Pasquale Marino

Pyrus ciancioi (Rosaceae), a new species from Sicily

Abstract A new species of Pyrus L. from the Nebrodi Mountains (northeast Sicily) is described, named, and illustrated. It differs from Pyrus spinosa in the shape and diameter/length ratio of its fruits and in the width/length ratio of the leaf lamina. An analytical key to the Pyrus species growing in Sicily is provided.

Sorbus busambarensis (Rosaceae), a new endemic species of Sicily

Abstract In this study, Sorbus busambarensis, a new species from Rocca Busambra (Palermo, NW Sicily) has been described and named. On the basis of the critical features of its flowers, fruits and leaves, it is noted to be a member of S. sect. Aria and is related to the other taxa that form the polymorphic group of S. aria, which in Sicily is represented by S. aria s. str., S. graeca and S. umbellata.

Bioclimatology and Vegetation Series in Sicily: A Geostatistical Approach

Tackling the Sicilian woody vegetation as a case-study, this work aims to verify the correspondence between Rivas-Martínezs bioclimatic units and the main vegetation series in the Mediterranean region. Following this approach, one macrobioclimate and 25 bioclimatic type belts can be recognized in Sicily. By means of a geostatistical analysis based on WorldClim data sets, cartographic models of the distribution range of each single bioclimatic unit were obtained and combined with vegetation data, in order to develop a new regional spatial framework, integrating climatic and vegetation data. Fidelity of each vegetation unit to a given climatic range was then evaluated as percent distribution of the occupied surface within a given bioclimatic unit, while the predictive power of the WorldClim data sets was tested by using half of the spatial data of the processed vegetation units as independent variables. Our results suggest that: (1) any kind of numerical threshold used to define bioclimatic units is not effective a priori, but only after it has been adjusted to the territory and to the spatial scale used to set the model; (2) bioclimatic indices being an empirical tool, the model can be trained and eventually adjusted when applied to different territories; (3) fidelity of vegetation units to a given bioclimatic unit is highly variable; (4) the mechanistic pitfall that climatophilous vegetation has to be necessarily linked to a single bioclimatic unit should be avoided.

Types of names of Orobanche taxa described from North Africa

In the framework of the revision of the genus Orobanche (including Phelipaea) in the Mediterranean area, the original material for 31 names of new taxa described from North Africa by Ball, Battandier, Forsskål, Maire (partly with Emberger and Jahandiez), Persoon, Poiret and Pomel has been analysed. Typification is discussed, and where necessary types are designated. Accepted names and synonyms of the recognized taxa are given. Three species are illustrated, and one new combination (O. inexspectata) is proposed.

Tertiary relict laurophyll vegetation in the Madonie mountains (Sicily)

Abstract: Laurel woodlands in the Madonie mountains (Sicily) are characterized by the presence of Laurus nobilis, Rhamnus lojaconoi and Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris. The results of a phytosociological study are presented, and a new endemic association, Rhamno lojaconoi–Lauretum nobilis, is described. Present Mediterranean laurel communities are the result of an adaptive response by Tertiary laurel forest to the peculiar microclimatic conditions that characterize the refugia where they persist. These refugia have been recently considered as a priority habitat under the Directive 92/43/EEC, and their plant communities are very vulnerable. Protection measures of the studied laurel populations are necessary, with particular reference to the bulking up of R. lojaconoi through in situ and ex situ propagation. A multivariate analysis of 63 relevés from all the Sicilian laurel communities described so far and additional 65 relevés from all over southern Europe and the Mediterranean basin bears out the autonomy of the new association, showing at the same time some floristic affinities between Sicilian, southern Italian, Spanish and Iberian associations. Their syntaxonomic treatment is discussed.

Notes on the karyology, genetics and ecology of Genista sect. Voglera in Sicily

Abstract To investigate the biosystematic and genetic relationships among Sicilian species of Genista sect. Voglera, four populations of three species, Genista aristata C. Presl, Genista cupanii Guss., and Genista madoniensis Raimondo, have been studied. Genista madoniensis is tetraploid, with a chromosome number of 2n = 48, as are the other two species. An isozyme study showed that G. madoniensis is taxonomically closer to G. aristata than to G. cupanii, the latter possessing four unique alleles. The results are discussed in the context of the ecological characteristics of each species.

