Annuario della Società Botanica Italiana 1932

A sandy culture experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of exogenous CaCl₂ on the indole alkaloid accumulation in Catharanthus roseus under salt stress. One-month seedlings of C. roseus were treated with the different concentrations of NaCl (0, 50, and 100 mmol l^? 1) and 7.5 mmol l^? 1 CaCl₂. The plant samples were analyzed after 7 days of the treatments. The NaCl-stressed plants showed decrease of fresh and dry weight and increase of malondialdehyde (MDA) content compared to control. Tryptophan decarboxylase (TDC) activity increased significantly under 50 mmol l^? 1 NaCl without CaCl₂ addition, 50 mmol l^? 1 NaCl with 7.5 mmol l^? 1 CaCl₂, and CaCl₂ treatment without NaCl addition. There was a significant increase in peroxidase activity under NaCl stress compared to control. The vindoline, catharanthine, vincristine, and vinblastine contents increased under salt stress (especially with 50 mmol l^? 1 NaCl treatment with or without CaCl₂). Addition of CaCl₂ to NaCl-stressed plants increased biomass, TDC activity, vindoline, and catharanthine contents and lowered MDA and vincirstine contents compared to the plants without CaCl₂. The plants treated with CaCl₂ alone showed higher TDC activity, vindoline, catharanthine, and vinblastine content when compared to control. The results showed that exogenous CaCl₂ could promote the indole alkaloid metabolism under salt stress.     

Rendiconto Finanziario della Societá Botanica Italiana

Nomenclatural notes on the aggregate Polycarpon tetraphyllum (Caryophyllaceae) are discussed. The names Hagaea alsinifolia, H. polycarpoides, Poycarpon colomense, P. diphyllum, and P. floribundum are typified, respectively, on an iconography by Boccone (lectotype), and specimens preserved in PAL (neotype), JE (lectotype), MA (Herbarium Cavanilles, lectotype), and COI (Herbarium Willkomm, lectotype). For the nomenclatural purposes, the names P. bivonae (nom. nov. pro P. polycarpoides), P. herniarioides (holotype in K), P. peploides (nom. superfl.etnom. illeg. according to the Arts. 52.1 and 52.2 of the ICN), P. polycarpoides subsp. catalaunicum (holotype in BC), and P. rotundifolium (holotype in LY-Herbarium Rouy) are also discussed. P. floribundum is a heterotipic synonym of P. tetraphyllum s.s. A new synonym (P. tetraphyllum = P. rotundifolium) and three new combinations (P. tetraphyllum subsp. colomense, P. tetraphyllum subsp. herniarioides and P. tetraphyllum subsp. catalunicum) are proposed according to the current concept in Polycarpon.     

Annuario Della Società Botanica Italiana

Fungi are organisms of significant importance not only for the crucial roles they undertake in nature but also for many human activities that are strictly dependent on them. Indeed, fungi possess fundamental positions in ecosystems functioning including nutrient cycles and wood decomposition. As concerns human-related activities, edible and non-edible mushrooms are also involved and/or exploited in forestry, pharmaceutical industry and food production; hence, nowadays they represent a major economic source worldwide. In order to maintain and improve their strategic importance, several conservation strategies, such as habitat preservation, are needed. This article reports several contributions inherent to the relationships between wood-decaying fungi, edible and non-edible mushrooms and their potential exploitation as non-timber forest products and genetic resources.     

Annuario Della Società Botanica Italiana 1937

Abstract

The European heathers Erica manipuliflora, Erica multiflora and Erica vagans (sect. Gypsocallis) are related species characterized by a glabrous ovary, exerted, muticous anthers and a pale pink, urceolate corolla. The existence of three species is the most accepted treatment for this group, but there are uncertainties about this taxonomic interpretation. In this article, we used seed morphological characters to assess the systematics of the group. Seeds were studied by means of scanning electron microscopy techniques. E. multiflora has a distinct seed type, 1–1.5 mm long, flattened, yellowish with a striate-reticulate primary sculpture. E. vagans and E. manipuliflora have smaller seeds, brown with a reticulate pattern. Seeds of E. vagans are globose, 0.5 mm wide, while E. manipuliflora has mostly ellipsoid seeds 0.7 mm long. However, seeds of E. manipuliflora from the Adriatic coasts are closer to those of E. vagans, and this may support the existence of E. manipuliflora subsp. anthura.