Huanglongbing

Exotic Australian fruit may help save Florida's citrus industry

ilseu — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 01:38:09 +0000

Exotic Australian fruit may help save Florida's citrus industry ilseu Mon, 07/27/2020 - 18:38 More CNAS in the Media Greg Allen | NPR July 27, 2020

NPR - There's some good news in the long-running battle against a disease that's devastated Florida's signature crop, oranges. Researchers are developing tools to help control citrus greening, a disease that has killed thousands of acres of orange and grapefruit trees.

One of the most promising treatments was recently developed in a fruit most people have never heard of, the Australian finger lime. The finger lime, native to rainforests in Australia, looks a little like a pickle. It's just a couple inches long, grows on small trees and is gaining popularity as an exotic fruit.

Researcher Hailing Jin became interested in the fruit because it is related to oranges, but it isn't affected by citrus greening. Jin, a molecular geneticist at the University of California Riverside says, "When I heard that there are some wild citrus close relatives that show tolerance or partial resistance, then I (felt) like there must be some genes responsible for it."

READ THE article

A UC Riverside researcher may have discovered a way to save our citrus trees

ilseu — Fri, 17 Jul 2020 16:03:45 +0000

A UC Riverside researcher may have discovered a way to save our citrus trees ilseu Fri, 07/17/2020 - 09:03 More CNAS in the Media Jeanette Marantos | Los Angeles Times July 15, 2020

LOS ANGELES TIMES - Attention home gardeners: Our beloved citrus trees may yet be saved from the incurable huanglongbing, a.k.a. HLB or citrus greening disease, thanks to natural immunities found in a rare and flavorful relative known as the Australian finger lime.

After five years of study, a team of UC Riverside researchers led by Hailing Jin, professor of plant genetics, identified which gene in the finger lime causes that immunity and extracted it to create an antibiotic that has killed the disease in young trees raised in laboratories and controlled environment greenhouses.

READ THE article

Want to save your citrus trees? Start a full-fledged insect war

ilseu — Fri, 24 Apr 2020 21:37:36 +0000

Want to save your citrus trees? Start a full-fledged insect war ilseu Fri, 04/24/2020 - 14:37 More CNAS in the Media Jeanette Marrantos | LA Times April 24, 2020

LOS ANGELES TIMES - Growing citrus is a dicey business these days in Southern California, and not at all recommended if you live within a two-mile radius of a tree infected with Huanglongbing disease — a.k.a. HLB or citrus greening disease. However, if you live outside a “red zone” and you’re willing to actively fight the disease, then yes, it’s still possible to grow limes for your margaritas.

But you’ll have to be ruthlessly proactive by declaring brutal warfare on the ants in your yard while embracing a tiny parasitoid wasp that eats its living prey from the inside out.

HLB is a bacterial disease spread by the tiny Asian citrus psyllid that loves to suck the sap from tender new “flush” growth on citrus and then lay its eggs. If the psyllid sups on a tree with HLB, it spreads the disease to every other tree it visits, and once infected, there is no cure.

The University of California’s department of Agriculture and Natural Resources has created an interactive map that identifies hot zones of infection: in Southern California they’re mostly in the four-corners area where Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties meet. Enter your address and it shows how close your home is to those infection areas.

READ THE article

Find out if your area is affected with UC ANR's interactive HLB proximity map:

View interactive map

Check your citrus trees for Asian citrus psyllid:

View UC ANR video on youtube