Publications by authors named "Antonia Spadafora"

Posidonia oceanica is a marine angiosperm, or seagrass, adapted to grow to the underwater life from shallow waters to 50 m depth. This raises questions of how their photosynthesis adapted to the attenuation of light through the water column and leads to the assumption that biochemistry and metabolism of the chloroplast are the basis of adaptive capacity. In the present study, we described a protocol that was adapted from those optimized for terrestrial plants, to extract chloroplasts from as minimal tissue as possible.

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Applying proteomics, we tested the physiological responses of the euryhaline seagrass Cymodocea nodosa to deliberate manipulation of salinity in a mesocosm system. Plants were subjected to a chronic hypersaline condition (43 psu) to compare protein expression and plant photochemistry responses after 15 and 30 days of exposure with those of plants cultured under normal/ambient saline conditions (37 psu). Results showed a general decline in the expression level of leaf proteins in hypersaline stressed plants, with more intense reductions after long-lasting exposure.

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Several allergens have been identified and characterized in the genus Citrus, which belongs to the germin-like proteins (GPLs), profilins, and non-specific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTPs). In this work, in silico sequence analysis, protein purification, mass spectrometry identification, and the spectral counting method were integrated to identify new putative allergens of Citrus clementina and their expression level in the fruit peel. The in silico analysis revealed fifteen new sequences belonging to GLPs (Cit cl 1), and two more belonging to nsLTPs (Cit cl 3).

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For seagrasses, seasonal and daily variations in light and temperature represent the mains factors driving their distribution along the bathymetric cline. Changes in these environmental factors, due to climatic and anthropogenic effects, can compromise their survival. In a framework of conservation and restoration, it becomes crucial to improve our knowledge about the physiological plasticity of seagrass species along environmental gradients.

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A multistep procedure has been developed and applied to extract and purify proteins from lemon fruit flavedo. 2DE, LC-ESI-MS/MS, and bioinformatics were used to detect the high abundance of the germin-like glycoprotein Cit s1, a powerful allergen in humans. Peptide alignments against Citrus EST repositories gave the best scores with the C.

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Surface-activated chemical ionization (SACI) has been widely used in recent years to analyze a range of different compounds (e.g., peptides, street drugs, amino acids).

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The purpose of this research is to establish a routine procedure for the application of proteomic analysis to olive tree. Olive leaf tissue is notoriously recalcitrant to common protein extraction methods due to high levels of interfering compounds. We developed a protocol for isolating proteins suitable for two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) from olive leaf.

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