NUCIS number 12. September 2004. 52 pages (full ... - IAMZ - ciheam

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Figure 4. Agarose gel showing some cultivarswith a positive reaction to PNRSV primers.Lane 1: molecular marker ladder,lane 2: Carmel(-ve), Lane 3: Fritz (+ve),lane 4: Johnston (-ve), lane 5: Mission (-ve),lane 6: Nonpareil (+ve), lane 7: Nonpareil (-ve),lane 8: Parkinson (+ve), lane 9: Peerless (+ve),lane 10: Price (+ve), lane 11: Price (-ve),Lane 12: negative controlMONASHThe ELISA technique was used to screenall the Monash trees for PNRSV and PDVover 1997, 1998, & 1999 and half thetrees in 2000. PDV was not detected inany of the trees, however PNRSV wasdetected in 34 trees in 1997, 33 trees in1998, and 36 trees in 1999. Where treestest positive one year and negative thenext, this may be due to uneven distributionof the virus in the plant, or seasonalfluctuations of viral concentrations due toextremes of temperature. The increasefrom 1997 to 1999 may be attributed to anincrease in the virus titre of these trees tolevels able to be detected by ELISA, ormay represent new infections.RT-PCR TECHNIQUEA DNA based technique for virus detectionwas developed by G. Collins. This techniqueis based on the reverse transcription-polymerasechain reaction (RT-PCR)and is more sensitive than ELISA. The techniqueinvolves extracting ribonucleicacid (RNA) from fresh leaves and usingspecially designed primers that can detectthe viral coat protein within the plantcells. This technique was used on trees atMonash in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003.Generally RT-PCR confirmed the resultsof ELISA, however some trees were positivefor PNRSV where ELISA gave negativeresults. This is due to the more sensitivenature of RT-PCR, and has theadded advantage that plant material canbe tested at any time throughout thegrowing season.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThanks to Wanli Ma for technical assistancewith the RT-PCR. Thanks to the AlmondBoard of Australia, HorticultureAustralia Limited and Australian ResearchCouncil for funding. Reproducedwith permission from The AustralianNutgrower Journal.REFERENCESBertozzi, T., Alberts, E., and Sedgley,M. 2002. Detection of Prunus necroticringspot virus in almond: effect of samplingtime on the efficiency of serologicaland biological indexing methodologies.Australian Journal of ExperimentalAgriculture, 42: 207-210.Sedgley, M., and Collins, G. G. 2002.The Australian almond breeding programme.Acta Horticulturae, 591: 241-244.M. Wirthensohn 1 , S. Ramesh 1 , T. Bertozzi 2 ,E. Alberts 3 , G. Mekuria 4 , C. Bennett 5 ,G. Collins 1 , and M. Sedgley 11School of Agriculture & Wine, Universityof Adelaide, Waite Campus, PMB 1 GlenOsmond, SA 5064 Australia.2Present Address: Evolutionary Biology Unit,South Australian Museum, North Terrace,Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia.3South Australian Research and DevelopmentInstitute, GPO Box 397, Adelaide, SA 5001Australia.4Present address: Department of NaturalResources and Environment (Victorian Institutefor Dryland Agriculture), Private Bag 260,Horsham, Vic 3401 Australia.5Almond Board of Australia, HorticultureHouse, PO Box 52 Berri, SA 5343 Australia.E-mail: michelle.wirthensohn@adelaide.edu.auTHE PISTACHIO INDUSTRYIN ITALY: CURRENT SITUATIONAND PROSPECTSINTRODUCTIONPistachio (Pistacia vera L.), is a dioeciousand deciduous species native to westernAsia and Asia Minor. It was introducedinto Italy from Syria in 30 A.D. by the RomanGovernor of that Province, Lucius Vitellio,at approximately the same time itwas introduced in Spain (Minà Palumbo,1882). Its introduction into Sicily, whichnowadays accounts for almost the entirePistachio industry in Italy, probably occurredsome time later, following an initialperiod of cultivation in Campania which atthat time represented the roman “countryside”.Its cultivation in Sicily began tospread during the Arab domination (827-1040 A.D.) together with other major fruitand vegetable species and in parallel withthe improvement of the agronomic techniques.As a matter of fact, the Sicilian dialectalterm for Pistachio tree (Fastuca) isof arab derivation (Fustuq). However,very little is known