texas

New and Expanded Canker Quarantines in Texas

Daniel Cooper Diseases, Regulation, Texas

Federal and Texas agriculture officials announced they are establishing four new quarantine areas for citrus canker in Brazoria and Harris counties, Texas. They are also expanding three existing quarantine areas for citrus canker in Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston and Harris counties. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) and the Texas Department of Agriculture …

Gene Confers Resistance to HLB and Citrus Canker

Josh McGill HLB Management, International, Research

In August, Horticulture Research published a paper titled An endolysin gene from Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus confers dual resistance to huanglongbing and citrus canker. Researchers found that an endolysin encoded by the Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) prophage has dual resistance to huanglongbing (HLB) and citrus canker. A prophage is the genetic material of a bacteriophage, and a bacteriophage is a virus …

The Status of Citrus Canker in Georgia

Josh McGill Diseases, Georgia

Citrus canker was found for the first time in Georgia this past season. Unfortunately, it may be here to stay. Jonathan Oliver, University of Georgia (UGA) assistant professor and small fruits pathologist, talked about the disease during a citrus meeting in Valdosta, Georgia, on Aug. 9. He emphasized that Georgia producers may have to learn to live with the disease …

Leafminer Management Helps Fight Canker

Josh McGill Diseases, Pest Management

Brazilian citrus association Fundecitrus has alerted growers that proper management to combat citrus canker in orchards begins with leafminer control. The leafminer is a pest that has been present in Brazilian citriculture since 1996. According to Fundecitrus researcher Franklin Behlau, the leafminer does not spread citrus canker disease from one plant to another or even to different parts of it. …

CRISPR Research Update for HLB and Canker

Josh McGill Breeding, Florida Citrus Commission, Research

Yianni Lagos, chief executive officer of Soilcea, told the Florida Citrus Commission (FCC) in October about his company’s efforts to use CRISPR gene editing to aid the citrus industry in its struggles with canker and HLB. Soilcea was founded to find solutions to these citrus diseases. The company has exclusive licenses to patents from the University of Florida to cure …

Canker Resistance Progress May Help With HLB

Josh McGill Breeding, Diseases

A team of researchers at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) has successfully identified the CsDMR6 gene, which impacts a citrus tree’s reaction to the citrus canker pathogen. Zhanao Deng and Fred Gmitter, both professors and plant breeders, are members of that team.  By editing the CsDMR6 gene in the plant’s DNA to interfere with …

HLB and Canker Incidence Increasing in Brazil

Josh McGill Brazil, Diseases

The average incidence of HLB rose from 22.37% in 2021 to 24.42% in 2022 in Brazil’s citrus belt, an annual survey by Fundecitrus shows. That’s an increase of 9.16%. In the regions of Brotas, Limeira and Porto Ferreira, where the incidence was already high in previous years, HLB increased to even more worrying levels of 49.41%, 70.72% and 74.05%, respectively. …

Greening and Canker Concerns for Georgia Growers

Josh McGill Diseases, Georgia

The recent Citrus Growers’ Summer Update in Valdosta, Georgia, provided growers another outlet to learn about two diseases — citrus greening and citrus canker — that could have serious ramifications on the industry’s future in Georgia. Jonathan Oliver, University of Georgia (UGA) assistant professor and small fruits pathologist, highlighted the seriousness of the discovery of both of the diseases in …

Citrus Canker Quarantine Established in Alabama

Josh McGill Diseases, Regulation

Federal and Alabama agriculture authorities recently established a citrus canker quarantine for all of Baldwin County, Alabama, to prevent the spread of the disease. The quarantine was established on July 25 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI). On June 22, 2021, APHIS confirmed …

Citrus Canker Discovered in Georgia

Josh McGill Diseases, Georgia

The discovery of citrus canker disease in Georgia last week has prompted industry leaders to caution growers about where they buy their trees. Lindy Savelle, president of the Georgia Citrus Association, said hundreds of trees had to be removed from a grove infected with citrus canker. The trees were not from a Georgia certified nursery. She said the best way …

Fruit Size and Spraying Interval Are Key for Canker Control

Josh McGill Diseases, Research

The size of fruit that should be sprayed, the spraying interval and ways to avoid copper phytotoxicity were among the citrus canker topics plant pathologist Megan Dewdney offered growers recently. Dewdney said fruit are most susceptible to canker when they are between 3/8 inch and 1.5 inches in diameter. The fruit rind becomes much more resistant when the fruit is …

Citrus Canker Confirmed in South Carolina

Josh McGill Diseases

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed the presence of citrus canker disease in a nursery in South Carolina. The nursery sells plants to consumers through online sales. Other nurseries did not receive these plants. Together with state partners, APHIS is working to collect and destroy the plants shipped to consumers in …

Get Canker Before It Gets You

Josh McGill Diseases, Tip of the Week

By Megan Dewdney Spring is around the corner, and Florida’s first wave of bloom is here. But there is no time to relax and enjoy the flowers because citrus diseases wait for no grower. Young fruitlets become susceptible to canker toward the end of March to the beginning of April. Missing that key window of protection — if the weather …

Sweet Orange Scab and Citrus Canker Movement Conditions Revised

Tacy Callies Diseases, Regulation

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has revised the conditions for interstate movement of citrus fruit from areas quarantined for both sweet orange scab (Elsinöe australis, SOS) and citrus canker (Xanthomonas axonopodis, CC). The revisions allow for the movement of fruit to packinghouses located in contiguous states that are not quarantined for either disease. …

Be Alert for Citrus Canker in Alabama

Josh McGill Citrus, Diseases

Alabama Cooperative Extension implores growers to be on the lookout for symptoms of citrus canker disease in their trees. Commercial growers need to scout their trees regularly to stop the disease’s potential spread, says Kassie Conner, Alabama Extension specialist. “What we need people to do right now is look for these symptoms and report it if they find it,” Conner …

The Quest for Copper Alternatives for Managing Citrus Canker

Josh McGill Diseases, Research

By Ozgur Batuman, Sanju Kunwar and Ana Redondo There are new products that potentially can be added to a grower’s toolbox in coming seasons for managing citrus bacterial canker. Citrus canker is an infection by a species of bacteria (Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri) that causes fruit blemishes and fruit drop. It makes fruit unsightly and lowers its marketability. Every year, …

Texas Canker Quarantine Expanded Again

Josh McGill Citrus, Diseases, Texas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) have established five new quarantine areas for citrus canker in Brazoria, Galveston and Harris counties, Texas. They also expanded two existing quarantine areas for citrus canker in Brazoria, Fort Bend and Harris Counties, Texas, to prevent the spread of the disease. …

Citrus Canker Quarantine Areas Added in Texas

Tacy Callies Diseases

Effective immediately, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is establishing three new quarantine areas and expanding two existing quarantine areas for citrus canker in Cameron County, Texas, to prevent the spread of the disease. This action is necessary because APHIS confirmed the positive identification of citrus canker in citrus trees from residential areas in …

Alabama Trying to Contain Citrus Canker

Tacy Callies Diseases

How citrus canker arrived in Alabama is still unknown. What is certain is that it’s an issue the Alabama Department of Agriculture is determined to contain before it becomes a major problem, said Kassie Conner, director of the Auburn University Plant Diagnostic Lab, during a recent webinar. “The first trees that were found infected were in a landscape, and the …