Cousin of Crop-killing Bacteria Mutating Rapidly
Published:14 Aug.2022 Source:University of California – Riverside
A bacterial species closely related to deadly citrus greening disease is rapidly evolving its ability to infect insect hosts, and possibly plants as well.
The newly identified species belongs to Liberibacter, a family of bacteria known to infect several economically important crops. There are nine known Liberibacter species, including one that infects potatoes and three that are associated with citrus greening.