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 Printable version |
Olive Tree Psyllid: state of knowledge and perspectives of control |
Cahiers Agricultures. Volume 10, Number 4, 225-32, Juillet - Août 2001, Synthèses
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 Résumé
Article gratuit
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Author(s) : Nezha Zouiten, Ismaïl El Hadrami |
Summary : Culture of olive trees (Olea europaea (L.)) has great socio-economic importance in Mediterranean countries. In Morocco, olive production (Photo 1) is limited by several problems, including pests. The jumping plant-lice (Euphyllura olivina (Costa)) (Photo 2) is an olive pest with ubiquitous occurrence in the Mediterranean countries. It attacks young and flowering buds as well as young fruit (Photos 3 and 4) causing serious losses (60-100% with 15 to 40 nymphs per inflorescence). Due to its continuous presence, its high infestation and propagation rates resulting in fruit and bud losses, this species is considered as one of the most important flower predators for olive trees.
The use of chemical pesticides is not the best strategy to use in eradicating E. olivina as this method has a negative impact on the environment. Knowledge of the biochemical and molecular mechanisms involved in Olive-Jumping, plant-lice interactions may foster development strategies to protect the olive culture. We have identified differences in sensitivity of cultivars to this Psyllid (Table 1). Among ten cultivars studied, Santa Catharina is the most attacked, while Frontoio is the least (Figure 1). In addition, our work shows that phenolic compounds may play a crucial role in such interactions (Figures 2, 3 and 4). There were no significant differences between cultivars in terms of phenolic compound quality in young buds, whereas such differences were found between sites of infestation (young buds or flower buds). Flower buds, which are the preferential sites of attack during the flowering period, showed a level of phenol 2 to 3 fold lower than that of young buds. A qualitative difference in the pattern of phenolics between leaves and flower buds was detected (Figures 3 and 4). Indeed, it was revealed that 3,4-dihydroxyphenylethanol was an indicator to distin-guish between cultivars of different sensitivity and can be considered as a factor involved in the Olive-Jumping plant-lice. This knowledge could contribute to the development of an integrated pest management system to protect the olive tree culture. |
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