Luca Sebastiani

Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna | SSSUP

The management of urban stormwater needs a wide array of environmentally friendly solutions to safeguard water resources and improve the quality of the urban environment. In that, permeable pavements, a type of sustainable drainage system, are designed to reduce the volume and peak flow of stormwater on-site, improve infiltrating water quality, and...

Olive drupe traits (i.e., ripening index and pericarp water content) and minor components (i.e., phenols and pigments in both fruit and oil) are important for human health and are affected by agronomic background. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between fruit traits, phenols, and pigments in samples derived from different...

Fragaria vesca L. (cv. Annabelle) plants were cultivated in hydroponic system and treated for 28 days with control (Hoagland solution), 1 mg L⁻¹ of Cd, 10 µg L⁻¹ of glufosinate ammonium and the mix of glufosinate ammonium and Cd. Cd and glufosinate influenced the photosynthetic parameters starting from day 18. Cd influenced the fruit fresh weight a...

Salinity responses of Populus alba L. clone ‘Marte’ were evaluated using a split-root system to simulate the heterogeneous soil conditions in the field and to assess the salinity tolerance of clone ‘Marte’. During the 26 days of experiment, we measured morpho-physiological parameters as well as the mineral content in substrate and plant organs in s...

Fruit cracking caused by rainfall prior to harvest, a major problem in sweet cherry production, is being exacerbated by climate change. Currently, pre-harvest spraying with calcium salt solutions is the prevalent technique to reduce fruit cracking in cherry orchards not covered by plastic roofs. This study evaluated the effectiveness of canopy-appl...

Fragaria vesca L. cv. Annabelle plants were cultivated in hydroponic system and treated for 28 days with control (Hoagland solution), 1 mg L − 1 of Cd, 10 µg L − 1 of glufosinate ammonium and the mix of glufosinate ammonium and Cd. Cd and glufosinate influence the photosynthetic parameters starting from day 18 and Cd alone the fruit fresh weight af...

Surface water in streams and rivers is a valuable resource and pollution events, if not tackled in time, may have dramatic impacts on aquatic ecosystems. As such, in order to prepare pollution prevention plans and measures or to set-up timely remedial options, especially in the early stages of pollution incidents, simulation tools are of great help...

The impact of dried apples (Malus × domestica Borkh.) addition on improving the antioxidant characteristics of dark chocolate was evaluated. The antioxidant activity was measured through DPPH scavenging activity and showed an increase in the cocoa bar with ‘Nesta’ dry apple (17.3% vs. 46.8%) in comparison to cocoa mass. The 15 polyphenols analyzed...

(1) Background: The aim of this research is to study the importance of improving knowledge of old variety apples in terms of phytochemicals, antioxidant capacity and mineral elements. (2) Methods: Fifteen phenolic compounds (UHPLC-MS/MS techniques), eight mineral elements (Ca, K, Cu, Mn, Fe, Zn, Na and Mg), antioxidant capacity (DPPH%) and vitamin...

Fig trees are often grown in areas affected by salinity problems. We investigated changes in the concentrations of 15 phenolic compounds and mineral elements (Mg, Ca, K, Zn, Cu, Mn, Mo, Fe, Na) in fruits of fig plants (Ficus carica L. cv. Dottato) subjected to irrigation with saline water (100 mM of NaCl) for 28 days. We used UHPLC-MS/MS techniques...

Olive can be considered as moderately tolerant to salinity, with marked differences among cultivars. In the present study, two olive cultivars with different salt tolerance, 'Leccino' (sensitive) and 'Frantoio' (tolerant), were treated with 120 mM of NaCl for 30 days. We measured the expression of genes involved in the management of sodium in the l...

Three different cDNA sequences, designated OepPDAT1-1, OepPDAT1-2, and OepPDAT2, encoding three phospholipid:diacylglycerol acyltransferases (PDAT) have been isolated from olive (Olea europaea cv. Picual). Sequence analysis showed the distinctive features typical of the PDAT family and together with phylogenetic analysis indicated that they encode...

Seed endophyte inoculation can enhance the plant tolerance to pollutants, which allows plant cultivation on trace element (TE) polluted soils. Methylobacterium sp. CP3 and Kineococcus endophyticus CP19 were tested in vitro for their tolerance to Zn and Cd and their plant growth promotion traits. The in vivo effects of bioaugmentation with individua...

