Citrus canker disease decreases the fruit quality and yield significantly, furthermore, emerging of streptomycin-resistant pathogens threatens the citrus industry seriously because of a lack of proper control agents. Small synthetic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) could be a promising alternative. Fourteen hexapeptides were selected by using positional scanning of synthetic peptide combinatorial ...

Seasonal population of the fruit-piercing moths Eudocima spp. was monitored throughout the citrus growing seasons in a citrus orchard and in site adjacent to secondary forest from July 2007 to June 2009. The moth was detected practically throughout the year with activity lowest during the wet months (September-February) when fruits are still available and while highest during the dry months (Ma...

Mymarommatidae surveys were carried out through the use of yellow pan traps in crops of green dwarf coconut, Cocos nucifera L. (Arecales: Arecaceae), papaya, Carica papaya L. (Brassicales: Caricaceae), citrus, Citrus spp. L. (Sapindales: Rutaceae), and guava, Psidium guajava L. (Myrtales: Myrtaceae), in the northern Espirito Santo State, Brazil. 146 specimens of mymarommatids were collected, of...

Five putative novel Pseudomonas species shown to be pathogenic to citrus have been characterized in a screening of 126 Pseudomonas strains isolated from diseased citrus leaves and stems in northern Iran. The 126 strains were studied using a polyphasic approach that included phenotypic characterizations and phylogenetic multilocus sequence analysis. The pathogenicity of these strains against 3 c...

Huanglongbing, or citrus greening, threatens the global citrus industry. The presumptive pathogens, 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' and 'Ca. L. americanus' can be transferred from citrus to more easily studied experimental hosts by using holoparasitic dodder plants. However, the interaction between 'Candidatus Liberibacter' spp. and the dodder has not been studied. We combined quantitative ...

Citrus greening or huanglongbing (HLB) is a devastating disease of citrus. HLB is associated with the phloem-limited fastidious prokaryotic alpha-proteobacterium 'Candidatus Liberibacter spp.' In this report, we used sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) leaf tissue infected with 'Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus' and compared this with healthy controls. Investigation of the host response was examined with ...

Spiroplasma citri causes stubborn disease in Citrus spp. and diseases in other plants. Here, we report the nucleotide sequence of the 1,599,709-bp circular chromosome and two plasmids of S. citri strain R8-A2T This information will facilitate analyses to understand spiroplasmal pathogenicity and evolutionary adaptations to lifestyles in plants and arthropod hosts.

A new medium designated Liber A has been designed and used to successfully cultivate all three 'Candidatus Liberibacter spp.,' the suspect causative agents of huanglongbing (HLB) in citrus. The medium containing citrus vein extract and a growth factor sustained growth of 'Ca. Liberibacter spp.' for four or five single-colony transfers before viability declined. Colonies, positive for 'Ca. L. as...

The flat-mite Brevipalpus phoenicis (Geijskes, 1939) (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) is considered important in citrus (Citrus spp.) and coffee plants (Coffea spp.) in Brazil, and is known as the leprosis and coffee ring spot mite, as being a vector of the Citrus Leprosis Rhabdovirus - CitLV and Coffee Ring Spot Virus - CoRSV. The objective of this work is to find out about the reproductive success of B...