The Italian presence of Xylella is no longer limited to the southern region of Puglia. The quarantine bacterium is also discovered in the west on a Tuscan peninsula.
For the last few years the Tuscan authorities are carrying out inspections on Monte Argentario, which is located about 200 kilometres from the ornamental nursery area Pistoia. The monitoring is because of the proximity of Tuscany to infected areas of Puglia, and also France and the French island of Corsica.
Last October the Tuscan Plant Health Service discovered Xylella for the first time in Spartium junceum that naturally grows on the peninsula, reports the European research consortium XF ACTORS. Now various host plants in the area have been infected. So far there are no olive trees infected in this outbreak, nor nurseries and garden centres.
The discovered subspecies of Xylella fastidiosa on Monte Argentario appears to be the same as found on Corsica: multiplex. The subspecies in southern Italian olive trees is pauca.
Photo by XF ACTORS
