High-Throughput DNA Isolation in Vegetable Crops for Genomics Applications.

Isolating high-quality DNA is essential for several applications in molecular biology and genomics. Performing whole-genome sequencing in crops and development of reduced representation genomic libraries for genotyping require precise standard on DNA in terms of concentration and purity. For screening large populations it is essential to increase the extraction throughput at affordable costs.

Methods of Development of Biparental Mapping Populations in Horticultural Crops.

Biparental mapping populations consist of a set of individuals derived from crosses between two parents often belonging to diverse species of a botanical genus and differing in terms of phenotype and traits to share. The development of such recombinant libraries represents a powerful strategy for dissection of the genetic basis of complex traits in crops and these are largely utilized to develop pre-breeding sources to use in crop improvement. This chapter provides an overview of methods and strategies to follow, for the construction of different types of populations, from a plant breeder point of view.

Genetic Improvement of L.: Opportunities and Challenges.

L., the giant reed-being a long-duration, low-cost, non-food energy crop able to grow in marginal lands-has emerged as a potential alternative to produce biomass for both energy production, with low carbon emissions, and industrial bioproducts. In recent years, pioneering efforts have been made to genetically improve this very promising energy crop.

Cultivated Tomato ( L.) Suffered a Severe Cytoplasmic Bottleneck during Domestication: Implications from Chloroplast Genomes.

In various crops, genetic bottlenecks occurring through domestication can limit crop resilience to biotic and abiotic stresses. In the present study, we investigated nucleotide diversity in tomato chloroplast genome through sequencing seven plastomes of cultivated accessions from the Campania region (Southern Italy) and two wild species among the closest () and most distantly related () species to cultivated tomatoes. Comparative analyses among the chloroplast genomes sequenced in this work and those available in GenBank allowed evaluating the variability of plastomes and defining phylogenetic relationships.

Genome wide association studies for japonica rice resistance to blast in field and controlled conditions.

Background: Rice blast, caused by the fungus Pyricularia oryzae, represents the most damaging fungal disease of rice worldwide. Utilization of rice resistant cultivars represents a practical way to control the disease. Most of the rice varieties cultivated in Europe and several other temperate regions are severely depleted of blast resistance genes, making the identification of resistant sources in genetic background adapted to temperate environments a priority.

Phytochemical Profile, Mineral Content, and Bioactive Compounds in Leaves of Seed-Propagated Artichoke Hybrid Cultivars.

The globe artichoke ( L. subsp. (L.

A New Intra-Specific and High-Resolution Genetic Map of Eggplant Based on a RIL Population, and Location of QTLs Related to Plant Anthocyanin Pigmentation and Seed Vigour.

Eggplant is the second most important solanaceous berry-producing crop after tomato. Despite mapping studies based on bi-parental progenies and GWAS approaches having been performed, an eggplant intraspecific high-resolution map is still lacking. We developed a RIL population from the intraspecific cross '305E40', (androgenetic introgressed line carrying the locus conferring resistance) x '67/3' (breeding line whose genome sequence was recently released).

Physiological Basis of Salt Stress Tolerance in a Landrace and a Commercial Variety of Sweet Pepper ( L.).

Salt stress is one of the most impactful abiotic stresses that plants must cope with. Plants' ability to tolerate salt stress relies on multiple mechanisms, which are associated with biomass and yield reductions. Sweet pepper is a salt-sensitive crop that in Mediterranean regions can be exposed to salt build-up in the root zone due to irrigation.

Weed Functional Diversity as Affected by Agroecological Service Crops and No-Till in a Mediterranean Organic Vegetable System.

This paper explores the effect of agroecological service crops (ASCs), i.e., crops included in the crop rotation for their ecosystem services, terminated with an in-line tillage roller crimper (ILRC) on weed community composition and their functional traits in comparison to a tilled control without ASC.

Optimizing N Fertilization to Improve Yield, Technological and Nutritional Quality of Tomato Grown in High Fertility Soil Conditions.

Processing tomato is the second most important worldwide cash crop, generally produced in high-input systems. However, fruit yield and quality are affected by agronomic management, particularly nitrogen (N) fertilization, whose application to indeterminate growth genotypes for canning has yet to be investigated in depth. Hence, the objective of this work was to assess the effects of different N rates (0, 50, 125, 200, 275, and 350 kg ha) on fruit yield and quality characteristics of processing tomato 'San Marzano' landrace.

Genome-Wide HMG Family Investigation and Its Role in Glycoalkaloid Accumulation in Wild Tuber-Bearing .

Steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGAs) are a class of nitrogen-containing glycosides occurring in several plant families and biosynthesized through a specific pathway. HMG-CoA reductase is the first enzyme of this pathway, and its transcription can be regulated by biotic and abiotic stressors and even in a tissue-specific manner. This study aimed to characterize the genes family in a tuber-bearing potato species, , using transcriptional and functional approaches.

