shifts in gene expression paralleled the analysis of photo-physiological properties and global DNA methylation level of the different leaf sections. Photo-physiological and molecular results converged in suggesting that the within-leaf (vertical) gradient was stronger than the leaf-rank (horizontal) gradient, likely reflecting the sharp irradiance attenuation occurring inside the complex canopy formed by this species. Specific correlations between target gene expression and photo-physiological measurements were found, providing a first description of molecular rearrangements underlying the differential photosynthetic performance and light acclimation capacity of seagrass leaves. DNA methylation varied with tissue age, being higher in the youngest and oldest leaf sections, while decreasing in intermediate tissues. We interpreted such changes as a consequence of the interplay between developmental and light cues
Recoding public spaces for a new urban imaginary through the use of textile architecture
No full textStructural, morphological and genetic variability in Halophila stipulacea (Hydrocharitaceae) populations in the western Mediterranean
No full textDifferential Leaf Age-Dependent Thermal Plasticity in the Keystone Seagrass Posidonia oceanica
No full textIntroduction: Gene-expression patterns and their upstream regulatory mechanisms (e.g. epigenetic) are known to modulate plant acclimatability and thus tolerance to heat stress. Within species, thermal plasticity (i.e. temperature-sensitive phenotypic plasticity) and differential thermo-tolerance are recognized among different genotypes, development stages, organs or tissues. Leaf age and lifespan have been demonstrated to strongly affect photosynthetic thermo-tolerance in terrestrial species, whereas there is no information available for marine plants. Materials and Methods: Here, we investigated how an intense warming event affects molecular and photo-physiological functions in the large-sized seagrass Posidonia oceanica, at fine spatial resolution. Plants were exposed for one week at 34°C in a controlled-mesocosm system. Subsequent variations in the expression of 12 target genes and global DNA methylation level were evaluated in three leaf-age sections (i.e. basal, medium and high) established along the longitudinal axis of youngest, young and fully mature leaves of the shoot. Targeted genes were involved in photosynthesis, chlorophyll biosynthesis, energy dissipation mechanisms, stress response and programmed cell death. Molecular analyses paralleled the assessment of pigment content and photosynthetic performance of the same leaf segments, as well as of plant growth inhibition under acute warming. Results: Our data revealed, for the first time, the presence of variable leaf age-dependent stress-induced epigenetic and gene-expression changes in seagrasses, underlying photo-physiological and growth responses to heat stress. An investment in protective responses and growth arrest was observed in immature tissues; while mature leaf sections displayed a higher ability to offset gene down-regulation, possibly through the involvement of DNA methylation changes, although heat-induced damages were visible at photo-physiological level. Discussion: Overall, mature and young leaf tissues exhibited different strategies to withstand heat stress and thus a variable thermal plasticity. This should be taken in consideration when addressing seagrass response to warming and other stressors, especially in large-sized species, where sharp age differences are present within and among leaves, and other gradients of environmental factors (e.g. light) could be at play. Molecular and physiological evaluations conducted only on adult leaf tissues, as common practice in seagrass research, could give inadequate estimates of the overall plant state, and should not be considered as a proxy for the whole shoot
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