S Otto

Accumulation and Distribution Pattern of Macro- and Microelements and Trace Elements in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Chardonnay Berries

This paper describes the accumulation pattern of 42 mineral elements in Vitis vinifera L. berries during development and ripening and their distribution in berry skin, seeds, and flesh around harvest time. Grape berries were sampled in two different vineyards with alkaline soil and analyzed using a ICP-MS. Although elemental amounts were significantly different in the grapes from the two vineyards, the accumulation pattern and percentage distribution in different parts of the berries were generally quite similar. Ba, Eu, Sr, Ca, Mg, Mn, and Zn accumulate prior to veraison. Al, Ce, Dy, Er, Ga, Gd, Ho, La, Nd, Pr, Sm, Sn, Zr, Th, Tm, U, Y, and Yb accumulate mainly prior to veraison but also during ripening. Ag, As, B, Cd, Cs, Cu, Fe, Ge, Hg, K, Li, Na, P, Rb, Sb, Se, and Tl accumulate progressively during growth and ripening. With regard to distribution, Ba, Ca, Eu, Fe, Mn, P, Sr, and Zn accumulate mainly in the seeds, Al, B, Ga, Sn, and the rare earths analyzed, except for Eu, accumulate mainly in the skin, and Ag, As, Cd, Cs, Cu, Ge, Hg, K, Li, Mg, Na, Rb, Sb, Se, Th, Tl, U, and Zr accumulate mainly in the flesh. A joint representation of the accumulation and distribution patterns for the elements in the berry is also given.

Chemical elemental distribution and soil DNA fingerprints provide the critical evidence in murder case investigation

Background The scientific contribution to the solution of crime cases, or throughout the consequent forensic trials, is a crucial aspect of the justice system. The possibility to extract meaningful information from trace amounts of samples, and to match and validate evidences with robust and unambiguous statistical tests, are the key points of such process. The present report is the authorized disclosure of an investigation, carried out by Attorney General appointment, on a murder case in northern Italy, which yielded the critical supporting evidence for the judicial trial. Methodology/Principal Findings The proportional distribution of 54 chemical elements and the bacterial community DNA fingerprints were used as signature markers to prove the similarity of two soil samples. The first soil was collected on the crime scene, along a corn field, while the second was found in trace amounts on the carpet of a car impounded from the main suspect in a distant location. The matching similarity of the two soils was proven by crossing the results of two independent techniques: a) elemental analysis via inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) approaches, and b) amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis by gel electrophoresis (ARDRA). Conclusions Besides introducing the novel application of these methods to forensic disciplines, the highly accurate level of resolution observed, opens new possibilities also in the fields of soil typing and tracking, historical analyses, geochemical surveys and global land mapping.

Vegetated Ditches for the Mitigation of Pesticides Runoff in the Po Valley.

In intensive agricultural systems runoff is one of the major potential diffuse pollution pathways for pesticides and poses a risk to surface water. Ditches are common in the Po Valley and can potentially provide runoff mitigation for the protection of watercourses. The effectiveness depends on ditch characteristics, so there is an urgent need for site-specific field trials. The use of a fugacity model (multimedia model) can allows recognition of the mitigation main processes. A field experiment was conducted in order to evaluate the mitigation capacity of a typical vegetated ditch, and results were compared with predictions by a fugacity model. To evaluate herbicide mitigation after an extreme runoff, the ditch was flooded with water containing mesotrione, S-metolachlor and terbuthylazine. Two other subsequent floods with uncontaminated water were applied 27 and 82 days later to evaluate herbicides release. Results show that the ditch can immediately reduce runoff concentration of herbicides by at least 50% even in extreme flooding conditions. The half-distances were about 250 m. As a general rule, a runoff of 1 mm from 5 ha is mitigated by 99% in 100 m of vegetated ditch. Herbicides retention in the vegetated ditch was reversible, and the second flood mobilized 0.03-0.2% of the previous one, with a concentration below the drinking water limit of 0.1 μg L-1. No herbicide was detected in the third flood, because the residual amount in the ditch was too low. Fugacity model results show that specific physical-chemical parameters may be used and a specific soil-sediment-plant compartment included for modelling herbicides behaviour in a vegetated ditch, and confirm that accumulation is low or negligible for herbicides with a half-life of 40 days or less. Shallow vegetated ditches can thus be included in a general agri-environment scheme for the mitigation of pesticides runoff together with wetlands and linear buffer strips. These structures are present in the landscape, and their environmental role can be exploited by proper management.

Droplets deposition pattern from a prototype of a fixed spraying system in a sloping vineyard

In Italy high-quality vines are sometimes grown in small fields with slope steeper than 5-10%, where an air-blast sprayer is impractical so spray-gun application of pesticides is used, a technique that is very costly and labour intensive, and that causes high pesticide exposure of the operators. A possible alternative is the use of a fixed spraying system, and the first researches are in progress in Italy. A fixed spraying system prototype was built in a vineyard at Laimburg Research Centre with an upper line with micro-sprinkler and a lower line with cooler-type nozzles, and a trial was performed with the aim of measuring the deposition pattern of droplets on the row and between rows with water sensitive papers, also in comparison with a precise low-drift air-blast sprayer. Results show that with the fixed spraying system the treated crop row accounts for 38-44% of total deposition, that about 85-88% of sprayed solution falls on the sprayed row and on the closest right and left adjacent inter-rows, and that at 4 m from the spraying line the spray drift was <0.1%. This highlights that a fixed spraying system has the potential to apply plant protection products without generating drift problems, with a field performance similar to a low-drift sprayer, becoming an opportunity for vineyards on very steep slopes.