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Great step from the Montgó to find a cure against Xylella fastidiosa

February 19 from 2021 - 10: 15

The Generalitat Valenciana, through the Conselleria d'Agricultura, Desenvolupament Rural, Emergència Climàtica i Transició Ecològica, has a financing line open with an Agreement with the University of Alicante to investigate a possible cure against the plague that plagues almond trees in the northern regions of the province of Alicante, the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa.

Said Agreement describes a four-year funding commitment to develop the project "Research and implementation of microbiological strategies to combat the growth of Xylella fastidiosa in the Valencian Community", with three experts from the UA as main researchers, Dr Francis Mojica, microbiologist and discoverer of the CRISPR genetic repair system, for which he has received worldwide recognition and was very close to the Nobel Prize in chemistry of this 2020 - they gave it to two researchers, one American and the other French, who took advantage of this discovery to develop a technique of gene editing-; Dr Jesús García, also a microbiologist; and Dr Cesar Bordehore, biologist and expert in dynamic systems modeling and coordinator of the Montgó Scientific Station.

In this project, which is developed both in the UA laboratories on the Alicante campus and in the Montgó Scientific Station in Dénia, it is intended to address a possible cure for this plant disease from the use of natural proteins encoded in the plant itself. Xylella fastidiosa genome. Although it is in an initial phase, at least at the laboratory level, active molecules (called endolysins) have been identified that could be candidates for a future vaccine-like preventive action (although it really is not) or curative action similar to the effect of an antibiotic to fight against this plague that plagues several countries and different plant species. This research is not only a starting point to try to tackle this problem with the almond tree in the region, but it is also affecting other species (olive, citrus, vine, among others) in different countries of the world, so its repercussion it can be significant in this sector.

In line with what the Autonomous Secretary of Employment, Enric Nomdedéu, indicated at the beginning of December, when he announced that the most negative data on job losses in the Valencian Community had occurred in the Marina Alta, the result of the high weight of the services sector in this region, and from where an effort was requested to promote a change in the productive model, projects like this one reflect a support for Science from the regional administration and also from the Dénia City Council, which supports since its creation the Montgó Scientific Station.

The Montgó Scientific Station in front of the leading study in Dénia

La Montgó Scientific Station is a laboratory dependent on the University of Alicante -through the Multidisciplinary Institute for the Study of the Environment "Ramon Margalef" - which aims to bring the study of the environment and cutting-edge research to Dénia and the region, created from an Agreement between the City Council of Dénia (through its Regidoria de Transició Ecològica, directed by Maite Pérez Conejero) and the University of Alicante in the facilities of the old IRYDA house, owned by National Parks.

This determined commitment of the City Council of Dénia for research in the field of natural environment and applied science begins to bear fruit in different fields of science (microbiology, epidemiology, marine pollution, water pollution, conservation of biodiversity, restoration of ecosystems, dynamics coastal, safety in beaches, among others), which will undoubtedly contribute its grain of sand to the long-awaited change in the production model and the improvement of our natural environment and our quality of life. The research carried out at the Montgó Scientific Station has been published in various international scientific journals and has been presented at various international conferences. It has the participation of an extensive network of scientists from different disciplines and institutions, both in Spain and internationally.

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