$6m grant continues academic efforts to fight citrus greening
A $6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Research Initiative supports the continuing efforts of researchers from 10 U.S. academic and national research labs, and the University of Grenada in Spain, who have joined forces to combat citrus greening, a disease that has all but decimated the citrus industry in Florida and is evident in Texas and California groves.
"Our goal is to establish a research pipeline to develop and deliver novel therapies designed to kill the insect when it tries to feed on citrus or block its ability to transmit the bacteria," said Susan Brown, university distinguished professor in the Division of Biology at Kansas State University and principal investigator on the project. "Either way, it can't spread the disease anymore."
The new funding will allow researchers to build on work they began two years ago. Their approach requires detailed knowledge of the interactions between the insect and the bacteria and the effects of any treatment on citrus.
source: eurekalert.org