The plant association of Populus alba L. ‘Villafranca’, Brassica oleracea var. acephala sebellica (kale), and B. oleracea var. capitata ‘sonsma’ (cabbage) was exposed to Zn, Cd, and exogenous caffeine (¹³CFN)-contaminated water under growth chamber conditions. In the short term of treatment (15 days), poplar increased the root dry biomass (+ 25%) a...

Experiments on the response of young fig (Ficus carica L. 'Dottato') plants to saline water were conducted over two years. The typical experiment consisted in irrigating container-grown plants with pure (control) or saline water at 50, 100 or 200 mM NaCl concentrations for 7-8 weeks in a glasshouse. Plant water status and leaf gas exchange were mea...

Populus alba ‘Villafranca’ clone is well-known for its tolerance to cadmium (Cd). To determine the mechanisms of Cd tolerance of this species, wild-type (wt) plants were compared with transgenic plants over-expressing an aquaporin (aqua1, GenBank GQ918138). Plants were maintained in hydroponic conditions with Hoagland’s solution and treated with 10...

Several spectroscopic techniques have been optimized to check extra-virgin olive oil quality and authenticity, as well as to detect eventual adulterations. These methods are usually complementary and can give information about different olive oil chemical components with bioactive and antioxidant properties. In the present work, a well-characterize...

Mixed inorganic and organic contaminations are one of the main challenges in phytoremediation, due to the higher complexity derived by pollutant interactions and the increase of phytotoxicity. The cultivation of fast-growing poplars for removing contaminants from water could be a low-cost and flexible choice. The main objective of this study was to...

High vacuum technology has been incorporated into a new assisted extraction system applied to virgin olive oil (VOO) processing, which was tested at a lab-scale pilot plant to evaluate its impact on the physicochemical properties of the olive paste and oil. The vacuum system induced changes in the mechanical and structural properties of the olive c...

Key message: Poplar callus maintained a specific difference in osmotic potential with respect to media when supplemented with different carbohydrate concentrations. This balance in osmotic potential guaranteed the growth capacity. Osmotic stress is caused by several abiotic factors such as drought, salinity, or freezing. However, the threshold of...

Drought events impair the carbon and water balances in plants. Climate changes highlight the importance to understand the limits of woody species to reallocate carbon in different processes and the mechanisms driving the osmotic adjustments during the day under stress. In this frame, the aim of this work was to investigate the plant capability to s...

The yield and quality of horticultural crops mainly depend on genotype, environmental conditions, and cultivation management. Abiotic stresses, such as adverse environmental conditions, can strongly reduce crop performance, with crop yield losses ranging from 50% to 70%. The most common abiotic stresses are represented by cold, heat, drought, flood...

Phthalates are micro-pollutants of great concern due to their negative effects on ecosystem functioning and human health. Thanks to its capability in uptake and accumulation of organic pollutants, Populus alba L. “Villafranca” clone could be a good candidate for reducing the impacts derived by the persistence of such compounds in the environment. W...

The effect of salinity on physiological traits, fatty acid composition and desaturase genes expression in fruit mesocarp of olive cultivar Leccino was investigated. Significant reduction of shoot elongation (−12%) during salt treatments (80 mM NaCl) was associated with the translocation of Na in the aerial part. After 75 days of treatment, fruits f...

Poplar (Populus spp.) is a tree species considered for the remediation of soil contaminated by metals, including zinc (Zn). To improve poplar's capacity for Zn assimilation and compartmentalization, it is necessary to understand the physiological and biochemical mechanisms that enable these features as well as their regulation at the molecular leve...

Background: Endothelial dysfunction has been associated to cardiovascular outcomes in patients with cardiovascular risk factors. Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play an important physiological role for their reparative potential of vascular integrity, but are numerically reduced and functionally impaired in patients with cardiovasc...

This study assessed the ability to remove micro-pollutants from wastewater using herbaceous species (Phragmites australis L.) and trees (Salix matsudana Koidz.) in constructed wetland (CW) systems. The targets of the study were as follows: (i) pharmaceuticals like diclofenac, ketoprofen, and atenolol; (ii) 4-n-NP (4-n-nonylphenol) and the ethoxylat...

Aquaporins are water channel proteins that regulate plant development, growth, and response to environmental stresses. Populus trichocarpa is one of the plants with the highest number of aquaporins in its genome, but only few of them have been characterized at the whole plant functional level. Here we analyzed a putative aquaporin gene, aqua1, a ge...

