Xylella fastidiosa is a bacterium which infects plants.
The bacteria can infect a large range of plants from shrubs like lavender and rosemary to olive trees, fruit trees, elm and sycamore. Other plants will act as hosts for the disease without showing any signs of infection.
The bacteria can spread quickly and cause huge damage to ornamental plants and food crops. In Italy the disease has been responsible for an up to 60% decline in olive production.
Plants have a network of tubes called xylem which carry water and nutrients from the roots to the leaves and flowers.
The Xylella bacteria block these tubes causing diseases in the plant and even death.
Infected plants can suffer leaf scorching, wilting, poor fruit and dieback.
The bacteria are spread by insects which feed on the plants and carry the infection on their mouthparts. Animals such as spittlebugs (also known as froghoppers and cuckoo-spit insects) feed by inserting a thin probe called a stylet into the xylem of plants. If bacteria are present these will be carried to other plants when the animal moves to feed somewhere else.
Find out more information about Xylella here ➡️ www.jic.ac.uk/brigit/what-is-...