Transgenic Citrus Trees to Help Growers Overcome Greening
June 13, 2013| |
As more and more citrus in the United States die because of citrus greening, growers are looking into the potential of disease-resistant transgenic citrus trees. Citrus greening is an incurable bacterial disease that clogs a citrus tree's vascular system. Fruits fail to mature and trees eventually die.
Speaking at the North American Agricultural Biotechnology Council's 25th annual conference, Ricke Kress, a large citrus grower and juice producer in southern Florida, said that they are already experiencing 15 percent loss due to this disease and pointed out the potential of transgenic citrus trees developed at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research. Kress said that they are addressing the issue simultaneously on four fronts, including research, regulatory, agricultural, and consumer.
Dr. Bill McCuthen, executive director of AgriLife Research said that citrus is among fruit and vegetable crops that could highly benefit from biotechnology. "Through the use of biotechnology, scientists have developed improved varieties of apples, pineapples, potatoes, squash and other specialty crops with disease resistance and other favorable traits," he added.
Read more about this at http://today.agrilife.org/2013/06/06/kress-addresses-transgenic-conferencesed-at-biotechnology-conference/
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