A Decade of Hidden Phytoplasmas Unveiled Through Citizen Science

Abstract

Climate change is impacting agriculture in many ways, and a contribution from all is required to reduce the imminent losses related to it. Recently, it has been shown that citizen science could be a way to trace the impact of climate change. However, how can citizen science be applied in plant pathology? Here, using as an example a decade of phytoplasma-related diseases reported by growers, agronomists, and citizens in general, and confirmed by a government laboratory, we explored how to better value plant pathogen monitoring data. Through this collaboration, we found that in the last decade, 34 hosts have been affected by phytoplasmas; 9, 13, and 5 of these plants were, for the first time, reported phytoplasma hosts in eastern Canada, all of Canada, and worldwide, respectively. Another finding of great impact is the first report of a ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma phoenicium’-related strain in Canada, while ‘Ca. P. pruni’ and ‘Ca. P. pyri’ were reported for the first time in eastern Canada. These findings will have a great impact on the management of phytoplasmas and their insect vectors. Using these insect-vectored bacterial pathogens, we show the need for new strategies that can allow fast and accurate communication between concerned citizens and those institutions confirming their observations. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license .