2011 Annual Report
1a.Objectives (from AD-416)
1) Utilize a new large-scale volatile organic compound (VOC) collection system;
2) Collect in-situ pistachio VOCs from select orchards, at specific phenological stages;
3) Evaluate efficacy of collected VOCs in EAG bioassays on NOW;
4) Formulate a simple synthetic blend of EAG active volatiles.
1b.Approach (from AD-416)
Implement a large-scale VOC collection system capable of ambient analyses, to collect pistachio volatiles at specific phenological stages of growth. Collected volatiles will be subjected to electroantennogram analyses (EAG) to determine ability to elicit responses to navel orangeworm. VOCs with positive responses will be formulated into synthetic blends and the blends tested for field efficacy. Documents Trust with California Pistachio Board. Log 38105. Formerly 5325-42000-038-05T (July, 2011).
To achieve the objectives of the project, the large scale ambient volatile collection (LSAVC) system was developed and used to collect the pistachio volatile emissions from orchards in Kern County (Lost Hills, CA) and Colusa County (Arbuckle, CA). In 2009, five LSAVC experiments were performed throughout the growing season. Preliminary results were reported in the 2009 executive summary and final report to the California Pistachio Board. In 2010 the LSAVC system was deemed practical and a larger number of collections were sought to obtain higher resolution of emitted volatiles; thus, eleven LSAVC experiments were performed from early April to early September. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and GC flame ionization detection (GC-FID) analyses of the collected volatiles are still underway for the 2010 data. The analysis of the 2009 data is complete, but awaits completion of 2010 data for all verified volatiles to be subjected to thorough electroantennogram (EAG) and field analyses.
The goals of this project, analyzing pistachio orchard volatiles for semiochemicals for the insect pest navel orangeworm, are directly related to Objective 3 (sub-objective 3-2) of the in-house project.