Research Publications (Food Safety)

Eight Sicilian cultivars of hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.), namely-Curcia, Nociara Collica, Panottara Collica, Panottara Galati Grande, Parrinara, Panottara Baratta Piccola, Enzo, and Rossa Galvagno, registered into the Italian Cultivar Register of fruit tree species in 2017 were selected from Nebrodi area and established in vitro.

In plants, the RNase III-type enzyme Dicer-like 1 (DCL1) processes most microRNAs (miRNAs) from their primary transcripts called pri-miRNAs. Four distinct processing modes (i.e., short base to loop, sequential base to loop, short loop to base, and sequential loop to base) have been characterized in Arabidopsis, mainly by the Specific Parallel Amplification of RNA Ends (SPARE) approach.

With global climate change, for evaluating warming effect on subalpine forest distribution, the substantial effects of long-term warming on tree growth and soil nutrients need to be explored. In this study, we focused on different responses in the boundaries of trees and soils to warming. Using the open-top chamber (OTC), a 10-year artificial warming experiment was conducted to evaluate the impacts of warming on Abies faxoniana at three different altitudes.

Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal that can cause a variety of adverse effects on human health, including cancer. Wheat comprises approximately 20% of the human diet worldwide; therefore, reducing the concentrations of Cd in wheat grain will have significant impacts on the intake of Cd in food products. The tests for measuring the Cd content in grain are costly, and the content is affected significantly by soil pH.

Urbanization causes alteration in atmospheric, soil, and hydrological factors and substantially affects a range of morphological and physiological plant traits. Correspondingly, plants might adopt different strategies to adapt to urbanization promotion or pressure. Understanding of plant traits responding to urbanization will reveal the capacity of plant adaptation and optimize the choice of plant species in urbanization green.

As the market indicates a growing interest in organically grown fruit, there is a need for biostimulants to counter the adverse effects of pathogenic fungi and fungal-like-pathogens. Four microbial pathogens (Botrytis cinerea, Verticillium sp., Phytophthora sp., and Colletotrichum sp.) which are the most often causes of strawberry diseases were selected. Five kinds of biostimulants (C1, C2, C3, C4, and C5) containing bacterial consortia were developed to combat the pathogens.

Aspergillus flavus is an opportunistic fungal pathogen capable of producing aflatoxins, potent carcinogenic toxins that accumulate in maize kernels after infection. To better understand the molecular mechanisms of maize resistance to A. flavus growth and aflatoxin accumulation, we performed a high-throughput transcriptomic study in situ using maize kernels infected with A. flavus strain 3357.

The morphology of plants growing under combined blue- and red-light irradiation is affected by the presence or absence of time slots of blue- and red-light mono-irradiation.

Plant growth, development, and ultimately crop productivity are largely impacted by the interaction of plants with different abiotic and biotic factors throughout their life cycle. Perception of different abiotic stresses, such as salt, cold, drought, heat, and heavy metals, and interaction with beneficial and harmful biotic agents by plants lead to transient, sustained, or oscillatory changes of [calcium ion, Ca2+]cyt within the cell.

To assess root metabolic differences of maize varieties in their response to lead (Pb) stress, the lead-tolerant variety Huidan No. 4 and the lead-sensitive variety Ludan No. 8 were tested under Pb-free and Pb-stressed conditions. Changes in metabolites were measured using ultra-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry.

Plant endophytic bacteria have many vital roles in plant growth promotion (PGP), such as nitrogen (N) fixation and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, the seedlings of sugarcane varieties B8 (requires a low concentration of nitrogen for growth) and GT11 (requires a high concentration of nitrogen for growth) were inoculated with endophytic diazotroph Enterobacter roggenkampii ED5, which exhibits multiple PGP traits, isolated from sugarcane roots.

Among heavy metals, chromium (Cr) contamination is increasing gradually due to the use of untreated industrial effluents for irrigation purposes, thereby posing a severe threat to crop production. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of compost, biochar (BC), and co-composted BC on the growth, physiological, biochemical attributes, and health risks associated with the consumption of Brassica grown on Cr-contaminated soil.

