1
|
Pasqualotto G, Ascari L, Bicego G, Carraro V, Huerta ES, De Gregorio T, Siniscalco C, Anfodillo T. Radial stem growth dynamics and phenology of a multi-stemmed species (Corylus avellana L.) across orchards in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Tree Physiol 2021; 41:2022-2033. [PMID: 33987674 DOI: 10.1093/treephys/tpab069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Revised: 02/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/30/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Climate change and the global economy impose new challenges in the management of food-producing trees and require studying how to model plant physiological responses, namely growth dynamics and phenology. Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) is a multi-stemmed forest species domesticated for nut production and now widely spread across different continents. However, information on stem growth and its synchronization with leaf and reproductive phenology is extremely limited. This study aimed at (i) defining the sequencing of radial growth phases in hazelnut (onset, maximum growth and cessation) and the specific temperature triggering stem growth; and (ii) combining the stem growth phases with leaf and fruit phenology. Point dendrometers were installed on 20 hazelnut trees across eight orchards distributed in the Northern and Southern hemisphere during a period of three growing seasons between 2015 and 2018. The radial growth variations and climatic parameters were averaged and recorded every 15 min. Leaf and reproductive phenology were collected weekly at each site. Results showed that stem radial growth started from day of year 84 to 134 in relation to site and year but within a relatively narrow range of temperature (from 13 to 16.5 °C). However, we observed a temperature-related acclimation in the cultivar Tonda di Giffoni. Maximum growth always occurred well before the summer solstice (on average 35 days) and before the maximum annual air temperatures. Xylogenesis developed rapidly since the time interval between onset and maximum growth rate was about 3 weeks. Importantly, the species showed an evident delay of stem growth onset with respect to leaf emergence (on average 4-6 weeks) rarely observed in tree species. These findings represent the first global analysis of radial growth dynamics in hazelnut, which is an essential step for developing models on orchard functioning and management on different continents.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gaia Pasqualotto
- Department Territorio e Sistemi Agro Forestali (TESAF), University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 350120 Legnaro, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Ascari
- Department of Life Science and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Viale Mattioli, 25, 10125 Torino, Italy
| | - Giovanni Bicego
- Department Territorio e Sistemi Agro Forestali (TESAF), University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 350120 Legnaro, Italy
| | - Vinicio Carraro
- Department Territorio e Sistemi Agro Forestali (TESAF), University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 350120 Legnaro, Italy
| | - Eloy Suarez Huerta
- Hazelnut Company Division, Ferrero Trading Luxembourg, Rue de Trèves, L-2632 Findel, Luxembourg
| | - Tommaso De Gregorio
- Hazelnut Company Division, Ferrero Trading Luxembourg, Rue de Trèves, L-2632 Findel, Luxembourg
| | - Consolata Siniscalco
- Department of Life Science and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Viale Mattioli, 25, 10125 Torino, Italy
| | - Tommaso Anfodillo
- Department Territorio e Sistemi Agro Forestali (TESAF), University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, 350120 Legnaro, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Ascari L, Cristofori V, Macrì F, Botta R, Silvestri C, De Gregorio T, Huerta ES, Di Berardino M, Kaufmann S, Siniscalco C. Hazelnut Pollen Phenotyping Using Label-Free Impedance Flow Cytometry. Front Plant Sci 2020; 11:615922. [PMID: 33370424 PMCID: PMC7753158 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.615922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2020] [Accepted: 11/13/2020] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Impedance flow cytometry (IFC) is a versatile lab-on-chip technology which enables fast and label-free analysis of pollen grains in various plant species, promising new research possibilities in agriculture and plant breeding. Hazelnut is a monoecious, anemophilous species, exhibiting sporophytic self-incompatibility. Its pollen is dispersed by wind in midwinter when temperatures are still low and relative humidity is usually high. Previous research found that hazelnut can be characterized by high degrees of pollen sterility following a reciprocal chromosome translocation occurring in some cultivated genotypes. In this study, IFC was used for the first time to characterize hazelnut pollen biology. IFC was validated via dye exclusion in microscopy and employed to (i) follow pollen hydration over time to define the best pre-hydration treatment for pollen viability evaluation; (ii) test hazelnut pollen viability and sterility on 33 cultivars grown in a collection field located in central Italy, and two wild hazelnuts. The accessions were also characterized by their amount and distribution of catkins in the tree canopy. Pollen sterility rate greatly varied among hazelnut accessions, with one main group of highly sterile cultivars and a second group, comprising wild genotypes and the remaining cultivars, producing good quality pollen. The results support the hypothesis of recurring reciprocal translocation events in Corylus avellana cultivars, leading to the observed gametic semi-sterility. The measured hazelnut pollen viability was also strongly influenced by pollen hydration (R adj 2 = 0.83, P ≤ 0.0001) and reached its maximum at around 6 h of pre-hydration in humid chambers. Viable and dead pollen were best discriminated at around the same time of pollen pre-hydration, suggesting that high humidity levels are required for hazelnut pollen to maintain its functionality. Altogether, our results detail the value of impedance flow cytometry for high throughput phenotyping of hazelnut pollen. Further research is required to clarify the causes of pollen sterility in hazelnut, to confirm the role of reciprocal chromosome translocations and to investigate its effects on plant productivity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Ascari
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Valerio Cristofori
- Department of Agriculture and Forest Sciences, University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy
| | - Federico Macrì
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Roberto Botta
- Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Cristian Silvestri
- Department of Agriculture and Forest Sciences, University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy
| | | | | | | | | | - Consolata Siniscalco
