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Phytoplasmas are bacterial pathogens located in the plant’s phloem that are responsible for several plant diseases and are mainly transmitted by phloem-sucking insects. Apple proliferation (AP) is an economically important disease caused by ‘CandidatusPhytoplasma mali’ which is transmitted by two psyllid species. While Cacopsylla picta is a confirmed vector in different regions, the vector efficiency of Cacopsylla melanoneura varies between different populations. This species is considered the main AP vector in Northwestern Italy but plays a minor role in Northeastern Italy and other European regions. To investigate whether the psyllid and/or the phytoplasma subtype drive the phytoplasma acquisition in C. melanoneura, we set-up a phytoplasma acquisition experiment using single mating couples including different psyllid populations and phytoplasma subtypes. All analyzed insect populations acquired phytoplasma, but with different efficiencies and concentrations. The main factors driving the acquisition were the phytoplasma subtype and its concentration in the leaves of the infected trees together with the psyllid family. The phytoplasma concentration in the psyllids was again influenced by the phytoplasma subtype, the psyllid family and the region of origin, whereas the phytoplasma concentration in the leaves and the psyllid haplotype defined with the cytochrome oxidase I gene had only a minor impact on the phytoplasma concentration. This is the first study evaluating the roles of both the psyllid haplotype and the phytoplasma subtype on the acquisition process shedding new light on the importance of C. melanoneura as AP vector.

Mountain agriculture is a vital social-economic activity in Europe, including the alpine Province of South Tyrol, Italy. Here, apple orchards and vineyards are extensively cultivated. Besides the difficulty to cultivate in mountain terrain (steep slopes, difficult accessibility, extreme weather conditions), the plants are exposed to a combination of biotic and abiotic stresses that can result in diseases caused by pathogens. It results in the loss of the yield and quality of products, economic losses, reducing food security with severe ecological impacts, and affects many ecosystem services (such as agrotourism).This work presents a proximal sensing technique based on an unmanned aerial platform with a payload consisting of multi and hyperspectral optical cameras. Such platforms are suitable to access rugged terrains in a short time to map the presence of diseases and pests, as well they provide imagery for the optimal management of farms. We study three different experiments: apple orchard, vineyard, and forestry, observing Apple proliferation, Flavescence dorée, and Pine processionary, respectively. We aim at a non-invasive and non-destructive method to monitor plant diseases in the direction of high-precision mapping agriculture applications by exploring supervised classification methods based on ground data to distinguish healthy and unhealthy trees.

Despite a consolidated increase in their employment, herbicide-tolerant (HT) and insect-resistant (IR) GM varieties have commonly been suspected to represent a threat to biodiversity. In this chapter, we analyze the major concerns related to the potential persistence and invasiveness of GM plants, selection of superweeds and resistant insects, effects on non-target organisms including vertical and horizontal gene flow, with the acquisition of antibiotic resistance and biological contamination. Mitigation measures to reduce the ecological impact on biodiversity are briefly considered.

Monoterpenes confer typical floral notes to “Muscat” grapevine varieties and, to a lesser extent, to other aromatic non-Muscat varieties. Previous studies have led to the identification and functional characterization of some enzymes and genes in this pathway. However, the underlying genetic map is still far from being complete. For example, the specific steps of monoterpene metabolism and its regulation are largely unknown. With the aim of identifying new candidates for the missing links, we applied an integrative functional genomics approach based on the targeted metabolic and genome-wide transcript profiling of Moscato Bianco ripening berries. In particular, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of free and bound terpenoid compounds was combined with microarray analysis in the skins of berries collected at five developmental stages from pre-veraison to over-ripening. Differentially expressed metabolites and probes were identified in the pairwise comparison between time points by using the early stage as a reference. Metabolic and transcriptomic data were integrated through pairwise correlation and clustering approaches to discover genes linked with particular metabolites or groups of metabolites. These candidate transcripts were further checked for co-localization with quantitative trait loci (QTLs) affecting aromatic compounds. Our findings provide insights into the biological networks of grapevine secondary metabolism, both at the catalytic and regulatory levels. Examples include a nudix hydrolase as component of a terpene synthase-independent pathway for monoterpene biosynthesis, genes potentially involved in monoterpene metabolism (cytochrome P450 hydroxylases, epoxide hydrolases, glucosyltransferases), transport (vesicle-associated proteins, ABCG transporters, glutathione S-transferases, amino acid permeases), and transcriptional control (transcription factors of the ERF, MYB and NAC families, intermediates in light- and circadian cycle-mediated regulation with supporting evidence from the literature and additional regulatory genes with a previously unreported association to monoterpene accumulation).