PRIN AGRITECH (SPOKE 1) - Plant, animal and microbial genetic resources and adaptation to climatic changes

Plant, animal and microbial genetic resources and adaptation to climatic changes

The resilience of agricultural and forest ecosystems under stressful conditions generated by climate change requires the enhancement and exploitation of genetic resources through state-of-the-art conservation strategies, combined with in-depth genome characterization and high-throughput phenotyping.

Activities include large-scale sequencing of accessions/breeds/strains, extensive marker-based genome descriptions, elucidation of the (pan)genome, deep phenotyping, and multi-omics characterization.

The resulting information, processed through advanced methods for the analysis, interpretation, archiving, and management of complex data, will highlight superior alleles/haplotypes, identify beneficial interactions across a variety of conditions, and define conservation units.

PRIN 2022 PNRR MUSELY - Development of a MUlti-SEnsor remote sensing approach from drone to earLY detect plant diseases: A tool for sustainable agriculture and food security

The project MUSELY aims at integrating imaging spectroscopy, Solar-Induced Fluorescence, thermal-infrared and LiDAR remote sensing to develop novel multi-sensor methods to monitor plant health status and identify and quantify plant disease symptoms in food crops. Remote and field measurements on wheat, sunflower and tomato crops have been performed during the project, and data obtained from drones are implemented by hyperspectral measurements at the leaf level and by physiological, chemical and molecular analyses.

Different hybrid machine learning methods applied to hyperspectral data with high spatial resolution are currently being tested and integrated with data from plant-level approaches, to validate models to be used in remote sensing of plant stress responses

PNRR AGRITECH (SPOKE 4) - Smart-climate and resilient agriculture and forestry: from sustainable products to the bioeconomy

The project aims to develop a lighthouse farm network to apply new technologies useful to save soil, water, carbon emission and to elucidate mechanisms underpinning the relationship between agrobiodiversity and ecosystem services key to crop production. In Sardinia, in a traditional olive-growing system without irrigation, resilient agricultural practices were tested, including innovative cover crops for the development and exploitation of ecosystem services by saving water, immobilizing carbon, and increasing plant and microbial biodiversity.

Continuous acquisition of data on soil gas exchanges, soil moisture and temperature was achieved by using sensors, along with annual monitoring of chemical, physiological and molecular variables on plants and soil.

Enza Zaden

The project aimed to analyze the content of glucosinolates, polyphenols, flovonoids, fibers and antioxidant capacity in new hybrid varieties of turnip greens (Brassica rapa subsp. Sylvestris) obtained after crossing at the Enza Zaden company, Tarquinia, VT, Italy. In particular, the considered bioactive compounds were analyzed by spectrophotometric and fluorimetric analyzes on extracts from different parts of the adult plants (leaves, stems and inflorescences). The analyzes were also carried out on the packaged product, ready for consumption, at different storage times in order to evaluate the possible better performance of the new varieties in terms of shelf life.

NUTRAGE - Nutrition, Diet & Active Aging

With a multidisciplinary approach, Nutrage aims to promote solutions and strategies for active and healthy aging, which have significant implications for the future, well-being, and social cohesion of the country. Evidence suggests that nutrition plays a key role in promoting the prevention and delaying the onset of major aging-related diseases. Therefore, the project intends to develop new foods with high nutritional value, new dietary regimens, and specific personalized nutrition programs, and to promote new pathways to support the health, well-being, and safety of the most vulnerable populations. The specific objectives of the project are:

• Development of agri-food (bio)technologies
• Development of new foods with high health value
• Green technologies for the extraction and stabilization of biocompounds
• Identification of early biomarkers
• Innovative strategy for active and healthy aging
• Integrated analysis of the physiopathological bases of aging
• Food culture and education