Orange juice with breakfast may become a habit followed less by Americans each day, thanks to a plant pathogen with the ability to destroy the state`s citrus industry. It`s called Huanglongbing or HLB, more commonly referred to as Citrus Greening, a plant virus which is worrying more and more citrus farmers state wide. Spread by an insect known as the Asian citrus psyllid, the virus halts the normal growth process of citrus trees, leaving their leaves half green and mottling, their fruit lopsided and unusable. According to Jim Graham, professor of Soil Microbiology at the Lake Alfred Citrus Research and Education Center, the insect was probably brought to the states by an immigrant from Asia. "The pathogen travels to new areas using the large air mass movements created during tropical storms or it can be brought in by a human host. Its first appearance was after a hurricane in Florida," Graham said. There are no citrus plants resistant to HLB. To remedy the problem, cultivators should replace the dying trees, according to the University of Florida`s Institute of Food and Agricultural and Sciences. The common control strategy has been to destroy trees infected in an area, then replant unaffected trees grown from clean budwood. Mike Rogers, an associate of Graham`s who researches both the insect and the disease says that the infection process is irreversible. "It`s the worst disease world-wide for citrus. Because there is no species that is immune to it, the infected citrus trees become useless within a year or two," Rogers said. Within the last year the virus has led to the eradication of 100,000 trees. Researchers are finding the disease difficult to control because it is spread by a vector or an organism that transmits a disease. The rate at which the psyllid reproduces in its natural citrus habitat has been the greatest problem. "The disease spreads when the psyllid feeds on the phloem of the plant becoming the carrier of the disease, then once the psyllid goes to feed on another plant, the process is complete and the virus begins to spread," Graham said. Since its discovery in Homestead, Fla. both the insect and the disease has spread from across the state. "Citrus Greening is an exotic disease. It appeared in Florida back in 1990 and recently in 2005 it became an epidemic, spreading across 25 counties," Graham said. Even central Florida has been affected by the disease, finding its way into the state`s larger, more important citrus groves. "We hoped it could stay in south Florida but, soon their were reports of infection in St. Lucie County and then the disease bridged over to a citrus grove in the Everglades," Graham said. The affect HLB has on the trees hurts the citrus industry, lowering their production rates, costing them money which leads to the increase in the price of citrus products in the local grocery stores.
Shaun Gentry, a student who drinks orange juice regularly says that the increase in the prices of citrus products may change the rate at which he buys them. "I don`t really eat breakfast in the morning, so I normally just grab a bottle of orange juice," Gentry said. With prices peaking at $6.75 a gallon, consumers may find an alternative to drinking orange juice or using any citrus product. "We live in Florida. Orange Juice should be cheaper here than anywhere else, if prices go up any more, I`m drinking something else in the morning," Gentry said. | 