Proposal of a Citrus translational genomic approach for early and infield detection of Flavescence dorée in Vitis

Flavescence dorée (FD) is one of the most widely known grapevine yellows disease and one of the most unabated worldwide in the viticulture sector. In this paper, we outline a strategy for developing an integrated system of technologies to enable rapid, early disease FD detection and diagnosis. We propose the deployment of a newly developed sensor device, the differential mobility spectrometer (DMS), which has shown positive results with a similar vector-borne disease in Citrus. We have previously demonstrated that the gas chromatograph DMS (GC/DMS) can distinguish various citrus diseases, and the system may also allow detection of volatile organic compound (VOC) signals from a tree of other plant systems of unknown health status. This would be achieved by comparing it with the expected VOC profile analysis of healthy or infected trees for health status determination. We can map regions in the GC/DMS signal to gas chromatography mass spectrometry data, thus allowing for deconvolution of specific GC/DMS signatures. We showed that RNA-seq will allow identifying genes involved in volatile pathways (terpenoids, phenylpropanoids, and mevalonate pathways) and could be used to guide the DMS use for the discovery of new biomarkers.

Genetic analysis of Citrus aurantium L. (Rutaceae) cultivars by ISSR molecular markers

Abstract Eight cultivars of Citrus aurantium L., showing peculiar morphological traits of the fruits and leaves, were analyzed genetically. Inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) was chosen as molecular markers because they represent a highly efficient system for investigating variability at intraspecific level. The particular morphological traits were discussed, the genetic identity and distance matrix based on Nei index was calculated, and the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) dendrogram was generated. A total of 53 clearly distinguished DNA bands were considered for the ISSR analysis of which 24 were polymorphic. A basic C. aurantium fingerprinting pattern was obtained. The ISSR profiles allowed to discriminate only two cultivars, while the other six ones did not show polymorphisms, although their phenotypes were notably different, indicating that mutations must have occurred without significantly modifying the DNA length between the simple sequence repeats. The results showed a very low level of genetic variability among the cultivars; “Canaliculata” formed a separated cluster with C. sinensis Osbeck, suggesting a probable hybrid origin derived from crossing between sour and sweet orange. This study confirmed the reliability and reproducibly of ISSR markers for Citrus fingerprinting purposes, although some morphological differences could not be detected; therefore, both morphological and genetic characters must be considered for cultivar or variety identification.

Fatty acid composition of the seed lipids of Chamaerops humilis L. natural populations and its relation with the environment

Seed lipids composition is a tool to discriminate among plant taxa and is related to phylogeny and biogeographic distribution. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the fatty acid (FA) composition of the seed lipids from nine natural Chamaerops humilis L. population and its relation with the climatic traits of the collection sites. The average seed lipids content was 54.8 g kg− 1 and the most represented FAs were oleic (478 g kg− 1 oil) and linoleic (230 g kg− 1 oil), with significant differences among the accessions. Most of the lipid traits significantly correlated with climatic traits. In particular, oleic acid negatively correlated with year potential evapotranspiration. These relations could emerge from a genotypic adaptation to the environment. The seed of C. humilis showed high content of lipids, which implies an importance of the species for feeding wild life during winter, and a high degree of unsaturation. Considering the importance of the unsaturated FAs in human and animal nutrition, the present results suggest that European fan palm could be introduced in breeding programmes and its seed extract used as FA in diet supplementation. Further studies are needed to identify the content of anti-nutritional or nutraceutical compounds.

Evaluation of the DNA barcoding approach to develop a reference data-set for the threatened flora of Sicily

The Mediterranean Basin is one of the most significantly altered World Biodiversity Hotspots with extensive habitat loss and fast genetic population erosion, for which urgent biodiversity reconnaissance and preservation actions are required. In particular, Sicily has about 600 taxa classified as threatened or near-threatened. The correct recognition and identification of such biodiversity is required for supporting further activities. The objective of this work is to assess the ability of the DNA barcoding approach to identify different taxonomic groups from a collection of the most threatened plant taxa, throughout natural Sicilian populations. The evaluation of the DNA barcoding core markers, rbcL and matK, was carried out on 30 taxa belonging to 13 families. DNA barcode fragments were recovered from all taxa (100%). The rbcL gene was recovered from 97% of the taxa and matK gene from 73%. In this test, 19 taxa overall (63%) were totally resolved at the specific or subspecific level, by at least one of the core markers. Fourteen of the 17 most threatened taxa (EN, CR) included in this work were totally discriminated. The matK and rbcL locus, respectively, resolved 64% and 48% of the taxa successfully sequenced. The matK gene expressed the highest genetic distance (K2P value), from 0.4% to 8.6%, against a range of 0.1–2% of rbcL gene. However, the rbcL gene appeared a good compromise between PCR, sequencing success and species-level resolution. Cryptic groups suggest the implementation of additional barcoding markers or different primer combinations, particularly for matK, in order to increase the performances. However, this preliminary result confirms the potential of the barcoding approach for quick identification of unknown and heterogeneous plant groups to generate a dedicated reference data-set of the threatened Sicilian flora for a wide range of applications.