Latest news with #grapevines
RNZ News
01-08-2025
- Science
- RNZ News
Country Life: Harnessing the power of plants to combat vineyard threats
Michelle Thompson in her lab at Plant & Food Research in Lincoln Photo: Craig Robertson Follow Country Life on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts. Are some grapevines better at naturally defending themselves from a disease-spreading pest which costs the New Zealand wine industry millions of dollars? Michelle Thompson is running trials at Plant & Food Research in Lincoln to find out. The PhD student is studying the feeding behaviour of mealybugs, tiny insects which extract sap from plants, reducing the plants' vigour and production. She wants to identify grapevine varieties which produce higher levels of defence compounds that deter the insects. Mealybug electropenetrography on grape leaves Photo: Craig Robertson Conventional vineyard practice at the moment is to use chemical insecticides, as well as removing infected plants. "It would be great to have a more natural way of managing mealybugs and protecting our vineyards, something that's more environmentally sustainable and also less costly," Thompson told Country Life . Leafroll virus damage in a Hawkes Bay vineyard Photo: Tony Corbett Leafroll virus Photo: Tony Corbett "I'm working with Citrophilus mealybugs and they are able to feed on lots of different parts of grapevines - the trunks, canes, leaves, berries and the roots." Mealybugs also transmit the Grapevine Leaf Roll Associated Virus. "This impacts the health of the vine, reduces yields and it changes the grape quality as well." Mealybug electropenetrography on grape leaves Photo: Craig Robertson In the lab, Thompson is using a technique called electropenetrography to study how the pests feed. She is working with four grapevines inside two metal cages, designed to minimise external electrical interference. The vines have differing levels of bioactive compounds in their leaves . Mealybug electropenetrography on grape leaves Photo: Craig Robertson The mealybug electropenetrography on grape leaves is conducted in faraday cages Photo: Craig Robertson "There is a plant electrode that's inserted into the potting mix of the vines and a tiny voltage is applied to the plants." A mealybug attached to an electrode is placed on the leaf of each plant. The gold conductive wire glued onto their back is light enough not to restrict their movement. Michelle brushes the dust off a mealybug before attaching the conductive wire Photo: Craig Robertson Michelle uses a microscope to attach the wire to the mealybug Photo: Craig Robertson A Mealybug moves along a grape leaf while attached to the wire Photo: Craig Robertson The technology measures electrical signals produced by insects feeding on the leaves and monitors their feeding behaviour. "I want this information on mealybug feeding behaviour to be able to inform breeding of rootstock varieties, so we can breed varieties that are resistant to mealybug feeding and therefore reduce virus transmission in our vineyards." The project, Smart Adaptive Rootstocks for a Changing World, is funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's Endeavour Fund. Mealybug electropenetrography on grape leaves Photo: Craig Robertson Learn more:
RNZ News
01-08-2025
- Science
- RNZ News
Harnessing plant power to combat vineyard threats
science Canterbury 14 minutes ago Are some grapevines better that others at naturally defending themselves from a disease-spreading pest? Michelle Thompson is running trials at Plant & Food Research in Lincoln to find out.
