Citrus microbiome

Globally, citrus is threatened by Huanglongbing and the lack of effective and sustainable control measures is a major concern of the citriculture industry. There is compelling evidence that the health of plant is a function of the structure and activities of its associated microbiome. In this study, we characterized the culturable microbiome. Furthermore, using a culturable surrogate bacterium, Liberibacter crescens, for the unculturable HLB-associated bacterium, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), we tested the hypothesis that members of the citrus microbiome produce potential anti-CLas metabolites. A sub-set of the isolates obtained from the citrus microbiome inhibited L. crescens in an agar-diffusion inhibition assay developed as part of this study. This work serves as a foundation for unraveling the intricate chemistries of the citrus microbiome to begin to understand functional roles of the citrus microbiota with the long-term goal of developing anti-CLas bioinoculants that are sustainable in the citrus system.