US (FL): Citrus greening research gets $1 Million
Nian Wang, a researcher with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, is working with a team to develop a microbial-based product, infused with patented plant-defense inducers and beneficial bacteria strains, that he hopes will cure citrus greening.
Wang, a microbiology and cell science professor at the UF Citrus Research and Education Center, will also work on creating greening-resistant trees through the use of a targeted genome engineering technology. Wang’s laboratory is the first to successfully modify the citrus genome using this technology. The technology will be used to create greening-resistant trees by locating the genes within citrus trees that are activated by greening and then effectively removing those genes or altering them so the trees will activate an immune defense against infection. The technology will also be used to introduce encoded plant host-defense antimicrobial peptides, part of the innate immune response found among all classes of life, and resistance genes against the citrus greening pathogen.
Source: www.newswise.com