Istituto Agrario di San Michele all'Adige (IASMA - Fondazione ...

PART 2 | DEPARTMENTS | PLANT PROTECTION DEPARTMENT
The department shares its new
laboratories with SafeCrop Centre.
Equipment includes current versions
of instruments necessary for:
▪ Genetic analysis of plants and
micro-organisms.
▪ Olfactory reaction analysis of
living insects and antennas.
▪ Effi cacy trials of plant protection
agents from laboratory to
small and large fi eld plots.
▪ Climatic data collection at the
plot level.
▪ Pest and disease diagnostics.
▪ Micropropagation of plants.
TECAN Freedom EVO®
workstation
A TECAN Freedom EVO® workstation
(automated multichannel
pipeting robot) supplemented
by a versatile vacuum system
for automate fi ltration processes
allows for processing of 96-well
plate from cell lyses, soil extraction
or any other sample material
Wind tunnel with fl ight section
to DNA elution in less than 3 hours.
DNA samples are further processed
automatically with various
reagents until specifi c amplifi cation
in real-time PCR-cyclers and
sequenced or fragment length
determined in a AB3130XL genetic
analyser. Other detection tools
such as electrophoretic apparatus
are also available. High throughput
mechanical extraction equipment
and appropriate centrifuges
complete the set up.
Annual Report IASMA Research Centre 2006
Facilities and
Equipment
The department has a custom designed wind tunnel with a fl ight section of 63 x 90 x 200 cm equipped with
activated charcoal fi lters, and a volatilisation system for test compounds consisting of a glass capillary with
an elongated tip. The tip vibrates at ultrasonic frequency (about 100 kHz) by means of a piezo-ceramic disc
and a motor-driven syringe. This ensures constant delivery of the solution for testing the reaction of insects
to olfactory stimuli. Antennography (EAG) joined to an electroantennal detector EAD-GC allows recording
of the reaction of single antennas to specifi c volatile metabolites with the real-time identifi cation of the
particular substance. The equipment is complemented by an instrument for single sensillum recording, as
well as single-cell recording with similar characteristics.
Field equipment
Field equipment includes:
▪ Motorized sprayers, from single knapsack to multitank airblast sprayers, ranging in size from self driving
to tractor pulled, allow application of experimental products on plots of various sizes on IASMA farms. A
tractor carried tunnel spray system is employed specifi cally to avoid drift in row grown grapes. A laboratory
and green houses with necessary infection towers, sprayers and safety equipment are available.
▪ A large number microclimate sensor and fi eld data entry stations for collecting climate data at fi eld
level. The stations are interlinked with a remote communication system.
▪ Microscopes of the most advanced generation are available for classical diagnostics. The diagnostic lab is
supplemented by the necessary equipment for ELISA DAPI and co-uses the equipment for genetic analysis.
▪ New climatic chambers and appropriate sterile benches are available for producing plant stocks under
IASMA’s trademarked SMA® label. The chambers maintain sanitized lines used in meristem culture of
progeny genotypes of breeding programs for Apple Proliferation resistance and for new rootstock genotypes.
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