Publications by authors named "Maria Beatrice Castellani"

Article Synopsis
  • Trait-based ecology traditionally focuses on broad axes of trait variation, but this study emphasizes the importance of intraspecific trait variability (ITV) in understanding plant adaptive strategies.
  • By analyzing ITV across 167 species in various habitats in Italy, the research showed that ITV can rotate the axes of trait variation, enhance the variance explained by these axes, and influence the functional structure of trait space, albeit with small and context-dependent effects.
  • The findings call for a careful approach in applying ITV patterns to different traits and environments, providing a framework to better integrate ITV into future trait space analyses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The effects of polyethylene terephthalate micro-nanoplastics (PET-MNPs) were tested on the model freshwater species Spirodela polyrhiza (L.) Schleid., with focus on possible particle-induced epigenetic effects (i.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Solanum lycopersicum L., a crop grown worldwide with a high nutritional value for the human diet, was used to test the impact of microplastics on plant growth, productivity, and fruit quality. Two of the most represented microplastics in soils, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), were tested.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In this study, we describe the results obtained in a study of the transgenerational phenotypic effects of chromium (Cr) stress on the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana. The F1 generation derived from parents grown under chronic and medium chronic stress showed significantly higher levels of the maximal effective concentration (EC) compared with F1 plants generated from unstressed parents. Moreover, F1 plants from Cr-stressed parents showed a higher germination rate when grown in the presence of Cr.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In this work, we evaluated whether the species Myriophyllum aquaticum (Vell.) Verdc. can be a promising material for devising reliable eco-toxicological tests for Cd-contaminated waters.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In this study, Cucurbita pepo L., one of the most cultivated, consumed and economically important crop worldwide, was used as model plant to test the toxic effects of the four most abundant microplastics identified in contaminated soils, i.e.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF