World’s first organic treatment for Pierce’s disease in grapevines
A Texas A&M AgriLife Research study has led to the discovery of the first curative and preventive bacteriophage treatment against the pathogen Xylella fastidiosa, which causes the deadly Pierce’s disease in grapevines.
A bacteriophage therapy is a precision treatment of bacterial infections that use viruses that only infect and kill the bacterium. Bacteriophages are considered a promising alternative to antibiotics for treating infections in humans, animals and plants.
The work to develop a bacteriophage treatment for Pierce’s disease was led by Carlos Gonzalez, Ph.D., Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology professor, and member of the Texas A&M AgriLife Center for Phage Technology in collaboration with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.