Compost and Compost Tea Management of Mini Watermelon Cultivations Affects the Chemical, Physical and Sensory Assessment of the Fruits

Compost, rich in plant nutrients, is a readily available fertilizer with beneficial effects on physical, chemical, biochemical and biological properties of the soils. Moreover compost-based treatments can exert protective effects against plant diseases occurrence and/or stimulate an enhanced plant physiological status with improvements in quantity and quality of crop productions. In this study the effects of three different compost-based cropping managements on the productive response and main quality parameters of watermelon fruits were investigated. Treatments, in comparison with the conventional cultivation method, were: soil amendment with an agricultural waste compost (AWC), a municipal waste compost (MWC) and a foliar treatment with a compost tea blend (CTB). The productive responses and colour parameters related to compost treatments did not show significant differences compared to control ones, which reached a total yield of about 10.22 kg·m-2 with a mean weight of 2.74 kg. AWC caused a higher ascorbic acid content with an increase of 50% than conventional treatment, while fruits obtained by CTB showed higher values in firmness and Quality Index than control samples. The analysis of main sugars highlighted that the application of compost as biofertilizer influenced the ratio among fructose, glucose and sucrose with respect to those observed for control fruits.

Addressing Biodiversity Conservation Methods with Fagus sylvatica Genetic Indicators

Species biological history revealed by genetic indicators can provide guidelines for long-term biodiversity conservation in Natura 2000 network. Fagus sylvatica is the keystone species which regulates in the Mediterranean Eco-Region ecosystem structure, function and composition. Six hundred fifty nine F. sylvatica individuals have been sampled across 20 sites of European interest in Southern Italy and analyzed at 5 microsatellite loci. For sites marked by both maximum heterozygosity (Ho) and minimum heterozygote deficit (Fis) (IT9210210, ITA070099, IT9210205 and IT9220075) it is suggested to avoid impacts by adopting very conservative measures. Promoting migration processes (pollen flow and seed flow) would be appropriate where it has been monitored low heterozygosity and high genetic disequilibrium. Margin effect due to dryness should be buffered with appropriate belts of thermophilus broad leaved tree species.

A realized Tuber <i>magnatum</i>niche in the upper Sinni area (south Italy)

A realized Tuber magnatum niche, in the upper Sinni area (Serrapotamo, south Italy), was studied using geographic information system, direct in situ survey and genetic diversity at DNA marker loci. Truffières were north facing, associated with a fine loamy-sandy soil bearing high carbonate content over a conglomerate bead-rock substrate. Target area is located in Pavari's cold and medium-cold Lauretum phithoclimatic belts. Ascoma genomic DNA was analyzed and ITS sequences, microsatellites (MA2, MA4 and MA7), along with M13 minisatellite loci, did show low heteozygosity (HE = 0.153). Serrapotamo genotypes did not express localized markers when compared with Piemonte (north Italy) genetic material. ITS marker, monomorphic within T. magnatum, was efficient at distinguishing T. borchii in a mixture of both. Serrapotamo niche represents a unique T. magnatum diversity spot in the southernmost side of the Mediterranean region. Maintaining Serrapotamo T. magnatum diversity by undertaking conservation measures is adviced.

Agro-Biodiversity Spatial Assessment and Genetic Reserve Delineation for the Pollino National Park (Italy)

Ancient fruit trees, grape vines, traditional crop and garden cultivars have been inventoried in Pollino National Park by adopting a spatial sampling grid which covers 23 different municipalities (~1500 Km2) and 190 surveyed sites. Each site is a circle with a visible radius of 200 - 250 m. The spatial analysis of the diversity of plant genetic resources has been conducted with pre-fixed landscape units (size: 4 Km × 4 Km). Overall, 49 different woody long cycle (455 ancient cultivars) and 53 short cycle species (102 ancient cultivars) have been scored. Long cycle species exhibit higher cultivar richness than short cycle species. The analysis has recognized that pre-Columbian indigenous cultivars had not been displaced by the American species introduced after the 16th century. In addition, it is confirmed that small-scale poly-production, under conditions of spatial niche variation, is associated to high species and cultivar richness. The mapped realized niche, for both pre- and post-Columbian genetic resources, includes the actual genetic reserve suitable for in situ conservation of plant agro-biodiversity. Agro-biodiversity models, drivers of genetic erosion, and realistic responses to genetic erosion are outlined.

