Severe decline of almond trees has recently been observed in several orchards on the island of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean Sea). However, the identity of the causal agents has not yet been investigated. Between August 2008 and June 2010, wood samples from branches of almond trees showing internal necroses and brown to black vascular streaking were collected in the Llevant ...

The grass sharpshooter, Draeculacephala minerva Ball (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), is a very common and often abundant grass-feeding leafhopper in California. Its population dynamics and ability to transmit Xylella fastidiosa were monitored over a 2-yr period in California's San Joaquin Valley. Collections of individuals from natural populations in irrigated pastures and alfalfa, Medicago savita L...

Xylella fastidiosa causes disease in many commercial crops, including almond leaf scorch (ALS) disease in susceptible almond (Prunus dulcis). In this study, genetic diversity and population structure of X. fastidiosa associated with ALS disease were evaluated. Isolates obtained from two almond orchards in Fresno and Kern County in the San Joaquin Valley of California were analyzed for two succe...

Nemaguard has been the workhorse rootstock of the California almond industry for many decades. It is well adapted to the well-drained, non-calcareous loam and sandy loam soils common throughout the San Joaquin Valley. Nemaguard is vigorous, immune to rootknot nematode, compatible with all almond varieties, doesn’t sucker much, has decent anchorage and is easy to grow at the nursery. However, th...

conductance in almond and olive in response to water stress 2 3 RUNNING TITLE: LEAF HYDRAULIC FUNCTION IN ALMOND AND OLIVE 4 5 VIRGINIA HERNANDEZ-SANTANA*, CELIA M. RODRIGUEZ-DOMINGUEZ, J. 6 ENRIQUE FERNÁNDEZ, ANTONIO DIAZ-ESPEJO 7 Irrigation and Crop Ecophysiology Group, Instituto de Recursos Naturales y 8 Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNAS, CSIC). Avenida Reina Mercedes, no 10, 410129 Sevilla, Sp...

Buffer type, pH and ionic strength, as well as the fraction of polyvinylpyrrolidone were optimized for efficient extraction of b-galactosidase from almond seeds. The enzyme was purified up to electrophoretic homogeneity employing (NH4)2SO4 (15–60 %) fractionation, size exclusion and ion-exchange chromatography. Molecular mass of b-galactosidase as estimated by gel filtration and SDS-PAGE was ap...

Almond seeds age rapidly during storage at high relative humidity (80%) an d moderate temperature (20°C). The content of lipid decreased during accelerated ageing up to 40 d. The levels of linoleic (Cl8:2) and linolenic (Cl8:3) acids in almond lipid fraction also decreased during agei/lg up to 20 d. The aged seeds contain high levels of malondialdehyde, a product of the peroxidatio/l of unsatur...

Almond oil is used in many cosmetic products as a snack, in confectionery (marzipan, "turrón", nougat), food products (almond milk, ice cream, chocolate), culinary recipes and also cosmetic base. For surveying the effects of almond genotype and growing location on oil percentage of oil seed content and fatty acid of almond, seeds of 6 almond cultivars: Ferragnes, Tuono, Azar, Sahand, Nonpareil ...