Biology subjects

Papalini, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Papalini, S..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Exploring the role of multivariate associations between brain networks and gut microbiota in (food) value-based decision-making

Food reward valuation and decision making are key psychological processes regulating eating behaviour. Stress and negative affect can shape these processes, increasing vulnerability to overeating high caloric, ultra-processed foods and thereby elevating obesity risk. Yet not all individuals under stress exhibit such behavioural shifts, highlighting the need to understand which modulating factors explain this inter individual variability. Emerging evidence suggests that anxiety-/stress-induced changes in gut microbiota might alter reward sensitivity via the gut-brain axis. An integrative framework linking microbiota, neural, and affective processes is thus essential for explaining individual differences in emotional eating, yet such a framework is still lacking. To this end, supervised linked independent component analysis (Super- BigFLICA) was used to explore multivariate gut-brain latent components guided by affective and body composition indexes in healthy participants (N = 592) from the Healthy Brain Study. Next, general linear models were used to identify if any of the observed components were predictive of elevated unhealthy food valuation and choice in a food auction task. A multimodal component was predictive of both food valuation and choice. This component was characterized by co-occurring changes in several gut bacterial taxa at the genus level (e.g., UCG-010 and DTU089), specific connectivity between reward-related brain regions (e.g., nucleus accumbens, caudate), and was clearly linked to elevated anxiety sensitivity, life-event impact, and body mass index. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of supervised gut-brain integration for predicting behaviour and reveal a potential phenotype linking microbiota composition, brain function, and emotional state that should be further investigated

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Newly-identified lentil genotypes adapted to Mediterraneanagro-ecosystems

Lentil cultivation and consumption promote human health and sustainable agriculture, making a significant contribution to the transition toward a plant-based diet. In Europe, lentil yields are still unstable, and the lack of breeding efforts limits the choice of farmers to few varieties. Here, we characterized 46 lentil genotypes, including local cultivars and landraces from diverse geographic origins, in Mediterranean agro-environments for flowering, architectural and production traits in seven field trials, over 3 years (2019-2021), in two localities (central and southern Italy) and during two sowing seasons (autumn and spring). We estimated the genetic merit of each genotype and identified outperforming genotypes for all traits. Indian ILL 11557AGL and Argentinian IL 4605AGL domesticated varieties resulted superior for earliness. Italian landraces and French cultivars achieved the highest values for first pod height, while landraces and breeding materials from Ethiopia, Syria and Iran were the best-yielding. Data from all seven trials were available for 16 genotypes, so we analyzed the genotype, environment and genotype x environment interaction (GEI) to identify specific genotypic adaptations. European cultivars performed well for architectural traits, whereas the best-yielding genotypes were Middle Eastern and Ethiopian landraces. Environmental effect on yield related to sowing season and locality was detected, with an overall higher yield in autumn compared to spring sowing trials and in central rather than southern Italy. By dissecting the GEI structure using additive main effect and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) analysis and Weighted Average of Absolute Scores (WAASB) index, we identified a group of Iranian landraces (PI 431633 AGL and PI 432033 LSP AGL) adapted to both autumn and spring sowing and one Ethiopian landrace (IG 1959 AGL) showing high yield stability across all environmental conditions. These findings provide a foundation to unlock the full potential of lentil cultivation in European and Mediterranean systems by identifying adapted, high-performing genotypes.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2024

Landscape genomics highlights the adaptive evolution of chickpea

Environmental heterogeneity and human-mediated dispersal have jointly shaped the genetic diversity and local adaptation of crop species. Understanding the genetic basis of these processes is essential for improving crops across diverse agro-environmental conditions. We characterized population structure and geographic patterns of genetic diversity in 532 chickpea genotypes spanning most of the cultivated range. Using redundancy analysis on 208 georeferenced landrace-derived genotypes from the Mediterranean Basin to Central Asia, we identified genotype-environment associations (GEAs) and traced adaptive variation along historical Silk Road routes. Both environmental and geographic factors significantly shaped chickpea diversity. GEA loci were enriched for genes involved in heat and drought tolerance, while key geographic regions harbored reservoirs of adaptive alleles and early-flowering genotypes, supporting flowering time as an escape strategy from terminal stress. These findings provide a genomic framework for integrating climate-adaptive alleles into chickpea breeding programs targeting drought- and heat-prone environments.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2018

Stress matters: a double-blind, randomized controlled trial on the effects of a multispecies probiotic on neurocognition

Probiotics are microorganisms that can provide health benefits when consumed. Recent animal studies have demonstrated that probiotics can reverse gut microbiome-related alterations in anxiety and depression-like symptoms, in hormonal responses to stress, and in cognition. However, in humans, the effects of probiotics on neurocognition remain poorly understood and a causal understanding of the gut-brain link in emotion and cognition is lacking. We aimed to fill this gap by studying the effects of a probiotics intervention versus placebo on neurocognition in healthy human volunteers.\n\nWe set out to investigate the effects of a multispecies probiotic (Ecologic(R)Barrier) on specific neurocognitive measures of emotion reactivity, emotion regulation, and cognitive control using fMRI. Critically, we also tested whether the use of probiotics can buffer against the detrimental effects of acute stress on working memory. In a double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, between-subjects intervention study, 58 healthy participants were tested twice, once before and once after 28 days of intervention with probiotics or placebo.\n\nProbiotics versus placebo did not affect emotion reactivity, emotion regulation, and cognitive control processes at brain or behavioral level, neither related self-report measures. However, relative to the placebo group, the probiotics group did show a significant stress-related increase in working memory performance after versus before supplementation (digit span backward, p=0.039, {eta}p2=.07). Interestingly, this change was associated with intervention-related neural changes in frontal cortex during cognitive control in the probiotics group, but not in the placebo group. Overall, our results show that neurocognitive effects of supplementation with a multispecies probiotic in healthy women become visible under challenging (stress) situations. Probiotics buffered against the detrimental effects of stress in terms of cognition, especially in those individuals with probiotics-induced changes in frontal brain regions during cognitive control.\n\nHighlightsO_LIWe ran a randomized placebo-controlled fMRI study with a multispecies probiotic\nC_LIO_LIProbiotics did not affect neurocognitive measures of emotion and cognitive control\nC_LIO_LIProbiotics did affect stress-related working memory and neural correlates\nC_LIO_LIProbiotics in healthy individuals can support cognition under stress\nC_LI

neuroscience↗