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Ascari L, Novara C, Dusio V, Oddi L, Siniscalco C. Quantitative methods in microscopy to assess pollen viability in different plant taxa. Plant Reprod 2020; 33:205-219. [PMID: 33123804 PMCID: PMC7648740 DOI: 10.1007/s00497-020-00398-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2020] [Accepted: 10/13/2020] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
High-quality pollen is a prerequisite for plant reproductive success. Pollen viability and sterility can be routinely assessed using common stains and manual microscope examination, but with low overall statistical power. Current automated methods are primarily directed towards the analysis of pollen sterility, and high throughput solutions for both pollen viability and sterility evaluation are needed that will be consistent with emerging biotechnological strategies for crop improvement. Our goal is to refine established labelling procedures for pollen, based on the combination of fluorescein (FDA) and propidium iodide (PI), and to develop automated solutions for accurately assessing pollen grain images and classifying them for quality. We used open-source software programs (CellProfiler, CellProfiler Analyst, Fiji and R) for analysis of images collected from 10 pollen taxa labelled using FDA/PI. After correcting for image background noise, pollen grain images were examined for quality employing thresholding and segmentation. Supervised and unsupervised classification of per-object features was employed for the identification of viable, dead and sterile pollen. The combination of FDA and PI dyes was able to differentiate between viable, dead and sterile pollen in all the analysed taxa. Automated image analysis and classification significantly increased the statistical power of the pollen viability assay, identifying more than 75,000 pollen grains with high accuracy (R2 = 0.99) when compared to classical manual counting. Overall, we provide a comprehensive set of methodologies as baseline for the automated assessment of pollen viability using fluorescence microscopy, which can be combined with manual and mechanized imaging systems in fundamental and applied research on plant biology. We also supply the complete set of pollen images (the FDA/PI pollen dataset) to the scientific community for future research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Ascari
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Viale Mattioli, 25, 10125, Turin, Italy.
| | - Cristina Novara
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Viale Mattioli, 25, 10125, Turin, Italy
| | - Virginia Dusio
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Viale Mattioli, 25, 10125, Turin, Italy
| | - Ludovica Oddi
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Viale Mattioli, 25, 10125, Turin, Italy
| | - Consolata Siniscalco
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Viale Mattioli, 25, 10125, Turin, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Manfredi L, Assaf T, Mintchev S, Marrazza S, Capantini L, Orofino S, Ascari L, Grillner S, Wallén P, Ekeberg O, Stefanini C, Dario P. A bioinspired autonomous swimming robot as a tool for studying goal-directed locomotion. Biol Cybern 2013; 107:513-527. [PMID: 24030051 DOI: 10.1007/s00422-013-0566-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2012] [Accepted: 08/13/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
The bioinspired approach has been key in combining the disciplines of robotics with neuroscience in an effective and promising fashion. Indeed, certain aspects in the field of neuroscience, such as goal-directed locomotion and behaviour selection, can be validated through robotic artefacts. In particular, swimming is a functionally important behaviour where neuromuscular structures, neural control architecture and operation can be replicated artificially following models from biology and neuroscience. In this article, we present a biomimetic system inspired by the lamprey, an early vertebrate that locomotes using anguilliform swimming. The artefact possesses extra- and proprioceptive sensory receptors, muscle-like actuation, distributed embedded control and a vision system. Experiments on optimised swimming and on goal-directed locomotion are reported, as well as the assessment of the performance of the system, which shows high energy efficiency and adaptive behaviour. While the focus is on providing a robotic platform for testing biological models, the reported system can also be of major relevance for the development of engineering system applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- L Manfredi
- Institute for Medical Science and Technology (IMSaT), University of Dundee, Wilson House, 1 Wurzburg Loan, Dundee Medipark, Dundee, DD2 1FD, UK,
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
5
|
Abstract
It has been concluded from numerous neurophysiological studies that humans rely on detecting discrete mechanical events that occur when grasping, lifting and replacing an object, i.e., during a prototypical manipulation task. Such events represent transitions between phases of the evolving manipulation task such as object contact, lift-off, etc., and appear to provide critical information required for the sequential control of the task as well as for corrections and parameterization of the task. We have sensorized a biomechatronic anthropomorphic hand with the goal to detect such mechanical transients. The developed sensors were designed to specifically provide the information about task-relevant discrete events rather than to mimic their biological counterparts. To accomplish this we have developed (1) a contact sensor that can be applied to the surface of the robotic fingers and that show a sensitivity to indentation and a spatial resolution comparable to that of the human glabrous skin, and (2) a sensitive low-noise three-axial force sensor that was embedded in the robotic fingertips and showed a frequency response covering the range observed in biological tactile sensors. We describe the design and fabrication of these sensors, their sensory properties and show representative recordings from the sensors during grasp-and-lift tasks. We show how the combined use of the two sensors is able to provide information about crucial mechanical events during such tasks. We discuss the importance of the sensorized hand as a test bed for low-level grasp controllers and for the development of functional sensory feedback from prosthetic devices.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- B B Edin
- Physiology Section, Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
6
|
Assanelli D, Ferrari R, Iacoviello L, Di Castelnuovo A, Galeazzi GL, Boldini A, Albertini F, Maccalli P, Brentana L, Ascari L. Plasma fibrinogen variability in healthy citizens. Thromb Res 2002; 108:287-9. [PMID: 12676187 DOI: 10.1016/s0049-3848(03)00102-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- D Assanelli
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Brescia, Via Pisacane 4, 25123, Brescia, Italy.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
7
|
Mombelloni S, Movilli E, Pizzocolo G, Ravelli M, Mombelloni A, Campanini M, Cancarini G, Ascari L, Albertini A, Maiorca R. [Determination of serum ferritin in hemodialyzed patients]. Minerva Nefrol 1981; 28:303-9. [PMID: 7329607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
|