Orange production in Florida has plummeted since the arrival of citrus-greening disease. This season’s crop in the No. 1 U.S. citrus state is estimated at 71 million boxes, less than half of pre-disease levels, says Agri-Pulse. Clemson University researchers are looking for a cure that involves gene editing.
The first step is to find as many trees as possible that show resistance to citrus greening, which prevents fruit from ripening and eventually kills infected trees, and to compare samples from them with samples from susceptible trees. Lead researcher Feng Luo says his team expects to find genetic differences that will point to genetic components that are the targets of the bacterial disease. Removal of those components should result in trees that withstand citrus greening.
The USDA Agricultural Research Service gave Clemson $4.3 million this year for the five-year project, says Agri-Pulse. Clemson says gene editing will be cheaper, faster and less controversial than traditional GMO methods. A bacterial disease, citrus greening is spread by a gnat-sized insect, the Asian citrus psyllid.