Drought dramatically affects wood production by adversely impacting cambial cells and their derivatives. Photosynthesis and assimilate transport are also affected by drought conditions. Two poplar genotypes, Populus deltoides 'Dvina' and Populus alba 'Marte', demonstrated contrasting growth performance and water-carbon balance strategies; a mechani...

Poplar plants may have an important role in the removal of pharmaceuticals from contaminated waters. In this context, plant uptake of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, as well as physiological response in terms of growth traits and stress enzymes activity was assessed in Populus alba Villafranca clone, in order to establish the e...

The main chemical and physical parameters of veiled and filtered virgin olive oils (VOOs) that are linked to its health and sensory properties, such as phenolic and volatile compounds, were evaluated during a four-month simulated shelf life at room temperature during which the oils were exposed to diffused light for 12 h per day. The specific setti...

Understanding the effective penetration of Zn fertilizers, following foliar application, requires powerful techniques to trace over a period of time the pathway of Zn within the leaf. In this paper, atomic absorption spectroscopy, Cryo-scanning electron microscopy (Cryo-SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (CEDX) was used to study Zn upta...

The effect of salinity on physiology of olive (Olea europaea L.) fruits was studied using a salt-sensitive genotype (Leccino cv.) able to translocate sodium to the aerial part. Plants were treated with 0 and 60 mM NaCl for 49 days starting from the beginning of pit hardening to veraison. The effects of salt exposure were studied classifying olive i...

Surfactants are widely used detergent ingredients and, thanks to their chemical properties, they are applied for remediation of sites polluted by heavy metals and organic contaminants, both in soil flushing and in phytoremediation. However, their direct effects on tree physiology especially in consociation with heavy metal pollution, as well as the...

A new set of cocoa bars named Toscolata® were developed containing top-quality extra virgin olive oil, dried apples cultivars, and chestnut flour. The present work has been conducted to define the sensory profile of these products through tasting by trained experts and consumers to study the acceptability, preference, and quality perception. The fo...

Key message: The latest results in DNA markers application and genomic studies in olive. Olive (Olea europaea L.) is among the most ancient tree crops worldwide and the source of oil beneficial for human health. Despite this, few data on olive genetics are available in comparison with other cultivated plant species. Molecular information is mainly...

Populus alba Villafranca clone was chosen for a proof of concept study to determine the potential uptake and accumulation of xenobiotics by trees. Caffeine, erythromycin, and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) were studied as representative elements of, respectively, widely present organic pollutants, antibiotics, and surfactants. Plants were grown hydr...

Metabolomics studies are widely used in systems biology approaches with the aim to understand the metabolism and physiology of living organisms. Metabolomics of olive fruit can be defined as the application of metabolomics in the study of the multitude of molecules that characterize olive metabolism during the different fruit’s phenological stages,...

Olive (Olea europaea L.) trees are widespread in Mediterranean agroecosystems and are now extensively cultivated in different warm-temperate regions of the world such as North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, and even in the monsoon systems of China and India. In the Mediterranean area, the biological and agronomical suc...

The olive is a medium-sized evergreen tree, which integrates a unique set of morphological and developmental characteristics suited to the relatively dry, rustic conditions of its Mediterranean origin. Also particular to the olive tree are its numerous small fruits, which are rich in oil that is highly appreciated for both flavor and health benefit...

Dry and fresh apples have been studied monitoring their polyphenolic profiles through ¹H NMR, antioxidant capacity and total polyphenol content. Six ancient and underutilized apple varieties (Mantovana, Mora, Nesta, Cipolla, Ruggina, Sassola) and a commercial one (Golden Delicious) were dried with an air-drying system at 45 °C for 19 h. Although so...

Ancient apple varieties can be an important source of fruit products rich in polyphenols with a good taste and aroma. In this study juices were produced from three varieties of apples (‘Panaia-red’, ‘Cipolla’, and ‘Nesta’) grown in Tuscany (Italy). The phenolic contents, the sensory characteristics and the volatile compounds profile (VOCs) were ana...

Environmental stress responses vary from plant to plant depending on the type of stress applied and require a coordinated interplay of complex physiological and biochemical processes, gene expression, protein modification and changes in metabolites compositions leading to proper stress signal and tolerance. In this context, studies on metal stress...

Epigenetic modifications of chromatin structure are extremely important in mediating stress responses in plants. Epigenetic modifications are especially important in perennial species such as trees, where they contribute to phenotypic plasticity and adaptation to unfavourable environments. Populus is a model for physiological studies of trees, and...