until recent timesabout its distribution over the region. Historicreferences onto Pistachio cultivationare documented by the XVIIth century,even if first official records of the economicimportance of Pistachio industry arereferred to the first decades of the XXcentury.Soon after the second world war the entirestructure of the Sicilian Pistachio industryunderwent significant changes.The relative importance of the traditionalcultivation areas (Agrigento, Caltanissettaand Palermo) strongly decreasedwith the abandonment of large part of thePistachio cultivation which was partiallycompensated by a parallel increase of theproduction in the Catania Province (Fig. 1).Currently more than 90% of the total ItalianPistachio area is concentrated in onlyfew territories in the eastern Sicily (westernslopes of Mount Etna volcano), mainlylocated in the districts of Bronte andAdrano (Catania Province), onto approximately4.500 hectares. Few residuals ofthe past cultivation can still be found inCaltanissetta and Agrigento Provinces, insmall and scattered surfaces (as a whole,130 ha in specialized cultivation and 210ha in mixed cultivation).Despite this ancient origin and the longperiod of cultivation, only few female varietiesof Pistachio are now grown in Italy(about ten) together with an even morerestricted number of unnamed male selections.Among the female cultivars,‘Bianca’ (synonym: Napoletana) is practicallythe only cultivar grown, other varieties,namely ‘Femminella’, ‘Natalora’,‘Agostana’, ‘Silvana’, ‘Insolia’, ‘Cerasola’,‘Cappuccia’, representing not more than3% of the total (Barone et al., 1985) canstill be found, mostly in scattered, abandonedsettlements. This genetic pool isprobably the result of a two step introductionprocess of genetic material (Baroneet al., 1996) coincident with the earliestintroduction from Syria of the reddish ‘Cerasola’by the Romans and the later introductioncarried out by the Arabs. The reasonsof this low number of varieties isthought to be the exclusive use by thegrowers of vegetative propagation sinceancient times due to the long juvenilityperiod of P. vera seedlings, the long lifespanof the trees and easy hybridizationswith other Pistacia species. Nevertheless,within the Sicilian Pistachio germplasm,some valuable fruit characteristics suchas colour, flavour and nut quality arehighly appreciated in trade, specially thegreenness of the kernels and the rich oilynut-like flavour (Woodroof, 1967). Most ofthese appreciated characteristics havebeen maintained also by cultivars obtainedin the United States from Sicilianseeds imported in the early 1900’s suchas ‘Bronte’ and ‘Trabonella’ (Joley, 1969).In spite of these valuable characteristicsof the Italian pistachios, the contributionof Italian production represents nowadaysonly less than 0.6% of the world production.Nevertheless, with respect to productdestination, it is remarcable that Ita-16 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 12 September 2004
(000)Tons250020001500100050001923/28lian pistachios maintain a dominant marketposition for the uses other than directconsumption (snack), since they are almostentirely used, and highly appreciated,by the confectionery and ice creamindustry.Due to this fact Italian pistachio exports,between 1000 and 2000 tons per year(Anonymous, 2000), are representedmainly by shelled and peeled pistachios,whereas imports (about 9000 tons) consistmainly of in-shell pistachios, consumedas salted and roasted snacks for domesticmarkets and, partially, for re-exportation.Figure 1 - Pistachio production in Italy1953/581974/79Sicily1980/851986/87Bronte area1993/942002/2003THE BRONTE AREAThis area of the eastern Sicilian provinceof Catania currently represents the mainPistachio growing area in Italy. From theecological point of view this area (Fig. 2)is of great naturalistic importance due tothe proximity to the Etna Volcano and theinclusion in the Regional system of parksand naturalistic reserves (“Parco dell’Etna”,59.000 ha, established in 1987).Figure 2 - The “Parco dell’Etna” area. The Bronte Pistachio area is encircledPistachio production in Bronte representsone of the main economic resources ofthe entire territory. A total of 3.300 ha