Research Finds New Direction for Halting Citrus Greening

The Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service says a new study has discovered a path forward to halting the citrus greening epidemic. The research is inching closer to helping scientists understand how to block citrus greening from infecting citrus trees. The disease infects citrus trees through bacteria carried by tiny insects. The researchers have found that young insects appear to be resistant to the bacteria, which needs to pass through the insect’s guts to multiply. The next step will be to identify the mechanism for the resistance in the insects so that it might be manipulated to also halt the spread of the bacteria by the adult insects. Researchers say further studies will help in developing ways to block transmission of the disease by insects in citrus groves. If the research pans out, citrus growers will be “in a much better situation in terms of disease control,” potentially saving the U.S. citrus industry. There is much more to learn, but researchers add that the more they learn, the closer the U.S. will “get to moving citrus production past the threat of citrus greening.”