- Author: Ben Faber
Hats Off.
The Orange County Master Gardeners have lived up to their name with their website information on citrus. It's a truly impressive information site for not only homeowners, but also growers:
http://mgorange.ucanr.edu/Edible_Plants/?uid=108&ds=530
The “Citrus Problem Diagnosis Chart” is especially work perusing:
- Author: Ben Faber
The proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Huanglongbing (IRCHLB V) is now published, available and citable online through the Journal of Citrus Pathology: http://escholarship.org/uc/iocv_journalcitruspathology
Included are:
Meeting Agenda
Published Abstracts
Joseph (Josy) M. Bové - Selected Photos
Joseph (Josy) M. Bové Dedication
Tribute to Prof. Dr. Joseph Bové
If you download the Bové Dedication pdf file, there is a link near the top of page 3 that will redirect you to the video interview of Prof. Bové. This is the video that we could not show during the meeting due to audiovisual technical difficulties. You must download the pdf for the link to be active. The link is not active when simply viewing the publication online.
The keynote speakers are working on their contributions. These will be available shortly and we will send another email announcement when they become available as well.
sIn the bottom left corner is the Search box for finding authors and topics of the abstracts.
- Author: Ben Faber
Every year growers get together to learn what is being done in the citrus research world that could affect their operations. This June, University of California and the Citrus Research Board are bringing some good talks to three different growing areas. All growers are invited, but RSVPs are appreciated.
- Author: Ben Faber
This is a reminder of the complexity of huanglongbing and the bacterial infection it causes. This abstract is from the HLB Conference in Florida last fall.
4.a.5 Symptom variations and molecular markers that illustrate the HLB complexity
Yongping Duan, Marco Pitino, and Cheryl Armstrong
USHRL-ARS-USDA, Fort Pierce, FL 34945, USA
Huanglongbing (HLB) is a devastating bacterial disease of citrus worldwide due to its intracellular and systemic infection. Various HLB symptoms are observed on different species/varieties of citrus plants: from yellow shoots to blotchy mottle on the leaves, from vein yellowing/vein corky to mosaic/green islands similar to zinc deficiency on the leaves, from whitish discoloration to stunted green leaves, etc. These variations of symptoms, which result from a combination of biotic and abiotic stresses, are not only present on individual plants from a variety but also exist on individual branches of an infected plant. Our results indicated that the adaptation of the bacterial populations, such as the dynamics of ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' (Las), plays an important role in the induction of various symptoms and that Las mutations as well as the number and recombination events of Las prophages/phages affect this phenomenon. In addition, the selection of the host plants (resistance/tolerance) for the bacterial populations is also critical for symptom expression during disease progression. Based on severity, we divided HLB symptoms into four grades. It is worth noting that the grades of HLB symptom severity show a positive correlation with our newly identified biomarkers from host plants, and that gene expression profiling of different grades of infected leaves rationalized the differentiation based on the dynamics of these biomarkers. Because of these findings, we propose new approaches that allow for rapid selection of variant citrus plants, including bud sports with greater HLB resistance/tolerance.
Non-Technical Summary: Various symptoms of citrus huanglongbing display in different species/varieties of infected citrus plants. These variations of symptoms are not only present on individual plants from a variety, but also exist on individual branches of an infected plant. We have identified some molecular markers from the citrus plants and Las pathogen that illustrate the HLB complexity. Therefore, we propose new approaches that allow for rapid selection of variant citrus plants, including bud sports with greater HLB resistance/tolerance.
http://www.icc2016.com/images/icc2016/downloads/Abstract_Book_ICC_2016.pdf
- Author: Joey Mayorquin, Mohamed Nouri, Florent Trouillas, Greg Douhan and Akif Eskalen
Recently, an outbreak of shoot and twig dieback disease of citrus has been occurring in the main citrus growing regions of the Central Valley of California (Fig 1). The causal agents of this disease were identified as species of Colletotrichum, which are well-known pathogens of citrus and other crops causing anthracnose diseases. At this time, it is unclear how wide-spread the disease is in California citrus orchards, but surveys are being conducted to evaluate the spread of this disease in orchards.
The disease was first noticed in 2012 by several growers and nurserymen in various orchards in the Central Valley. Symptoms included leaf chlorosis, crown thinning, gumming on twigs and shoot dieback, and in severe cases, branch dieback of trees (Fig.2). The most characteristic symptoms of this disease are the gum pockets which appear on young shoots either alone or in clusters and the dieback of twigs and shoots (Fig.3). These symptoms were primarily reported from clementine, mandarin, and navel orange varieties. In order to determine the main cause of this disease, field surveys were conducted in several orchards throughout the Central Valley. Isolations from symptomatic plant samples frequently yielded Colletotrichum species.
Field observations indicate that symptoms initially appear during the early summer months and continue to express until the early fall. Trees showing dieback and gumming symptoms characteristic of this disease are usually sporadic within an orchard and generally only a few twigs or shoots are affected within a tree. Morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies allowed the identification of two distinct species of Colletotrichum (Colletotrichum karstii and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides) associated with twig and shoot dieback. Interestingly, these Colletotrichum species were also isolated from cankers in larger branches. Although C. gloeosporioides is known to cause anthracnose on citrus, a post-harvest disease causing fruit decay, it has not been reported to cause shoot dieback of citrus. C. karstii however has not been reported previously from citrus in California and our laboratory is currently conducting field and green house studies to determine the pathogenicity of this species in citrus.
At present, it is unclear how widespread this disease is in California orchards or how many citrus varieties are susceptible to this disease. Pest control advisors are advised to remain alert and monitor citrus trees for the presence of the disease in the Central Valley (particularly clementine, mandarin, and navel varieties) during the early summer months. Continuing research lead by Dr. Akif Eskalen (UC Riverside) in collaboration with Dr. Florent Trouillas (Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center), Dr. Greg Douhan (UCCE Farm Advisor Tulare County), and Craig Kallsen (UCCE Farm Advisor in Kern County) is focused on further understanding the biology of the fungal pathogens as well as factors influencing disease expression in order to develop management strategies against this emerging disease.
Shoot dieback symptoms on Clementine
Branch dieback symptoms on Clementine
Gumming symptoms on Clementine
(photos: A. Eskalen)