showing 18 related works from this author
Genetic database development for the characterisation of Sicilian sheep population
2019
The most representative sheep in Sicily are Belicina, Comisana, Pinzirita, Barbarescaand the crossbred derived sheep from all this species. In this study, the allelic frequencies of the Sicilian sheep population were investigated. It currently represents the best way to determine the genetic identity and/or family even with limited amounts of sample or when the DNA is degraded. The aim of the study was to provide a reference data bank and to evaluate a microsatellite panel for pedigree analysis as suggested by the International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG). There are various studies on European sheep, but few datasets were developed on the population of Sicilian sheep. The reference d…
Candida parapsilosis Infection:A Multilocus Microsatellite Genotyping-Based Survey Demonstrating an Outbreak in Hospitalized Patients
2020
Microsatellite analysis identifies specific genotypes and the genetic relationship between strains. Our objective was to analyze the genotypes of C. parapsilosis strains isolated on different wards of aTertiary- Referral University Center. We evaluated 70 C. parapsilosis strains in total, isolated from samples of patients admitted to five different wards over two years (January 2015-December 2016). Eight microsatellite markers were selected, and two multiplex PCR assays were set up for microsatellite analysis. The 70 strains, examined at eight microsatellite loci, showed 46 different multilocus genotypes profiles. A total of 74 alleles were detected, with an average of 9.25 alleles per locu…
Antibiotic Susceptibility Profile and Tetracycline Resistance Genes Detection in Salmonella spp. Strains Isolated from Animals and Food
2021
Salmonella spp. is among the leading causes of foodborne infections in humans and a large number of animals. Salmonella spp. is a pathogen involved in the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance because it can accumulate antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). In this study, the antibiotic resistance profile to 15 antibiotics, belonging to six different classes, of 60 strains of Salmonella spp. collected from pets, farm animals, wildlife, and food in Sicily (Italy) was investigated by the Kirby-Bauer method. Given that almost 33.3% of the Salmonella spp. strains were resistant to tetracycline, Real-Time PCR analysis was applied on all the 60 strains to detect the presence of eight selected te…
Identification of subspecies and parentage relationship by means of DNA fingerprinting in two exemplary of Pan troglodytes (Blumenbach, 1775) (Mammal…
2018
Four chimpanzee subspecies (Mammalia Hominidae) are commonly recognised: the Western Chimpanzee, P. troglodytes verus (Schwarz, 1934), the Nigeria-Cameroon Chimpanzee, P. troglodytes ellioti, the Central Chimpanzee, P. troglodytes troglodytes (Blumenbach, 1799), and the Eastern Chimpanzee, P. troglodytes schweinfurthii (Giglioli, 1872). Recent studies on mitochondrial DNA show the incorporation of P. troglodytes schweinfurthii in P. troglodytes troglodytes, suggesting the existence of only two subspecies: P. troglodytes troglodytes in Central and Eastern Africa and P. troglodytes verus-P. troglodytes ellioti in West Africa. The aim of the present study is twofold: first, to identify the cor…
Genomic Analysis and Lineage Identification of SARS-CoV-2 Strains in Migrants Accessing Europe Through the Libyan Route
2021
Many African countries, representing the origin of the majority of refugees, asylum-seekers, and other migrants, toward regions bordering on the Mediterranean area, are experiencing sustained local transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Sicily is one of the main entry gates of migrants crossing into Europe. We conducted a pilot study, based on the full-genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 strains isolated from migrants coming to Sicily by crossing the Mediterranean Sea, with the aim to investigate the viral genome polymorphism and to describe their genetic variations and the phylogenetic relationships. On June 21, a nongovernmental organization vessel rescu…
Taxidermal Preparations of an Extinct Sicilian Wolf Population (Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758): Biological Studies and Restoration
2022
In last decades, biotechnologies have enabled a deep development of knowledge in all fields of life sciences, allowing the collection of a wide range of data. Furthermore, the relationship between scientific investigations and conservation actions of cultural heritage is increasingly consolidated and now it is one of the peculiar points both for sustainable restoration and use of the cultural asset, also evaluating the cultural assets as source of biological information. In this study, Sicilian wolf (Canis lupus) specimens conserved in Sicilian Natural Museums, become a source of biological information on Sicilian biodiversity, establishing specific conservative protocol developed cooperati…
Genetic tools discriminate strains of Leishmania infantum isolated from humans and dogs in Sicily, Italy
2020
Background Leishmaniasis is one of the most important vector-borne diseases and it represents a serious world health problem affecting millions of people. High levels of Leishmania infections, affecting both humans and animals, are recognized among Italian regions. Among these, Sicily has one of the highest prevalence of Leishmania infection. Methodology/Principal Findings Seventy-eight Leishmania strains isolated from human and animal samples across Sicily, were analyzed for the polymorphic k26-gene and genotypes were assigned according to the size of the PCR products. A multilocus microsatellite typing (MLMT) approach based on the analysis of 11 independent loci was used to investigate po…
First detection of SARS-CoV-2 A.23.1 sub-lineage in migrants arriving to Italy via the Mediterranean Sea and public health implications
2021
Evolution of fermenting microbiota in tarhana produced under controlled technological conditions
2011
PubMedID: 21839387 The purpose of this study was to evaluate the evolution of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeasts during the fermentation of tarhana produced with some pasteurised ingredients and carried out at 30 and 40 °C. The chemical parameters were those typical for tarhana production. Coliform bacteria were not detected during fermentation, while LAB and yeasts were in the range 10 7-10 8 colony forming units (CFU) g -1. Plate counts showed an optimal development of both fermenting microbial groups and the differences in cell concentrations were not significant (P > 0.05). LAB were isolated during fermentation and grouped on the basis of phenotypic and polymorphic characteristics…
Cat Taming In the Western Mediterranean. Issues, Problematics and Unpredictability In The Light Of Bio-Archaeological Approaches to a Museum Specimen.
