Sadka Avi Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist, Associate Professor, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Institute of Plant Sciences
- Fruit Tree Sciences
- The Volcani Institute, 68 HaMaccabim Rd., Rishon LeZion 7528809, Horticulture Building, room 3006,
- +972-506220340
- +972-39683343
Biography
I am a plant physiologist, and throughout my career, I aimed at characterizing and understanding questions related to various aspects of plant growth and development, and its responses to external stimuli, especially those related to climate change, with citrus being my major crop.
I have been studying various questions related to fruit development and internal quality, multi-annual productivity and micro-climate mitigation in the orchard.
My studies combine horticultural, physiological, molecular and genomics approaches.
Past and present topics in my lab:
1. The metabolism and accumulation of citric acid in citrus fruit (past topic)
2. The effect of op-photoselective on citrus productivity, fruit quality, tree physiology and its water relations, as well as on the microclimate in the orchard (past topic).
3. The control of alternate bearing, a phenomenon which result in a serious multi-annual yield loss (current topic).4. The control of juice sac initiation and development in citrus fruit (current topic)
5. Fruit cracking, an EU-funded project, which I co-coordinate, aimed at developing high-throughput real-time monitoring of citrus, pomegranate, grape and sweet cherry fruit cracking by utilizing and upscaling sensing and digital data technologies (current topic)
Education
-
1981-1984
B.Sc. in Life Sciences at Tel-Aviv University.
-
1984-1987
M.Sc. in Botany at Tel-Aviv University. Thesis title: Further characterization and purification of an inhibitor of virus replication (IVR)
-
1987-1992
Ph.D. in Biochemistry at The Weizmann Institute of Science. Thesis title: Salt adaptation of Dunaliella salina: isolation, characterization and partial cloning of a novel plasma membrane glycoprotein
-
1992-1995
Post Doctoral Fellow, Texas A & M University, USA.
Research Interests
-
Fruit Cracking
High throughput real-time monitoring and prediction of fruit cracking by utilising and upscaling sensing and digital data technologies.
The phenomenon of fruit cracking occurs mainly in the pre-harvest stage and initiates at the surface of the fruit, where cracks traverse the skin and penetrate the inner tissues.
Extreme cracking can result in fruit splitting leading to pre-harvest fruit drop and yield loss.
To reduce cracking in fruits, CrackSense will utilize experimental plots with varied cracking intensities that will provide the scientific infrastructure for utilization and upscaling of proximal and remote sensing technologies. Combining sensor data with agri-enviromental variables provides the core technology for smart farming, cracking detection and prediction. Data collected at the fruit-, plot- and region-levels will be transmitted and pre-processed by various means, including edge computing. Databases, constructed on a WEB platforms, will be used for generation of models to predict year-, plot- and region-dependent cracking risks. The various sensing tools and the models will be tested and upscaled in piloting activities, in large commercial orchards with or without successful treatments to mitigate cracking intensity, to be in variable climatic regions.
-
Alternate bearing in fruit trees
-
-
The control of juice sac initiation in citrus fruit
Research Areas
- Citrus physiology
- Fruit growth and development
- Fruit quality
- Productivity in fruit trees
- Fruit carcking