- Posted By: Elizabeth E Grafton-Cardwell
- Written by: William Chueng and Therese Kapaun
Dr. William Cheung is conducting tests at Lindcove REC to profile the response of a Washington navel orange tree infected with citrus tristeza virus (CTV) compared to an uninfected tree. A mobile sensor employing differential mobility spectrometry (DMS) records and analyzes the biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) signature emitted from the infected and noninfected plants. The DMS BVOC analysis is designed to be an initial screening tool for rapid sampling of pathogens in citrus. Studies are also underway in Florida to determine the citrus plant response to the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter spp., the causal agent of the Huanglongbing disease (HLB). Dr. Cheung is working in Professor Cristina Davis’ group (Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UC Davis) in collaboration with Professor Abhaya Dandekar (Dept. of Plant Sciences, UC Davis) and Professor Oliver Fiehn, (Genomic Core, UC Davis).
- Author: Elizabeth E Grafton-Cardwell
With University of California funding, we replaced the refrigeration units in the walk-in cold storage rooms in the packline facility at Lindcove. This will help us regulate the temperature better in these rooms and allow new and interesting experiments to be conducted at LREC.
- Author: Elizabeth E Grafton-Cardwell
Volatile organic compounds react with NOx to produce ozone which is an air pollutant affecting human health and plant growth. Silvano Fares, John Karlik and Allen Goldstein (shown left to right below), provided an imformative 'Featured research seminar' at Lindcove in May 11 to explain the results of their research, which suggests that citrus helps to reduce ozone.
- Author: Elizabeth E Grafton-Cardwell
The benches in the entomology greenhouse at LREC are being renovated in order to better support potted citrus. Seedlings are grown in this house and used for experiments to test the effects of insecticides on citrus leafminer. These plants are also used to determine if pheromone disruption can prevent mating, egg laying and plant damage by the leafminer larvae.
- Author: Elizabeth E Grafton-Cardwell
The Citrus Research Board is funding the purchase of a new packline grading system for the Lindcove research program. Compaq Sorting Equipment will be building the line this summer and we hope to have it installed for the fall research season. The new line will expand our research capabilities from fruit size, number and color to fruit weight, fruit shape, texture, blemish, brix, dry matter, internal defects, and other parameters because of the addition of advanced software, precision weighing, near infrared light, uv light, and additional cameras.