Researchers from the Curtin University’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences used an emerging scientific method of ‘capturing’ DNA from avocado flowers to help track which insects have visited.
The method uses environmental DNA (eDNA) from insects that remain inside a flower to identify what species have been pollinating the avocado.
Molecular ecologist Joshua Kestel said he ground up frozen avocado flowers and extracted the useful DNA from them.
“It lets us work out who was there,” Dr Kestel said.
“We are literally able to detect the footprints of a bee.”
The new technology uses ‘metabarcoding’ to increase the amount of DNA left behind, giving scientists more material to work with to identify any species visiting the flower.
The method was found to detect five times the number of unique pest species than filming plants with digital cameras, which is another cutting-edge method currently used.
“Digital video recording is advanced, but eDNA metabarcoding is Star Trek level,” Dr Kestel said.
“We are talking about a different universe.”
Dr Kestel said eDNA metabarcoding could help improve crop yields and make agricultural operations more efficient, by exploring the role of native insects as pollinators rather than relying on hiring beehives.
“Honeybees aren’t big fans of avocado pollen and nectar: an avocado tree has about a million flowers, but less than 200 will be pollinated and mature into fruit,” Dr Kestel said.
He said the technology could also be used to identify pest insects so that farmers knew which predator species should be used for management or else could fine tune their pesticide application.
“At the moment we manage these pests with very generalised methods, which come at a huge cost as the pesticides kill the wild pollinators and the natural predators, not just the pests.”
Dr Kestel said while the application of eDNA metabarcoding was still in its infancy, it could have a large impact on fruit and vegetable production.
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