CRDF

CRDF Approves Funding for Key Research Projects

Daniel CooperCRDF, Research

CRDF
Funding was approved for research on a strain of Bacillus thuringiensis that kills juvenile psyllids.

Rick Dantzler, Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) chief operating officer, reported that the foundation’s January board of directors meeting was a productive one that resulted in the approval of several key citrus research projects.

“We had a great meeting. The board approved funding to use a strain of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) to kill the progeny of psyllids,” Dantzler said. “Early testing shows that it may kill 100% of psyllids. It also knocks the heck out of diaprepes.

“If just this worked on a commercial scale, it would be huge, but we are also seeking to include a tolerance gene in the transformation to kill Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas). Such a transformed tree would kill the vector (psyllid) and the pathogen (CLas). Needless to say, this could be a homerun for the industry.

“Also, we approved a project to determine definitively if oxytetracycline and streptomycin used together kill nearly all of the CLas in the tree as we believe it does.”

In the area of plant improvement, the CRDF board approved an extension of a project underway in conjunction with The Coca-Cola Company to test another 30 accessions that have shown promise after new harvest and growth data came in to support further testing. This gets the number of accessions to be tested in large-scale field trials to 90.

Also, University of Florida plant breeder Jose Chaparro has four hybrids from his large collection of germplasm that the board concluded needed evaluation in a large-scale trial, so this was funded.

“The second year of a two-year project that attaches single-chain antibodies to Clas, immobilizing them so the tree’s natural defenses can kill them, was approved. If this works, it could solve the problem,” Dantzler said. “Finally, we approved the last year of a diaprepes project but decided against funding the last year of a project on mealybug, instead asking for a revised proposal that reduced the scope of the project.”

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