•Italian bioeconomy is re-connecting national economy with environment and society.•Reconciling technological advances with conservation of ecosystems.•Benefits from largest biodiversity in Europe ...and high territorial specificities.•Bioeconomy for sustainability, productivity, quality of products of interconnected sectors, creating longer, locally routed value chains.•Strategy enables coherent coordination of measures and actions at regional, national, EU and Mediterranean levels.
Italy has the third largest bioeconomy in Europe (€330 billion annual turnover, 2 million employees), making it a core pillar of the national economy. Its sectors of excellence are food and biobased products, and it is a consistent presence in research and innovation projects funded by the EU Horizon 2020 programme (Societal Challenges 2) and the European Public Private Partnership “Biobased industry” (BBI-JU). The bioeconomy reduces dependence on fossil fuels and finite materials, loss of biodiversity and changing land use. It contributes to environmental regeneration, spurs economic growth and supports jobs in rural, coastal and abandoned industrial areas, leveraging local contexts and traditions. In 2017 the Italian government promoted the development of a national Bioeconomy Strategy (BIT), recently updated (BIT II) to interconnect more efficiently the pillars of the national bioeconomy: production of renewable biological resources, their conversion into valuable food/feed, biobased products and bio-energy, and transformation and valorization of bio-waste streams. BIT II aims to improve coordination between Ministries and Italian regions in alignment of policies, regulations, R&I funding programmes and infrastructures investment. The goal is a 15 % increase in turnover and employment in the Italian bioeconomy by 2030. Based on Italy’s strategic geopolitical position in the Mediterranean basin, BIT II also includes actions to improve sustainable productivity, social cohesion and political stability through the implementation of bioeconomy strategies in this area. This paper provides an insight into these strategies and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the sectors involved and the measures, regulatory initiatives and monitoring actions undertaken.
Overexploitation and consequent depletion of the breeding stock is one of multiple stressors affecting Mediterranean trout Salmo cettii Rafinesque, 1810 in central Italy. The practice of total Catch ...and Release (C&R), combined with gear restrictions and seasonal closures, reduces catch-related impacts. To test for the effects of C&R management, the goals of the study were to: (i) analyse the status of trout inhabiting 8 C&R areas of the Nera River Basin, and (ii) compare the results with those from 11 exploited areas and 15 no-fishing areas. Fish data were collected by electrofishing from 1997 to 2020. Abundance, growth, age structure, and relative weight were estimated. Trout populations in the C&R sectors exhibited high abundances, well-balanced age structures, and a congruous number of age classes according to the longevity of the species. However, the abundance values never reached those of the no-fishing areas. The results provided evidence for an unbalanced population structure in fishing areas, where intensive size-selective harvest caused negative demographic effects, especially on older fish, and the legal-limit length was not adequate for maximal yield length. C&R angling appeared to maintain the fishery value of trout stocks favouring the conservation of native trout, although a certain impact on fish population status remains and thus, it cannot completely replace the adoption of more restrictive criteria.
We identified a discrete number of microRNAs differentially expressed in benign or malignant mesothelial tissues. We focused on mir-145 whose levels were significantly downregulated in malignant ...mesothelial tissues and malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) cell lines as compared to benign tissues (pleura, peritoneum or cysts). We show that promoter hyper-methylation caused very low levels in MPM cell lines and specimens. Treatment of MPM cell lines with mir-145 agonists negatively modulated some protumorigenic properties of MPM cells, such as clonogenicity, cell migration and resistance to pemetrexed treatment. The main effector mechanism of the clonogenic death induced by mir-145 was that of accelerated senescence. We found that mir-145 targeted OCT4 via specific binding to its 3'-UTR. Increased intracellular levels of mir-145 decreased the levels of OCT4 and its target gene ZEB1, thereby counteracting the increase of OCT4 induced by pemetrexed treatment which is known to favor the development of chemoresistant cells. In line with this, reintroduction of OCT4 into mimic-145 treated cells counteracted the effects on clonogenicity and replicative senescence. This further supports the relevance of the mir-145-OCT4 interaction for the survival of MPM cells. The potential use of mir-145 expression levels to classify benign vs malignant mesothelial tissues and the differences between pemetrexed-induced senescence and that induced by the re-expression of mir-145 are discussed.
