Search results for " seed"

The conservation of the Italian Crop Wild Relatives in the RIBES seed-banks: first data to establish national inventories and conservation priorities.

2016

The authors present the updated results of such census in the Italian Seed Bank Network for native species conservation (RIBES) with an analysis of the contribution to the conservation of the Italian FAO priority CWR. Finally, a national priority list for conservation of CWRs was drawn up and proposed here.

The conservation of the endemic Crop Wild Relatives in the RIBES seed-banks: towards a national priority list for the Italian CWRs

2016

Data of 620 crop wild relatives of species of food and fodder interest listed in the Annex I of the FAO Treaty (FAO, 2001) were collected within the census carried out by ISPRA, the Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, in 2014-2015 in order to quantify the extent of CWR representation in the Italian ex situ collections. According to such census, the RIBES network preserve 37% of the Italian CWRs listed in the FAO Treaty: in 14 out of 16 seed-banks are preserved 6,029 accessions of 229 CWR taxa, belonging to 11 families and 57 genera.

The Seedbank database of the Hortus Botanicus Panormitanus

2012

A database for the management of the Seedbank of the Palermo’s Botanical Garden has been set up. Its structure and functioning are illustrated. Since November 2010 about 2000 records relating to 460 taxa have been inputted and are accesible via web. Links with other seedbank databases and with the database of the Herbarium Mediterraneum Panormitanum and of the Palermo’s Botanical Garden are explained.

Conservation of forest biodiversity in Sicily: contribution of the University of Palermo Germplasm Bank (Italy)

2017

Germplasm Banks dedicated to the wild plants seeds conservation play a unique role in integrating the in situ conservation of endemic, rare or endangered plant species. One of the missions of the Seed Bank of the University of Palermo (HBP-Bank) is to support the conservation of biodiversity with particular attention to the spectrum of genetic diversity of plants belonging to Mediterranean habitat. Abies nebrodensis (Lojac.) Mattei is an relict species, consisted of 30 natural individuals, gathered in a small area of the Madonie Natural Park in Sicily (1500 -1600 m above s.l.), recorded on the checklist “TOP 50 Mediterranean Island Plants”. It is also one of eight conifers species criticall…

What is Allium paniculatum? Establishing taxonomic and molecular phylogenetic relationships within A. sect. Codonoprasum

2016

Allium paniculatum L. is commonly recorded from the Euro-Mediterranean and Irano-Turanian regions. Evidence from literature and herbarium collections revealed that many different taxa of A. sect. Codonoprasum Rchb., all characterized by big size, diffuse and densely flowered umbrella, very long spathe valves, long pedicels, and cylindrical-campanulate perigon, have been wrongly attributed to this species thus affecting records on its geographic distribution and morphological characterization. In order to define the true identity of A. paniculatum, we analyzed specimens coming from the type locality (Don River), and provided details on morphology, ecology, karyology, leaf anatomy, seed morph…

Flower and fruit structure of the endangered species Petagnaea gussonei (Sprengel) Rauschert (Saniculoideae, Apiaceae) and implications for its repro…

2015

Petagnaea gussonei (Apiaceae) is an endangered species endemic to the Nebrodi mountains (north-eastern Sicily). Although an increasing number of studies have been performed on this species, its reproductive biology remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate in detail the structure of the flower and the fruit of Petagnaea, and the possible implications for its breeding system and seed dispersal mechanism. Results from fieldwork, light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy suggest (1) the presence of protandrous hermaphrodite flowers; (2) geitonogamy, autogamy, and allogamy as breeding system mechanisms of P. gussonei, even if asexual reproduction is preferred b…

Taxonomic implications of seed morphology and seed coat sculputures in Brassica sect. Brassica

2012

Mediterranean plant germination reports – 3

2021

This is the third issue of the series of germination reports from Mediterranean areas (sensu Med-Checklist). It comprises germination protocols for 40 taxa: Teucrium from Sardinia by M. Porceddu & al. (Nos. 46-47); Campanula from North Italy by S. Villa & al. (No. 48); Anacamptis from Greece by S. Oikonomidis & C. A. Thanos. (No. 49); Astragalus, Iris, Jacobaea, and Klasea from central Italy by V. Di Cecco & al. (No. 50-53); Drimia, Periploca, Asparagus, Myrtus, and Pancratium from Malta by J. Buhagiar & al. (Nos. 54-58); Thymus from Sicily by G. Gugliuzza & al. (No. 59); Agrostemma, Bupleurum, and Xeranthemum from North Italy by A. Cucchietti & al. (Nos. 60-62);…

Seed germination reports for Sicilian endemic taxa of the genus Helichrysum (Asteraceae)

2021

In the present study, successful germination protocols for 11 different taxa of the genus Helichrysum native to Sicily are discussed. Eight of them are representative of strict endemic Sicilian taxa, 2 are Italian sub endemic and one, namely H. stoechas, is a widespread W Mediterranean species. Given the controversial taxonomic status and relationships of the Mediterranean Helichrysum, the taxonomic approach enhancing the existing diversity of Sicilian populations was herein adopted from current literature. First germination records are given for some of the investigated taxa.

Plant morphology: outdated or advanced discipline in modern plant sciences?

2019

In the last decades, with the increase of molecular studies, the study of plant forms has gone through a steady decline in interest, and researches on this topic are often neglected and underestimated. Notwithstanding, comparative morphology as integrative discipline still assumes a pivotal role in modern sciences, remaining fundamentally relevant to nearly all fields of plant biology, such as systematics, evolutionary biology, ecology, physiology, genetics, molecular biology, not to mention also agriculture, bioengineering, and forensic botany. Contrary to common belief, plant morphology is not a conservative finished science, but, like other sciences, it is open to constant innovations in…