A team of scientists from the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Florida’s Indian River Research and Education Center are studying the use of periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) to fight Huanglongbing (HLB). HLB is a bacterial disease that threatens citrus crops worldwide. The bacteria is spread by the Asian Citrus Psyllid.
The scientists infect the periwinkle plants with HLB and then run experiments on the diseased plants in an effort to find a way to return the plants to good health. They have used nutrient and soil treatments to regenerate infected plants and have placed cuttings in chemical compounds to search for HLB treatments.
Further information on this research and more can be found in the May 2010 edition of the Topics in Subtropics Newsletter on our website.
Yellowing leaves is one symptom of HLB
Periwinkle shows promise for solutions
to problems caused by HLB