One of the main problems in the Mediterranean area is the long dry season, and hence there is a need to individuate plants that are tolerant to low water availability. The mechanisms adopted by different plant species to overcome drought stress conditions and reduce water loss could allow the identification of tolerant species to drought stress, thereby increasing the sustainability of ornamental plant utilization in green areas. In this regard, the aim of this study was to investigate the morphological, physiological, and anatomical responses of Polygala myrtifolia L. and Viburnum tinus L. ‘Lucidum’ irrigated under different irrigation deficits. In pot plants, four water regimes were adopted (10%, 20%, 30% and 40% of water container capacity (WC)). Drought stress significantly reduced the biomass accumulation in both shrubs. In Viburnum, total dry biomass reduction was observed only in 10% WC with a reduction by 33%, while in Polygala, this was observed both in 20% WC and 10% WC (~48%). The higher deficit irrigation conditions improve the root-to-shoot ratio, which was increased in Polygala 20% WC (by 20%) but not in Viburnum ones. The latter species shows higher drought tolerance, as demonstrated by the gas exchange values, chlorophyll fluorescence, leaf structure, and water relationship.

The gene flow from Brassica oleracea L. wild relatives to B. oleracea vegetable crops have occurred and continue to occur ordinarily in several Mediterranean countries, such as Sicily, representing an important hot spot of diversity for some of them, such as broccoli, cauliflower and kale. For detecting and for exploiting the forgotten alleles lost during the domestication processes of the B. oleracea crops, attention has been pointed to the individuation of specific markers for individuating genotypes characterized by hypertrophic inflorescence traits by the marker assisted selection (MAS) during the first plant growing phases after the crosses between broccoli (B. oleracea var. italica)/cauliflower (B. oleracea var. botrytis) with B. oleracea wild relatives (n = 9), reducing the cultivation and evaluation costs. The desired traits often found in several B. oleracea wild relatives are mainly addressed to improve the plant resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses and to increase the organoleptic, nutritive and nutraceutical traits of the products. One of the targeted traits for broccoli and cauliflower breeding is represented by the inflorescences size as is documented by the domestication processes of these two crops. Based on the previous results achieved, the numerical matrix, obtained utilizing five simple sequence repeats (SSRs), was analyzed to assess the relationship among the main inflorescence characteristics and the allelic variation of the SSRs loci analyzed (BoABI1, BoAP1, BoPLD1, BoTHL1 and PBCGSSRBo39), both for the Brassica oleracea and B. oleracea wild relatives (n = 9) accessions set. The main inflorescence morphometric characteristics, such as weight, height, diameter, shape, inflorescence curvature angle and its stem diameter, were registered before the flower anthesis. We analyzed the correlations among the allelic variation of the SSRs primers utilized and the inflorescence morphometric characteristics to individuate genomic regions stimulating the hypertrophy of the reproductive organ. The relationships found explain the diversity among B. oleracea crops and the B. oleracea complex species (n = 9) for the inflorescence size and structure. The individuated markers allow important time reduction during the breeding programs after crossing wild species for transferring useful biotic and abiotic resistances and organoleptic and nutraceutical traits to the B. oleracea crops by MAS.

Effects of drought and aerosol stresses were studied in a factorial experiment based on a Randomized Complete Design with triplicates on two ornamental shrubs. Treatments consisted of four levels of water container (40%, 30%, 20%, and 10% of water volumetric content of the substrate) and, after 30 days from experiment onset, three aerosol treatments (distilled water and 50% and 100% salt sea water concentrations). The trial was contextually replicated on two species: Callistemon citrinus (Curtis) Skeels and Viburnum tinus L. ‘Lucidum’. In both species, increasing drought stress negatively affected dry biomass, leaf area, net photosynthesis, chlorophyll a fluorescence, and relative water content. The added saline aerosol stress induced a further physiological water deficit in plants of both species, with more emphasis on Callistemon. The interaction between the two stress conditions was found to be additive for almost all the physiological parameters, resulting in enhanced damage on plants under stress combination. Total biomass, for effect of combined stresses, ranged from 120.1 to 86.4 g plant⁻¹ in Callistemon and from 122.3 to 94.6 g plant⁻¹ in Viburnum. The net photosynthesis in Callistemon declined by the 70% after 30 days in WC 10% and by the 45% and 53% in WC 20% and WC 10% respectively after 60 days. In Viburnum plants, since the first measurement (7 days), a decrease of net photosynthesis was observed for the more stressed treatments (WC 20% and WC 10%), by 57%. The overall data suggested that Viburnum was more tolerant compared the Callistemon under the experimental conditions studied.

Among the ready-to-use products, baby leaf salads (both raw and cooked), especially those belonging to the Brassicaceae family, represent a very interesting food typology, with nutraceutical properties. Recently, to obtain products with lower levels of synthetic chemicals and to improve nutritional quality, attention has been paid to the use of natural biostimulants such as Moringa oleifera Lam. In this study, the aim was to investigate the effect of applying this natural biostimulant, at 15, 30, and 45 days from sowing, by spraying seedlings of radish (Raphanus sativus L.) each morning with Moringa oleifera leaf extract (MLE) at doses of 1:40 and 1:30 L⁻¹ until dripping. Different morphological, physiological, and chemical parameters were determined. At harvesting time, the fresh biomass, total leaf area, and unit leaf area showed progressive increases as the dose of MLE was increased, while there were no significant difference in the dry biomass among the treatments. The quantum yield of PSII showed a significant increase in response to MLE treatments. The contents of chlorophylls and carotenoids were higher in both MLE treatments as compared with those of the control plants. The antioxidant capacity (DPPH) was not influenced by MLE treatment, while the influence was significant for total phenolic content (TPC). No significant differences were observed for the total sugar content, while the highest concentration of ascorbic acid was found with both MLE treatments; the MLE treatments did not modify the nitrate content. Therefore, MLE treatment showed a positive influence, although further studies are necessary to individuate the better doses and treatment modalities to improve the characteristics of radish baby leaf.