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Status of Huanglongbing (HLB) outbreaks in Florida, California and Texas

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Abstract

Nowhere in the U.S. is Huanglongbing (HLB) under adequate control due to the lack of effective tools to reduce spread of the vector, Diaphorina citri (Asian citrus psyllid), and transmission of the associated pathogen, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, in the absence of disease resistance in commercial citrus varieties. In Florida, Asian citrus psyllid was well established by the time of HLB discovery and growers did not remove trees to eliminate inoculum, so there was no chance of controlling the epidemic. Based on the Florida experience, Texas proactively controlled the vector by implementing area-wide management and disease spread was slower than in Florida, however, they also did not remove infected trees. California controlled both ACP and tree inoculum and have delayed the development of an epidemic in the Central Valley. This situation is aided by topographic isolation from the Los Angeles basin where ACP and HLB are endemic and a climate distinctly different from other citrus growing regions in the U.S.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to USDA/APHIS/PPQ, the Texas Citrus Pest and Disease Management Corporation, the Texas Department of Agriculture, the Texas A&M University-Kingsville Citrus Center and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension for assistance with data collection. We also thank Barbara Thompson for assistance with manuscript preparation, Dr. Weiqi Luo for preparation of graphics and Dr. Olufemi J. Alabi and Mike Irey for critical reading of this manuscript and suggestions. We appreciate the citrus production data provided by the Texas Citrus Mutual. This research is financially supported by USDA/APHIS/CPHST and USDA/APHIS/PPQ.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Citrus Research and Education Center, University of Florida, 700 Experiment Rd, Lake Alfred, FL, 33850, USA

    Jim Graham

  2. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory, 2001 South Rock Rd, Fort Pierce, FL, 34945, USA

    Tim Gottwald

  3. Texas A&M University-Kingsville Citrus Center, 312 N. International Blvd, Weslaco, TX, 78599, USA

    Mamoudou Setamou

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Graham, J., Gottwald, T. & Setamou, M. Status of Huanglongbing (HLB) outbreaks in Florida, California and Texas. Trop. plant pathol. 45, 265–278 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40858-020-00335-y

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