- Author: Ben Faber
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- Author: Ashley Robinson
The Australian finger lime, a citrus relative, could be a new specialty crop for Florida citrus growers.
Traditionally, finger limes have remained rare in the United States, grown few and far between. However, the fruit's unique tolerance to HLB is becoming increasingly attractive to Florida growers. Manjul Dutt, research assistant scientist at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) believes finger limes could secure Florida's position in the global citrus market.
In the field, finger limes have a low HLB infection rate. Early on, researchers noticed these trees were much more tolerant to HLB than any of the traditional citrus varieties being grown in the state.
“We have a number of theories as to why this finger lime could be tolerant to HLB,” Dutt says. “It could be due to the presence of physical barriers, or it could be due to the presence of certain toxins or certain chemicals in the phloem that the Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' (CLas) doesn't like.” CLas is the bacterium that causes HLB.
The young flesh of finger limes contains high levels of anthocyanins, producing a dark-red color on the leaves of the tree. Studies have indicated that insects, including the Asian citrus psyllid, move according to visual cues. It's possible the high levels of anthocyanins can discourage psyllid feeding and thus prevent transmission of HLB.
Additionally, the phloem of the finger lime contains high levels of aldehyde compounds. According to Dutt, citronellol, a compound of growing interest and present in the phloem, has shown to have anti-bacterial activity, which could also be preventing the replication of CLas.
One of the pressing issues limiting commercial production of finger limes in Florida is the lack of knowledge about the crop. Dutt and his team of researchers are currently evaluating different rootstocks in hopes of finding varieties suitable for Florida's growing conditions.
Furthermore, they are developing new cultivars that are crosses between conventional citrus and finger limes to incorporate HLB tolerance into traditional citrus varieties. Dutt says thousands of trees are currently being evaluated and quite a few appear promising
Tapping into their genetics
While finger limes aren't exactly set out to be the new crop replacing Florida's longstanding orange and grapefruit industry, Dutt believes finger lime trees can provide a strong assist. “Hybrids between finger limes and sweet orange down the road may have sweet orange-like traits that can be acceptable to the grower and consumer. It would create a sweet orange-like fruit with finger lime genetics that allow it to be tolerant to HLB,” he says. “Many people in the industry realize it's a long-term process. Some are skeptical but overall, people are hopeful that the finger-lime genetics play an important role in providing HLB-tolerant trees in the future.”
To date, finger limes are more of a niche crop in North America with only a few growers in California, Hawaii and Florida.
In the meantime, Dutt has produced a finger lime hybrid that looks like a larger finger lime. “We'll be releasing it this summer—it's similar to the finger lime but it has more pulp and the same “pearls” that finger limes do,” he says. He adds that it's a commercial release as a niche crop and hopes the limes will be available in stores in the next three to four years
For more information:
Dr. Manjul Dutt
University of Florida
Tel: +1 (863) 956-8679
manjul@ufl.edu
https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/
- Author: Ben Faber
As of December 4, a total of 2,196 residential trees and 321 ACP have tested positive via PCR for the bacterium that causes HLB. See the latest HLB map and table for details: maps.cdfa.ca.gov/WeeklyACPMaps/HLBWeb/HLB_Treatments.pdf. As before, the infected trees have been or are being removed, and ACP treatments are applied on a recurring basis to remaining citrus in those areas. To date, no HLB has been found in commercial trees via PCR testing. The HLB quarantine area, however, includes commercial citrus and continues to expand.
Please refer to the CDFA Action Plan for ACP and HLB for information on regulatory and treatment requirements to expect should HLB be detected in or near your citrus grove or packing house.
Best Practices in the Field
In addition to monitoring and treating for ACP, another important way to protect your citrus from ACP and HLB is to follow Best Practices in the field, including insisting that all equipment, vehicles and bins be free of all plant material before entering your property.
Download or stream this video to help refresh field crews on the best practices for avoiding the spread of ACP and HLB during harvest.
ACP/HLB Resources
- Sign up for program updates from the Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Division at www.cdfa/signup-email-updates.
