Alessio Papini

University of Florence | UNIFI · Dipartimento di Biologia

Khat leaves, indigenous to eastern Africa, have been chewed for centuries for their stimulant effects, attributed to alkaloids such as cathinone and cathine. Although associated with gastric disorders like gastritis and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to examine the morpho-anat...

Understanding how microbial communities survive in extreme environmental pressure is critical for interpreting ecological patterns and microbial diversity. Great Gobi A Strictly Protected Area represents an intriguing model for studying the bacterial community since it is a protected and intact wild area of the Mongolian desert. In this work, the c...

The effects of polyethylene terephthalate micro-nanoplastics (PET-MNPs) were tested on the model freshwater species Spirodela polyrhiza (L.) Schleid., with focus on possible particle-induced epigenetic effects (i.e. alteration of DNA methylation status). MNPs (size ~ 200–300 nm) were produced as water dispersions from PET bottles through repeated c...

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid-bilayered particles, containing various biomolecules, including nucleic acids, lipids, and proteins, released by cells from all the domains of life and performing multiple communication functions. Evidence suggests that the interaction between host immune cells and fungal EVs induces modulation of the immune s...

In this work, we studied Tanacetum vulgare, Tanacetum parthenium, and Tanacetum corymbosum (Asteraceae) cultivated at the Ghirardi Botanic Garden (Toscolano Maderno, Brescia, Northern Italy) of the University of Milan. An integrative research approach was adopted: microscopic and histochemical, with special focus on the secretory structures respons...

Analyzing the article “Rhamnus alaternus plant: extraction of bioactive fractions and evaluation of their pharmacological and phytochemical properties” by Nekkaa et al. [...]

The severe use of conventional pesticides has led to rethinking agriculture protocols for crop protection. In this context, attention has been given to nanopesticides, i.e., formulations containing nanosized particles to deliver poorly soluble bioactive compounds. The aim of this work was to design and prepare nanoparticles from biopolymers such as...

Xanthoria parietina survivability in Mars-like conditions was supported by water-lysis efficiency recovery and antioxidant content balancing with ROS production after 30 days of exposure. Xanthoria parietina (L.) Th. Fr. is a widespread lichen showing tolerance against air pollutants and UV-radiation. It has been tested under space-like and Mars-li...

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid-bilayered particles, containing various biomolecules, including nucleic acids, lipids, and proteins, released by cells from all the domains of life and performing multiple communication functions. Evidence suggests that the interaction between host immune cells and fungal EVs induces modulation of the immune s...

Grapevines require pruning procedures to maintain plant morphology and ensure productivity, and these procedures cause wounds that induce physical and biological host defence mechanisms. Grapevine tissue reactions to wounding resulting from four different pruning methods were assessed. Rapid (immediate) defence reactions were detected in 1-year-old...

Light and electron microscopy observations of Rhamnus alaternus L. infected by Xylella fastidiosa subsp. multiplex. Poster al 98 Convegno della Società di Botanica Italiana.

The University of Florence (UniFi) started participating in the UI GreenMetric ranking in 2018 to measure its commitments toward sustainability. Since then, several actions have been adopted to make advancements in the six categories of the ranking, spanning from the high-quality classroom environment to actions for the well-being of students. UniF...

The increasing demand for food has required intensive use of pesticides which are hazardous to the ecosystem. A valid alternative is represented by biopesticides; however, these molecules are often insoluble in water, and poorly bioavailable. Nanopesticides can be engineered to reach a selected target with controlled release of the active principle...

Solanum lycopersicum L., a crop grown worldwide with a high nutritional value for the human diet, was used to test the impact of microplastics on plant growth, productivity, and fruit quality. Two of the most represented microplastics in soils, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), were tested. Plants were grown in pots wit...

There is a relentless human need to understand life by tracing the historical development of the discipline of plant sciences, the part of natural science that covers traditionally treated plants. The history of plant taxonomy and floristic studies—the botanical classification of plants into different groups and their distribution in different natu...

Limnospira fusiformis (also known as Spirulina) is a cyanobacterium that is widely cultivated due to its economic importance. It has specific pigments such as phycocyanin that allow it to grow at different light wavelengths compared to other cultivated algae. Our study investigated the effect of yellow (590 nm) and blue (460 nm) light fields on var...

