Can CRISPR Win the Battle against Huanglongbing?

Abstract

Huanglongbing (HLB) is the most destructive disease of citrus. The causal agent is Candidatus Liberibacter spp. The pathogen is phloem-limited gram-negative bacterium. HLB has caused huge loss in citrus fruit production. All commercial citrus cultivars can be infected by this disease and there is no cure for it. Disease detection, host responses upon infection are under review in this article. Because conventional breeding can't confer citrus resistance to HLB, transgenic approach is an alternative way to produce disease resistant citrus facing the urgent need. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) is the most recent and advanced genome editing technology that has been successfully applied to develop canker resistant citrus. In this review, the potential application of CRISPR technology in citrus resistance to HLB is discussed.

Rootstock Influence on Growth and Mineral Content of Citrus limon and Citrus sinensis cv. Valencia Inoculated with Candidatus Liberibacter Asiaticus

“…Therefore, they suggested that this rootstock can allow trees in younger stages to overcome the adverse effects of the disease [34]. The tolerance mechanism of this rootstock against HLB occurs through the expression of proteins not susceptible to diseases (lectin-related proteins, hitinase, and miraculin-like protein), the photosynthesis protein, and redox homeostasis [35].…”