- General information on the state ACP/HLB program including maps, quarantine information, and a signup option for email alerts: citrusinsider.org/
- Biology of ACP and HLB, detection maps and recommendations for monitoring, eradication and management: ucanr.edu/sites/acp/
- UC Ag Experts Talk presentation "ACP for Commercial Growers and Pest Control Advisors", now available for viewing, along with other past talks on various citrus pests, at https://ucanr.edu/sites/ucexpertstalk/Past_Webinars/
- Web-based map to find out how close you are to HLB: ucanr.edu/hlbgrowerapp
- Summaries of the latest research to combat HLB: ucanr.edu/sites/scienceforcitrushealth/
- Science-based analyses to guide policy decisions, logistics, and operations: www.datoc.us
ACP Update
ACP trap detections have increased recently on the coast and in the Central Valley. While we usually see trap numbers peak this time of year, this fall the numbers have been higher than the last few years. Please stay vigilant in monitoring your trees for ACP, treating for ACP during the Area Wide Management treatment windows, and using an ACP-effective insecticide if possible when conducting other orchard management applications.
Map of HLB Quarantine and Treatment Area in California
- Author: Ben Faber
Plants get bacterial infections, just as humans do. When food crops and trees are infected, their yield and quality can suffer. Although some compounds have been developed to protect plants, few of them work on a wide variety of crops, and bacteria are developing resistance. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry have modified natural plant alkaloids into new compounds that kill bacteria responsible for diseases in rice, kiwi and citrus.
Currently, no effective prevention or treatment exists for some plant bacterial diseases, including rice leaf blight, kiwifruit canker and citrus canker, which result in substantial agricultural losses every year. Scientists are trying to find new compounds that attack bacteria in different ways, reducing the chances that the microbes will develop resistance. Plant compounds called tetrahydro-β-carboline (THC) alkaloids are known to have antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antioxidant and antiviral activities. So, Pei-Yi Wang, Song Yang and colleagues wondered whether derivatives of THC alkaloids could help fight plant bacterial diseases.
The researchers used a THC alkaloid called eleagnine, which is produced by Russian olive trees and some other plants, as a scaffold. To this framework, they added different chemical groups to make a series of new compounds, two of which efficiently killed three strains of plant pathogenic bacteria in liquid cultures. The team then tested the two compounds on rice, kiwi and citrus plant twigs and leaves and found that the new alkaloids could both prevent and treat bacterial infections. The researchers determined that the compounds worked by increasing levels of reactive oxygen species in the bacteria, which caused the bacterial cells to die.
How it works
The abstract that accompanies this paper can be viewed here.
Antibacterial Functions and Proposed Modes of Action of Novel 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydro-β-carboline Derivatives that Possess an Attractive 1,3-Diaminopropan-2-ol Pattern against Rice Bacterial Blight, Kiwifruit Bacterial Canker, and Citrus Bacterial
Hong-Wu Liu, Qing-Tian Ji, Gang-Gang Ren, Fang Wang, Fen Su, Pei-Yi Wang*, Xiang Zhou, Zhi-Bing Wu, Zhong L and Song Yang*
- Author: Ben Faber
Texas A&M AgriLife researchers have made a discovery that will help combat fastidious pathogens, which cost U.S. agriculture alone billions of dollars annually.
For the past few years, Kranthi Mandadi, Ph.D., a Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist and associate professor in Texas A&M's Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, along with his colleagues, has been working on developing new biological technologies to fight fastidious or “unculturable” pathogens. Mandadi and members of his team are based at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Weslaco.
The results of their work, “Plant hairy roots enable high throughput identification of new antimicrobials against Candidatus Liberibacter spp.” were recently published in Nature Communications.
Fastidious plant diseases and their costs
Fastidious plant pathogens infect citrus, tomatoes, potatoes, grapes, peppers and other crops grown throughout Texas. Often transmitted by insect vectors, these disease agents cause billions of dollars of damage each year. The U.S. citrus industry alone would save $3 billion per year through control of just one of these diseases — citrus greening. Additionally, the fastidious pathogen that causes Pierce's Disease in grapes is the No.1 threat to the $1 billion wine industry in Texas.
“Currently, invasive fastidious pathogens are causing several major outbreaks in row crops, specialty crops and citrus, with immense costs to Texas and the U.S.,” said Juan Landivar, Ph.D., director of the AgriLife center at Weslaco, which has been involved in efforts to combat fastidious plant pathogens for many years.
Landivar said an expanded effort against fastidious plant diseases would protect the health of crops, environments, economies and people across the country.
