INSECT-SYMBIOTIC BACTERIA INHIBITORY TO XYLELLA FASTIDIOSA IN SHARPSHOOTERS Project Director:

The appearance of Pierce’s disease vectored by a relative newcomer to California, the glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca coagulata, has lead to the project outlined here. We hope to develop a new strategy to combat the spread of Pierce’s disease by delivering anti-disease strategies aimed at neutralizing the disease organism, the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, its production of a form of xanthan gum that clogs the xylem spaces of the plants or disrupts connection of th