Pioneering research from the Environmental and Biomedical Virology research group at I2SysBio, a joint center of the Higher Scientific Research Council (CSIC) and the University of Valencia (UV), Using bacterial viruses against ‘Xylella fastidiosa’ in Balearic IslandsA pest that affects many crops, including olive and almond trees.
It was developed by Evolving Therapeutics SL, a spinoff of UV. This is the first pilot treatment with phages in agriculture in Spain; This is a technique that has already been used in people with cystic fibrosis.As reported in a statement by CSIC.
“We are implementing personalized solutions based on phages. They will specifically eliminate target bacteria, preserving the microbiota of the organism to be treated.“Whether it’s a plant, an animal, or even patients,” explained Pilar Domingo-Calap, leader of the Environmental and Biomedical Virology research group at I2SysBio and scientific director of Evolving Therapeutics.
This company is part of AgrotecUV, an initiative of the UV Science Park, which includes high-tech companies operating in public-private partnerships in the field of agriculture. Balearic Government Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment He supported the research with 22,000 Euros.
One of the deadliest bacteria
This pest mainly affects: almond trees, olive trees and vineyardsand is one of the main quarantine pathogenic organisms in the European Union, and before that farmers need to eliminate affected plants.
“It is an opportunity for us to be a pioneer in this field” Preliminary results enable us to strongly support this project. We won’t see if the treatment is working until next year when new leaves appear on the vines, but we are monitoring it over time to see its effectiveness,” Francesc Adrover, plant health technician at the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, told Medi Natural.
“Sustainable and biologically safe treatments”
Marta López, the department’s head of plant health, added that the study “is essential to be able to move towards sustainable and biologically safe treatments.” “Although the results were confirmed in the long term, it is a step forward in the fight against bacteria with new methods.” biological, ecologically safe treatments“This issue will definitely be talked about a lot in the coming period,” he emphasized.
Resistant bacteria in Spain cause three times more deaths than traffic accidents and requires new control strategies. Phage therapy is increasinglypromising results“, can also be used as biocontrol in animal and plant health.
This project began as a basic science effort to isolate phages capable of killing. xylella and understand its potential use in the facility. The new phages isolated in the research group of Pilar Domingo-Calap in collaboration with the group of Ester Marco-Noales (IVIA) were microbes.
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