A few years ago, two subjects disappeared and were found lifeless in the surrounding countryside. Understanding the causes of their death was particularly complex for the state of conservation of the ...human remains. A multi-disciplinary approach allowed experts in botany and geology to identify some algae traces on victims’ belongings. Observations of microalgae, in association with other geological and botanical evidence, allowed investigators to geolocate the passage of one of the victims and to exclude that the victims’ belongings were submerged under water. The present investigation proved how a traditional microscopic approach, based on the identification of associations of morpho-types of microalgae, could be decisive for linking the presence of one of the victims to specific sites of the territory where the body was found lifeless.
Macrobotanic data implementing Forensic Geology investigations Marina Morabito; Fabio Mondello; Roberta Somma
Atti della Accademia peloritana dei pericolanti. Classe I di scienze fis., mat. e naturali,
01/2023, Volume:
101, Issue:
S1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The contribution of botany to the analysis of geological traces should not be neglected in forensic investigations. Small plant traces, especially if widespread in quantity, easily adhere to the ...subjects involved in criminal events. However, the identification of highly fragmentated plant structures often relies to skilled experts. The present paper deals with the morphological descriptions of thorns and similar plant appendices produced by the plants thriving in the area under investigation in a court case regarding the disappearance of two subjects in a rural area of the countryside. Comparative observations between unknown and known samples, related to victims and crime scene respectively, made it possible to identify traces found on the victims as plants thriving in the area under investigations. Basing on the punctual distribution of individual plants in the investigated territory, the results of the comparative analyses allowed to reconstruct the victims’ path in the hours immediately preceding their death. Consequently, these data provided valuable information for implementing the geological investigation carried out for the judicial authority.
The present research is devoted to criminal investigation regarding the disappearance of two persons suspected to be kidnapped. The multi-disciplinary investigation based on the application of ...Forensic Geology and Botany allowed to ascertain the pre-mortem active presence of the victims on the event scene. The results of the geological and botanical characterization accomplished on the traces collected on the victims and their belongings (unknown samples) and soils and plants sampled on the scene of events (known samples), allowed to ascertain with a high degree of compatibility as the source of the unknown samples could derive from environments with characteristics similar to those found in the scene of events, suggesting a same common origin for the analysed unknown and known specimens. Peculiar minerals (calcium phosphate rich clays and dolostones), very abundant vegetal particles (thorns and seeds of Erica arborea), and algae associations were particularly useful in linking the victims to the scene of events. The results of the comparative analyses provided fundamental info-investigative data useful for establishing the pre-mortem active presence of the victims on the scene. Furthermore, the most significant positive matches found allowed reconstructing a very detailed walking carried out by the two victims on the event site in the hours immediately preceding their death. These implications were of paramount importance for the judicial system in the solution of this criminal case. The careful examination of mineral composition, textural features as well as of the peculiar assemblages of inorganic and vegetal materials from unknown and known specimens carried out in the case work revealed to be able to provide very strong geological and botanical evidence for supporting criminal investigations. These robust results were achieved by the experts involved in long time-consuming and careful activities and examinations. Furthermore, the geological and botanical investigation carried out demonstrated as the analyses of the relationships ascertained between the victims and the surrounding environment could also support the coroner’s decision on the manner of death and facilitating the understanding of the event dynamics.
Pesticide usage is becoming increasingly necessary to escalate agricultural productivity and meet food production needs. However, it harms in different degrees all living organisms, plants, and ...animals, whether terrestrial or aquatic. Soil microorganisms, are microbes belonging to microorganisms, are the first to be specifically affected by pesticides. This study aims to evaluate the impact of two herbicides, paraquat and glyphosate, on symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Our study was carried out in the greenhouse.
Bituminaria bituminosa
plants were inoculated with four different nitrogen-fixing bacteria,
Pantoea agglomerans, Rhizobium nepotum, Rhizobium radiobacter,
and
Rhizobium tibeticum
, and then treated with varying herbicide concentrations were selected according to the doses recommended by the National Office of Food Safety (ONSSA) and according to a survey conducted among farmers in the Meknes region-Morocco, (0.05, 0.1, 5.4, 10.8 g/L glyphosate and 0.05, 0.1, 2, 4 g/L paraquat). After 6 months after sowing, the following parameters were evaluated: nodule number, nodule mass, nodule weight, nodule dry, and fresh weight, nitrogen content, and symbiotic efficiency. At higher doses (5.4, 10.8 g/L for glyphosate and 2, 4 g/L for paraquat), both herbicides decreased the number and the size of nodules, the weight of nodules, nitrogen content of
Bituminaria bituminosa
and symbiotic efficiency of the four different nitrogen-fixing bacteria studied. The effect of herbicides increased as the used concentration increased. The current research demonstrates that the decreased growth of herbicide-treated plants was caused by herbicides' direct effects on rhizobia rather than herbicides' indirect effects on
Bituminaria bituminosa
.
Graphical Abstract
Pivotal environmental geology research was carried out in the protected area of Cape Peloro (Messina, NE Sicily, Italy). The main aims were the ascertainment of the presence of Asbestos Cement ...Materials (ACMs), their mapping, and, consequently, an estimation of the potential risk for human health and marine coastal environments. The beaches surveyed covered 4500 m of coastline. Through high-resolution photographic surveys, over 520 fiber cement fragments were documented on the beaches as well as in beach deposits. The materials, after microscope, SEM-EDS, and FTIR analyses, were found to be composed of Portland cement with chrysotile and crocidolite fibers. Fragments of ACMs showed typical corrugated forms with centimeter-to-decimeter sizes and prevailing well-rounded, platy, and sub-elongate shapes. In a few localities, some fragments were found to be angular or friable. Furthermore, some fragments found on the beach were covered by conspicuous encrustations of marine organisms, testifying to their long staying in shallow-water marine environments. Illicit landfills and abandoned materials were identified in natural sections on the coastal plain. Most of the rounded ACMs were characterized by their surface texture, with mm-size asbestos fibers exposed on the surface due to significant weathering and abrasion. Notably, new fragments appeared after storms. Significant criticisms have been made related to the ACMs, analogously to what was reported for other Italian marine beaches. Possible intervention and reclamation activities cannot limit themselves to removing the fragments on the beach, as fragments are immersed in the coastal sediments at different depths and are also found in the marine deposits. Here, it is underlined that any asbestos removal and reclamation activities, if not designed and based on a multidisciplinary approach and knowledge of local coastal dynamics and the meteo-marine climate, will be very expensive and ineffective.
