Papers by Alessandro Romano
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Nov 23, 2021
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Sulfur is an essential plant macronutrient, and its adequate supply allows an efficient root stor... more Sulfur is an essential plant macronutrient, and its adequate supply allows an efficient root storage and sugar extractability in sugar beets (Beta vulgaris L.). In this study, we investigated the effect of changes in sulfur availability on the endophytic community structure of sugar beets. Plants were hydroponically grown in a complete nutrient solution (S-supplied), a nutrient solution without MgSO4 (S-deprived), and a nutrient solution without MgSO4 for six days and resupplied with 100 μM MgSO4 for 48 h (S-resupplied). The sulfur status was monitored by inductively coupled plasma ICP–OES, and combustion analysis together with the evaluation of microRNA395 as a biomarker for sulfate status. Metabarcoding of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene was carried out in order to determine leaf endophytic community structure. The Shannon diversity index significantly differed (p < 0.05) between sulfate-supplied and sulfate-deprived seedlings. Validation by Real-Time PCR showed a significant incre...
Frontiers in Plant Science, 2021
The present study aimed to explore the effects of foliar application of a leonardite-based produc... more The present study aimed to explore the effects of foliar application of a leonardite-based product on sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) plants grown in the field. The approach concerned the evaluation of the community compositional structure of plant endophytic bacteria through a metabarcoding approach, the expression level of a gene panel related to hormonal metabolism and signaling, and the main sugar beet productivity traits. Results indicated that plants treated with leonardite (dosage of 2,000 ml ha–1, dilution 1:125, 4 mg C l–1) compared with untreated ones had a significant increase (p < 0.05) in (i) the abundance of Oxalicibacterium spp., recognized to be an endophyte bacterial genus with plant growth-promoting activity; (ii) the expression level of LAX2 gene, coding for auxin transport proteins; and (iii) sugar yield. This study represents a step forward to advance our understanding of the changes induced by leonardite-based biostimulant in sugar beet.
Seed Science and Technology, 2021
Water deficit is one of the main constraints of germination for many cultivated species. Among th... more Water deficit is one of the main constraints of germination for many cultivated species. Among the techniques used to promote germination, seeds priming has been found to play a key role. In the present study, a set of different priming agents (KCl, KH2PO4, CaCl2 and PEG 8000) was tested on seeds of two leek (Allium ampeloprasum L.) cultivars ("Lungo della riviera" and "Monstrueux de Carentan") to assess the effects on germination performances both in optimal hydration condition (Ψw = 0 MPa) and under water deficit (–0.3 and –0.6 MPa). Germination percentage of "Lungo della riviera" was improved by PEG and KCl at –0.3 MPa and –0.6 MPa, respectively, whereas CaCl2 improved germination of "Monstrueux de Carentan" at –0.6 MPa. Osmopriming was beneficial in terms of germination rate although to different extent depending on genotype and priming agent. The hydrotime model showed that the effects of priming on germination rate was mostly due to a lo...
Sugar Beet Cultivation, Management and Processing, 2022
Acta Physiologiae Plantarum, 2012
The identification of morpho-physiological traits related to drought tolerance and high yield pot... more The identification of morpho-physiological traits related to drought tolerance and high yield potential is a challenge when selecting sugar beet genotypes with greater tolerance to water stress. In this paper, root morphological parameters, antioxidant systems, leaf relative water content (RWC) and H ?-ATPase activity as key morpho-physiological traits involved in drought tolerance/ susceptibility of sugar beet were studied. Genotypes showing a different drought tolerance index (DTI) but a similar yield potential, under moderate (-0.6 Mpa) and severe (-1.2 MPa) water stress, were selected and their morpho-physiological traits were investigated. The results showed a wide genetic variation in morpho-physiological parameters which demonstrated the different adaptive strategies under moderate and severe drought conditions in sugar beet. In particular, an efficient antioxidant system and redox signalling made some sugar beet genotypes more tolerant to drought stress. The alternative strategy of other genotypes was the reduction of root tissue density, which produced a less dense root system improving the axial hydraulic conductivity. These results could be considered as interesting challenge for a better understanding of the drought tolerance mechanisms in sugar beet. Keywords Root morphology Á Water stress Á H ?-ATPase Á Reactive oxygen species scavenging enzymes Á Principal component analysis Communicated by J. V. Jorrin-Novo.
