Cenni Ecologici su Alcune Piante Notevoli (O Nuove) per la Flora Romana e Loro Attivitàg nella Costituzione della Vegetazione Laziale

Summary

The A. notes some new localities of Latium in which he has found several plants interesting for their rarity, but chiefly for their phytogeographical features in reference to the stations in which these species were found. The following plants are for Latium as new: Bifora radians M. B., Cuscuta pentagona Eng., Lippia nodiflora Rich., Galinsoga parviflora Cav., Lapsana hirta Ten.     

Ricerche Morfologiche e Anatomiche Su Mimosa Pudica L.

Summary

Firstly, the author describes the anatomical and histological structures of Mimosa pudica L. during the stages of development of the young plant prior to the appearing of cambium. She then discusses, in the light of previous literature on the subject, the three principal features of Mimosa pudica: herbaceous bearing, stable tetrarchy with intercotyledonal bundles along the plumule, and small sized germination.

Finally, the author concludes that Mimosa pudica appears to be an individual with tree-like rather than herbaceous symmetry (stable tetrarchy), in which the size of germination has diminished parallelly to reduction in size of the adult individual.     

Osservazioni Fenologiche Sulle Serpentine Dell'Impruneta (Firenze)

Riassunto

L'A. deserive la vegetazione di due stazioni delle serpentine dell'Impruneta e riporta le osservazioni condotte negli anni 1938–40 sul ritmo di vegetazione delle specie che popolano tali stazioni.

Dalle osservazioai fenologiche risulta che il risveglio della vegetazione sulle serpentine non è ritardato alla primavera per le specie pi[ugrave] tipiche, mentre lo è per talune specie banali; che le parti secche delle piante tendono a rimanere lungamente in posto; che la disseminazione è lenta e si protrae spesso fino all'autunno inoltrato od anche fino alla primavera successiva.     

Naturalizzazione E Riproduzione Spontanea Di Piante Ornamentali Nella Liguria Occidentale

Abstract

Effects of the growth-retarding compounds «CCC» and «AMAB» on the growth and alkaloidal content of Datura Stramonium L. — Datura Stramonium L. was administered two fortnightly-doses of 200 cc 10 ^-2 M solutions of (2-cloroethyl)-trimethylammonium chloride (CCC) or (allyl)-trimethylammonium bromide (AMAB), poured on the soil of every pot. In the treated plants were noted shorter and thicher stems and petioles and leaves larger in size and darker green than in the controls. Yields of leaves in CCC and AMAB-treated plants were not significantly changed while root fresh and dry weights were decreased. The per-cent concentration of total alkaloids in the leaves and roots of both CCC and AMAB-treated plants was not significantly different in comparison with that of normal plants. Therefore the A. assumes that the growth-retarding chemicals must not interfere with alkaloidal synthesis.     

La Marana di Ciminiera (Foggia)

Summary

A «marana» of the Foggia Plain (Puglie) is a depression where water accumulates from the surrounding higher ground, and, very often, springs from the undersoil where the clay layer curves upwards. The soil is generally saline. It is not tillled but is grazed by herds of water-buffaloes. In the Marana di Ciminiera the auth. has found a mosaic of highly saline soils (with Salicornia fruticosa, Suaeda fruticosa, etc.), subsaline meadows (with Juncus acutus, Althaea officinalis, etc.), and fairly deep bogs, mostly drying up in summer (with Iris Pseudo-Acorus, Typha angustifolia, Phragmites communis, etc.).

A dense stand of Inula Helenium, one of Ligustrum vulgare, Lonicera etrusca, Crataegus Oxyacantha, Thalictrum flavum, Schoenus nigricans, and the general aspect of Lago della Contessa are described. Plants collected in the «marana» are listed.     

Lo Sviluppo Del Fiore in Bupleurum Dianthifolium Guss. Con Particolare Riguardo Ad Un Corpo Citoplasmatico Fibrillare Nella Megasporogenesi

Summary

Bupleurum dianthifolium Guss., an endemic species of the small island of Marettimo just West of Sicily, is one of the few constantly hermaphroditic Umbelliferae. It is markedly protandrous. Its chromosome number is n = 8.

The flower develops acropetally from the petals to the stamens, and the carpels; the development of the sepals stops very soon.

The microspores individualise simultaneously and the reproductive nucleus divides while the pollen grain is still in the anther; the tapetum is of the secretory type.

The two carpels fuse at their tips and the ovary is divided into two chambers by the carpophore which develops from the bottom central part of the cavity. Two ovules start developing in each chamber; the upper ones cease their development while the lower ones grow into pendulous, anatropous ovules with only one integument. The ovule is tenuinucellate. The archesporium is unicellular. No parietal cell is formed.

A group of cells trophic in function is present at the basis of the embryo sac, and disappears after fertilisation has occurred. The female gametophyte is of the normal type, monosporic, 8-nucleated, with the antipodal cells sunken in the chalazal nutritive apparatus and disappearing before the polar nuclei fuse. The albumen is nuclear.

A fibrillary body has been observed in the cytoplasm of the megaspore mother-cell. This body after the meiosis remains as an exclusive property of the chalazal megaspore, i. e. the spore that will give the embryo sac. This body can still be seen in the binucleate gametophyte, and disappears during the 4-nucleated gametophyte stage.     

Gene Expression Analysis of PTEN Positive Glioblastoma Stem Cells Identifies DUB3 and Wee1 Modulation in a Cell Differentiation Model

The term astrocytoma defines a quite heterogeneous group of neoplastic diseases that collectively represent the most frequent brain tumors in humans. Among them, glioblastoma multiforme represents the most malignant form and its associated prognosis is one of the poorest among tumors of the central nervous system. It has been demonstrated that a small population of tumor cells, isolated from the brain neoplastic tissue, can reproduce the parental tumor when transplanted in immunodeficient mouse. These tumor initiating cells are supposed to be involved in cancer development and progression and possess stem cell-like features; like their normal counterpart, these cells remain quiescent until they are committed to differentiation. Many studies have shown that the role of the tumor suppressor protein PTEN in cell cycle progression is fundamental for tumor dynamics: in low grade gliomas, PTEN contributes to maintain cells in G1 while the loss of its activity is frequently observed in high grade gliomas. The mechanisms underlying the above described PTEN activity have been studied in many tumors, but those involved in the maintenance of tumor initiating cells quiescence remain to be investigated in more detail. The aim of the present study is to shed light on the role of PTEN pathway on cell cycle regulation in Glioblastoma stem cells, through a cell differentiation model. Our results suggest the existence of a molecular mechanism, that involves DUB3 and WEE1 gene products in the regulation of Cdc25a, as functional effector of the PTEN/Akt pathway.