A multidisciplinary approach for the chemical-free control of the Capnodis tenebrionis (L.) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae)

Goal: This is a PhD project (DOT1302377) of University of Bari in the Area: "Biodiversity, Agriculture and Environment". Within this project, at IBIMET-CNR the hypothesis of a relationship between VOC synthesis and emission from fruit plants, stress conditions of the plant and Capnodis attack will be tested. We will investigate the effect of the interaction between these two stress factors, the environmental and biological ones on the rate and pattern of plant emission, and the content of constitutive and induced volatiles. This is an innovative study compared to previous experiments in which the effect of these biotic and abiotic stresses on VOC emission from plants have been separately evaluated and will provide the fundamental information to the other units aimed to test the behavioural of Capnodis tenebrionis (L.) in response to the volatiles identified in the emission profile of the studied plant species. Understanding the potential role of biogenic emission from fruit woody plants in the study of the cues and mechanisms leading to active host selection and habitat use by the insect, will provide powerful tools to improve plant performance under stress environmental conditions, to manage the diffusion and control of the capnode adult. Thus, this knowledge of the behavioural mechanisms leading to host recognition in Mediterranean area will provide the basis for selecting cultivar-rootstock combination with low susceptibility to capnode, and for the development of innovative insect-control methods, through direct application of volatile compounds in traps or through plant breeding for improved resistance.