The aim of this study was to investigate Cd uptake of Populus alba Villafranca clone applying 0, 0.5 and 1 mg kg−1 soil DW of Cd (Cdc , Cdl and Cdh respectively) for 6 weeks. Cd allocation in the leaves, as a function of their position along the stem, was studied before its toxicity may alter physiological, biochemical and molecular biology of plan...

This is the first study reporting the presence of endogenous caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline in all organs of poplar plants. Liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used in order to evaluate the uptake, translocation, and metabolism of caffeine-(trimethyl-(13)C) in Populus alba L. Villafranca clone grown i...

Key message: Transgenic Populus alba over-expressing a TIP aquaporin ( aqua1) showed a higher growth rate under Zn excess, suggesting that aqua1 could be involved in water homeostasis, rather than in Zn homeostasis. Populus is the internationally accepted model for physiological and developmental studies of tree traits under stress. In plants, aqu...

This book provides an introduction to the genetics, genomics, and breeding of the olive tree, a multi-functional long-lived crop plant that is relevant not only for culinary olive and oil production, but also for shaping the landscape and history of many rural areas for centuries. Today, the recognized health benefits of extra-virgin olive oil prov...

Octopus vulgaris is a cephalopod of the Octopodidae family. It has four pairs of arms and two rows of suckers which perform many functions, including bending and elongation. For this reason the octopus was chosen as model to develop a new generation of soft-body robots. In order to explain some of the fine structures of the octopus arm in relation...

Transgenic Populus alba over-expressing a TIP aquaporin (aqua1) showed a higher growth rate under Zn excess, suggesting that aqua1 could be involved in water homeostasis, rather than in Zn homeostasis.

Endothelial cell death due to increased reactive oxygen species (ROS), contributes to the initial endothelial dysfunction, which promotes atherosclerotic lesions. Several fruit products, including apple and apple juice (AJ), are reported to be beneficial for humans' health. However, the protective effect of different kind of apples and particularly...

Purpose Evaluate the efficiency of Populus alba clone Villafranca in the uptake and translocation of Zn from contaminated soils. Materials and methods The effects of 48 days of zinc treatment (Zn t ) on the growth and the photosynthetic activities of P. alba L. clone Villafranca were studied using ZnSO4 (375 ppm per unit of soil dry weight) adde...

Introduction. Apples have been part of the human diet since ancient times and are one of the most commonly consumed fruit worldwide, rich in phenolic compounds. Phenolics are naturally occurring non-nutritive plant compounds, possessing several health benefits. The effect of storage conditions on phenolics concentrations and on the antioxidant acti...

Populus x canadensis clone I-214 exhibits a general indicator phenotype in response to excess Zn, and a higher metal uptake in roots than in shoots with a reduced translocation to aerial parts under hydroponic conditions. This physiological adaptation seems mainly regulated by roots, although the molecular mechanisms that underlie these processes a...

The development of the soil salinity is one of the major problems of the arid zones. Olive trees are salt-stress tolerant, in a cultivar-related manner, but salinity tolerance mechanisms are not clear. We have studied root adaptations to salinity analysing the changes of their apoplastic barriers, the ions accumulation and Na + cell-specific distri...

E’ stato studiato l'impatto di una nuova tecnologia, consistente nel rapido condizionamento termico della pasta franta, attraverso il suo rapido passaggio su uno scambiatore, seguito da una breve fase di gramolatura (condotta a 25°C o 30°C per 5-10 minuti), sulla modificazione strutturale dei tessuti della pasta e sulla qualità dell’Olio Extra Verg...

Heavy metal stress responses vary from plant to plant depending on the type of heavy metals and require a coordinated interplay of complex physiological and biochemical processes, gene expression, protein modification and changes in metabolites compositions leading to proper stress signal and tolerance. Fast-growing tree species, such as poplar, ha...

Fruit water loss and calcium inflow decrease in kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa ‘Hayward’) after the first few weeks of growth, but the relationship between fruit transpiration and the structure of the skin is not clear. Changes in skin structure during fruit development were studied using cryo-scanning electron microscopy and the concentrations and...

Information on plant responses to combined stresses such as ozone (O3) and cadmium (Cd) is scarce in tree species. On the other hand, high O3 concentrations in the atmosphere and heavy metal contaminations in water and soil simultaneously affect forest ecosystems. Toxic metals may exacerbate the consequences of air pollutants. In this research, two...