Host-free culture medium for ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’

Unmet Need: Effective strategies to cure Huanglongbing (HLB)

HLB, also known as citrus greening disease, is an extremely destructive disease of citrus trees. The disease is a great threat to the citrus industry. Currently, three species of ‘Candidatus Liberibacter’ have been described as main cause of HLB. Among them, ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ (C.L. asiaticus) has been described to be a major threat for America’s citrus industry. It is critical to obtain a host-free culture to study and develop long term strategies for curing the deadly disease.

The Technology: Successful establishment of host-free C. L asiaticus culture

Researchers at WSU have designed a growth medium that they were able to use to grow a host-free C. L asiaticus culture. The growth was done in an innovative biofilm reactor. The researchers were able to successfully maintain and even demonstrate growth in the culture for over a year with multiple transfers and independent repetitions.

Photo Courtesy Washington State University

Applications:

• Treatment of citrus greening disease.

Advantages:

• This approach to obtain axenic culture of C. L asiaticus in biofilm form would lead to further successful purification and growth of this bacterium.

• This would lead to the development of strategies for curing HLB to save the citrus industry.

Patent Information:

Provisional patent application filed