How America’s Beloved Meyer Lemon Caused a Mid-Century Citrus Panic

ATLAS OBSCURA - Meyer lemon trees could carry the citrus tristeza virus (CTV) and flourish for years without showing any symptoms. The urgent situation incited the first meeting of the International Organization of Citrus Virologists at the The University of California, Riverside in 1957. This group of scientists and citrus growers urged drastic measures towards...
By Mandy Naglich | Atlas Obscura |

There’s a Citrus Pandemic Lurking in California Backyards

SLATE - Fortunately, researchers in academia and industry are searching for a more permanent fix. A few years ago, Hailing Jin, a plant molecular geneticist at University of California, Riverside , isolated a peptide from the citrus greening–tolerant finger lime tree that confers tolerance in other citrus trees. The peptide can be injected directly into...
By Casey Rentz | Slate |

Exotic Australian fruit may help save Florida's citrus industry

NPR - There's some good news in the long-running battle against a disease that's devastated Florida's signature crop, oranges. Researchers are developing tools to help control citrus greening, a disease that has killed thousands of acres of orange and grapefruit trees. One of the most promising treatments was recently developed in a fruit most people...
By Greg Allen | NPR |

Want to save your citrus trees? Start a full-fledged insect war

LA TIMES - Growing citrus is a dicey business these days in Southern California, and not at all recommended if you live within a two-mile radius of a tree infected with Huanglongbing disease — a.k.a. HLB or citrus greening disease. However, if you live outside a “red zone” and you’re willing to actively fight the...
By Jeanette Marrantos | LA Times |
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