{"id":3161,"date":"2021-09-23T23:02:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-23T23:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graperesearch.org\/staging\/?p=3161"},"modified":"2021-09-23T23:13:50","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T23:13:50","slug":"a-cure-for-pierces-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/graperesearch.org\/staging\/2021\/09\/23\/a-cure-for-pierces-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"A Cure for Pierce\u2019s Disease"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chelsea McCall, Texas A&M AgriLife Research<\/em><\/p>\n

A\u00a0Texas A&M AgriLife Research\u00a0study has led to the discovery of the first curative and preventive organic treatment against Xylella fastidiosa, the bacterium that causes the deadly Pierce\u2019s disease in grapevines. It\u2019s considered the world\u2019s first.<\/p>\n

The glassy-winged sharpshooter, the primary vector of Pierce\u2019s disease, feeds on the sap of grapevines, spreading the disease vine-to-vine as it does. GLWSS is thought to be limited by cold winters, so in warm and arid places like Texas and California, Pierce\u2019s disease spreads efficiently. But with temperatures rising from climate change, it\u2019s feared that PD will spread more widely, more quickly. To date, most efforts to control Pierce\u2019s disease have focused on the pest, often with deleterious effects on non-target beneficial insects such as\u00a0honeybees.<\/p>\n

This new solution is a bacteriophage therapy. Developed by Dr.\u00a0Carlos Gonzalez, a professor in the Texas A&M\u00a0College of Agriculture and Life Sciences\u00a0Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology and member of the\u00a0Texas A&M AgriLife Center for Phage Technology, it is a precision treatment of bacterial infections that uses viruses to infect and kill the bacterium itself. In other words, this injectable treatment targets the disease within the plant\u2019s vascular system, helping to cure the infected grapevine and stopping the spread to surrounding vines.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur research findings resulted in an injectable organic remedy that cures the plant from within rather than as a surface application.\u00a0 As with any biological, if you rely on pesticides that are not systemic and it rains, it\u2019s not going to do much good,\u201d Dr. Gonzalez said. \u201cDeveloping a bacteriophage treatment was ideal because it\u2019s an organic remedy that works to cure the plant from within\u2014rather than a pesticide that\u2019s meant to kill insects that vector the pathogen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bacteriophage therapy has been trialed in high-disease-pressure vineyards Northern California and, after two seasons, was reported to have reduced the incidence of Pierce\u2019s disease by almost 60%.<\/p>\n

Otsuka Pharmaceutical partnered with AgriLife Research in 2010 to develop a bacteriophage treatment for Pierce\u2019s disease. Development was led by Dr.\u00a0Gonzalez\u00a0in collaboration with the company. The treatment has now been approved by the\u00a0U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, with the commercial name\u00a0XylPhi-PD,\u00a0is registered for use in California, Arizona and Texas, and is approved for use in organic production by the Organic Materials Review Institute, OMRI. The product is now marketed in the U.S. by Otsuka subsidiary\u00a0A&P Inphatec, LLC.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe development of this first-ever bacteriophage treatment for Pierce\u2019s disease is a significant step for the agricultural industry,\u201d Dr. Gonzalez said. \u201cBacteriophage therapies will have a major impact on agricultural sustainability, as they\u2019ll allow us to implement more ethical practices and growing techniques that are good for the plant and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

This article was adapted from the original, entitled <\/em>\u201c<\/em>Texas A&M AgriLife Research develops bacteriophage treatment for Pierce\u2019s disease,\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0published May 28, 2021, on AgriLife Today, the online publication of Texas A&M AgriLife Research.<\/em><\/p>\n

Elements of this article are included, as well: <\/em>\u201cWorld\u2019s First Organic Treatment for Pierce\u2019s Disease,\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/strong> by Lee Allen, Western Farm Press, August 26, 2021.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Chelsea McCall, Texas A&M AgriLife Research A\u00a0Texas A&M AgriLife Research\u00a0study has led to the discovery of the first curative and preventive organic treatment against Xylella fastidiosa, the bacterium that causes the deadly Pierce\u2019s disease in grapevines. It\u2019s considered the world\u2019s first. The glassy-winged sharpshooter, the primary vector of Pierce\u2019s disease, feeds on the sap […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-3161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-industry-news","tag-disease"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graperesearch.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graperesearch.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graperesearch.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graperesearch.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graperesearch.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3161"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/graperesearch.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3165,"href":"https:\/\/graperesearch.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3161\/revisions\/3165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graperesearch.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graperesearch.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graperesearch.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}