Relative Contribution of Windbreak, Copper Sprays, and Leafminer Control for Citrus Canker Management and Prevention of Crop Loss in Sweet Orange Trees.

The management of citrus canker, caused by Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri, has been widely studied in endemic areas because of the importance of the disease in several citrus-producing countries. A set of control measures is well established, but no study has investigated the efficiency of each measure individually and their combination for disease suppression. This study comprised a 3-year field study to assess the relative contribution of three measures for the control of citrus canker and reduction of crop losses. Windbreak (Wb), copper sprays (Cu), and leafminer control (Lc) were assessed in eight different combinations in a split-split plot design. The orchard was composed of 'Valencia' sweet orange trees grafted onto 'Rangpur' lime. Casuarina cunninghamiana trees were used as Wb. Cu and Lc sprays were performed every 21 days throughout the year. Individually, Cu showed the highest contribution for canker control, followed by Wb. Lc had no effect on reducing citrus canker. Wb+Cu showed the highest efficiency for control of the disease. This combination reduced the incidence of diseased trees by approximately 60%, and the incidence of diseased leaves and fruit by ≥90% and increased the yield in 2.0- to 2.6-fold in comparison with the unmanaged plots. Cu sprays were important for reducing disease incidence and crop losses, whereas Wb had an additional contribution in minimizing the incidence of cankered, non-marketable fruit. The results indicated that the adoption of these measures of control may depend on the characteristics of the orchard and destination of the production.

Citrus Sudden Death Is Transmitted by Graft-Inoculation and Natural Transmission Is Prevented by Individual Insect-Proof Cages.

Citrus sudden death (CSD) transmission was studied by graft-inoculation and under natural conditions. Young sweet orange trees on Rangpur rootstock were used as indicator plants. They were examined regularly for one or two characteristic markers of CSD: (i) presence of a yellow-stained layer of thickened bark on the Rangpur rootstock, and (ii) infection with the CSD-associated marafivirus. Based on these two markers, transmission of CSD was obtained, not only when budwood for graft-inoculation was taken from symptomatic, sweet orange trees on Rangpur, but also when the budwood sources were asymptomatic sweet orange trees on Cleopatra mandarin, indicating that the latter trees are symptomless carriers of the CSD agent. For natural transmission, 80 young indicator plants were planted within a citrus plot severely affected by CSD. Individual insect-proof cages were built around 40 indicator plants, and the other 40 indicator plants remained uncaged. Only two of the 40 caged indicator plants were affected by CSD, whereas 17 uncaged indicator plants showed CSD symptoms and were infected with the marafivirus. An additional 12 uncaged indicator plants became severely affected with citrus variegated chlorosis and were removed. These results strongly suggest that under natural conditions, CSD is transmitted by an aerial vector, such as an insect, and that the cages protected the trees against infection by the vector.

Distribution and quantification of Candidatus Liberibacter americanus, agent of huanglongbing disease of citrus in São Paulo State, Brasil, in leaves of an affected sweet orange tree as determined by PCR.

Huanglongbing (HLB), an insect-transmitted disease of citrus, known for many years in Asia and Africa, has appeared in the state of São Paulo State (SSP), Brazil, in 2004, and the state of Florida, USA, in 2005. HLB endangers the very existence of citrus, as trees infected with the bacterial pathogen, irrevocably decline. In the absence of curative procedures, control of HLB is difficult and only based on prevention. Even though not available in culture, the HLB bacterium could be shown to be Gram-negative and to represent a new candidate genus, Candidatus Liberibacter, in the alpha subdivision of the Proteobacteria. Three Candidatus (Ca.) L. species occur: Ca. L. africanus in Africa, Ca. L. asiaticus in Asia, SSP, and Florida, and Ca. L. americanus in SSP. The liberibacters occur exclusively in the phloem sieve tubes. On affected trees, HLB symptoms are often seen on certain branches only, suggesting an uneven distribution of the Liberibacter. Occurrence of Ca. L. americanus, the major HLB agent in SSP, has been examined in 822 leaf samples from an affected sweet orange tree by two conventional PCR techniques and a newly developed real time (RTi) PCR, also used for quantification of the Liberibacter in the leaves. Even though RTi-PCR was able to detect as few as 10 liberibacters per gram of leaf tissue (l/g), no liberibacters could be detected in any of the many leaf samples from a symptomless branch, while in blotchy mottle leaves from symptomatic branches of the same tree, the Liberibacter titer reached values as high as 10(7)l/g. These results demonstrate the uneven distribution of the Liberibacter in HLB-affected trees.