Matthew Mattia recently provided an overview of work at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS) transgenic test site in Fort Pierce. Transgenic refers to an organism that contains genetic material into which DNA from an unrelated organism has been artificially introduced. Scientists at the Picos Farm screen transgenics for suppression of citrus Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), …
Doubling Down on CRISPR Research
By Michael E. Rogers We have all been waiting (and waiting some more) for new varieties to be developed that are resistant to HLB. Ten years ago, researchers thought they were really close to having new HLB-resistant varieties developed using gene-editing CRISPR technology. But as science goes, the story was much more complicated than first believed. A single edit to …
CRDF Board Focused on HLB Treatments
The Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) board of directors meeting in July focused largely on the use of oxytetracycline (OTC) as an HLB treatment in citrus. The board considered projects testing it in combination with other antimicrobial compounds or as a standalone treatment. Trunk injection of OTC has given the Florida citrus industry hope that it might be a …
Capitalize on Cooperative Research
By Larry Duncan The growers advising the Citrus Research and Development Foundation understand very well the importance of cooperative research projects between growers and scientists. Several years ago, they earmarked a portion of research funding, not for carefully managed laboratory experiments or small plot trials at state, federal or private research centers, but rather for grower-run trials testing potential HLB …
Highlights from the Florida Citrus Industry Annual Conference
Florida Citrus Mutual provided a summary of its Florida Citrus Industry Annual Conference held in June: After a year full of challenges, the 2023 Florida Citrus Industry Annual Conference once again offered an opportunity for more than 500 growers, allied members, family and friends to come together and focus on the highlights of the year and the promise of better …
Angle Calls for Faster Research Progress on HLB
Scott Angle, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources, began the educational session during the Florida Citrus Industry Annual Conference with a message of urgency. He recognized the critical threat posed by HLB and said science could catch up to the problem. “Plant sciences are advancing globally at almost …
Update on Snail Management in Citrus
By Lauren Diepenbrock Snail management is becoming a more common discussion in Florida citrus with the arrival of a newer species (Bulimulus bonariensis, previously referred to as Bulimulus sporadicus, Figure 1) in the Southeast. This snail is a new challenge for citrus growers. With funding from the Citrus Research and Development Foundation, the University of Florida Institute of Food and …
May CRDF Meeting Focuses on Money Matters
The Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) board of directors attended to budgetary matters during its May meeting, as the end of the fiscal year nears. “We decided to transfer our remaining uncommitted funds from what we had budgeted for new research to the Citrus Research and Field Trial program to help growers treat mature trees with new therapies,” said …
Exploring Additional Antimicrobials for Citrus Injection
The Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) board of directors invited six full proposals on combining other antimicrobials with oxytetracycline hydrochloride (OTC-HCl) during its April meeting. “If growers are going to pay the labor costs for workers to crawl underneath a citrus tree to treat it with OTC-HCl, maybe there are other things that could be mixed with the injection,” …
Latest CRDF Funding Includes Oxytetracycline Hydrochloride Projects
The Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) board of directors convened its March meeting with a busy agenda, addressing fast-moving current events. Discussion focused on newly approved oxytetracycline hydrochloride (OTC-HCl) trunk-injection products currently being applied in groves. The board funded a project to measure the impact of OTC-HCI applications on the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP). Specifically, the study will determine …
CRDF Funds Project to Arrest HLB Bacteria
At the latest Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) board of directors meeting, funding was approved for a project by Robert Turgeon. He is a professor of plant biology at Cornell University. “Dr. Turgeon is considered by some to be the world’s foremost expert on phloem physiology. If his project succeeds, it could solve our problem with HLB,” CRDF chief …
The Advantage of Youth
Morgan McKenna Porter brings new energy to the Citrus Research and Development Foundation. By Ernie Neff New Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) board President Morgan McKenna Porter was born Feb. 29, 1992. There’s only a Feb. 29 every fourth year, a leap year. “So,” she quipped, “CRDF has a seven-year-old president if we go by my leap year age.” …
Sneak Peek: March 2023 Citrus Industry
The March cover of Citrus Industry magazine features a fresh face in a key industry leadership role for Florida. Morgan McKenna Porter is bringing youthful energy to her new title as president of the Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) board of directors. In the cover story, learn about her background as well as her CRDF goals for helping growers …
CRDF Board Off to a Busy Start in 2023
The Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) kicked off the year with its monthly board meeting in January. The board invited three researchers who had submitted pre-proposals to submit full proposals during the meeting. One proposal will study if the ingestion of oxytetracycline hydrochloride (OTC-HCl) will minimize the amount of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) in the gut of “hot” (or …