Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a species belonging to the Apiaceae family, well known for its nutritional and pharmacological properties. Despite the economic and agricultural relevance, its genomic and transcriptomic data remain poor. Microsatellites—also known as simple sequence repeats (SSRs)—are codominant markers widely used to perform cross-amplification tests starting from markers developed in related species. SSRs represent a powerful tool, especially for those species lacking genomic information. In this study, a set of primers previously designed in Daucus carota for polymorphic SSR loci was tested in commercial varieties and breeding lines of fennel in order to: (i) test their cross-genera transferability, (ii) look at their efficiency in assessing genetic diversity, and (iii) identify their usefulness for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in breeding programs. Thirty-nine SSR markers from carrot were selected and tested for their transferability score, and only 23% of them resulted suitable for fennel. The low rate of SSR transferability between the two species evidences the difficulties of the use of genomic SSR in cross-genera transferability.

The production of seeds without sex is considered the holy grail of plant biology. The transfer of apomixis to various crop species has the potential to transform plant breeding, since it will allow new varieties to retain valuable traits thorough asexual reproduction. Therefore, a greater molecular understanding of apomixis is fundamental. In a previous work we identified a gene, namely APOSTART, that seemed to be involved in this asexual mode of reproduction, which is very common in Poa pratensis L., and here we present a detailed work aimed at clarifying its role in apomixis. In situ hybridization showed that PpAPOSTART is expressed in reproductive tissues from pre-meiosis to embryo development. Interestingly, it is expressed early in few nucellar cells of apomictic individuals possibly switching from a somatic to a reproductive cell as in aposporic apomixis. Moreover, out of 13 APOSTART members, we identified one, APOSTART_6, as specifically expressed in flower tissue. APOSTART_6 also exhibited delayed expression in apomictic genotypes when compared with sexual types. Most importantly, the SCAR (Sequence Characterized Amplified Region) derived from the APOSTART_6 sequence completely co-segregated with apomixis.

The lipogenic ability of the yeast Solicoccozyma terricola DBVPG 5870 grown on hydrolyzed lignocellulose obtained from cardoon stalks was evaluated. Data on cell biomass, lipid production, and fatty acid profiles of triacylglycerols obtained in batch and fed-batch experiments were carried out at the laboratory scale in a 5L fermenter, and at two different temperatures (20 and 25 °C) were reported. The higher production of total intracellular lipids (13.81 g/L) was found in the fed-batch experiments carried out at 20 °C. S. terricola exhibited the ability to produce high amounts of triacylglycerol (TAGs) with a characteristic fatty acids profile close to that of palm oil. The TAGs obtained from S. terricola grown on pre-treated lignocellulose could be proposed as a supplementary source of oleochemicals. Indeed, due to the rising prices of fossil fuels and because of the environmental-related issues linked to their employment, the use of TAGs produced by S. terricola grown on lignocellulose could represent a promising option as a supplementary oleochemical, especially for biodiesel production.