- Author: Elizabeth Grafton-Cardwell
- Author: Barbara Alonso
Candidatus liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), the bacterium thought to cause huanglongbing (HLB), cannot be grown using traditional laboratory methods in petri dishes on agar and nutrients. The inability to culture the HLB bacterium, CLas, in the lab makes it very difficult to develop a cure for the disease.
Dr. Kranthi Mandadi's research team has developed a novel technique for laboratory cultivation of CLas, using so-called hairy roots, which are plant tissues that mimic a microbe's natural environment. Hairy root cultures support CLas bacterial growth and these cultures can be used to screen antimicrobials to find compounds that control and/or suppress CLas. Once discovered, antimicrobials could be applied to citrus trees to prevent establishment or reduce the impact of HLB.
How does it work? Visit the Research Snapshot page to learn more: https://ucanr.edu/sites/scienceforcitrushealth/Research_Snapshots/Mandadi/
About Research Snapshots
- Author: Ben Faber
Ed Stover and crew at USDA, Fort Pierce in Florida have been studying the response of different scions and rootstocks that have been inoculated with the HLB bacteria. As reported in the Proceedings of the International Citrus Conference (http://www.icc2016.com/images/icc2016/downloads/Abstract_Book_ICC_2016.pdf), they have found some scion/rootstock combinations more tolerant or less susceptible to the disease six years after they have been inoculated. It turns out scions with a citron pedigree have more resistance. Also those with a Poncirus (trifoliate) background also had lower populations of the bacterium.
What this means is that there is resistance and possible immunity out there and there is breeding/genetic engineering material out there that can be used to improve the whole of the citrus family to HLB. Of course, this will take time, but there is hope.
Photos:
HLB symptoms and trifoliate leaves