Threat of Xylella fastidiosa and options for mitigation in infected plants

Abstract

The bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa continues to threaten agricultural production of many different crops around the world, with significant economic burden from crop loss, disease management, and surveillance costs. In addition to direct economic consequences, plant diseases caused by X. fastidiosa have had significant societal impacts in the most affected regions. Although X. fastidiosa infects long-term perennial crops and landscape plants, there has never been a truly effective treatment for plants once they become infected. This review discusses the threat of X. fastidiosa to agriculture, landscapes, and global commerce, in addition to the most recent progress in treatment for X. fastidiosa in infected plants. Current disease mitigation options include nutritional, chemical, biocontrol, and plant resistance-based strategies, with the potential to develop combined management approaches. Overall, several strategies are promising for disease suppression but there is still opportunity for innovation, especially in treatment approaches that can be administered systemically by soil or foliar spray routes. Prevention of severe disease outcomes and crop loss, and the ability to suppress pathogen populations and reduce transmission without heavy reliance on insecticides would have significant economic and environmental benefits.

Prunus dulcis response to novel defense elicitor peptides and control of Xylella fastidiosa infections

“…Other methods that are under study rely on the reduction of the pathogen population in infected plants using the endophyte Paraburkholderia phytofirmans (Baccari et al 2019 ; Lindow et al 2023 ) , avirulent X. fastidiosa strains (Hao et al 2017 ), lytic phages, and chemical compounds such as copper (II) and citric acid fertilizers (Amanifar et al 2016 ; Scortichini et al 2018 ; Ge et al 2020 ). Although considerable research has been performed, there is still no strategy to protect and completely cure infected plants (Burbank 2022 ).…”

Exploring Active Peptides with Antimicrobial Activity In Planta against Xylella fastidiosa

“…Xylella fastidiosa ( Xf ) is a fastidious bacterium that infects more than 664 different plants including landscape trees, wild and ornamental plants, and crop species [ 1 ]. Several valuable crops have suffered serious economic losses caused by Xf epidemics [ 2 , 3 ]. The earliest field outbreak of Xf in the European Union (EU) occured in October 2013, when the existence of this quarantined phytopathogen in the olive trees of Apulia in southern Italy was reported by the Italian Phytosanitary Authorities [ 4 ].…”