ofspecialized Pistachio orchards are locatedin this area and 1.500 ha in the neighbourhoodterritories (Adrano, Biancavilla).The altimetry is comprised between350 (along the Simeto river bank) and900 m a.s.l.. The climate is typically Mediterraneanwith fall and winter rainfall (annualaverage: ~550 mm). Average monthlytemperatures of the area are betweena minimum of 6.0 °C (February) and amaximum of 32.6 °C (July) (Fabbri andValenti, 1998). Most of these Pistachioorchards are defined as “natural Pistachioplantings” because they have long beenobtained by grafting in situ spontaneousTerebinth (Pistacia terebinthus) plantsspread in the particular soils of the area,consisting of rocky, volcanic soils derivedin the centuries from the Mount Etna activity,in steep slopes (Barone et al., 1985).This traditional planting system took advantageof the extraordinary characteristicsof environmental adaptation of Terebinthto poor, dry, shallow soils of thearea, where no valid cultural alternativesare available, except for few other fruitspecies such as Prickly Pear and Fig.Thus, “natural Pistachio plantings” arecharacterized by the absence of regularplant spacings and by a wide range ofplant density (50-500 trees per ha). Alsothe age of the trees is consequently highlyvariable. Successive interplanting ofnursery terebinth seedlings is a commonpractice to replace dead plants and to increaseorchard density. A few local smallnurseries are active in the area of Bronteand supply plant material mainly as seedlingP. terebinthus rootstocks to begrafted directly in the orchard. Smallquantities of grafted P. vera/P.terebinthuspot plants are also produced. In such kindof conditions cultural operations are necessarilycarried out by hand, since mechanizationis almost impossible also dueto the training system adopted that canbe defined as an “open vase” with threefourmain irregular branches very close tothe soil surface. Pollination is ensured byspontaneous male P. terebinthus plantsor by scattered male P. vera pollinizersand also by natural hybrids between thetwo above mentioned species. Fruitsetproblems are likely to occur, speciallywhen pollination largely relies onto spontaneoussource of pollen, since male/femaleratio generally adopted in the Brontearea is particularly low (1/20). Besidesnatural orchards, new plantations arealso present in the area. In this case rationalorchard design (6m x 8m or 8m x8m) and common cultural practices areadopted.‘Napoletana’ (syn. Bianca) is the only cultivarwidely utilized both in the “natural” orin the regular plantations and Terebinth isthe only rootstock. Following the descriptors’list for Pistachio (Barone et al.,1997), ‘Bianca’ cultivar can be defined oflow-intermediate vigour. Growth habit isFAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 12 September 200417
Page 1 and 2: N U C I SN E W S L E T T E RInforma
Page 3 and 4: The Nut Network on the webIn additi
Page 5 and 6: Figure 4.- Hard turron ‘Alicante
Page 7 and 8: Figure 2. Percentage of damaged you
Page 9 and 10: ALMOND GENES IN P. webbiiAnalysis o
Page 11 and 12: GENETIC MAPPINGSeveral intraspecifi
Page 13 and 14: Figure 1. Infected shoots showing b
Page 15: lerance in almond. Acta Horticultur
Page 19 and 20: Picture 4. - Pistachio shelling mac
Page 21 and 22: Figure 3. Tree and nuts of ‘Mateu
Page 23 and 24: S. Kafkas 1 , I. Acar 2 , H. Gozel
Page 25 and 26: B. E. Ak standing close to a young
Page 27 and 28: Leaves of P.veraThese forests exten
Page 29 and 30: Nuts of P. atlantica sub-sp. mutica
Page 31 and 32: GERMPLASM COLLECTIONOF Pistacia AT
Page 33 and 34: WHERE IN A PISTACHIO TREEIS Xanthom
Page 35 and 36: Figure 4.- Capilla Figure 5.- Comis
Page 37 and 38: ootstock choice, although recently
Page 39 and 40: Hargreaves G. 2003. World round-up
Page 41 and 42: NOTES AND NEWSIN MEMORIAM:MY PROFES
Page 43 and 44: Participants of the VI Internationa
Page 45 and 46: (2000) and finally Tarragona, Spain
Page 47 and 48: Plant Systematics and Evolution, 23
Page 49 and 50: static pollen applicator developmen
Page 51 and 52: Kevers, C; Bisbis, B; Crevecoeur, M

NUCIS number 12. September 2004. 52 pages (full ... - IAMZ - ciheam

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?