Researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia have developed an environmentally friendly spray to combat an invasive fungal disease currently threatening the country's native plants, the University of Queensland website reported.
Myrtle rust is, per the Queensland Government website, "a fungal disease that threatens the nursery and garden, forestry and tea tree oil production industries, as well as natural ecosystems." It first popped up in Australia in 2010 and has impacted around 400 species. "Myrtle rust cannot be eradicated as it produces thousands of spores that are easily spread by wind, human activity, and animals," the site said.
The new treatment developed by University of Queensland researchers, along with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, is a spray that uses double-stranded RNA technology to prevent infection and cure infected plants.
"We found that when the double-stranded RNA was applied to a healthy tree, it prevented the plant from being infected," said PhD candidate Rebecca Degnan, one of the researchers behind the new treatment. "What's even more exciting, when we infected the plants and applied the double-stranded RNA as late as two weeks post infection, the plants recovered."
The scientists now plan to field test the treatment to see how long it continues protecting plants after being applied. Once more data has been gathered, they will be able to better map out how it should be deployed.
"It's not always a silver bullet, but we work in partnership with a lot of other scientists developing great management techniques for the pathogen and it feels really rewarding to contribute to that," Degnan said.
As human-caused problems like pollution, changing climates, habitat loss, and the spread of invasive species and diseases threaten ecosystems worldwide, researchers — including many students — have stepped up to develop innovative ways of combating these problems. These include a New Jersey high schooler who invented a device to kill invasive spotted lanternflies, a college student who developed a chemical-free method to fight an invasive plant species, and more.
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