BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//CERN//INDICO//EN BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The Wolffia effect: from biological to physical anchoring — meni scus engineering in a rootless duckweed DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260930T101500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260930T103000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260920T090216Z UID:indico-contribution-437-2918@cern.ch DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Leone Ermes Romano (University of Naples Federico II )\nThe transition from land to water in Lemnaceae represents an extreme ca se of reductive evolution\, culminating in the minute\, rootless genus Wol ffia. Aerenchyma explains buoyancy\, but not how microscopic fronds remain upright\, avoid rolling\, and aggregate into cohesive colonies without an y biological anchor. We addressed this in Wolffia globosa combining micros copy\, surface metrology\, histochemistry and mathematical modelling.\n\nH igh-magnification and laser imaging revealed that the waterline around eac h frond is not flat: reflective points along the perimeter mark localised deformations of the air–water interface\, while ESEM excluded any anatom ical protrusion. Laser scanning profilometry showed alternating upward and downward menisci\, with a bimodal distribution of contact angles (θup = 78.0 ± 3.0°\, θdown = 96.1 ± 2.2°\; n = 68). Neutral Red histochemist ry mapped a matching wettability pattern: an undulated contact line betwee n the unstained hydrophobic dorsal epidermis and the stained hydrophilic v entral one. Removing surface tension with a surfactant abolished the menis ci and submerged the plants\, showing that aerenchyma provides buoyancy wh ile surface tension provides anchoring and orientation.\n\nA finite-elemen t model parameterised on these values reproduces the observed multipolar c apillary field and predicts a short-range (<0.4 mm) attractive force betwe en neighbouring fronds — the "Cheerios effect" — sufficient to drive p assive self-assembly into stable rafts.\n\nWe propose that biologically pa tterned epidermal wettability functionally replaces the root system lost i n derived Lemnaceae\, with implications for colony dynamics\, mat behaviou r in cultivation systems\, and bio-inspired interfacial engineering.\n\nht tps://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2918/ LOCATION:Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Napoli F ederico II\, Portici\, Italy Sala Cinese URL:https://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2918/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The immediate impacts of whole genome duplication (neopolyploidy) in Spirodela polyrhiza on its functional traits and competitive outcomes. DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260930T100000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260930T101500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260920T090216Z UID:indico-contribution-437-2917@cern.ch DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Martin Turcotte (University of Pittsburgh)\nWhole ge nome duplication\, leading to polyploidy\, is a common macromutation throu ghout the tree of life and especially in plants. It can have strong impact s across biological scales\, from gene expression to cellular processes\, to morphology and ecological dynamics. This presentation will summarize kn owledge gained in our labs on these impacts using *Spirodela polyrhiza* as a model study system. We have generated replicated neotetraploid genetic lineages and report both shared and divergent changes across genetic backg rounds. Furthermore\, we leverage the unique advantages of this aquatic pl ant to test population level hypotheses advancing insights beyond most oth er polyploid plant study systems. For instance\, we find that polyploids g row more slowly in abundance and reach lower carrying capacities than thei r diploid progenitors. In addition\, our experimental work shows that neot etraploid populations are generally more resistant to urban pollutants\, b ut the extent depends on the pollutant type and the genetic background. Fi nally\, population-level competition experiments applying methods from The Modern Coexistence Theory have revealed how stress alters competitive out comes and sets the stage for more comparative work in other systems.\n\nht tps://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2917/ LOCATION:Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Napoli F ederico II\, Portici\, Italy Sala Cinese URL:https://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2917/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Plasticity and Adaptation of Fatty Acid Profiles in Four Lemnaceae Species under Varying Thermal and Nutrient Regimes DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260930T091500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260930T093000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260920T090216Z UID:indico-contribution-437-2916@cern.ch DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Manuela Bog (University Greifswald)\nThe Lemnaceae f amily exhibits remarkable ecological plasticity\, allowing these aquatic p lants to thrive in diverse freshwater habitats. A key mechanism of this ad aptation is the modulation of membrane lipids\, which is crucial for maint aining biological functions under fluctuating environmental conditions. Wh ile their potential as a sustainable protein source is well-known\, the ec ological drivers shaping interspecific variations in fatty acid profiles r emain under-explored.\nThis study examines the physiological adaptations o f four species (*Lemna gibba\, L. minor\, L. turionifera\,* and *Spirodela polyrhiza*) from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania\, Germany. Through a commo n garden experiment\, we analyzed the influence of temperature (18\, 24\, 30 °C) and nutrient availability (half\, standard\, and double concentrat ed N-medium) on fatty acid profiles.