1. Please state project objectives and what work was done this quarter to address them:
Objective: To build an injury-free root delivery device (IF-root-DD), designed to enhance the growth of roots in a concentrated area, then deliver therapeutic compounds directly to these concentrated roots without injury.
Progress: We have developed multiple prototypes of various dimensions. These are being printed to implement a field study beginning in July.
2. Please state what work is anticipated for next quarter:
Begin a study of the efficacy of root development and of delivery through devices.
3. Please state budget status (underspend or overspend, and why):
This project would be in overspend, but this is expected because most of the work for the project occurs at the beginning. Personnel spending will decrease as the project progresses.
1. Please state project objectives and what work was done this quarter to address them:
Specific objectives are:
1) To determine the right timing for Zn and K treatments to minimize fruit drop.
Analysis of auxin content in Hamlin is almost finished.We see IAA increase around late October following Zn and Zn+K treatment that stays high well into December with these treatments. This supports our hypothesis that maintaining high auxins at the end of maturation will result in better fruit retention, and that this can achieved with Zn treatment.
We have been performing gene expression analysis in these samples (genes related to auxin synthesis and signaling (ARF and BIG), as well as ethylene synthesis and signalling (ACO and EIN2), and interestingly we see overexpression of ARF and downreulation of ACO and EIN2 with the zink treatment, wichadds some more evidence to the hypothesis of a direct link between Zn, auxin and fruit retention, by not only increasing IAA levels but also inhibiting ethylene action. This is an exciting result that will require some more experiments in the future.
2) To determine effects of GA3 and 2,4D applications on fruit retention when applied at different times during fruit development.
The new set of treatments finished and data is being analyzed, we expect to have all data collected and analyzed by July.
3) To develop a strong and proactive outreach program.
-SWFREC Citrus Field Day, April 10.
2. Please state what work is anticipated for next quarter:
We asked and got a non cost extension so we can finish the treatments and analysis in Valencia in the next quarter. We harvested Valencia by March/April and we will have the analysis finalized by July. At least one paper will result from this study.
Results will be presented by a Ms student at FSHS annual meeting
3. Please state budget status (underspend or overspend, and why):
Budget continues on track
1. Please state project objectives and what work was done this quarter to address them:
The objectives of this project are:
1, To study the effect of Brs on priming immunity on young, newly planted trees. This will allow to know for how long immune response will last after Br application, so we can adjust timing (number of applications).
2, To determine the best time of application (frequency) to achieve maximum protection against pests and disease in newly planted trees.
For both objectives, we are continuing the new set of trials: i) concentrate Br treatments in young trees only at the time of flushing; in this case, we applied the treatment during February flush. We are monitoring psyllid populations and collecting samples for Ct determination. ii) apply Br every other month. This has continued, and samples are being collected regularly for later analysis in the next quarter.
3, To determine the effect of Br application on advancing fruit maturation in both Valencia and Hamlin.
We finished, for this season, treatments in Valencia trees injected with OTC that show symptoms of canopy recovery but not significant improvement in fruit quality, to test if Br application can boost internal quality in the next season. As a reminder, this idea came after seeing this year that we get most of the Br effect on increasing Brix on trees with the best canopies (in our plots that are not treated with OTCs). This has been done at CPI in Felda. We incorporated a new delivery method (by drone delivery) to compare with our regular sprayer, to see if this is more efficient. We are collaborating with the engineers at SWFREC for this with no aditional cost. We harvested the fruit in early April, and we found an increase in Brix of less than 1 degree, still, it was significant: 8.85 in OTC only injected as compared to 9.7 in OTC injected+Brassinosteroid-treated. More importantly, pound solids in this case were 5.1 as compared to 3.2 in the OTC-only injected.
Outreach:
-SWFREC citrus field day, April 10.
2. Please state what work is anticipated for next quarter:
-We will finish all pending analysis, present results at FSHS and ASHS annual meetings in June and August and submit two papers now in preparation. A presentation at Citrus Expo in Tampa (August) is also planned and scheduled.
3. Please state budget status (underspend or overspend, and why):
This project was approved for 3rd year funding in July. We have reduced the budget in order to be more cost-efficient in this last year of the project. Spending is now on track
1. Please state project objectives and what work was done this quarter to address them:
The objectives of this project are:
Objective 1. Synthesize and optimize of neutral pH Cu formulation and develop quality control
protocols. Jar tests, comfirm that the preliminary Cu formulation is compatible with the Brassinosteroid product at the applied rate. Antimicrobial assesments show activity against the Canker pathogen at a similar concentration to the Industry Standard. Synthesis and material optimization is underway to improve the large scale synthesis feasibility and performance.
Objective 2. Assess the effect of Brs in combination with copper on canker incidence.
We could not start the field treatments in the field yet due to some delay in the product optimization. we expect to start in a couple of weeks. However, after taking the baseline measurements, we are regularly monitoring tree health parameters. This will allow to assess if there is any change in tree health dynamics as we start the treatments.
Objective 3. Effectively communicate results to stakeholders.
Nothing to report yet.
2. Please state what work is anticipated for next quarter:
The treatments will be delivered to the field and applied.
3. Please state budget status (underspend or overspend, and why):
Spending is on track. Personnel, including student and potsdoc, are onboard.
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