Central Nervous System malignancies often require stereotactic biopsy or biopsy for differential diagnosis, and for tumor staging and grading. Furthermore, stereotactic biopsy can be non-diagnostic ...or underestimate grading. Hence, there is a compelling need of new diagnostic biomarkers to avoid such invasive procedures. Several biological markers have been proposed, but they can only identify specific prognostic subtype of Central Nervous System tumors, and none of them has found a standardized clinical application.The aim of the study was to identify a Cerebro-Spinal Fluid microRNA signature that could differentiate among Central Nervous System malignancies.CSF total RNA of 34 neoplastic and of 14 non-diseased patients was processed by NanoString. Comparison among groups (Normal, Benign, Glioblastoma, Medulloblastoma, Metastasis and Lymphoma) lead to the identification of a microRNA profile that was further confirmed by RT-PCR and in situ hybridization.Hsa-miR-451, -711, 935, -223 and -125b were significantly differentially expressed among the above mentioned groups, allowing us to draw an hypothetical diagnostic chart for Central Nervous System malignancies.This is the first study to employ the NanoString technique for Cerebro-Spinal Fluid microRNA profiling. In this article, we demonstrated that Cerebro-Spinal Fluid microRNA profiling mirrors Central Nervous System physiologic or pathologic conditions. Although more cases need to be tested, we identified a diagnostic Cerebro-Spinal Fluid microRNA signature with good perspectives for future diagnostic clinical applications.
The aim of this research was to assess the distribution, abundance and growth of the non-native topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva that was recorded for the first time in the Tiber River Basin ...(central Italy) in 1994. The competitive interaction of P. parva with four native fish species was also investigated. The study area comprised 92 watercourses of the Umbrian section of the Tiber River Basin. Demographic and environmental data were collected during the period 1990−2014 in 171 sampling sites. The results of this study showed a wide distribution of P. parva in the study area, with records from 23.39% of all sampling sites (40 out of 171). This species inhabits the downstream reaches, where the presence of many non-native species and the poor environmental quality are associated with a decrease in native fish species. A total of 5570 specimens of P. parva were collected and five age classes (0+ to 4+) were identified. The equation for the total length-weight relationship of P. parva was W = 0.021TL2.673±0.015. For the chub Squalius squalus, the Tiber barbel, Barbus tyberinus, and the roach, Rutilus rubilio, the average values of the relative weight were significantly higher in the sites where P. parva was absent. The results of the present study suggest the need to undertake proper strategies for native biodiversity conservation.
L’objectif de cette recherche était d’évaluer la distribution, l’abondance et la croissance de Pseudorasbora parva non-indigène qui a été observé pour la première fois en 1994 dans le bassin du fleuve Tibre. L’interaction compétitive de P. parva avec quatre espèces de poissons indigènes a également été étudiée. La zone d’étude comprend 92 cours d’eau de la région ombrienne du bassin du fleuve Tibre. Les données démographiques et environnementales ont été recueillies au cours de la période 1990−2014 dans 171 sites d’échantillonnage. Les résultats de cette étude ont montré une large distribution de P. parva dans la zone d’étude, avec sa présence dans 23,39% de tous les sites d’échantillonnage (40 sur 171). Cette espèce habite les tronçons aval, où la présence de nombreuses espèces non indigènes et de la faible qualité de l’environnement ont été associées à une diminution des espèces de poissons indigènes. Un total de 5570 spécimens de P. parva ont été recueillis et cinq classes d’âge (0+ à 4+) ont été identifiées. L’équation de la relation longueur totale − poids était W = 0.021TL2.673±0.015. Pour le chevesne Squalius squalus, le barbeau du Tibre Barbus tyberinus et le gardon Rutilus rubilio les valeurs moyennes du poids relatif (Wr) étaient significativement plus élevées dans les sites où P. parva était absent. Les résultats de la présente étude suggèrent la nécessité d’entreprendre des stratégies appropriées pour la conservation de la biodiversité indigène.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the European barbel Barbus barbus (L., 1758) invasion in the Tiber River basin (Italy) on the native Tiber barbel Barbus tyberinus ...Bonaparte, 1839, verifying whether the co-occurrence played a negative impact on growth rate and relative weight. Fish census data were collected during three periods (2000-2005, 2006-2010, 2011-2015) at 158 sampling sites. Since its first record in 1998, European barbel rapidly spread in the study area: it was present in more than 20% of the monitoring sites, where it is leading to the gradual replacement of Tiber barbel by widening its distribution in the Tiber River and in the downstream reaches of the main tributaries. By contrast, Tiber barbel has suffered from this competition, as demonstrated by the fact that the mean value of the relative weight was significantly higher where European barbel was absent. The results obtained suggested that this non-native species could be a serious threat to the conservation status of endemic Tiber barbel, and constitute the premise to underpin conservation strategies aiming to preserve native freshwater biodiversity.
