Investigations on Belgian flora and on xylem-feeding insects to evaluate the risk of introduction, establishment and spread of Xylella fastidiosa in Belgium.

Following the EFSA opinion (2015) on the risks to plant health posed by Xylella fastidiosa in the EU territory and later on, its report in 2018 in a nursery of West Flanders, the threat of this pathogen for the Belgian flora needs to be assessed. Based on a first screening of the Xylella host plants, four model tree species were selected to be subject to susceptibility investigations: Prunus domestica cv. Opal, Quercus petraea, Salix alba and Populus tremula. The susceptibility to the bacterium of these plant species is investigated in different ways. Firstly, it is assessed through “Sentine... Mehr ...