Biogenetic Linkage among Ecotopes within Matera-Sassi (Italy) Habitat

In the management of UNESCO cultural sites of significant environmental importance, the erroneous assumption that the environment is independent of biological heritage often prevails. The mapping of phylogenetic resources in the ancient city Matera-Sassi (MS) and the multivariable analysis at the level of ecotope and habitat have made it possible to identify the consistency of the plant genetic heritage and the biogenetic associations between the different ecotopes through the species they host. The bioclimatic variables and geomorphology of MS define an ecological niche refuge for rare or absent species in the surrounding landscape (e.g., Campanula versicolor L., Centranthus ruber (L.) Dc., Capparis spinosa L., Cymbalaria muralis Hill, Crepis spp., Lavathera arborea L.) The total floristic capital in MS amounts to 190 species belonging to 59 different botanical families;80% are native species and only 4% are invasive. About half are Mediterranean with a moderate presence (17%) of cosmopolitan and sub-cosmopolitan;5% are endemic species. Autogenic ecotopes (Type I) represented by “Pleistocene limestone” and “House wall” contribute to the variation of total biodiversity through Endemic species mainly Chamephytes;anthropogenic ecotopes (Type III) such as “Garden” and “Town boundary” with Archaeophytes and exotic Neophytes mainly Phanerophytes;while “Humid margins” and mixed ecotopes (Type II) are linked to feral species and mainly to hemi-cryptophytes and therophytes. Minimum spanning tree of the habitat features traced by the floristic biological heritage is consistent with the pedogenetic relationships between primary mother rocks, their derived ecotopes and anthropogenic impacts. Ecotope ranking based on its biodiversity value indicates that appropriate simultaneous conservation of both genetic resources and human works is achievable.

Singular Integrals and Commutators in Generalized Morrey Spaces

We consider a singular an integral operator K with a variable Calderón-Zygmund type kernel k（x; ξ）, x ∈R^n, ξ∈ R^n／{0}, satisfying a mixed homogeneity condition of the form k（x; μ^α1ξ1,..., μ^αnξn） =μ^-∑i=1^n α≥1 k（x, ξ）, αi≥ 1 and μ 〉 0. The continuity of this operator in L^（^＇＇） is well studied by Fabes and Rivière. Our goal is to extend their result to generalized Morrey spaces L^p,ω（R^n）, p ∈ （1, ∞） with a weight w satisfying suitable dabbling and integral conditions. A special attention is paid to the commutator C[α, k]=Kα- αK with the operator of multiplication by BMO functions.

Phenotyping Key Fruit Quality Traits in Olive Using RGB Images and Back Propagation Neural Networks

To predict oil and phenol concentrations in olive fruit,the combination of back propagation neural networks(BPNNs)and contact-less plant phenotyping techniques was employed to retrieve RGB image-based digital proxies of oil and phenol concentrations.Fruits of cultivars(×3)differing in ripening time were sampled(~10-day interval,×2 years),pictured and analyzed for phenol and oil concentrations.Prior to this,fruit samples were pictured and images were segmented to extract the red(R),green(G),and blue(B)mean pixel values that were rearranged in 35 RGB-based colorimetric indexes.Three BPNNs were designed using as input variables(a)the original 35 RGB indexes,(b)the scores of principal components after a principal component analysis(PCA)pre-processing of those indexes,and(c)a reduced number(28)of the RGB indexes achieved after a sparse PCA.The results show that the predictions reached the highest mean R^(2) values ranging from 0.87 to 0.95(oil)and from 0.81 to 0.90(phenols)across the BPNNs.In addition to the R^(2),other performance metrics were calculated(root mean squared error and mean absolute error)and combined into a general performance indicator(GPI).The resulting rank of the GPI suggests that a BPNN with a specific topology might be designed for cultivars grouped according to their ripening period.The present study documented that an RGB-based image phenotyping can effectively predict key quality traits in olive fruit supporting the developing olive sector within a digital agriculture domain.