What has been dubbed the identification number one plant biosecurity threat to Australia is now under the spotlight through a new Hort Innovation funded project aim at building Australia ’s capableness to quickly and effectively observe and keep the terror at bay . Xylella fastidiosa , a bacterium transmitted by common sap - sucking insects such as spittlebug and sharpshooters , is one of the most harmful plant pathogens worldwide . The impact of Xylella abroad has been ruinous , infecting more than 200 million citrus trees in Brazil , destroying 1 million Olea europaea trees in Italy and devastating the Californian grape sector – causing yearly losses in excess of US$ 100 million . The pathogen , not yet present in Australia or New Zealand , can cause important disease to several agriculturally significant crops include pipeline , olives , nuts , citrus , stone fruit , blueberries and cherry red , as well as numerous ornamental hosts . In fact , over 500 cultivated and uncultivated herbaceous and woody plant species are known hosts of Xylella . A new collaborative research task superintend by Hort Innovation under the Hort Frontiers strategical co - investment program will be led by Dr. Rachel Mann from the Victorian Department of Jobs , Precincts and Regions ( JPR ) and is additionally supported by Western Australian , NSW and Queensland state - based primary industries and the Ministry for Primary Industries in New Zealand . This collaborative effort assure that major diagnostic labs in Australia and New Zealand that currently ply diagnostic capacity to state and interior biosecurity agencies and industriousness are prepared . Hort Innovation Research and Development Manager Dr Penny Measham said the projection , which supports the delivery of the Department of Agriculture ’s National Action Plan for Xylella , was look at newfangled method acting for detection and surveillance through the developing of innovative symptomatic tools . “Currently , espial is hard as the pathogen has a long latent period and not all plant life hosts demo symptom , ” she articulate . “Furthermore , the different song of X. fastidiosa , classified into subspecies , can behave like unlike diseases in dissimilar host . ”Dr Measham say the economic value of subspecies identification was preponderant during penetration mode . “Along with outside collaboration , the project aim to establish an Australian based X. fastidiosa genome database to attend with conception and validation of X. fastidiosa subspecies specific symptomatic pecker that are both rapid and accurate , ” she enunciate . “The immobile twist - around of this information could be the difference between eradication and move to direction of this annihilating pest . ”Project leading , Dr Rachel Mann said the current National Diagnostic Protocol ( NDP ) for Australia is for the detection and identification of Xylella and is focussed specifically on Pierces disease . “This project will survey and adopt world ’s best practice symptomatic methods for the detection and identification of Xylella and its ’ subspecies , and ensure diagnosticians are trained and skillful in using the revised National Diagnostic Protocol , ” she said . “In the event of a shady sample being distinguish , our state diagnostic research laboratory will be the first to deal with these samples , so it is all important that our mental ability to handle these samples be developed and tested now and not during a potential penetration . ”Dr Mann sound out acceptation of the Xylella NDP would be immediate . She allege the NDP will be used to screen plant material entering Australia , support active surveillance program and as the key nosology mention measure for diagnostic science lab it will be used during an penetration or during the spotting of the exotic vector , the Glassy - fly sharpshooter .
For more informationHort Innovationwww.horticulture.com.au
