A bacterial disease, caused by the same bacterium, Xylella fastidiosa, that causes Pierce's disease of grapevines in a distinct subspecies and host range, first identified killing olive trees in the Salento peninsula of southern Italy in 2013 by blocking water-conducting tissue and causing severe leaf scorch, branch dieback and eventual tree death, with no cure once a tree is infected. It has since been found in Corsica, mainland France and Spain, and because its spittlebug vectors are widespread and no eradication method exists for a mature infected tree, the European Union has imposed strict removal and buffer zone requirements in affected areas to slow its spread toward the wider Mediterranean olive belt.
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Olive, Crops Olive quick decline syndrome (Xylella fastidiosa) has devastated olive groves in southern Italy since 2013.
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1. Olive Quick Decline Syndrome (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationOpening definition paragraph
Olive quick decline syndrome is a wasting disease of olive trees which causes dieback of the leaves, twigs and branches so that the trees no longer produce crops of olives. The main cause is a strain of the bacterium, Xylella fastidiosa, which is spread by plant-sucking insects such as the meadow froghopper. The bacteria restrict the flow of sap within the tree and so choke its extremities.
lead description
A bacterial disease, caused by the same bacterium, Xylella fastidiosa, that causes Pierce's disease of grapevines in a distinct subspecies and host range, first identified killing olive trees in the Salento peninsula of southern Italy in 2013 by blocking water-conducting tissue and causing severe leaf scorch, branch dieback and eventual tree death, with no cure once a tree is infected.
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