citrus greening

The Asian citrus psyllid carries the disease

Scientists at the US Horticultural Research Laboratory have made one of the 'biggest breakthroughs' so far in the battle against Huanglongbing disease, also known as citrus greening.

Two researchers at the Fort Pierce, Florida-based facility have sequenced over 95 per cent of the genome of the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus that causes citrus greening.

The move could be the first step towards culturing the bacterium in laboratory-grown plants, with the aim of developing strategies for control and eventually elimination.

'It is considered one of the biggest breakthroughs for citrus greening disease,' research leader David Hall told the Palm Beach Post. 'It is considered one of the best things that has happened. We hope it will trigger a lot of other good things.'

Mr Hall and plant pathologist Yong-Ping Duan are now sequencing theremaining 5 per cent of the bacterium, and are plan to publish a paper describing what the genomereveals about the bacterium's taxonomy, evolution and some of its enzymaticpathways.

'It is important because there are so many things that scientists don't understand about how the bacterium infects plants and how and why it infects Asian citrus psyllids,' Mr Hall added. 'Knowing the genome allows scientists to figure out what sort of metabolic pathways are associated with this pathogen, what it's nutritional needs are and how it interacts with both the plant and the insect.'