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Preliminary research on soil conditioner mediated citrus Huanglongbing mitigation in the field in Guangdong, China

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Abstract

Huanglongbing (HLB, yellow shoot disease) is devastating citrus production worldwide. No effective control measure is currently available. In China, management of HLB through nutrient applications was used in the past and the interest has been renewed recently. In this study the effects of a soil conditioner (SC) on HLB-affected mandarin citrus (Citrus reticulate Blanco) were evaluated in four orchards (three with cultivar Shatangju and one with cultivar Chuntianju) in Guangdong Province, China. We observed that HLB trees showed more vigorous growth with lower titres of “Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus”, the putative pathogen of HLB, than the untreated trees at 10 months post treatment (MPT) with SC. “Ca. L. asiaticus” titres in younger trees (2-year) were significantly lower than those in older trees (8-years old) (P = 0.005). Comparison of SC treatments using 4-year-old Chuntianju showed that the “Ca. L. asiaticus” titres were significantly lower in new leaves with 7 MPT (94.51 % reduction or 2.59 times lower) than those with 1 or 4 MPT (P = 0.002). The P, N, K, Mn, and organic matters contents in the treated orchard soils were all significantly higher than those in the non-treated soil tested at 2 MPT (p < 0.05). Effects of SC treatments on fruit yield and quality were also significant. Our preliminary results showed that SC treatment could have various levels of positive influence on HLB-affected mandarin trees.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the Zaoqing South China Run-zhe-xin-ye Biotechnology Limited Liability Company for providing the SC. We appreciate the financial supports of Public service sectors (agriculture) special project (Grant No. 201003067) from Ministry of Agriculture of the People's Republic of China, National Natural Science Fund (Grant No. 31201480) from National Natural Science Foundation of China and production-study-research combination project (Grant No. 2012B091100483) from Ministry of Education of Guangdong Province.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou City, Guangdong, 510642, China

    Meirong Xu, Meidan Liang, Zheng Zheng, Qing Zhu & Xiaoling Deng

  2. The Center of Integrated Pest Management, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Yulu Xia

  3. San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Parlier, CA, 93648, USA

    Jianchi Chen

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  1. Meirong Xu
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  2. Meidan Liang
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  3. Jianchi Chen
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  4. Yulu Xia
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  5. Zheng Zheng
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  6. Qing Zhu
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  7. Xiaoling Deng
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Correspondence to Xiaoling Deng.

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Xu, M., Liang, M., Chen, J. et al. Preliminary research on soil conditioner mediated citrus Huanglongbing mitigation in the field in Guangdong, China. Eur J Plant Pathol 137, 283–293 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-013-0238-z

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