2017
The vast wealth of cultural artifacts and ancient biological samples can today be investigated using a great variety of methods and technologies. The result is a growing diffusion of studies on DNA, isotopes and morphometrics, and the exponential growth of publications and bio-archaeological discoveries of inestimable value for different areas of interpretation, such as phylogeny, history and archaeology. This paper describes the morphological and molecular study of a rare specimen of Felis from an Early Bronze Age horizon. The report offers the opportunity for a brief discussion on cat taming, on the origin of this practice and on the archaeological importance of this specimen for the reco…
Molecular characterization of dominant bacterial population in “Vastedda della Valle del Belice” cheese: preliminary investigation
2010
The sensory characteristics of raw-milk cheeses are linked to the cheese-making process, to the environmental factors as animal feeding and to the biochemical and microbiological composition of the milk. In this report we temped to characterize the microflora in the typical Sicilian historical cheese as Vastedda della valle del Belice. Each cheese was previous subjected to microbial isolation on specific media (M17 and MRS). The colony obtained on the solid medium were subject to biochemical tests and DNA extraction. The microbial diversity occurring in the strains was evaluated by PCR, RFLP and sequencing targeted on 16S ribosomal DNA. A number of closest relatives species of lactic and co…
PrP Gene Polymorphism in Medieval Remains of Sicilian Sheep
2015
Encephalopathy in sheep was at first described in Ireland in 1732 and was called scrapie. Ancient DNA in archaeogenetics represents an effective method to evaluate the ancestral pedigree of living animals and track evolutionary changes occurred between the past and the present day. Since several point mutations are today widely described in modern scrapie, no data about both sequence and frequency are still available for the prion protein (PrP) gene in ancient breeds. In order to evaluate whether the haplotypes distribution in ancient sheep differed from those of the modern population we evaluated polymorphism at four well know codons of the Prp Open Reading Frame. In the present work, we c…
Ancient DNA polymorphisms analysis to investigate scrapie susceptibility in Sicilian sheep remains from medieval archaeological sites
2014
Encephalopathy in sheep was at first described in Ireland in 1732 and was called “scrapie“ because the animals tend to tear their hair. Historically it seems to be the result of an incestuous union as breeding practice in old farms. In Sicily the animal bones found in association with the human skeletal remains from the tombs or city-sites, comprised a broad range of domestic. Usually, species included in the collected bones are domestic animals commonly eaten as sheep or goats, cattle, pigs, chickens and a small partridge. In this contest, the assemblage and the species identification is often difficult. Based on DNA barcoding, all the investigated bones were confirmed as belonging to the …
Asymptomatic Leishmania infantum/chagasi infection in blood donors of western Sicily.
2007
The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the risk of transfusion-transmitted visceral leishmaniasis was present in an area of western Sicily where the incidence of the disease is higher than the regional average. From May to December 2005, 1449 blood donors from Agrigento district (Sicily, Italy) were screened for the presence of anti-Leishmania antibodies by an indirect immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT). Blood samples from IFAT-positive donors were examined by PCR to detect Leishmania DNA. Anti-Leishmania antibodies were found in 11 (0.75%) cases, among which Leishmania DNA was detected from four (36.4%). Particular techniques to inactivate different pathogens would be consid…
ESAT-6 Peptide Recognition by Bovine CD8 + Lymphocytes of Naturally Infected Cows in Herds from Southern Italy
2006
ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to define epitopes of Mycobacterium bovis from ESAT-6 (early secretory antigen of 6 kDa) recognized by CD8 + T lymphocytes from cows naturally infected with Mycobacterium bovis . We found that bovine CD8 + T cells recognized 10 out of 11 ESAT-6 peptides tested.
Effect of different salting technologies on the chemical and microbiological characteristics of PDO Pecorino Siciliano cheese
2011
The present work was carried out to evaluate the effect of two salting technologies [dry salting (DS) and the combined dry-brine salting (DBS)] on the chemicophysical and microbiological characteristics of PDO Pecorino Siciliano cheeses of different final weight (6 and 12 kg). Dry matter was significantly influenced by both salting process and final size. Twelve kilogram cheeses treated by DBS showed higher protein content with higher soluble nitrogen per cent than 6 kg cheeses. Salt content was in the range 3.1–4.0% on dry matter. The colour did not show significant differences for any of the factors, but 12 kg cheeses subjected to DS showed higher yellow index than the other cheeses. The …
Microbial diversity of traditional Sicilian cheeses
2017
In the last years, the microbial characterisation of traditional Sicilian cheeses, such as Caciocavallo Palermitano, Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Pecorino Siciliano and PDO Vastedda della valle del Belìce have been the object of different studies conducted by our research group. To this purpose, the aim of the present study was to describe the microbial population of traditional Sicilian cheeses.
Cryptic Leishmania infantum infection in Italian HIV infected patients.
2008
Abstract Background Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a protozoan diseases caused in Europe by Leishmania (L.) infantum. Asymptomatic Leishmania infection is more frequent than clinically apparent disease. Among HIV infected patients the risk of clinical VL is increased due to immunosuppression, which can reactivate a latent infection. The aims of our study were to assess the prevalence of asymptomatic L. infantum infection in HIV infected patients and to study a possible correlation between Leishmania parasitemia and HIV infection markers. Methods One hundred and forty-five HIV infected patients were screened for the presence of anti-Leishmania antibodies and L. infantum DNA in peripheral blo…