In what may be a first for science, researchers with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have found an example of plant and insect viruses working together to increase their spread. Michelle Heck, an ARS research molecular biologist, was leading research into poleroviruses, a type of plant virus spread by aphids, when she and Cornell University graduate students Jenny Wilson and …

The false chinch bug (FCB), Nysius raphanus (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae), is a pest of many plants. FCB is a generalist and has been found to be a problem in many cropping systems such as soybeans, quinoa, tobacco, cotton, broccoli and other Brassicaceae plants. FCB adults (above) is mostly light to dark gray, elongate, and about 0.12 inch (3 mm) long. Females lay eggs on host …

This is not good. You find an avocado tree with sun blotch or it is time to thin the orchard and you remove the offending tree. You know that if you don’t remove the sucker, you’ll end up with some rootstock growth that just gets in the way of the other trees. Avocado suckers can look like a valued tree …

Scientists are closer to gaining the upper hand on a disease that has wiped out citrus orchards across the globe. New models of the bacterium linked to the disease reveal control methods that were previously unavailable. Metabolic models of organisms are like road maps of cities. “They show you all the biological processes, and how they work together,” said UC …

In September 2019, huanglongbing—also known as HLB or citrus greening—was detected in residential citrus trees located in Ventura County, in southern California (and just recently, the first HLB carrying Asian Citrus Psyllid was detected in a commercial CA citrus grove). The disease, which has no known cure, is caused by a bacterium that devastates citrus plants and is transmitted by …

An Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) sample – confirmed positive for Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) the bacteria that causes Huanglongbing (HLB) – was collected from a commercial citrus grove in the Woodcrest area of Riverside County. Confirmed by Citrus Research Board’s Jerry Dimitman Laboratory, this single adult psyllid is the first CLas-positive ACP found in a commercial citrus grove in California. While a …

Many living creatures live in soil. Though their sizes range from microscopic soil microbes to larger animals like gopher turtles, they all call soil their “home.” Included in these ground-dwelling species are bees – vital in the pollination cycle of about 90% of plant life. Rebecca Lybrand and her team at Oregon State University are studying the interaction between the …

Italian ryegrass is a major weed in orchards, vineyards, field crops, and fallow fields of California (Figure 1). Several different herbicides are used to control ryegrass and had been effective in reducing infestations until resistance evolved in many populations following repeated use of the herbicides. To date, resistance to glyphosate, paraquat, and some ACCase and ALS inhibitors has been confirmed …

Researchers across the nation are struggling to end the scourge of citrus greening disease, also known as huanglongbing. The disease renders citrus fruit inedible and eventually kills entire orchards. In Florida alone, from 2012-2016 the disease caused production losses of $4.4 billion and eliminated about 7,900 jobs. With economic impact like that, it’s no wonder that previous citrus greening research …

Following a tip generated by citizen scientists in the Porterville/Tulare area, UC ANR researchers have installed traps to determine the potential for Velvet longhorned beetle, Trichoferus campestris (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), introduction to the southern San Joaquin Valley. The beetle, also called Mulberry longhorn beetle, is native to Asia and Russia, but now has an extended geographic range across Europe and North America.  The …