Italy: The TROPICSAFE project funded by the European Union achieves significant results to better manage coconut lethal yellowing, grapevine yellows, and huanglongbing in citrus

Published 2022년 4월 21일

Tridge summary

The TROPICSAFE project, funded by the European Union, conducted research on three diseases caused by 'Candidatus' species in coconut palms, grapevines, and citrus, which have impacted global trade. The project identified new insect vectors and alternative host plants, and developed diagnostic methods and environmentally friendly management strategies. In Cuba and Mexico, alternative host plants and insect vectors were found for coconut phytoplasma, and a qPCR method was developed to distinguish between two phytoplasma types. In South Africa, grapevine yellows were linked to a 'Ca. P. asteris' strain and potential host plants and insect vectors were identified. In Chile, eight alternative host plants and six potential vectors for a different grapevine phytoplasma strain were found. The project also looked into the use of kaolin against Diaphorina citri and the potential of Tamarixia dryi as a control agent for T. erytreae.

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Original content

For five years, the TROPICSAFE project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and coordinated by Prof. Assunta Bertaccini (University of Bologna, Italy), studied three economically important insect-borne prokaryote-associated diseases of perennial crops grown in tropical and subtropical areas. Diverse ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma’ species associated with lethal yellowing in coconut palms and yellows in grapevine, and ‘Ca. Liberibacter’ species associated with “huanglongbing” in citrus were identified. During the last decades, these are the diseases most seriously affecting the worldwide trade and import of products and materials from these crops. For their effective, and sustainable management, important knowledge gaps were filled working in Africa, America, the Caribbean, and Europe. Monitoring and developing specific diagnostic methods allowed the identification of the different bacteria associated with these diseases in the ecosystems studied. ...

Source: Euractiv