Plants, 2020
Germination data are analyzed by several methods, which can be mainly classified as germination i... more Germination data are analyzed by several methods, which can be mainly classified as germination indexes and traditional regression techniques to fit non-linear parametric functions to the temporal sequence of cumulative germination. However, due to the nature of germination data, often different from other biological data, the abovementioned methods may present some limits, especially when ungerminated seeds are present at the end of an experiment. A class of methods that could allow addressing these issues is represented by the so-called “time-to-event analysis”, better known in other scientific fields as “survival analysis” or “reliability analysis”. There is relatively little literature about the application of these methods to germination data, and some reviews dealt only with parts of the possible approaches such as either non-parametric and semi-parametric or parametric ones. The present study aims to give a contribution to the knowledge about the reliability of these methods ...
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
The present study aimed to explore the effects of foliar application of a leonarditebased product... more The present study aimed to explore the effects of foliar application of a leonarditebased product on sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) plants grown in the field. The approach concerned the evaluation of the community compositional structure of plant endophytic bacteria through a metabarcoding approach, the expression level of a gene panel related to hormonal metabolism and signaling, and the main sugar beet productivity traits. Results indicated that plants treated with leonardite (dosage of 2,000 ml ha −1 , dilution 1:125, 4 mg C l −1) compared with untreated ones had a significant increase (p < 0.05) in (i) the abundance of Oxalicibacterium spp., recognized to be an endophyte bacterial genus with plant growth-promoting activity; (ii) the expression level of LAX2 gene, coding for auxin transport proteins; and (iii) sugar yield. This study represents a step forward to advance our understanding of the changes induced by leonardite-based biostimulant in sugar beet.
A better understanding of the plant metabolites produced in response to disease infection may be ... more A better understanding of the plant metabolites produced in response to disease infection may be useful for the development of disease-resistant crop varieties. In the present study, ultra high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupoletime-of-flight mass spectrometry (QTOF-MS) was used to identify differentially accumulated metabolites in a subset of sugar beet genotypes harbouring different levels of resistance to Cercospora leaf spot (CLS), a disease caused by the fungal pathogen Cercospora beticola. Leaves of three susceptible (S1, S2 and S3) and two resistant (R1 and R2) genotypes were subjected to QTOF-MS for metabolite profiling. A wide range of metabolites was identified in sugar beet genotypes using metabolomics. Results of Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis indicated that 15 metabolites could better discriminate resistant and susceptible genotypes. A Volcano Plot analysis indicated that the flavonoid quercetin 3-O-(6 00-O-p-coumaroyl)-glucoside and gibberellin A 51
Selection of traits increasing salt (NaCl) tolerance would improve the cultivation of sugar beet ... more Selection of traits increasing salt (NaCl) tolerance would improve the cultivation of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L. subsp. vulgaris) in salty soils, by reducing or avoiding the usually linked losses in sugar yield and processing quality. This study analysed some adaptive morpho-physiological mechanisms in genotypes grown under controlled conditions in different salt concentrations. Parents and F1 hybrids obtained from a diallel cross were analysed for: i) mid-parent heterosis of root; ii) root length and its morphological components; and iii) length and dry weight of shoot (leaf + stem). Physiological traits such as: i) antioxidant enzyme activities in leaves; ii) root plasma membrane (pm) H +-ATPase activity; iii) leaf relative water content; and iv) shoot Na/K ratio, were also investigated. Through principal component analysis (PCA), it was possible to group the single morphophysiological traits. This permitted discrimination of hybrids in relation to their response to salinity. The hybrid Hy-1 in presence of medium salt concentration performed well in terms of root morphology and enzyme activities, which were linked to the cell growth process. These findings evince a better understanding of the salt tolerance mechanisms in sugar beet and the identification of useful physio-biochemical traits useful for sugar beet breeding.