Xanthoria parietina (L.) Th. Fr. is a widely spread foliose lichen showing high tolerance against UV-radiation thanks to parietin, a secondary lichen substance. We exposed samples of X. parietina under simulated Martian conditions for 30 days to explore its survivability. The lichen's vitality was monitored via chlorophyll a fluorescence that gives...

This work represents the first multi-scale study on Teucrium fruticans L. cultivated at the Ghirardi Botanic Garden (Lombardy, Northern Italy), combining a micromorphological and a phytochemical survey on the plant's aerial parts. Micromorphological investigations highlighted the presence of five trichomes morphotypes, distinguished by a different...

Soil salinity can have various negative consequences on agricultural products, from their quality and production to their aesthetic traits. In this work, the possibility to use salt-affected vegetables, that otherwise would be discarded, as a source of nutraceuticals was explored. To this aim, rocket plants, a vegetable featuring bioactive compound...

Palaeoflora in Pakistan in the Miocene is characterized by its high biodiversity. The present study investigated the pollen of fossil plants from the Murree Formation of Pakistan. Shales and mudstones were collected from the Murree section located at the foothills of the Margalla hills and analyzed by palynofacies and palynostratigraphic analyses....

Soil salinization become worse in the last decades, leading to reduced crop yields, especially in the Mediterranean basin. Eruca sativa is a common species cultivated in this area with remarkable economic importance. This study aimed at investigating the effect of salinity on this plant, focusing on (i) seedling development in terms of variations i...

Sustainability and circular economy are increasingly pushing for the search of natural materials to foster antiparasitic treatments, especially in the case of economically relevant agricultural cultivations, such as grapevine. In this work, we propose to deliver neem oil, a natural biopesticide loaded into novel nanovectors (nanocapsules) which wer...

Rhus coriaria L., commonly known as sumac, is a shrub of the Anacardiaceae family present in various subtropical and temperate regions of the world. Considering the rich array of functional and nutraceutical ingredients, sumac extracts are an underutilized source of health-promoting dietary ingredients. For example, sumac is a spice with remarkable...

Seed-associated microbiota are believed to play a crucial role in seed germination, seedling establishment, and plant growth and fitness stimulation, due to the vertical transmission of a core microbiota from seeds to the next generations. It might be hypothesized that medicinal and aromatic plants could use the seeds as vectors to vertically trans...

Grapevine grafting is an essential practice in viticulture and over the years, various bench grafting techniques have been developed to mechanize the nursery process and to increase the yield in number of viable cuttings. Bench grafting is a fundamental nursery practice that can potentially affect the quality of propagation material also in young d...

Lichens are poikilohydric organisms, whose internal water content tends to reflect external humidity conditions. After drying, they can reactivate their metabolic activity through water vapor uptake or liquid water input. Thus, lichen water-related functional traits are important as they are involved in the duration of the hydrated period. Models p...

The microscopic visualization of nanoparticles in plants is crucial to elucidate the mechanisms of their uptake through the cell wall and plasma membrane and to localize the possible sites of their extracellular or intracellular accumulation. Lignin nanocarriers are polymeric hollow nanocapsules able to contain and transport several bioactive subst...

Sustainability and circular economy are increasingly pushing for the search of natural materials to foster antiparasitic treatments, especially in the case of economically relevant agricultural cultivations, such as grapevine. In this work, we propose to deliver neem oil, a natural biopesticide loaded into novel nanovectors (nanocapsules) which wer...

Geographic Profiling (GP) attempts to reconstruct the spreading centre of a series of events due to the same cause. The result of the analysis provides an approximated localization of the spreading centre within an area (often represented as a red red), where the probability of finding it is higher than a given threshold (typically 95%). The analys...

Due to the increasing evidence of widespread plastic pollution in the air, the impact on plants of airborne particles of polycarbonate (PC), polyethyleneterephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), and polyvinylchloride (PVC) was tested by administering pristine and aged airborne micro-nanoplastics (MNPs) to Tillandsia usneoides for two weeks. Here we s...

