Publications by authors named "Francesco P Marra"

(1) Background: Traditionally, hop is propagated using rhizome fragments or herbaceous stem cuttings. Micropropagation, therefore, offers a viable alternative for the large-scale production of healthy, genetically uniform plants, regardless of the season and within confined spaces. A temporary immersion system (TIS) facilitates plant propagation by alternating immersions of microcuttings in liquid culture medium with dry periods, preventing gas accumulation through forced ventilation.

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The olive tree ( L.), which characterizes the agriculture of the Mediterranean basin, faces challenges adapting to high-density orchards and mechanized cultivation. This study addresses a key issue: controlling tree size to enhance efficiency and manageability in olive cultivation.

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This study aimed to perform an in-depth investigation of olive oil mill wastewater (OOMW). Two OOMW samples (OOMW-A and OOMW-B) from conventionally farmed olives were collected from two different olive oil mills in Palermo province (Italy). Multiresidual analysis indicated that both OOMW samples were unsuitable for food production due to pesticide residues.

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Developing an efficient and sustainable precision irrigation strategy is crucial in contemporary agriculture. This study aimed to combine proximal and remote sensing techniques to show the benefits of using both monitoring methods, simultaneously assessing the water status and response of 'Calatina' olive under two distinct irrigation levels: full irrigation (FI), and drought stress (DS, -3 to -4 MPa). Stem water potential (Ψ) and stomatal conductance (g) were monitored weekly as reference indicators of plant water status.

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is a dangerous obligate fungal pathogen of olive, feared in the Mediterranean countries, causing or , which can lead to a serious yield loss of approximately 20% or higher depending on climatic conditions. Coping with this disease is much more problematic for organic farms. To date, knowledge on the genetic control of possible mechanisms of resistance/low susceptibility is quite limited.

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This study aimed to characterize the physiological and structural responses of potted one-year-old olive trees belonging to two olive cultivars—‘Nocellara del Belice’ and ‘Cerasuola’—exposed to prolonged drought under greenhouse conditions. Two irrigation treatments based on evapotranspiration (ET) were imposed for 69 days, i.e.

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Midday stem water potential (SWP) is rapidly becoming adopted as a standard tool for plant-based irrigation management in many woody perennial crops. A reference or "baseline" SWP has been used in some crops (almond, prune, grape, and walnut) to account for the climatic influence of air vapor pressure deficit (VPD) on SWP under non-limiting soil moisture conditions. The baseline can be determined empirically for field trees maintained under such non-limiting conditions, but such conditions are difficult to achieve for an entire season.

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Article Synopsis
  • The olive tree and its oil play a significant role in Mediterranean history, representing a key agricultural product tied to cultural identity.
  • Despite its importance, there is limited understanding of the evolutionary history of olives, especially in Algeria, which is recognized as a secondary center for olive diversification.
  • The study analyzed 119 unique Algerian olive varieties and 103 from Sicily using genetic markers to explore genetic diversity and relationships, shedding light on the complex processes of olive cultivation in the Mediterranean.
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A comprehensive characterization of water stress is needed for the development of automated irrigation protocols aiming to increase olive orchard environmental and economical sustainability. The main aim of this study is to determine whether a combination of continuous leaf turgor, fruit growth, and sap flow responses improves the detection of mild water stress in two olive cultivars characterized by different responses to water stress. The sensitivity of the tested indicators to mild stress depended on the main mechanisms that each cultivar uses to cope with water deficit.

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The present study aimed at identifying and mapping key genes expressed in root tissues involved in drought and salinity tolerance/resistance conserved among different fruit tree species. Twenty-six RNA-Seq samples were analyzed from six published studies in five plant species (). This meta-analysis used a bioinformatic pipeline identifying 750 genes that were commonly modulated in three salinity studies and 683 genes that were commonly regulated among three drought studies, implying their conserved role in resistance/tolerance/response to these environmental stresses.

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The alteration of heavy ("ON/bearing") and light ("OFF/non-bearing") yield in pistachio ( L.) has been reported to result from the abscission of inflorescence buds on high yielding trees during the summer, but the regulatory mechanisms involved in this bud abscission remain unclear. The analysis provides insights into the transcript changes between inflorescence buds on bearing and non-bearing shoots, that we indicated as "ON" and "OFF", and shed light on the molecular mechanisms causing premature inflorescence bud abscission in the pistachio cultivar "Bianca" which can be related to the alternate bearing behavior.

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Sustainable irrigation is crucial to reduce water use and management costs in modern orchard systems. Continuous plant-based sensing is an innovative approach for the continuous monitoring of plant water status. Olive ( L.

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RNA-Seq analysis is a strong tool to gain insight into the molecular responses to biotic stresses in plants. The objective of this work is to identify specific and common molecular responses between different transcriptomic data related to fungi, virus and bacteria attacks in Malus x domestica. We analyzed seven transcriptomic datasets in Malus x domestica divided in responses to fungal pathogens, virus (Apple Stem Grooving Virus) and bacteria (Erwinia amylovora).

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This study, as a preliminary step toward the definition of a carbon budget model for pistachio trees (Pistacia vera L.), aimed at estimating and evaluating the dynamics of respiration of vegetative and reproductive organs of pistachio tree. Trials were performed in 2005 in a commercial orchard located in Sicily (370 m a.

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