The Salmo trutta species complex includes threatened or intensively managed taxa. Domestic-Atlantic strains are widely farmed and massively introduced into the wild to support fisheries, although ...such practices seriously threaten native populations of Mediterranean brown trout through anthropogenic hybridization. Characterizing the distribution and genetic composition of wild populations across river catchments is crucial to identify conservation priorities and define appropriate management strategies. Here, we genotyped 586 brown trout at the diagnostic nuclear LDH-C1 gene and the mitochondrial D-loop fragment, to assess the conservation status of 33 sites in a protected area spanning river catchments from both the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian slopes in the northern Apennines (Italy). The results indicated a critical situation of widespread domestic-Atlantic introgression. Further analyses at 15 microsatellite loci on 159 individuals from 12 natural sites (along with 113 references from hatcheries) revealed similarity to hatchery stocks, higher genetic diversity and bottleneck signals in introgressed/exotic populations, consistently with relatively recent introductions of domestic-Atlantic individuals into wild sites. Conversely, the only native sites from a single river catchment on the Adriatic slope showed genetic distinctiveness, reduced diversity and demographic stability. We also found genetic evidence of a human-mediated introduction of allochthonous Mediterranean trout in a single wild site, as well as of a putative between-slopes translocation. We provide further insight into the occurrence and consequences of human manipulations on wild Mediterranean brown trout populations, contextually offering a reliable baseline for an ongoing conservation project aiming at preserving native populations of this endangered taxon.
The introduction of exotic fish species in the river Tiber basin has probably caused a serious alteration of original faunal composition. The purpose of this research was to assess the changes ...occurred over time in the state of the fish communities with particular reference to the reduction of local communities of endemic species. The study area comprised 68 watercourses of the Umbrian portion of the River Tiber basin; the analyses were carried out using the data of the Regional Fish Map of 1st and 2nd level and the 1st update, respectively collected during the periods between the 1990–1996, 2000–2006 and 2007–2014, in 125 sampling stations. The results show a progressive alteration of the fish communities’ structure, as confirmed by the appearance in recent times of new alien species. A total of 40 species was found, only 14 native. The qualitative change of the fish communities appear to be closely related to the longitudinal gradient of the river. The results shows that particularly in the downstream reaches, the combined action of pollution and introduction of exotic species resulted in a gradual decrease in the indigenous component of fish communities. The information collected are the indispensable premise for taking the necessary strategies for conservation of endangered species.
L’introduction d’espèces exotiques de poissons dans le bassin du fleuve Tibre a probablement provoqué une grave altération de la composition de la faune originale. Le but de cette recherche était d’évaluer les changements survenus au fil du temps dans l’état des communautés de poissons avec une référence particulière à la réduction des communautés locales d’espèces endémiques. La zone d’étude comprend 68 cours d’eau de la partie de l’Ombrie du bassin du fleuve Tibre; les analyses ont été effectuées en utilisant les données de la carte piscicole régionale de 1er et 2e niveau et de la 1re mise à jour, respectivement recueillies pendant les périodes entre le 1990–1996, 2000–2006 et 2007–2014, dans 125 stations d’échantillonnage. Les résultats montrent une altération progressive de la structure des communautés de poissons, confirmée par l’apparition ces derniers temps de nouvelles espèces exotiques. Un total de 40 espèces a été trouvé, seulement 14 natives. Le changement qualitatif des communautés de poissons semble être étroitement lié à la pente longitudinale de la rivière. Les résultats montrent que, particulièrement dans les tronçons situés en aval, l’action combinée de la pollution et de l’introduction d’espèces exotiques a entraîné une diminution progressive de la composante autochtone des communautés de poissons. Les informations recueillies sont la prémisse indispensable pour adopter les stratégies nécessaires à la conservation des espèces menacées.
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