Cypress Canker Disease (CCD) pandemic caused by Seiridium cardinale is the major constraint of many Cupressaceae worldwide. One of the main symptoms of the disease is the flow of resin from the cankered barks. While inducible phloem axial resin duct-like structures (PARDs) have recently been characterized from an anatomical point of view, their act...

This video shows the advances made with the native species of Berberis from Tucumán and the rescue of the ancestral techniques of the application of these species for the dyeing of natural fibers.

The cherimoya (Annona cherimola), also named chirimoya, is an edible fruit tree of the genus Annona belonging to the family Annonaceae. It is mostly present in tropical and subtropical world regions. This plant species has a long history of use in folk traditional medicine against degenerative and chronic diseases. Fruit and leaf tissues are used a...

New hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) strains developed by crossbreeding selected varieties represent a novel research topic worthy of attention and investigation. This study focused on the phytochemical characterization of nine hemp commercial cultivars. Hydrodistillation was performed in order to collect the essential oils (EO), and also the residual wat...

Xanthoria parietina is a widespread foliose lichen growing on barks and rocks showing a broad spectrum of tolerance to air pollutants such as NOX and heavy metals, and resistance to UV-radiation because of the screening properties provided by the secondary metabolite parietin. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of this lichen species...

Climate change is already causing considerable reductions in biodiversity in all terrestrial ecosystems. These consequences are expected to be exacerbated in biomes that are particularly exposed to change, such as those in the Mediterranean, and in certain groups of more sensitive organisms, such as epiphytic lichens. These poikylohydric organisms...

Honey is a nutrient-rich natural substance prepared by honeybees from the nectars of flowers. Various factors including botanical composition of the bee diet, geographical locations and environmental features affect the biochemical properties of honey, including its composition in biomolecules. In the present study melissopalynological techniques w...

Spartium junceum L. is a typical species of Mediterranean shrubland areas, also grown in gardens and parks as an ornamental. In recent years in Europe, S. junceum has been recurrently found to be infected by different subspecies and genotypes of the quarantine regulated bacterium Xylella fastidiosa (Xf). This work presents for the first time the an...

Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna Jacq.) is a wild edible fruit tree of the genus Crataegus, one of the most interesting genera of the Rosaceae family. This review is the first to consider, all together, the pharmaceutical, phytochemical, functional and therapeutic properties of C. monogyna based on numerous valuable secondary metabolites, including fla...

This is the first contribution about the histochemistry of vegetative and reproductive aerial organs in the genus Piper L. Piper malgassicum accumulates alkaloids and terpenes in the epidermis and the underlying layers of parenchyma, both in the leaves, in the stems and in anthers. Some idioblasts appear to contain a large amount of secondary metab...

Nannochloropsis oceanica F&M-M24 is able to increase its lipid content during nitrogen starvation to more than 50% of the total biomass. We investigated the ultrastructural changes and the variation in the content of main cell biomolecules that accompany the final phase of lipid accumulation. Nitrogen starvation induced a first phase of thylakoid d...

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-021-02502-3

A new species of Berberis L. from the region of Tucumán (Argentina), locally known as “sacha mikuna”, was described as Berberis burruyacuensis. The phylogenetic position was evaluated with ITS DNA sequences, particularly with respect to Berberis mikuna Job and other Berberis species of West-South America. The autonomy of the species, beyond the obs...

In the present paper, we focused our attention on Cinnamomum camphora (L.) J. Presl. (Lauraceae), studied at three levels: (i) micromorphological, with the analysis of the secretory structures and a novel in-depth histochemical characterization of the secreted compounds; (ii) phytochemical, with the characterization of the essential oils from young...

The aim of this study was the characterization of constitutive and induced defence mechanisms in the bark tissues of Cupressus sempervirens before and after infection with the bark fungus Seiridium cardinale that is responsible for Cypress Canker Disease. The time-course development of polyphenolic parenchyma cells (PP cells) and phloem axial resin...

Echinacea purpurea is a plant cultivated worldwide for its pharmaceutical properties, mainly related to the stimulation of the immune system in the treatment of respiratory infections. The cypselas (fruits) of E. purpurea were examined in order to investigate the presence, localization and potential function(s) of endophytic microorganisms. Electro...