A way to grow “unculturable” bacteria
Some plant pathogens can be grown as pure cultures in the laboratory in the presence of artificial nutrient solutions. Being able to culture disease agents in the lab facilitates their study by providing researchers with a reliable supply of experimental material. However, an estimated 99% of bacteria in the world are fastidious, or unable to grow outside their native environment.
“The greatest obstacle to understanding and controlling fastidious pathogens was the inability to cultivate them in a laboratory setting and to screen for lots of potential therapies,” said Leland “Sandy” Pierson, Ph.D., professor and head of Texas A&M's Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology. “But Dr. Mandadi and his team have developed a breakthrough method as an alternative means to propagate fastidious bacteria. These bacteria are believed to be responsible for Huanglongbing, also known as citrus greening disease, and other insect-vectored diseases such as potato zebra chip and tomato vein greening disease.”
The breakthrough came in the form of the “hairy root” system. This technology utilizes the pathogen-infected host tissues to produce so-called hairy roots that can serve as biological vessels for the propagation of these pathogens in the laboratory.
“Classical microbiological techniques developed early in the 19th century cultured animal and mammalian viruses in host cells, tissues and embryonated eggs,” Mandadi said. “In a similar manner, we hypothesized that plant hairy roots could be suitable for propagating fastidious pathogens. And indeed, hairy roots supported the accumulation and growth of fastidious plant bacteria.”
Microbial hairy roots appear similar to normal root tissues that develop from the plant and mimic a bacterium's natural environment, he said. This allows the growth of the fastidious pathogens in controlled laboratory conditions.
Expedited screening for antimicrobial treatments
While microbial hairy root cultures are not traditional “pure” test tube cultures, they allow on-demand access to the fastidious bacterium in the laboratory. This enables the expedited screening of diverse antimicrobials like chemical inhibitors, immune modulators as well as gene/CRISPR-based therapies.
Other advantages are that hairy root cultures are easy to produce in the laboratory and can be maintained for several months to a year in laboratory growth chambers. Depending on the pathogen and the efficacy of screening, it is also at least four times faster than conventional screening methods, according to Sonia Irigoyen, Ph.D., and Manikandan Ramasamy, Ph.D., both AgriLife Research scientists and co-authors of the study.
In addition, the hairy root bioassays are scalable, so they can be used to pre-screen from a few to several hundred potential therapies simultaneously in a high-throughput manner. The microbial hairy root system can also be used to obtain mechanistic insights into antimicrobial function.
“Use of this technique has already led to the discovery of six new antimicrobial peptides with proven efficacy in plant materials,” Mandadi said. “These antimicrobials, either singly or in combination, could be used as near- and long-term therapies to control citrus greening, potato zebra chip and tomato vein greening diseases.”
Collaborators in the fight
“Typically, the type of breakthrough Dr. Mandadi and his team came up with is unusual for a university system off-campus center, as such centers usually have limited personnel and resources,” Landivar said. “Fortunately, the support we have received from the Texas A&M University System and other funding agencies and collaborators has helped make it possible for the Weslaco center to perform this world-class-level research.”
Besides a team of researchers at the Weslaco center, Mandadi collaborates with scientists at Texas A&M University, Texas A&M University Kingsville-Citrus Center, University of Florida, University of California System, and industry stakeholders including Citrus Research and Development Foundation, Texas Citrus Pest and Disease Management Corporation, Bayer and other entities.
Southern Gardens Citrus, a subsidiary of U.S. Sugar in Florida, has partnered with Texas A&M to commercialize the hairy root system as well as new therapies for application in the field.
Landivar also said funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Emergency Citrus Disease Research and Extension program, NIFA ECDRE, and support from the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research and AgriLife Research's Insect-Vectored Disease Grant are making it possible to facilitate development of innovative technologies and discovery of therapies to combat diseases caused by fastidious bacteria.
To expand on his research, Mandadi recently partnered on a new project with Citrus Research and Development Foundation, Bayer, Southern Gardens Citrus, University of Florida and University of California-Davis. That project is funded by the NIFA ECDRE program. The overall goal is to bring together academics, growers and agrochemical industry to discover, develop and commercialize therapies for citrus greening disease.
Mandadi said use of the hairy root system has already been instrumental in finding several potential new treatments for citrus greening and potato zebra chip, as described in the Nature Communications article.
“We hope this technology can be further expanded to find even more therapies against current and emerging fastidious pathogens and, ultimately, with the support of industry, deploy them as field-ready products,” he said.