The identification of morpho-physiological traits related to drought tolerance and high yield pot... more The identification of morpho-physiological traits related to drought tolerance and high yield potential is a challenge when selecting sugar beet genotypes with greater tolerance to water stress. In this paper, root morphological parameters, antioxidant systems, leaf relative water content (RWC) and H ?-ATPase activity as key morpho-physiological traits involved in drought tolerance/ susceptibility of sugar beet were studied. Genotypes showing a different drought tolerance index (DTI) but a similar yield potential, under moderate (-0.6 Mpa) and severe (-1.2 MPa) water stress, were selected and their morpho-physiological traits were investigated. The results showed a wide genetic variation in morpho-physiological parameters which demonstrated the different adaptive strategies under moderate and severe drought conditions in sugar beet. In particular, an efficient antioxidant system and redox signalling made some sugar beet genotypes more tolerant to drought stress. The alternative strategy of other genotypes was the reduction of root tissue density, which produced a less dense root system improving the axial hydraulic conductivity. These results could be considered as interesting challenge for a better understanding of the drought tolerance mechanisms in sugar beet. Keywords Root morphology Á Water stress Á H ?-ATPase Á Reactive oxygen species scavenging enzymes Á Principal component analysis Communicated by J. V. Jorrin-Novo.
This study was aimed to investigate the effects of two different concentrations of NaCl on germin... more This study was aimed to investigate the effects of two different concentrations of NaCl on germination traits of seeds of four sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) hybrids, including a commercial variety. The seeds were sown in Petri dishes with two levels of NaCl (60 and 180 mM) and the control (0 mM NaCl). Germination and water content and electrical conductivity, as a result of solute leakage from seeds, were analyzed through linear and nonlinear equations. Results showed that the commercial variety germination seemed to be more sensitive to a moderate salt concentration (60 mM NaCl) which, conversely, was not detrimental to water uptake and germination rate in the other hybrids. Adverse effects were more evident at higher salt level (180 mM NaCl), although to a different extent, in all hybrids and for most of the parameters evaluated. This study demonstrated that salinity could induce numerous disorders in sugar beet seeds during the germination process, the seriousness of which depended on both the salt level and genotype.
Water deficit is one of the main constraints of germination for many cultivated species. Among th... more Water deficit is one of the main constraints of germination for many cultivated species. Among the techniques used to promote germination, seeds priming has been found to play a key role. In the present study, a set of different priming agents (KCl, KH 2 PO 4 , CaCl 2 and PEG 8000) was tested on seeds of two leek (Allium ampeloprasum L.) cultivars ("Lungo della riviera" and "Monstrueux de Carentan") to assess the effects on germination performances both in optimal hydration condition (Ψ w = 0 MPa) and under water deficit (−0.3 and −0.6 MPa). Germination percentage of "Lungo della riviera" was improved by PEG and KCl at −0.3 MPa and −0.6 MPa, respectively, whereas CaCl 2 improved germination of "Monstrueux de Carentan" at −0.6 MPa. Osmopriming was beneficial in terms of germination rate although to different extent depending on genotype and priming agent. The hydrotime model showed that the effects of priming on germination rate was mostly due to a lowering of the predicted hydrotime constant (θ H), whereas median base water potential Ψ b (50) tended to increase following treatments albeit with some exception. In this study, hydrotime model proved to be a useful tool to test the effectiveness of different priming treatments on leek seeds and the intraspecific variability in germination capability and speed under water stress.
Germination data are analyzed by several methods, which can be mainly classified as germination i... more Germination data are analyzed by several methods, which can be mainly classified as germination indexes and traditional regression techniques to fit non-linear parametric functions to the temporal sequence of cumulative germination. However, due to the nature of germination data, often different from other biological data, the abovementioned methods may present some limits, especially when ungerminated seeds are present at the end of an experiment. A class of methods that could allow addressing these issues is represented by the so-called "time-to-event analysis", better known in other scientific fields as "survival analysis" or "reliability analysis". There is relatively little literature about the application of these methods to germination data, and some reviews dealt only with parts of the possible approaches such as either non-parametric and semi-parametric or parametric ones. The present study aims to give a contribution to the knowledge about the reliability of these methods by assessing all the main approaches to the same germination data provided by sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) seeds cohorts. The results obtained confirmed that although the different approaches present advantages and disadvantages, they could generally represent a valuable tool to analyze germination data providing parameters whose usefulness depends on the purpose of the research.
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Papers by Alessandro Romano