\nResults show generally comparable pr ofiles across species\, regardless of turion-forming abilities. However\, *L. gibba* exhibited higher proportions of stearidonic and γ-linolenic ac ids\, whereas S. polyrhiza showed only traces of these compounds. Temperat ure exerted a stronger influence than nutrients\; higher temperatures incr eased saturated fatty acids while reducing polyunsaturated fatty acids\, p articularly n-3 types. Minor nutrient effects were observed in *L. gibba* and *S. polyrhiza*. These findings highlight thermal adaptation as a prima ry driver of lipid metabolism. Further research on nitrogen-phosphorus rat ios and clones from warmer regions may further unveil specialized desatura se adaptations to higher temperatures.\n\nhttps://indico.unina.it/event/11 7/contributions/2916/ LOCATION:Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Napoli F ederico II\, Portici\, Italy Sala Cinese URL:https://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2916/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Near-future warming amplifies natural heatwave impacts and reorgan izes freshwater communities DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260930T094500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260930T100000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260920T090216Z UID:indico-contribution-437-2915@cern.ch DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Sara Nouere (Institute of Organismic and Molecular E volution (iomE)\, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz\, Mainz 55128\, Germ any)\nFuture climate change may reshape ecological communities not only by increasing mean temperature\, but also by altering the consequences of in creasingly frequent heatwaves. Predicting these effects requires understan ding how background warming interacts with short heatwaves in natural comm unities\, where responses can arise through direct thermal stress and spec ies interactions. We tested this using 32 outdoor freshwater mesocosms exp osed to sustained near-future warming while capturing a documented natural heatwave. Warming raised temperature maxima that exceeded the thermal thr eshold of the pond snail\, a main grazer in the community. Warmed communit ies showed lower grazer abundance\, increased macrophyte and insect herbiv ore abundance\, reduced phytoplankton biomass\, and lower zooplankton dens ity. Complementary assays showed that heatwave-level temperatures promoted macrophyte growth and reduced grazer survival\, whereas reduced zooplankt on performance mainly reflected indirect warming effects via food-web casc ades. Thus\, near-future warming can amplify natural heatwave impacts by e xceeding consumer thermal thresholds and propagating through species inter actions.\n\nhttps://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2915/ LOCATION:Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Napoli F ederico II\, Portici\, Italy Sala Cinese URL:https://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2915/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Landolt’s collection 2.0 – Valorization and digitization of du ckweed germplasm resources DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260930T093000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260930T094500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260920T090216Z UID:indico-contribution-437-2887@cern.ch DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Laura Morello (CNR-IBBA)\nDuckweeds are powerful mod el plants thanks to their reduced anatomic structure and promising novel c rops due to rapid production of valuable biomass. However\, transforming t his small family into an agricultural crop requires understanding its unex pected complexity and exploring its significant genotypic and phenotypic d iversity.\nBeyond his extensive research\, Elias Landolt (1926–2013) lef t an invaluable legacy: hundreds of living clonal accessions from worldwid e and a comprehensive herbarium with over 2\,000 specimens\, recently tran sferred to the Italian Central Herbarium. This material serves as a fundam ental resource for taxonomy\, phylogenomics\, basic and applied research.\ nTo unlock the potential within these germplasm collections\, a collaborat ive effort is ongoing to genetically characterize available accessions\, c larify taxonomy\, and identify cryptic species\, soon integrating living c lones with herbarium specimens. This work establishes a robust framework f or genomic studies and phenotypic screening\, aiding the selection of key target traits for sustainable technological applications.\nTo fully exploi t these resources\, physical collections must be paired with standardized digital metadata\, ensuring long-term preservation and alignment with FAIR (Findable\, Accessible\, Interoperable\, Reusable) principles. Metadata\, integrated with sequence data\, genome size values\, images\, references\ , are being digitized and hosted in the Biomemory repository\, the network of germplasm collections of the National Research Council (CNR). Ultimate ly\, these data are directly accessible via GBIF and integrated in the nas cent Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo) a European Rese arch Infrastructure\, also aimed at providing services through its communi ty.\nWe believe this work represents the due tribute to E. Landolt\, in th e centenary of his birth.\n\nhttps://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributio ns/2887/ LOCATION:Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Napoli F ederico II\, Portici\, Italy Sala Cinese URL:https://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2887/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR