New clues to how the bacteria associated with citrus greening infect the only insect that carries them could lead to a way to block the microbes’ spread from tree to tree, according to a study in Infection and Immunity by scientists at Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
BTI’s Mueller and Heck Labs, in collaboration with 21 partner institutions, recently published a draft assembly and annotation of the D. citri genome.
New research finds that the Asian citrus psyllid responds to the citrus greening bacterium by producing an oxygen-transporting protein called hemocyanin. The protein not only turns them blue, but suggests that they are trying to fight off the infection.
Michelle Cilia has been selected to receive a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), which recognizes outstanding, government-funded scientists who show great potential for becoming leaders in their field and for expanding the frontiers of scientific knowledge.
Citrus growers are uniting to save their groves from citrus greening disease and to fund research into solutions, but growers in California face different challenges than those in Florida, report BTI and USDA researchers.
A new paper from the Cilia lab reports that the Asian citrus psyllid mounts an immune response against the bacterium that causes citrus greening disease – a discovery that may be useful for developing a treatment against the devastating epidemic.
A group of students and experts work together through video conferencing to identify the genes in the genome of the newly sequenced Asian citrus psyllid, the insect that spreads the bacterium that causes citrus greening disease.
The bacterium believed to cause citrus greening disease creates multiple changes in both the Asian citrus psyllid that carries it and the beneficial bacteria that live within the insect.
What will your dinner plate look like in 2050? With discoveries from the Boyce Thompson Institute, future crops may have more nutrients and greater resistance to insects, drought and disease.
The detection of 10 new citrus greening disease cases in California citrus trees weighed heavily on attendees of a recent citrus greening research meeting.
A diverse group of researchers has teamed up to develop a therapeutic treatment for citrus greening disease, a bacterial infection that threatens the future of the U.S. citrus industry.
EPA has granted temporary approval of two genes from spinach to be used in citrus plants. “There is a critical need to go beyond citrus to find novel resistance genes that provide protection…”
Postgraduate Society members at BTI host EYH (Expanding your Horizon) workshop to help girls understand genetics and feel more comfortable in the world of science.
Patricia Pinheiro was drawn to the study of insects like a moth to flame. As a grad student in the Cornell Entomology Department and Assistant Professor Michelle Cilia’s lab, Pinheiro studies insects that feed on plants and transmit pathogens.
Assistant Professor Michelle Cilia and four members of her lab attended the International Conference for Huanglongbing. They joined hundreds of other researchers in Orlando, Fla. Feb. 9-13, to present their research on this disease.
Georg Jander, Michelle Cilia and Angela Douglas organized Hemiptera (sucking insects) conference held on December 4, 2014.
Herbert L. Rothbart ARS Early Career Scientist of the Year and the Schroth Faces of the Future award.