In all organisms, splicing occurs through the formation of spliceosome complexes, and splicing auxiliary factors are essential during splicing. U2AF65 is a crucial splicing cofactor, and the two typical RNA-recognition motifs at its center recognize and bind the polypyrimidine sequence located between the intron branch site and the 3′-splice site.

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is a prominent source of sugar and serves as bioenergy/biomass feedstock globally. Multiple biotic and abiotic stresses, including drought, salinity, and cold, adversely affect sugarcane yield. G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are components of G-protein-mediated signaling affecting plant growth, development, and stress responses. Here, we identified a GPCR-like protein (ShGPCR1) from sugarcane and energy cane (Saccharum spp.

Genome-wide DNA polymorphism analysis and molecular marker development are important for forward genetics research and DNA marker-assisted breeding. As an ideal model system for Panicoideae grasses and an important minor crop in East Asia, foxtail millet (Setaria italica) has a high-quality reference genome as well as large mutant libraries based on the “Yugu1” variety. However, there is still a lack of genetic and mutation mapping tools available for forward genetics research on S. italica.

The NAC transcription factor family is deemed to be a large plant-specific gene family that plays important roles in plant development and stress response. Miscanthus sinensis is commonly planted in vast marginal land as forage, ornamental grass, or bioenergy crop which demand a relatively high resistance to abiotic stresses. The recent release of a draft chromosome-scale assembly genome of M. sinensis provided a basic platform for the genome-wide investigation of NAC proteins.

Algae are photosynthetic eukaryotic (micro-)organisms, lacking roots, leaves, and other organs that are typical for land plants. They live in freshwater, marine, or terrestrial habitats. Together with the cyanobacteria they contribute to about half of global carbon fixation. As primary producers, they are at the basis of many food webs and they are involved in biogeochemical processes.

Genus Ocimum of Labiatae is well known in all traditional medicinal systems like Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy. The pharmaceutical activities of different species of Ocimum attributed to all plant parts. Roots are the most significant vital organ of the plant, as they absorb water and nutrients from soil and transport to aerial parts of the plants.

Rice remains a major staple food source for the rapidly growing world population. However, regular occurrences of carcinogenic arsenic (As) minerals in waterlogged paddy topsoil pose a great threat to rice production and consumers across the globe. Although As contamination in rice has been well recognized over the past two decades, no suitable rice germplasm had been identified to exploit in adaptive breeding programs.

The importance of phosphorus in the regulation of plant growth function is well studied. However, the role of the inorganic phosphate (Pi) molecule in the mitigation of abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, heavy metal, heat, and acid stresses are poorly understood. We revisited peer-reviewed articles on plant growth characteristics that are phosphorus (P)-dependently regulated under the sufficient-P and low/no-P starvation alone or either combined with one of the mentioned stress.

The cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), which is rich in edible oil and protein, is widely planted around the world as an oil and cash crop. However, aflatoxin contamination seriously affects the quality safety of peanuts, hindering the development of the peanut industry and threatening the health of consumers.

In Se-deficient populations, Selenium- (Se-) enriched wheat is a source of Se supplementation, and Se content can be improved by agronomic biofortification. Thus, black-grained wheat (BGW) and white-grained wheat (WGW) (as the control) were grown in Se naturally contained soils at different concentrations (11.02, 2.21, 2.02, and 0.20 mg·kg−1).

Plant diseases are important issues in agriculture, and the development of effective and environment-friendly means of disease control is crucial and highly desired. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are known as potential alternatives to chemical pesticides because of their potent broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and because they have no risk, or have only a low risk, of developing chemical-resistant pathogens.

Chromium (Cr) presently used in various major industries and its residues possess a potent environmental threat. Contamination of soil and water resources due to Cr ions and its toxicity has adversely affected plant growth and crop productivity. Here, deleterious effects of different levels of Cr (VI) treatments i.e., 0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 μM on two mungbean cultivars, Pusa Vishal (PV) and Pusa Ratna (PR), in hydroponic and pot conditions were evaluated.

Medicinal plants have a variety of values and are an important source of new drugs and their lead compounds. They have played an important role in the treatment of cancer, AIDS, COVID-19 and other major and unconquered diseases. However, there are problems such as uneven quality and adulteration. Therefore, it is of great significance to find comprehensive, efficient and modern technology for its identification and evaluation to ensure quality and efficacy.