A team led by the University of California, Riverside (UCR) is looking at tiny underground microorganisms for a way to prevent a huge problem — huanglongbing (HLB), a disease with no cure that has decimated citrus orchards worldwide. “Often times, it is thought of as an above-ground disease of the fruits, leaves and stems,” said Caroline Roper, plant pathology professor and director …
Management Advice for Aquatic Weeds
Nearly every Florida citrus grower will sooner or later experience aquatic weed control problems. Aquatic plants are necessary for maintaining the balance of nature and offering food, protection, oxygen and shelter to aquatic species. However, maintaining a balance in the aquatic system while sustaining crop success and avoiding loss of income can be a challenge. Excessive aquatic weed growth can …
Growers’ Input on Pests Needed
Entomologist Lauren Diepenbrock is seeking Florida citrus growers’ help in determining information gaps and future directions for her research on pests. To get that help, she’s asking growers to participate in a survey, which is available here. Diepenbrock, a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher, would like to have growers take the survey by March 31, 2021. …
Using Grapefruit to Deliver Medicine
University of Louisville (UofL) researchers have found a less toxic way to deliver medicines by using the natural lipids in plants, particularly grapefruit and ginger. The UofL technologies use exosomes, which are very small fragments of living, edible plant cells, to transport various therapeutic agents, including anti-cancer drugs, DNA/RNA and proteins such as antibodies. These exosomes help ensure the drug is …
Parson Brown Research Funded
Researchers looking into the possibility that the old Parson Brown orange might fare better than Hamlins in the face of HLB will be funded by the Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF). CRDF Chief Operating Officer Rick Dantzler said the organization agreed to fund the project for $53,000 during its December meeting. The funding had been under consideration for several …
UF Scientist Request Citrus Grower Help to Set Research Directions for 2021
(UF/IFAS) — University of Florida entomologist Lauren Diepenbrock is looking to the future of her research program and needs citrus industry professionals to help her see a clear picture. Since arriving at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Citrus Research and Education Center (CREC) in 2018, she has worked with many growers to identify best practices for successful …
New Products From Citrus Waste
Waste from the citrus industry can provide biogas and valuable products for a range of industries, according to a doctoral thesis at the University of Borås in Sweden. “The citrus industry creates so much waste that it corresponds to between 40 and 60 percent of the total citrus mass,” said Lukitawesa Lukitawesa, who recently defended his doctoral thesis at the University of …
Uncovering How HLB Acts Inside a Citrus Tree
Amit Levy with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) describes research he’s conducting into the way the causal agent of HLB interacts with a citrus tree. The causal agent is the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus(CLas). Levy, whose research is funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, says CLas is found in a citrus tree’s phloem. Phloem is very small, …
Hesperidin to Be Tested Against COVID-19
The National Institutes of Health’s National Center of Biotechnology Information (NCBI) recently announced plans to evaluate the clinical efficacy of hesperidin against COVID-19. Orange juice and sweet oranges contain hesperidin. NCBI referred to hesperidin as “an old herbal medicine … used to treat vascular diseases in Europe and Australia and distributed with vitamin C as a dietary supplement in the …
Texas Research Should Help With HLB
Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists have made a discovery that should help combat fastidious or “unculturable” pathogens, such as Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, the HLB causal agent. HLB is also known as citrus greening disease. Kranthi Mandadi, a researcher with Texas A&M, and his colleagues have been working several years on developing new technologies to fight the fastidious pathogens. Mandadi and his team …