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Volume 6, Issue 4 (Suppl) Agrotechnology, an open access journal
ISSN: 2168-9881 Agri 2017
October 02-04, 2017
allied
academies
10th International Conference on
AGRICULTURE & HORTICULTURE
October 02-04, 2017 London, UK
Tolerance of Castanea sativa cultivars to Dryocosmus kuriphilus
Tiziana Panzavolta, Matteo Bracalini, F Croci, A Turchi, E Giordani and R Tiberi
University of Florence, Italy
Background & Aim: The invasive Asian chestnut gall wasp (ACGW) (Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu) is a major insect pest
in chestnuts (Castanea spp.), in all its areas of distribution. ACGW gall formation can cause heavy reductions in plants’ growth
rates and fruiting, severely damaging the chestnut market. Some chestnut species and hybrids have proven to be tolerant of
ACGW, this was probably due to a hypersensitive response to ACGW attack. Some C. sativa Mill. cultivars showed different
tolerance levels to the ACGW. The purpose of this study is to extend current knowledge about the tolerance of C. sativa
cultivars to ACGW.
Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Some C. sativa cultivars grown in the municipality of Pistoia (Tuscany, Italy) were
morphologically and genetically analyzed. Current-year shoots were collected from the same trees to determine ACGW attack
levels, since the number of galls per shoot is related to nut yield losses.
Findings:Three C. sativacultivars were identified, each showing significantly different tolerance levels to the ACGW: Carpinese,
Nerattino and Pastinese. More specifically, Carpinese showed the highest level of attack, with an infested shoot rate of 84.38%,
the highest number of galls per shoot, as well as bigger galls. On the contrary, Nerattino had the lowest attack rate, with only
53% of shoots affected, the lowest number of galls per shoot, and the smallest galls. Pastinese parameters were in between.
Conclusion & Significance: All the cultivars studied were attacked by the ACGW, however they had different tolerances to the
insect. More research on this field will help in creating a list of the more highly tolerant cultivars, which can be used for new
plantations and graft nurseries.
Biography
Tiziana Panzavolta is a Researcher in the Department of Agri-food Production and Environmental Sciences at the University of Florence (Italy). Her field of expertise
is bio-ecology and control strategies of forest and urban insect pests, as well as of invasive insect pests. Among her interests are tritrophic interactions (plant-
phytophagous insect-natural enemy), particularly the role of pine terpenes in host selection and oviposition by pine processionary moth and its egg parasitoids, as
well as the effects of pine monoterpenes and insect pheromones on predators of saproxylic insects.
Tiziana Panzavolta et al., Agrotechnology 2017, 6:4(Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2168-9881-C1-028