Spatio-temporal dynamics of root water uptake and identification of soil moisture thresholds for precision irrigation in a Mediterranean yellow-fleshed kiwifruit orchard.

Introduction: Actinidia is highly susceptible to water stress, both excess and shortage, and is therefore a model fruit crop for irrigation management, requiring precise water application. The present study was carried out in a mature kiwifruit orchard in southern Italy to investigate the physiology of a yellow-fleshed kiwifruit cultivar under non-limiting soil water conditions and in response to a progressive decrease in soil water content in a Mediterranean environment, with the aim of defining soil moisture thresholds to guide irrigation management.

Methods: The progressive lowering in soil moisture was monitored using multi-profile probes, taking into account a 60 cm layer.

Uptake and translocation of pharmaceutically active compounds by olive tree ( L.) irrigated with treated municipal wastewater.

Introduction: The use of treated municipal wastewater (TWW) represents a relevant opportunity for irrigation of agricultural crops in semi-arid regions to counter the increasing water scarcity. Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) are often detected in treated wastewater, posing a risk to humans and the environment. PhACs can accumulate in soils and translocate into different plant tissues, reaching, in some cases, edible organs and entering the food chain.

Carbon isotope discrimination and water use efficiency in interspecific Prunus hybrids subjected to drought stress.

In C plants, carbon isotope composition (δC) is influenced by isotopic effects during diffusion from the atmosphere to the chloroplasts and carboxylation reactions. This work aimed to demonstrate if δC of leaf soluble carbohydrates (δC) and of dry matter from new-growth shoots (δC) of Prunus plants subjected to a period of water deficit was related to water use efficiency (WUE). For this purpose, three interspecific Prunus hybrids rootstocks (6-5, 7-7 and G × N) were gradually subjected to drought and then rewatered.

Soil management type differentially modulates the metabolomic profile of olive xylem sap.

In conventional olive growing, frequent soil tillage strongly reduces the complexity and diversity of the agro-ecosystem. Here, a metabolomic analysis was carried out on the xylem sap (XS) of olive plants (Olea europaea L.) from a grove located in Southern Italy (Basilicata region).

Evaluation of the possible persistence of potential human pathogenic bacteria in olive orchards irrigated with treated urban wastewater.

Under suitable conditions, low-quality, treated urban wastewater (TWW) is an additional water resource for irrigation in water-scarce environments but its use in agriculture requires a careful monitoring of a range of hygiene parameters, including human pathogenic bacteria (HPB). DNA-based microbiological analyses on soil, xylem sap, and leaves surface (phyllosphere) were carried out in an olive (Olea europaea L.) grove located in Southern Italy (Basilicata region).

Correlations between morpho-anatomical changes and radial hydraulic conductivity in roots of olive trees under water deficit and rewatering.

The effects of prolonged drought were studied on olive (Olea europaea L.; drought-sensitive cultivar Biancolilla and drought-tolerant cultivar Coratina) to examine how morpho-anatomical modifications in roots impact on root radial hydraulic conductivity (Lpr). Two-year-old self-rooted plants were subjected to a gradual water depletion.

Fruit calcium accumulation coupled and uncoupled from its transpiration in kiwifruit.

Accumulation of Ca in several fleshy fruit is often supposed to depend, among others, by climatic variables driving fruit transpiration. This study tests the whole causal chain hypothesis: VPD → fruit transpiration → Ca accumulation. Also there are evidences that relationship between fruit transpiration and Ca content is not always clear, hence the hypothesis that low VPD reduces the fraction of xylemic water destined to transpiration was tested by examining the water budget of fruit.

Fruit transpiration in kiwifruit: environmental drivers and predictive model.

Background And Aims: In most fruit crops, storage quality varies greatly between regions and seasons, causing significant commercial loss. Understanding the sources of this variability will contribute to the knowledge of fruit developmental physiology and may also benefit commercial fruit production via altered managements that reduce it or forecasts that predict it. A causal-chain relationship is proposed to help elucidate the sources of variability in fruit storage quality: the weather →(i)→ fruit transpiration →(ii)→ fruit calcium →(iii)→ fruit storage quality.

Osmotic regulation in leaves and roots of olive trees during a water deficit and rewatering.

We evaluated the osmotic adjustment capacity of leaves and roots of young olive (Olea europaea L.) trees during a period of water deficit and subsequent rewatering. The trials were carried out in Basilicata (40 degrees 24' N, 16 degrees 48' E) on 2-year-old self-rooted olive plants (cv.

Antioxidant defences in olive trees during drought stress: changes in activity of some antioxidant enzymes.

The effects of drought on the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), guaiacol peroxidase (POD), indoleacetate oxidase (IAAox) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) were studied in 2-year old Olea europaea L. (cv. 'Coratina') plants grown under high temperatures and irradiance levels and gradually subjected to a controlled water deficit.

Lipoxygenase activity and proline accumulation in leaves and roots of olive trees in response to drought stress.

The olive tree (Olea europaea L.) is commonly grown in the Mediterranean basin and is able to resist severe and prolonged drought. Levels of proline (PRO) and malondialdehyde (MDA), and the lipoxygenase (LOX) activity were determined in 2-year-old olive plants (cv.