RIVERSIDE (CNS) - UC Riverside Tuesday announced that its scientists have discovered a new treatment for a disease that has affected millions of acres of citrus crops worldwide and continues to threaten crops in California's citrus hot spots including Riverside County.
Fingertip-sized, moth-like flying insects spread citrus greening disease, also known as Huanglongbing or HLB, which can destroy plants' vascular systems and render fruits misshapen and unsellable, and typically kills infected trees within a few years.
The new treatment is an antimicrobial peptide that kills the bacterium in affected crops. It's a naturally occurring molecule found in wild citrus relatives, but it needs to be applied a few times each year to fend off new insects that can keep re-infecting crops as time goes
