Ricerc@Sapienza

The Integrated Smart PHYTOTRON will be used to study the structural and functional responses of plants to multiple e abiotic and biotic stress that interact providing the opportunity to set up complex experimental projects. In particular, several lines of research can take advantage of this structure: 1. Studies on the impact of Global Changes through the characterization of the morphological and ecophysiological effects of pollutants (ground level ozone, particulate matter, heavy metals), CO2 increase, nitrogen deposition, drought and salinity stress on vegetation, from using non-invasive and non-destructive measurement techniques. 2. Development of new standardized methods of bioindication and biomonitoring of environmental quality (air, water, soil) in the natural environment and urban ecosystems and agroecosystems, within the UNECE / ICP Vegetation Program. 3. Quantification of the impacts of multi-stress on stomatal conductance and assimilation rate in order to establish critical levels of O3 for Mediterranean climates, improvement of the reliability of the model for Mediterranean ecosystems. 4. Characterization of the functional response of natural plant species to different levels of air, water and soil pollution to verify them ability to phyto-purification and phytoextraction. 5. Sustainable production of food of plant origin: i) develop protocols for the biostimulation of the defenses and productivity of plants through beneficial compounds or organisms; ii), selecting genotypes and / or varieties resistant to pathogens and stress (eg pollutants); iii) capture early plant stress indicators for the design of field-level sensors for disease prevention. 6. The temporal variability of the NPP-GPP ratio of saplings growing in limiting environmental conditions. The use of carbon efficiency, or the ratio of net primary production (NPP) to gross primary production (GPP), is a cost-effective way to do this analyze the allocation C at the stand level at the different cultivation conditions. Experiments conducted under controlled conditions will allow this calibrate process-based models in order to predict NPP / GPP ratio trends in the future environmental climate. 7. The Integrated Smart PHYTOTRON can be used to study the responses of model plants, tolerant and hyperaccumulating plants and environmental stress crops such as heavy metals / metalloids. The smart PHYTOTRON will allow you to grow plants underneath different environmental conditions including different soil contaminations and to analyze the resulting damage to the organization root, the first plant organ exposed to soil pollutants. In particular, it will be possible to study the effects of soil contamination organization and definition of the root meristem, because it is known that the root meristem is responsible for the development and function of the entire organ and is also the main target of toxicity caused by soil pollutants. Furthermore, the PHYTOTRON will allow the study the effects of several heavy metals / metalloids, taken individually or together, on the growth of the root system and to evaluate them effects on total plant biomass. It will also be useful to study the role of hormones or compounds similar to volatile hormones, such as for example ethylene or jasmonates, or signal molecules involved in stress responses such as nitric oxide, during the development of the root system of plants exposed to toxic metals. This type of integrated PHYTOTRON will allow to study the plant responses to low temperatures, in particular the effects on the development, growth and ripening of the fruit of an important Mediterranean species like the olive tree. These searches also need adequate spaces to expose the plant to defined temperatures before subjecting them the analyzes necessary to evaluate the response / adaptation of the systems. 8. Test the effects that environmental parameters and exposure to pollutants such as O3, NOx, SO2, heavy metals, can have on growth rate of usable species in the field of renewable and sustainable energy such as Zea mays L. and Brassica napus L. The characteristics of Integrated Smart PHYTOTRON allow to expose the selected species to different stresses or suboptimal growth condition to verify if the species-specific response can improve the yield and quality of the raw material to optimize the biofuel production chain. 9. Mushrooms promoting plant growth (biostimulation, nutrition, bioprotection, bioremediation) of species of medicinal or agronomic interest in order to develop sustainable cultivation strategies. This technological infrastructure is suitable for studying the beneficial effects of mushrooms to increase the tolerance of the biota de