Citrus greening disease a national problem

As part of a $9 million research contract from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, UA plant sciences professor Judith Brown studies the molecular interactions between a tiny insect and a bacterium that causes citrus greening disease, a threat to commercial and residential citrus growing efforts.

Commercial and residential citrus growers dread this bacteria-caused disease because it kills every affected citrus tree. In heavily infested plants, only the leaf veins remain green while the remainder of the leaf turns yellow and eventually dies, earning the condition its alternative name, Huanglongbing disease – Chinese for "yellow dragon."