Overview of Biotic Stresses in Pepper ( spp.): Sources of Genetic Resistance, Molecular Breeding and Genomics.

Pepper ( spp.) is one of the major vegetable crops grown worldwide largely appreciated for its economic importance and nutritional value. This crop belongs to the large Solanaceae family, which, among more than 90 genera and 2500 species of flowering plants, includes commercially important vegetables such as tomato and eggplant.

Genome Sequencing of C1 Provides Insights into Molecular and Genetic Mechanisms of Plant Growth-Promotion and Tolerance to Heavy Metals.

Distinctive strains of are used as soil inoculants for their ability to promote plant growth. strain C1, previously isolated from the phyllosphere of lettuce, can produce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), solubilize phosphate, and inhibit plant pathogens, such as . In this paper, the complete genome sequence of strain C1 is reported.

Applications and Trends of Machine Learning in Genomics and Phenomics for Next-Generation Breeding.

Crops are the major source of food supply and raw materials for the processing industry. A balance between crop production and food consumption is continually threatened by plant diseases and adverse environmental conditions. This leads to serious losses every year and results in food shortages, particularly in developing countries.

Characterization and Antioxidant Activity of Essential Oil of Four Sympatric Orchid Species.

The volatile fractions from fresh inflorescences of naturally growing orchids (L.) R. M.

Antioxidant and Mineral Composition of Three Wild Leafy Species: A Comparison Between Microgreens and Baby Greens.

Wild plants may play an important role in human nutrition and health and, among them, many are the leafy species. We hypothesized that the wild greens could be profitably grown as microgreens and baby greens, specialty products whose market is increasing. We compared three wild leafy species ( Scop.

Complete Sequence, Multichromosomal Architecture and Transcriptome Analysis of the Mitochondrial Genome.

Mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) in higher plants can induce cytoplasmic male sterility and be somehow involved in nuclear-cytoplasmic interactions affecting plant growth and agronomic performance. They are larger and more complex than in other eukaryotes, due to their recombinogenic nature. For most plants, the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can be represented as a single circular chromosome, the so-called master molecule, which includes repeated sequences that recombine frequently, generating sub-genomic molecules in various proportions.

Anti-Multiple Myeloma Potential of Secondary Metabolites from .

Multiple myeloma (MM) belongs to hematological cancers and its incidence is increasing worldwide. Despite recent advances in its therapy, MM still causes many deaths every year. In fact, current therapies sometimes fail and are associated with severe adverse effects, including neurotoxicity.

Genomic diversity and novel genome-wide association with fruit morphology in Capsicum, from 746k polymorphic sites.

Capsicum is one of the major vegetable crops grown worldwide. Current subdivision in clades and species is based on morphological traits and coarse sets of genetic markers. Broad variability of fruits has been driven by breeding programs and has been mainly studied by linkage analysis.

Impact of drying techniques, seasonal variation and organic growing on flavor compounds profiles in two Italian tomato varieties.

The industrial transformation of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) produces processed foods, such as dried tomatoes. In this study two varieties (SaAb and PerBruzzo), grown in three cropping systems (one conventional and two organic ones), were processed by two types of small-scale drying (oven or sun drying), over two years of production.

Mycorrhiza-mediated interference between cover crop and weed in organic winter cereal agroecosystems: The mycorrhizal colonization intensity indicator.

The mycorrhizal fungi are symbiotic organisms able to provide many benefits to crop production by supplying a set of ecosystem functions. A recent ecological approach based on the ability of the fungi community to influence plant-plant interactions by extraradical mycelium development may be applied to diversified, herbaceous agroecosystems. Our hypothesis is that the introduction of a winter cereal cover crop (CC) as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)-host plant in an organic rotation can boosts the AMF colonization of the other plants, influencing crop-weed interference.

Effect of salinity (NaCl) on plant growth, nutrient content, and glucosinolate hydrolysis products trends in rocket genotypes.

Salinity caused by NaCl is an abiotic stress inducing morphological and metabolic disorders. The impact of salinity (0, 65 and 130 mM NaCl) on morphological traits, elemental and volatiles composition of six rocket genotypes (G1-G6) was explored. A significant reduction of shoot biomass, plant height and leaf area as function of genotype and salinity level was observed.

Agronomic performance, energy analysis, and carbon balance comparing different fertilization strategies in horticulture under Mediterranean conditions.

Production capacity evaluation and environmental sustainability assessment allow defining both the most appropriate fertilization strategies and the agricultural systems management. The aims of this study were to investigate the following, in a cauliflower-lettuce rotation: (i) agricultural system agronomic performance, (ii) fertilization treatments environmental sustainability through the energy inputs/outputs analysis, and (iii) carbon footprint through the GHG emissions and carbon sequestration analyses. Three fertilization strategies were compared: (i) CM, compost from municipal solid waste; ii) MIN, mineral fertilizers; iii) MIX, the CM compost plus a mineral fertilizer.