In the past 15 years, increasingly warm and wet weather during the spring has sparked epidemics of fire blight – a disease caused by a bacterial plant pathogen that often leads to the death of trees and causes losses of up to $22 million per year in apple and pear crops in the US. That is why a team of researchers from Virginia Tech has received two substantial grants from the United States Department of Agriculture to develop new treatments for this infectious disease.
This disease remains a major challenge for today’s scientists due to a variety of factors, such as climate change, the fact that fruit trees are now planted in high-density orchards, and the bacteria’s ability to spread quickly, and often secretly. Traditional treatments involve spraying the trees with copper-based pesticides in the spring. Unfortunately, although such methods may disinfect the surface of the branches and cankers, bacteria can remain dormant inside.
Source: earth.com