• Within the Open Science project entitled “Botanic Garden, factory of molecules”, a multidisciplinary study approach was applied on Ballota acetabulosa (L.) Benth., preserved at the Ghirardi Botanic Garden (Toscolano Maderno, BS, Italy). • Micromorphological, histochemical, and phytochemical investigations were conducted on the vegetative and repr...

Cyanobacteria are prokaryotes whose taxonomy follows the same rules of a code (the International Botanical Nomenclature Code, IBNC) built for eukaryotic photosynthetic organisms. Hence, names of cyanobacteria follow the same rules and are assigned to biological entities (species) that should correspond to eukaryotic species. The main difficulty in...

Lodoicea maldivica (J.F.Gmel.) Pers. (Arecaceae), ‘Coco de Mer’, is a palm, growing as endemic in the Seychelles islands. Its fruit weighs up to 20 kg and is characterized by a fleshy and fibrous envelope surrounding the nutlike portion. The present work combines a morpho‐anatomical and a phytochemical analysis of the fruit exocarp and mesocarp. Th...

This study presented a micromorphological and phytochemical survey on Lavandula dentata L. cultivated at the Ghirardi Botanic Garden (Toscolano Maderno, BS, Italy). The morphological investigation revealed the presence of peltate, short- and medium-stalked capitate trichomes. The histochemical survey showed terpenes production by peltates and mediu...

two new species of genus Piper L. from Madagascar: Piper malgassicum and Piper tsarasotrae, were analyzed to investigate their phylogenetic position and evolutionary history. Both plastidial and nuclear markers were used for sequencing. The plastidial markers (ndhF and the trnL intron) showed a close relationship between the two species with respec...

Within an Open Science project, a research was carried out to describe to the public of the Ghirardi Botanic Garden (BS, Lombardy, Italy), the invisible features of plants. This work is dedicated to Scutellaria altissima L. (Lamiaceae). Micromorphological, histochemical and phytochemical investigations were conducted on the vegetative and reproduct...

A micromorphological and phytochemical survey was performed on Scutellaria brevibracteata subsp. subvelutina cultivated in Italy. The indumentum of the vegetative and reproductive organs was investigated: peltate, short-, medium-and long-stalked capitates were described. Histochemistry evidenced similar results for pel-tates and long-stalked capita...

Environmental concerns have driven scientists to research new eco-friendly approaches for the preparation of nanosystems. For this purpose, novel bio-polymers have been selected. Among these, one of the most promising is lignin, which is biodegradable and biocompatible. Additionally, lignin is one of the main by-products of the paper industry and c...

Abstract The analysis of big data is a fundamental challenge for the current and future stream of data coming from many different sources. Geospatial data is one of the sources currently less investigated. A typical example of always increasing data set is that produced by the distribution data of invasive species on the concerned territories. The...

First developed for biomedical and industrial applications, nanovectors have recently been extended to agriculture. Therefore, innovative plant growing procedures making use of nanoparticles should be adapted to sustainable processes and materials. This work aims at proposing newly synthetized polymeric nanocapsules (NCs) to be used as biocompatibl...

Two species of genus Caulerpa, Caulerpa taxifolia (M. Vahl) C. Agardh and C. racemosa (Forskål) J. Agardh are among the most relevant invasive species in the Mediterranean, possibly also in relation to climate change. Their presence is affecting the presence of native species of benthonic algae and the prairies of Posidonia oceanica. The origin of...

Geoprofiling and Data Science Tecniques for Modelling the center of origin and the spreading pattern of Caulerpa invasion in the Mediterranean

Cupressus sempervirens L. (cypress) is frequently affected by the fungus Seiridium cardinale (Wag.) Sutton & Gibson, the cause the so called cypress canker disease. This investigation deals with the microscopical analysis of the development of the traumatic resin ducts and the ultrastructure of the activity of the epithelial cells of the duct itse...

The fruticose epiphytic lichen Seirophora villosa, strictly associated with Juniperus shrublands in the Mediterranean basin, was used to investigate the role of hairiness on a lichen thallus, as a characteristic morphological trait. We evaluated the effect of hair removal on the physiological parameters of a set of samples, during desiccation and o...

