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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Ithaca, New York » Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture & Health » Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #417334

Research Project: Management and Biology of Arthropod Pests and Arthropod-borne Plant Pathogens

Location: Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research

Title: Flipping the HLB therapeutic screening paradigm: That’s right we went straight to the field

Author
item LARSON, NICHOLAS - ARS Postdoctoral Research Associate
item LOCATELLI, GUILHERME - University Of Florida
item COCHRANE, ELLEN - University Of Florida
item ROSSI, LORENZO - University Of Florida
item Heck, Michelle
item Niedz, Randall

Submitted to: International Research Conference on Huanglongbing
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/2024
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: There is an immediate need to provide the citrus industry with relief from HLB and a return to profitable citrus production. Years of research and more than a billion dollars have been spent looking for a solution. Standard screening methods for therapeutic molecules involve various laboratory-based assays to quickly select molecules with the desired properties. Typically, these will be either antimicrobial or insecticidal properties depending on the target of the research. Some drawbacks of this standardized framework are 1) the correlation between the lab assays and tree rejuvenation are unknown; 2) antimicrobial activity is only one of many potential mechanisms to restore tree health; 3) systemic movement cannot be determined though it is one of the most important properties of a therapeutic molecule; and 4) laboratory testing delays getting molecules into the field to determine if it works. A design-of-experiment framework base was developed to rapidly screen molecules in field citrus to select molecules that improve tree health over the course of a season. Utilizing the injection system developed for the delivery of oxytetracycline into citrus for CLas control, we injected 88 molecules into 8-year-old Valencia citrus over the course of six weeks. The framework and the results from these injections will be presented.