BS"D, 10 Tamuz 5783; June 29, 2023
James De Rothschild Professor of Horticulture

As a student of the late Prof. S.P. Monselise, my Academic activity (Teaching and Research) has focused primarily on Citrus. From about 200 research publications, at least 50% addressed various aspects of citrus fruit and tree physiology (Numbers in parentheses indicate significant publications from Goldschmidt's LOP). Only major projects are listed.

A) Hormonal regulation of citrus development was a major topic in the Monselise lab during the 1960th and 1970th (4, 6, 16, 29). Uptake and metabolism of applied Gibberellins in citrus fruit peel was also studied (43, 76, 81).

B) The role of carbohydrates in citrus productivity and metabolism was investigated. Root starch levels, in particular, correlate with tree productivity ( 46, 52, 91, 121, 143, 144) .

C) Modeling of citrus tree performance and productivity. A biomass balance sheet and dry matter production compiled using Shamouti orange as a model. The reproductive effort ( carbon, energy) for grapefruit (35, 117,123, 124, 159).

D) Alternate Bearing. The 1982 across crops review of Alternate Bearing(47), was followed In-depth analysis of the alternate bearing phenomena (154, 195, 197).

E) Fruit senescence and coloration. chlorophyll decomposition, ethylene, chlorophyllase. This research which focused initially on regulation of chloro-chromoplast senescence ( 7, 8, 20, 28, 32, 39, 130, 155 ) has developed into sophisticated molecular and structural studies, involving identification of the chlorophyllase protein, and the induction of its activity by ethylene ( 95, 125, 165, 170, 182 ).

F) Grafting. My interest in grafting has started from the controversy on grafting of the Citron (Citrus medica L.) (45), followed by History of Grafting (171), graft-induced changes in miRNAs (187), a thorough 'Frontiers' review (193).

G) Citrus medica L.; Etrog. The Etrog theme accompanied me from my childhood, with my father. It was a side research issue but eventually became a major topic, culminating in the Hebrew edition of The Etrog Citron: Tradition and Research (2018), followed by The Citron Compendium (2023). The early. “Prospects of Preventing Citron (Citrus medica L.)-Style Abscission by Spraying Picloram.” (10) was followed by ( 27, 45, 160, 194).

FINANCIAL SUPPORT: BARD, ISF, Citrus Marketing Board, Memorial Foundation (USA).

COLLABORATORS :*

Prof. SP Monselise, Prof. AH Halevy, Prof. R. Goren, Dr. Y. Erner, Prof. SK Eilati, Prof. J. Riov, Prof. A. Altman, Dr. S. Apelbaum, Prof. D. Weiss, Prof. A. Samach, Prof. A. Sadka, Dr. Y. Eyal, Dr. E. Pesis, Dr. E. Gelb, Dr. M. Huberman, D. R. Galili.

Students:*

Dr. H. Avigdori-Avidov, Dr. David Levy, Dr. M. Aharoni (Halperin), Dr. A. Bustan, Dr. A. Schaffer, Dr. D. Amir-Shapira, D. Rabber,  Dr. J. Greenberg, S. Schechter, Dr. T. Trebitsh-Sitrit, Dr. R. Lavon, Dr. A. Brandis, Dr. D. Jacob-Wilk, Dr S. Harpaz-Saad, Dr T. Azoulay, Dr. H. Friedman, Dr. CY Li, Dr. M. Tamim, Dr. E. Katz,                    Dr. R. Tzarfati, Shi, JX, Dr S. Naschitz.