Seaweeds are considered a biomass for third-generation biofuel, and hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is a valuable process for efficiently disposing of the excess of macroalgae biomass for conversion ...into multiple value-added products. However, the HTC process produces a liquid phase to be disposed of. The present study aims to investigate the effects of seed-priming treatment with three HTC-discarded liquid phases (namely AHL
, AHL
, and AHL
), obtained from different experimental procedures, on seed germination and plant growth and productivity of
L. To disentangle the osmotic effects from the use of AHL, isotonic solutions of polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000 have also been tested. Seed germination was not affected by AHL seed-priming treatment. In contrast, PEG-treated samples showed significantly lower seed germination success. AHL-treated samples showed changes in plant biomass: higher shoot biomass was recorded especially in AHL
samples. Conversely, AHL
and AHL
samples showed higher root biomass. The higher plant biomass values recorded in AHL-treated samples were the consequence of higher values of photosynthesis rate and water use efficiency, which, in turn, were related to higher stomatal density. Recorded data strongly support the hypothesis of the AHL solution reuse in agriculture in the framework of resource management and circular green economy.
The Humboldt Sulfuretum (HS), in the productive Humboldt Eastern Boundary Current Upwelling Ecosystem, extends under the hypoxic waters of the Peru-Chile Undercurrent (ca. 6°S and ca. 36°S). Studies ...show that primeval sulfuretums held diverse prokaryotic life, and, while rare today, still sustain species-rich giant sulfur-oxidizing bacterial communities. We here present the genomic features of a new bacteria of the HS, "Candidatus Venteria ishoeyi" ("Ca. V. ishoeyi") in the family Thiotrichaceae.Three identical filaments were micro-manipulated from reduced sediments collected off central Chile; their DNA was extracted, amplified, and sequenced by a Roche 454 GS FLX platform. Using three sequenced libraries and through de novo genome assembly, a draft genome of 5.7 Mbp, 495 scaffolds, and a N50 of 70 kbp, was obtained. The 16S rRNA gene phylogenetic analysis showed that "Ca. V. ishoeyi" is related to non-vacuolate forms presently known as Beggiatoa or Beggiatoa-like forms. The complete set of genes involved in respiratory nitrate-reduction to dinitrogen was identified in "Ca. V. ishoeyi"; including genes likely leading to ammonification. As expected, the sulfur-oxidation pathway reported for other sulfur-oxidizing bacteria were deduced and also, key inorganic and organic carbon acquisition related genes were identified. Unexpectedly, the genome of "Ca. V. ishoeyi" contained numerous CRISPR repeats and an I-F CRISPR-Cas type system gene coding array. Findings further show that, as a member of an eons-old marine ecosystem, "Ca. V. ishoeyi" contains the needed metabolic plasticity for life in an increasingly oxygenated and variable ocean.
Crude extracts and column fractions from the red algae Asparagopsis taxiformis and A. armata from the Strait of Messina (Italy) were screened for the production of antimicrobial compounds. Extracts ...from both species revealed remarkable antiprotozoal activity against Leishmania, revealing such algae as a great source of natural antiprotozoal products.
Several compounds from marine organisms have been studied for their potential use in aquaculture. Among the red algae,
is considered one of the most promising species for the production of bioactive ...metabolites with numerous proposed applications. Here, the
antibacterial activity, the easy handling and the absence of adverse effects on marine fish species are reported. Depending on the seasonal period of sampling, ethanol extracts of
exhibited significantly different inhibitory activity against fish pathogenic bacteria. The extract obtained in late spring showed strong antibacterial activity against
subsp.
, and
, and moderate activity against
subsp.
subsp.
and
. Sea bass and gilthead sea bream were fed with pellets supplied with the alga and algal extracts. The absence of undesired effects on fish was demonstrated. Hematological and biochemical investigations allowed to confirm that the whole alga and its extracts could be proposed for a future application in aquaculture.
The exploitation of macroalgal biomass, as a source of antibacterial drugs, would result into the valuable transformation of waste into an economic resource. Ethanol and water extracts or ...polysaccharides, from nine DNA-barcoded macroalgae (2 Chlorophyta, 5 Ochrophyta and 2 Rhodophyta) collected from Italian coastal environments, were screened for antibacterial activity against ten bacterial pathogens with relevance for aquaculture and human health. All extracts have not cytotoxic effects on molluscan digestive gland cells and mammalian red blood cells. As resulted by agar diffusion assays, water extracts showed broader and higher inhibitory activity than ethanol extracts against the tested pathogens. Polysaccharides from Fucus virsoides (Ochrophyta) possessed the strongest inhibitory activity against Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida and Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae, an emergent pathogen for humans. Polysaccharides from Undaria pinnatifida (Ochrophyta) were the most active against V. harveyi, the major pathogen responsible for diseases in aquaculture, and also against a multiresistant, clinical strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Our results suggest that these polysaccharides could represent a novel source of compounds active against bacterial pathogens relevant for eco-sustainable aquaculture and human health.
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