Daniela Rippa

Frogs, sentinels of DNA damage induced by pollution in Naples and the neighbouring provinces.

Many DNA mutation-based diseases recognised in Campania have recently been related to toxic substances in illegal dumping areas. We performed a comet assay on edible frog erythrocytes to evaluate DNA damage. Differences in genotoxic parameters were observed among populations. We show that severe DNA damage occurred in the north Campania where the emergence of environmental waste exploded recently. Although a similar magnitude of genotoxic damage was observed in some southern populations, it is attributable to a massive pesticide pollution related to intensive farming. The frog species analysed seems to be a good bioindicator for detecting genotoxic effects of chemical environmental hazards.

Landscape fragmentation and habitat suitability in endangered Italian hare (Lepus corsicanus) and European hare (Lepus europaeus) populations.

During the last years, the population of Italian hare decreased significantly in central and south Italy. This is imputable to harvest, poaching, habitat fragmentation, and the probable competition with congeneric European hare introduced in the last decades by man for hunt. The goal of our work is to define the ecological characteristics of the two aforementioned species in order to understand how landscape facilitates or impedes movement. Spatially explicit models are used to identify a species ecological niche and to build a landscape model of suitability. To validate ecological modeling of landscape, we performed a population genetic analysis. Results suggest that the Italian hare shows an ecological requirement close to average of available resources in the considered landscape. The genetic structure of this autochthonous species validates the habitat suitability model and highlights the differences with European hare. This work analyzes for the first time the ecological relationship between those two sympatric species.

Unexpected but welcome. Artificially selected traits may increase fitness in wild boar

Artificial selection affects phenotypes differently by natural selection. Domestic traits, which pass into the wild, are usually negatively selected. Yet, exceptionally, this axiom may fail to apply if genes, from the domestic animals, increase fertility in the wild. We studied a rare case of a wild boar population under the framework of Wrights interdemic selection model, which could explain gene flow between wild boar and pig, both considered as demes. We analysed the MC1R gene and microsatellite neutral loci in 62 pregnant wild boars as markers of hybridization, and we correlated nucleotide mutations on MC1R (which are common in domestic breeds) to litter size, as an evaluation of fitness in wild sow. Regardless of body size and phyletic effects, wild boar sows bearing nonsynonymous MC1R mutations produced larger litters. This directly suggests that artificially selected traits reaching wild populations, through interdemic gene flow, could bypass natural selection if and only if they increase the fitness in the wild.

Morphological Differentiation and Genetic Structure in Island Lizard Populations

Abstract Only some island populations of Podarcis sicula are hyperchromatic. The study of this phenomenon and its relationship with the lizards of the mainland and other islands, exhibiting a “normal” coloration, provides useful hints in our understanding of evolutionary mechanisms that have created the observed morphological variation. We performed a comparative morphological and genetic analysis of a hyperchromatic lizard population from Licosa Island, and compared the data with that obtained from normal-colored lizard populations both from Ustica and Cirella islands in the Tyrrhenian sea and from nearby mainland Italy. Morphological and microsatellite gene differentiation in the hyperchromatic Licosa population appears to have been much more rapid than the molecular evolution of the mtDNA. We discuss herein that the comparison of hyperchromatism and other types of morphological variation with molecular data in island populations of lizards may provide useful hints as to evolutionary mechanisms.

Wild boars’ social structure in the Mediterranean habitat

Abstract Wild boar Sus scrofa has become a pest throughout Europe, but its social system in this setting is unknown, making it difficult to implement an effective management strategy. We collected data on social grouping patterns by video-trapping the population living in an Italian Mediterranean National Park. We collected over 120 days of observations and the activities of 1431 wild boars. The seasonal variations in wild boar social organisation seem to be directly related to the biological cycle, with some exceptions, such as the unexpected presence of solitary or groups of piglets. The population was more active during the summer, and the mean group size (4.14 ± 0.21) was quite similar to other European boar group sizes. We confirmed that video traps are an appropriate method to monitor versatile wildlife, especially for assessing the population structure, sex and age ratios of wild boars.

Genetic analysis in a mainland melanic lizard (Podarcis sicula) population from Cilento and Vallo di Diano national park (Campania, Italy)

Abstract The results are presented of a microsatellite study performed on melanic and normal specimens of Podarcis sicula found sympatric in a very small area in the Cilento mountain region (Roscigno, southern Italy). The melanic sub‐population showed low variability and departure from HW equilibrium in the considered loci (three out of five). We also provide evidence that genetic exchanges between normal and melanic phenotypes are minimal. This genetic evidence is discussed and an eco‐biogeographic based hypothesis is advanced.

SEASONAL BREEDING IN THE ITALIAN SPARROW: PLASMA ANDROGEN LEVELS AND SPERMATOGENESIS

In this research we studied the spermatogenesis and circulating androgen levels in the male Italian sparrow. A seasonal pattern is shown, and evidence is provided that the Italian sparrow has multiple-clutch breeding activity. In particular, we have observed a winter resurgence of testicular activity, as indicated by active spermatogenesis and a relatively higher plasma androgen level as compared to the summer hormone levels. No breeding males were ever observed during the winter period, and an apparent resurgence of gametogenesis may simply be considered as a transient phenomenon. We suggest that multiple-clutch breeding activity and transient winter resurgence of spermatogenesis reflect the derivation of this species from an ancestral population, probably the progenitors of P. hispaniolensis, spread from Africa to the Italian peninsula.

Pre-birth sense of smell in the wild boar: the ontogeny of the olfactory mucosa

Animals recognize their surrounding environments through the sense of smell by detecting thousands of chemical odorants. Wild boars (Sus scrofa) completely depend on their ability to recognize chemical odorants: to detect food, during scavenging and searching partners, during breeding periods and to avoid potential predators. Wild piglets must be prepared for the chemical universe that they will enter after birth, and they show intense neuronal activity in the olfactory mucosa. With this in mind, we investigated the morpho-functional embryonic development of the olfactory mucosa in the wild boar (in five stages before birth). Using mRNA expression analysis of olfactory marker protein and neuropeptide Y, involved in the function of olfactory sensory neurons, we show early activation of the appropriate genes in the wild boar. We hypothesize olfactory pre-birth development in wild boar is highly adaptive.