In this work, a non-metallicolous and a metallicolous population of S. paradoxa were exposed to copper excess and fungal elicitation, and investigated for phytohormone production and cytological alterations. Under the stress applied separately and in combination, S. paradoxa plants varied phytohormone concentration in a population-specific way, sug...

Several aroma hops (Humulus lupulus L.) were recently introduced in Northern Italy as a small-scale production of excellence. In this preliminary study, the American cultivar Cascade was investigated in a combined morphological and phytochemical survey. Morphological investigation on trichome structure, density and distribution was performed by sca...

Seed micromorphology of 13 species, belonging to 4 genera of subfamily Alsinoideae (Caryophyllaceae) were investigated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), in order to assess their diagnostic significance at generic level and provide additional evidence on species delimitation, as well as correct identification and phylogenetic position. Genera...

S everal genera and species of unicellular algae proved to be resistant, at different level of effectiveness, to heavy metals pollution. Some cells may arrest the metals at the wall level, by excluding the entrance into the cytoplasm; others may concentrate and precipitate the metal in a vacuole. Besides these methods, some cells appear to increase...

Key message Suberin metabolism plays a crucial role in the compartmentalization of the necrotic bark tissues in cypress clones resistant to bark canker caused by Seiridium cardinale. Abstract In cypress, the main mechanism of resistance to the bark canker caused by the fungal pathogen Seiridium cardinale involves the post-infectional development o...

The fast tracking of invasion spatial patterns of alien species is crucial for the implementation of preventive and management strategies of those species. Recently, a honeybee pest, the small hive beetle Aethina tumida (hereafter SHB), has been reported in Italy, where it colonized more than 50 apiaries in an area of about 300 km². SHB is a nest p...

In the Mediterranean basin, coastal dune systems are a priority habitat for nature conservation. Seirophora villosa is strictly associated with undisturbed dune juniper formations and can be used as an indicator of the status of conservation. Light regime and water availability are generally the main ecological factors modified by habitat fragmenta...

Here we describe two new species of genus Piper L. from Madagascar: Piper malgassicum and Piper tsarasotrae, the species names referring to the currently known distribution areas. These two species contribute, at least in part, to the production of local voatsiperifery pepper, probably mixed together with P. borbonense, and are therefore economical...

A general report on the use of the Allium test as cytotoxicological and genotoxicological assay is proposed, with particular emphasis about the standardization of the test in several common applications. The intraspecific variation in Allium cepa has been overlooked, as in most investigations no mention is made about origin and denomination of the...

The Geographic Profiling (GP) is a data analysis tool that has great potential. Presently, it is used only minimally, and is almost always used “as it is”, independently on other analysis or data processing methods. GP was initially created as a forensic tool, to find the origin of a series of events (crimes) done by a single actor. However, using...

This work investigated the effect of Zn excess on growth, metal accumulation and photosynthetic changes in Tetradenia riparia, in relation to possible variations in the composition of the plant volatilome. Experiments were carried out in hydroponics exposing plants to a range of Zn concentrations. Zinc excess negatively affected plant growth in a d...

The investigation of autophagy particularly when observed during programmed cell death (PCD) is strongly based on the morphological features recorded with transmission electron microscope (TEM). Here we describe methods to induce and to inhibit autophagy in plants. Also some tips for obtaining better preservation of biological membranes, crucial fo...

Oxalis pes-caprae L. is a South African geophyte that behaves as an invasive in the eurimediterranean area. According to a long-established hypothesis, O. pes-caprae may have invaded Europe and the Mediterranean area starting from a single plant introduced in the Botanical Garden of Malta at the beginning of the 19th century. The aim of this work w...

Silhouette analysis results for observations up to 1880. The situation with three clusters is the most homogeneous, as an indication of the most probable number of clusters. (PDF)

Synthetic Table of the distribution data. In this table, only the earliest records for each Territorial Unit (TU) are included. Geographical entities described after NUTS (Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics). (XLS)

Animated graphic. It shows the dates and places of earliest reports of O. pes-caprae in the Mediterranean throughout the decades. (MP4)