- Author: Jules Bernstein, jules.bernstein@ucr.edu
UC Riverside scientists have found the first substance capable of controlling Citrus Greening Disease, which has devastated citrus farms in Florida and also threatens California.
The new treatment effectively kills the bacterium causing the disease with a naturally occurring molecule found in wild citrus relatives. This molecule, an antimicrobial peptide, offers numerous advantages over the antibiotics currently used to treat the disease.
UCR geneticist Hailing Jin, who...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Huanglongbing (HLB) is a devastating bacterial disease of citrus that is starting to spread rapidly in urban areas of Southern California. The disease is spread by the invasive insect Asian citrus psyllid.
Asian citrus psyllid was first identified in California in 2008, and has been found from San Diego and Imperial counties in the south, all the way to Sacramento County in the north. See a map of Asian citrus psyllid and huanglongbing distribution in California.
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources specialists and advisors are working with the citrus industry, USDA and CDFA to control ACP populations and keep HLB...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
The incurable citrus tree disease huanglongbing, or HLB, has been detected in Los Angeles and Orange counties and most recently in Riverside. The citrus disease is spread from tree to tree by Asian citrus psyllids, the insects that move the bacteria that cause huanglongbing.
Citrus trees infected with huanglongbing develop mottled leaves and produce fruit that is misshapen, stays green and tastes bitter. There is no known treatment for the disease, which usually kills the tree within three to five years, according to UC Cooperative Extension specialist
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
California citrus farmers have their ears perked for all news related to Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) and huanglongbing (HLB) disease, but the very latest advances have been available only in highly technical research journals, often by subscription only.
UC Cooperative Extension scientists are now translating the high science into readable summaries and posting them on a new website called Science for Citrus Health to inform farmers, the media and interested members of the public.
“The future of the California citrus depends on scientists finding a solution to this pest and disease before they destroy the industry,” said
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Two Asian citrus pysllids (ACP) were found in a trap near Exeter in November, just 10 miles away from the UC Lindcove Research and Extension Center. That brings to 29 the number of locations in the central San Joaquin Valley, from Bakersfield to Dinuba, where Asian citrus psyllids have been trapped.
Perhaps still more unsettling is the fact that reproducing populations of ACP have been found in urban areas in Tulare County, confirming that the pest is established in a county where farmers produce citrus valued at more than $1 billion annually.
“The psyllid is here, it's established, but still at low levels,” said Beth...
